Chapter 16: The hours of the work of God during the day
And so at these times let us offer praise to out Creator because of his justice revealed in his judgements -- that is at Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline and in the night let us arise to praise him. (From Ch. 16 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)
Benedict lays out a careful organization of the hours to keep consciousness flowing in the direction of God. For me, a daily discipline of meditation and prayer is important in this way, but what inspirits the discipline, in my experience, is attention, the one-pointed attention that the mantra helps me to form. I have glimpsed those moments when discipline and attention lead to liberty of spirit.
“The point is clear: there is to be no time, no thing, that absorbs us so much that we lose contact with the God of life; no stress so tension-producing, no burden so complex, no work so exhausting that God is not our greatest agenda, our constant companion, our rest and our refuge. More, whatever other people worship, we are to keep our minds and hearts on God.” (Joan Chittister, “Rule of Benedict.”). Abba, Benedict and Joan’s ideal underscore how easily I am distracted, my poverty. Father, have mercy on me, a sinner.
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