Chapter 52: The oratory of the monastery
The oratory must be simply a place of prayer, as the name itself implies, and it must not be used for any other activities at all nor as a place for storage of any kind. (From Ch. 52 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
Jesus teaches me to pray contemplatively: "But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret" (Matt 6:6). My inner room is my heart, the oratory of Jesus' prayer to the Father. Within this oratory, there is no room for egotism or psychological baggage of any kind.
Clutter, clutter everywhere and not a space to stop. How much my multi-tasking mind has resembled the compulsively cluttered space of a hoarder. Abba, you invite me to come to your arms as a simple, small child, focused only on you and the warmth and joy of your arms. The mantra brings me to you here in my inner Oratory, laying aside the thoughts and images that clutter and trivialize my soul.
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