Daily Life
How we began
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DAILY LIFE

Our primary ministry is the monastic life itself structured around the Liturgy of the Hours and living in community.  We work within the monastery to support ourselves.  St. Benedict Monastery Retreat/Spirituality Center and “Monastery Praylines” are our corporate ministries.

Daily life in the monastery is a rhythmic ordering of time by regular intervals of prayers and work, silence and talking.  The night silence is observed from the end of Compline until after Terce the next day.  During work time, we try to maintain an atmosphere of silence throughout the monastery, though directions and instructions must be given and questions answered.  Each day there are also specific periods for conversation and visiting.

 

The Rule of Benedict calls us to "pray always", but especially to make time holy by praying the Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours). We answer this call at:
   
6:00 am Vigils as we pray the ancient night office of the Church;
6:40 am Lauds as the rising of the sun calls us to praise the Risen Christ, the Light of the World;
9:00 am Terce (Mid-morning prayer) as we commemorate the hour when the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles; Terce is the first of the "Little Hours";
11:30 am Sext (Mid-day prayer) as we recognize the double symbolism of the good and evil effects of the noonday sun;
3:00 pm None (Mid-afternoon prayer) as we remember the hour at which Christ's emptying himself (kenosis) for our sake, for our salvations, was completed;
4:30 pm Vespers as we come to the time of the lighting of the lamps, a thanksgiving for a day of salvation;
7:00 pm Compline as we complete the day and "sing ourselves to rest".
 
The above is an outline of our formal daily prayer which we chant in English according to Gregorian psalm tones.  St. Benedict says, “We believe that the Divine Presence is everywhere and in every place.”  In addition to these scheduled times of communal prayer, we spend time in lectio divina, that is prayerful reading of Sacred Scripture or spiritual writings, and in study.   Lectio divina has been called the “native tongue” of Benedictines (Irene Nowell, OSB).
 
As Benedictines, we strive to maintain a prayerful atmosphere in our monastery.  Yet silence is not an end in itself.  An attitude of silence allows one to listen to the small voice of God.  The half hour of community recreation in the evening and during the mid-day meal provides us with an opportunity to converse with our Sisters.     During the main meal of the day, we have table reading, thus feeding both body and soul. However, we have modified this ancient monastic practice for a small community.  The “reader’ is actually a tape/CD player.
 
Benedictine life is a balance of prayer and work (“Ora et Labora”).  Both monastery maintenance and self-support endeavors are part of the work within the monastery. We must earn our daily bread, as we are not a begging order.  This work takes place between the times of formal prayer and may include all of the following:
  • Assisting with the candy-making project
  • Household chores
  • Computer work
  • Sewing
  • Landscaping
  • Gardening
  • Secretarial work
  • Spiritual Direction
  • Hospitality
  • Picking-up supplies in town
  • Driving a Sister to medical appointments
  • Care of our animals
  • Cooking
  • Land Stewardship Home

 

 

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