Abbey News

Sunday, November 25, 2007

The Pantocrator icon was painted for our community several years ago by our good friend and sister in Christ, Minhhang K. Huynh. Her studio, Our Lady of New Helfta, is located in nearby Geneseo, NY. See Pantocrator for an explanation of the term.

Quiet Week
The past week has been relatively quiet as the days grow shorter and the temperatures colder. Yesterday the thermometer read 18 degrees after vigils, a preview of coming attractions. Actually the longer nights and quieter days of autumn/winter are considered prime contemplative time by many. St. Benedict must have thought so too, for in his Rule he allots some five hours each day for the pursuit of lectio divina, sacred reading. During the rest of the year there may be only two to three hours for that essential monastic practice.

One of the reasons for the longer time during the autumn and winter is that there is less opportunity for engaging in outdoor manual work (another essential monastic practice) because of the shortness of daylight hours. With our bakery there is little difference in the hours we work there winter or summer though we do curtail most outside work.

The cold, the dark, the quiet of nature are conducive to quieting down within, making one a bit more receptive to the still, small voice of the Lord speaking to us through spiritual reading.

Along with taking full advantage of the solitude and the silence of one's monastic cell one can resonate with St. Bernard when he said something to the effect that often times, for him, a quiet walk in the woods is better than reading theology.

And so it is not uncommon to see the brethren bundle up and go out in the ample fields and forests for a prayerful walk, perhaps with the prayer of Samuel in their hearts, speak Lord, your servant is listening.

To New Melleray
Early tomorrow morning Abbot John will depart for our brothers at New Melleray in Iowa where he will give the community their annual retreat. He is expected to return Monday, December 3rd.

This , then, is Gods kingship - a rule of love that seeks and finds man in ways that are always new. For us, this means a trust that cannot be shaken. God rules as king over us still and, what is more, he rules over each one of us.

None of us should be afraid and none should capitulate. God can always be found. the pattern of our own lives should also be like this - we should always be available, never write anyone off, and try again and again to find others in the openness of our hearts.

Our most important task is not to assert ourselves, but always to be ready to set off on the way to God and to each other. The feast of Christ the King is therefore not a feast of those who are subjugated, but a feast of those who know that they are in the hands of the one who writes straight on crooked lines.

Benedictus
Pope Benedict XVI