Showing posts with label Caesarius of Arles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Caesarius of Arles. Show all posts

Friday, March 13, 2020

Praying the psalms with St Benedict 5C - Three models for praying without ceasing/3: St Benedict on good works

So far in this series we have looked at two theories on how 'praying without ceasing' can be realised: a literal interpretation, based on constant textual prayer, carried over even into talking in one's sleep; and a collective realisation of the ideal, where some pray on behalf of others when they need to take a break for sleep or other purposes.

There were, however, other, rather less literal interpretations of the various Scriptural texts taken by the Fathers as the basis for the Office and prayer such as Psalm 1, and today I want to start to look at St Benedict's particular take on the subject and the theological context from which it grew. [1]

Rome and ceaseless prayer?

Before looking at St Benedict's Rule itself, I think it is worth noting that some modern historians, seeing references to assiduous, continual or prayer 'day and night' in rules, monastic charters, and other literature relating to late antique monasticism, have argued that these references should be interpreted literally and broadly, especially for Gaul in the seventh century onwards, suggesting that the Agaune model in particular was much more influential than previously believed.

But there is fairly clear evidence for Rome and North Africa at least, and also I think for Gaul, that references to continuous prayer did not always refer to what we now call the laus perennis, or literally continuous adoration and/or liturgical prayer.

James McKinnon pointed out, for example, that in references to the agreements between monasteries offering prayers in Rome's basilical churches, where one manuscript of the Liber Pontificalis describes a monastery as offering prayer 'day and night', another manuscript variant offers instead a list of the specific hours said, namely Terce, Sext, None and Matins. [2]

In the Rule attributed to St Augustine, the instruction is to 'Be assiduous in prayer (Col 4:2), at the hours and times appointed'. [3]

For Gaul, studies of sermon collections beyond those of Caesarius, as well as more in depth scrutiny of some of the later rules, have made it clear that neither Caesarius' interpretation of monastic life (or that of Columbanus later), were not the only ones that prevailed. [4]

St Benedict on prayer

At least as far as St Benedict's Rule goes though, the rather less literal interpretation of the various Scriptural texts relating to prayer had a firm theological underpinning that I want to briefly explore briefly in this post.

This interpretation was grounded in the idea, I think, that ceaseless prayer is a state of mind rather than literal prayer; a state of mind, moreover, that should be manifested through active works and service as well as contemplation.

As for Arles and Agaune, St Benedict’s Rule views the Divine Office as an absolutely core obligation.  Indeed the Rule provides that it has to be fulfilled by each individual religious: the daily ‘pensum’ has to be carried out even if the monk is unable to make it to the monastery’s oratory for the official hours, (RB 50).

One of the clear contrasts between St Benedict's Rule and those of Caesarius of Arles, though, is that while Caesarius explicitly instructed his monks and nuns to strive to pray without ceasing, to pray day and night; and Agaune literally did that, St Benedict never uses either the Thessalonians quote or the other similar terms often employed in relation to Agaune and Arles such as assiduous, continuous or perpetual prayer.  Instead, in the liturgical section of the Rule, he arguably implies that ceaseless prayer is achieved symbollically, through the use of he number of day hours, since seven was generally interpreted to mean continously. [5]  Indeed, in his discussion of prayer in chapter 19, and again on the use of the monastery chapel in chapter 52, St Benedict stresses that prayer should be fervent rather than long, and in his tools of good works St Benedict instructs his monks not to pray without ceasing, but rather to ‘pray frequently’ (RB 4). And where the monks of Agaune had to deal with the psychological challenges that go with both long hours and shift-work; while the nuns of Arles had to be given techniques to use to help stay awake through long hours in chapel; St Benedict instead made a deliberate effort to provide a timetable, which, while certainly demanding, aimed at ensuring his monks are at least not too sleep deprived (RB 8&48).

Prayer and good works in St Benedict's Rule

One of the particular features of the Benedictine Rule is the number of references to the importance of good works: in the Prologue, for example, the would be monk is invited, in the words of Psalm 33, to turn away from evil and do good; to gird his loins with faith and the performance of good works.

In an earlier post, I noted that Caesarius of Arles suggested that the only good work a monk or nun needed to focus on was the Office and prayer. St Benedict, by contrast, supplies an entire chapter devoted to a list of good works, starting from the commandments, including the spiritual and corporal works of mercy, and much more.

Most intriguingly of all, St Benedict uses the phrase day and night, and continuously, so often used in early monastic sources as an allusion to Psalm 1's injunction to meditate on the law of the Lord day and night not in relation to the Office or prayer, but rather in relation to the tools of spiritual works.  The monastery, he says, is a workshop:
Behold these are the tools of the spiritual craft. If we employ them unceasingly day and night (die noctuque incessabiliter adimpleta), and on the Day of Judgement render account of them, then we shall receive from the Lord in return the reward which he himself has promised: Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, what God hath prepared for those that love him. (RB 4)
Psalm 1 and meditation day and night

One of the key verses often referred to in relation to monastic prayer was Psalm 1's key verses:
Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence: But his will is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he shall meditate day and night.
It was this verse of Psalm 1 that apparently inspired St Jerome to set off from Rome to Bethlehem to live out a monastic calling; and it was also cited in the Liber Pontificalis to describe Pope Damasus’ claimed institution of the office in the churches, basilicas and monasteries of Rome (in an entry dating from circa 530).

St Alexander the Sleepless, you will recall, focused on the phrase day and night as a reference to the pattern given to us by God's ordering of creation, and saw meditation as meaning prayer.  Another school of thought though, focused on the idea of the will being engaged on the law, and gave it a far more active interpretation. The Syriac writer Aphrahat (c. 280–c. 34), for example, in his Demonstration 4:16, states that  'a person should do the will of God, and that constitutes prayer'. [6]  And the approach St Benedict followed was perhaps most pithily of all summarised by Cassian's teacher Evagrius Ponticus  (345–399 AD) in his commentary on Psalm 1, namely:
He meditates constantly on the law of God, who is accomplishing good works. [7]
Evagrius was far from being alone in both the Eastern and Western traditions in the idea that meditation on the law was more about cultivating state of mind, a matter of faith demonstrated through works, rather than formal prayer as such.

Origen, for example, in his commentary on Psalm 1 said:
The blessed person meditates on the law of the Lord day and night, not as one who entrusts the words of the law to his memory without works, but as one who by meditating performs works consistent with it…. [8]
 And in his Treatise on prayer he argued that right action is how continuous prayer is manifested:
Now, since the performance of actions enjoined by virtue or by the commandments is also a constituent part of prayer, he prays without ceasing who combines prayer with right actions, and becoming actions with prayer. For the saying “pray without ceasing” can only be accepted by us as a possibility if we may speak of the whole life of a saint as one great continuous prayer. (ch 7) [9]
Similar sentiments can be found in SS Jerome, Hilary, Basil and Augustine.  St Hilary, for example, explicitly linked Psalm 1 and praying without ceasing.  How, he asks, can we literally pray without ceasing, or meditate day and night, given our bodily needs for food, sleep and so forth?
Meditation in the Law, therefore, does not lie in reading its words, but in pious performance of its injunctions; not in a mere perusal of the books and writings, but in a practical meditation and exercise in their respective contents, and in a fulfilment of the Law by the works we do by night and day, as the Apostle says: Whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. The way to secure uninterrupted prayer is for every devout man to make his life one long prayer by works acceptable to God and always done to His glory: thus a life lived according to the Law by night and day will in itself become a nightly and daily meditation in the Law. [10]
St Benedict and the liturgy

It was this stream of theology, I want to suggest, rather than any economic imperatives, that impelled the balance St Benedict's sets up in his Rule between giving his monk's opportunities within the monastery to do good works through their service of each other and their hospitality to guests on the one hand, and their liturgical service and prayers on the other.

In drawing out this broader interpretation of how ceaseless prayer can be realised, though, I don't want to suggest for a moment that liturgical and formal and informal non-liturgical prayer were unimportant to St Benedict: quite the contrary. In the next post I will look specifically at that side of the balance.

Notes

[1] Gregory W. Woolfenden, Daily Liturgical Prayer: Origins and Theology (Liturgy, Worship and Society Series), Routlege, 2004, includes a useful compendium of these.

[2]  James McKinnon, The Advent Project: The Later Seventh-Century Creation of the Roman Mass Proper, University of California Press, 2000, pg 83.

[3] The Rule of St Augustine, ch 2.

[4] See in particular Lisa Kaaren Bailey, Christianity's Quiet Success The Eusebius Gallicanus Sermon Collection and the Power of the Church in Late Antique Gaul, University of Notre Dame Press, 2010.

[5] See the discussion by Fr Cassian Folsom on St Benedict's use of number symbolism: Praying without ceasing conferences

[6]   Sebastian P Brock, The Syriac Fathers on Prayer and the Spiritual Life (Cistercian Studies 101, 1987), pp21.  An online translation can be found here.

[7] Trans Luke Dysinger, Evagrius on the Psalms.

[8] Craig A. Blaising and Carmen S. Hardin, ed, Psalms 1 - 50, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Vol VII, pg 6.  For an online version, see Tertullian.

[9] William A. Curtis, Sacred Invocation: Origen on Prayer, available on Luke Dysinger website.

[10]  E.W. Watson and L. Pullan, trans,  Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 9. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1899.) Homily on Psalm 1.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Psalm 118(119) Nun (v105-112): The Christian life


c12th
Today we pick up this Lenten series again with a look at the fourteenth stanza of Psalm 118, Nun, which in the traditional Benedictine Office marks the start of Monday Terce.

Here is the text of the stanza in the knox Vulgate and Douay-Rheims translations:

05 No lamp like thy word to guide my feet, to shew light on my path.
106 Never will I retract my oath to give thy just commands observance.
107 Nothing, Lord, but affliction, never the saving help thou didst promise me?
108 Nay, Lord, accept these vows of mine; teach me to do thy bidding.
109 Needs must I carry my life in my hands, yet am I ever mindful of thy law.
110 Nearly the snares of the wicked caught my feet, yet would I not swerve from thy obedience.
111 Now and ever thy covenant is my prize, is my heart’s comfort.
112 Now and ever to do thy will perfectly is my heart’s aim.

Vulgate
Douay-Rheims
105  Lucérna pédibus meis verbum tuum, * et lumen sémitis meis.
Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my paths.
106  Jurávi, et státui * custodíre judícia justítiæ tuæ.
106 I have sworn and am determined to keep the judgments of your justice.
107  Humiliátus sum usquequáque, Dómine: * vivífica me secúndum verbum tuum.
107 I have been humbled, O Lord, exceedingly: quicken me according to your word.
108  Voluntária oris mei beneplácita fac, Dómine: * et judícia tua doce me.
108 The free offerings of my mouth make acceptable, O Lord: and teach me your judgments.
109  Anima mea in mánibus meis semper: * et legem tuam non sum oblítus.
109 My soul is continually in my hands: and I have not forgotten your law.
110  Posuérunt peccatóres láqueum mihi: * et de mandátis tuis non errávi.
110 Sinners have laid a snare for me: but I have not erred from your precepts.
111  Hereditáte acquisívi testimónia tua in ætérnum: * quia exsultátio cordis mei sunt.
I have purchased your testimonies for an inheritance for ever: because they are the joy of my heart.
112  Inclinávi cor meum ad faciéndas justificatiónes tuas in ætérnum, * propter retributiónem.
I have inclined my heart to do your justifications for ever, for the reward.




Christ our light

Today’s section of the psalm starts with an image that was a favourite of the Fathers, and can be seen both as a reference to the Decalogue and the Incarnation alike:

Lucerna pedibus meis verbum tuum, et lumen semitis meis.
Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my paths.

Pope John Paul II commented on this verse that:

Man ventures on life's often dark journey, but all of a sudden the darkness is dispelled by the splendour of the Word of God. Psalm 19[18] compares the Law of God to the sun, when it says that "the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes" (19[18]: 9). Then in the Book of Proverbs it is reasserted that "the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light" (6: 23). Christ was also to present himself as a definitive revelation with exactly the same image: "I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (Jn 8: 12).

On being a lamp to the world

The verse is one we can apply to ourselves too, as Caesarius of Arles pointed out:

If we notice carefully, we will realize that what our Lord said to the blessed apostles also refers to us:
"You are the light of the world," he says, "and no one lights a lamp and puts it under a bushel but on the lampstand, so as to give light to all in the house."

He goes on to suggest that we all, but most especially priests, have a duty to speak out:

"Now, if the head's bodily eyes refuse to show the way to the rest of the members, the whole body walks in darkness. Similarly, if priests, who seem to have the function of eyes in the body of Christ the head, have been put on a lampstand in the church but are unwilling to shine in God's house and have ceased to show the light of doctrine to the whole church, it is to be feared that some of the people may become involved in the darkness of error and fall into some abyss of sin."

Through our baptism we are sworn

The second verse is also a crucial one to keep in mind:

Juravi et statui custodire judicia justitiæ tuæ.
I have sworn and am determined to keep the judgments of your justice.

The oath sworn here is often interpreted as our baptismal promises which, if made on our behalf as infants, we must take upon ourselves as adults and keep with the help of grace in order not to be foresworn. To do so, Cassiodorus tells us is to walk the path of saints:

"Their sacred devotion had enjoined upon themselves the decision to keep the Lord's judgments in each and every danger. The very word denotes its purpose, for iurare (swear) is iure orare, in other words, to plead what is right, so that one may not go astray and seek to renege on one's promise. This is how the saints swear, in other words, make firm decisions, for they have already been strengthened by the Lord's gift."

In fact this whole stanza then becomes a summary of the Christian life.

Drawn by the light of Christ (v105) we are bound to him by the promises of our baptism (v106) and our free commitment to the heritage he has gained for us and offered to us (v111).

We fall into sin, but through confession of our fault are revived (v107).

We struggle constantly with ourselves (v109) and the traps set by the devil (v 110).

We offer our sacrifices of praise (v108), and carry out the corporal and spiritual works of mercy (v110).

And in doing all this, we hope always for the joy of heaven at the end (v 112).

Verse by verse

105 Lucerna pedibus meis verbum tuum, et lumen semitis meis.
Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my paths.

lucerna, ae, f. a light, lamp.
pes, pedis, m. the foot
verbum, i, n., words
lumen, inis, n. light; in the hymns, brightness, splendor
semita, ae, f a path, way; course of life, action, conduct, or procedure.

Lucérna pédibus meis= a lamp to my feet

What is the lamp? It has variously been as the Decalogue, the law more broadly, and the guiding word that comes to us from the Word who is Christ.

verbum tuum =your word

Cf John 1

et lumen =and a light

This is familiar imagery: as Pope Benedict XVI has explained, “In the Biblical message, light is the most immediate image of God: He is total Radiance, Life, Truth, Light. During the Easter Vigil, the Church reads the account of creation as a prophecy. In the resurrection, we see the most sublime fulfilment of what this text describes as the beginning of all things. God says once again: “Let there be light!” The resurrection of Jesus is an eruption of light. Death is conquered, the tomb is thrown open. The Risen One himself is Light, the Light of the world. With the resurrection, the Lord’s day enters the nights of history. Beginning with the resurrection, God’s light spreads throughout the world and throughout history. Day dawns. This Light alone – Jesus Christ – is the true light, something more than the physical phenomenon of light. He is pure Light: God himself, who causes a new creation to be born in the midst of the old, transforming chaos into cosmos.”

sémitis meis= to my ways

What is the purpose of this light? The Pope continues: “In the Old Testament, the Torah was considered to be like the light coming from God for the world and for humanity. The Torah separates light from darkness within creation, that is to say, good from evil. It points out to humanity the right path to true life. It points out the good, it demonstrates the truth and it leads us towards love, which is the deepest meaning contained in the Torah. It is a “lamp” for our steps and a “light” for our path…Christ is the great Light from which all life originates. He enables us to recognize the glory of God from one end of the earth to the other. He points out our path. He is the Lord’s day which, as it grows, is gradually spreading throughout the earth. Now, living with him and for him, we can live in the light.” Easter Vigil 2009

106 Juravi et statui custodire judicia justitiæ tuæ.
I have sworn and am determined to keep the judgments of your justice.

juro, avi, atum, are, to swear, take an oath
statuo, ui, utum, ere 3 to set, place, establish. to change, still, calm;
custodio, ivi or li, itum, ire to guard, watch, keep; to maintain, to hold steadfastly.
judicium, i, n. judgment, decrees; law, commandment; the power, or faculty of judging wisely; justice.
justitia, ae, f justice, righteousness, innocence, piety, moral integrity

Jurávi et státui =I have sworn and I have established/determined/resolved

The commentaries suggest that this does not literally mean swearing an oath, but rather, as the second half of the phrase suggests, the firm resolution to follow the way lit for us by the Word. Haydock suggests that it can be seen as the promises binding us by virtue of our baptism.

custodíre judícia justítiæ tuæ = to guard the judgments of your justice/righteousness, or righteous judgments

Cassiodorus suggests that, in the light of the next verse, the judgments of his justice lie in “His exalting the humble, bringing low the proud, and relieving by the gift of His mercy those prostrated in humble satisfaction.”

107 Humiliatus sum usquequaque, Domine; vivifica me secundum verbum tuum.
I have been humbled, O Lord, exceedingly: quicken me according to your word.

humilio, avi, atum, are to humble, bring low.
usquequaque, adv., utterly, altogether, exceedingly.
vivifico, avi, atum, are (vivus and facio), to quicken, give life to, vivify.

Humiliátus sum usquequáque, Dómine = I have been humbled utterly O Lord

This is a recapitulation of the important message of the earlier picked up by St Benedict in his degrees of humility, and that echoes through so many of Monday’s psalms in the Benedictine Office: God humbles us that he might raise us up in new life, for pride is death. Bellarmine says: "I have been humbled;" persecuted and harassed by reason of my observance of the law; for "all who live piously in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution;"

vivífica me secúndum verbum tuum = revive me according to your word

Bellarmine continues: but do you, O Lord, "quicken me;" grant me, at last, that true life that will be free from all evils; "according to thy word;" according to the promise you made when you said, "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments."

108 Voluntaria oris mei beneplacita fac, Domine, et judicia tua doce me.
The free offerings of my mouth make acceptable, O Lord: and teach me your judgments
.

voluntarium  a free-will offering.
os, oris, n., the mouth.
beneplacitus, a, um well-pleasing, agreeable, acceptable

Voluntária oris mei =the freewill/voluntary offerings of my mouth

This can be interpreted either as a reference back to his promise to keep the Law, or, as St Augustine and others do, as referring to the sacrifices of praise that we offer through our prayers.

beneplácita fac, Dómine= make pleasing/acceptable O Lord

et judícia tua doce me =and your justice teach me

109 Anima mea in manibus meis semper, et legem tuam non sum oblitus.
My soul is continually in my hands: and I have not forgotten your law.

anima, ae,f soul
manus, us, f, the hand
semper, adv., ever, always, at all times.
obliviscor, oblitus sum, obllvisci to forget;

Anima mea=my soul

in mánibus meis semper=in my hands always

There is some debate over whether this should read instead ‘your hands’, but the neo-Vulgate sticks with my hands, that is it means my fate is in my hands – I can choose to ‘forget’ your law or remember it, to sin ro stay the course

et legem tuam =and your law

non sum oblítus = I have not forgotten

110 Posuerunt peccatores laqueum mihi, et de mandatis tuis non erravi.
Sinners have laid a snare for me: but I have not erred from your precepts.

pono, posui, itum, ere 3, to put, place, lay, set.
peccator, oris, m. a sinner, transgressor; the wicked, the godless.
laqueus, ei, m., a noose for capturing animals; a snare, trap
erro, avi, atum, are, to wander, stray, rove,

posuérunt peccatóres =sinners have set/laid

láqueum mihi=a snare/trap for me

Cassiodorus comments on the nature of the traps set for us:

"They have laid means they have stretched out and sprung; they could not have been merely laid idly. A snare without bait does not catch a bird; the more effective deceit is that which beguiles with something pleasant. The devil's snare was armed with thirty pieces of silver when it trapped Judas and choked him to death. It caught Saul by proud jealousy; it drew the noose tight on Cain through envy of his brother;and there are other examples of the devil's rage continually attacking the continuing life of this world, for in the forest of the world you find as many snares as you observe vices."

et de mandátis tuis= but your commandments

non errávi = I have not strayed (from)

111 Hæreditate acquisivi testimonia tua in æternum, quia exsultatio cordis mei sunt.
I have purchased your testimonies for an inheritance for ever: because they are the joy of my heart.

hereditas, atis, f. an inheritance, possession; the chosen people, the Israelites, the Church,
acquiro, quisivi, qulsitum, ere 3, to acquire, obtain
exsultatio, onis, f. joy, rejoicing, exultation
cor, cordis, n., the heart

Hereditáte acquisívi = I have acquired/obtained/purchased by/as an inheritance

The Greek verb is translated by two Latin ones to convey the nuances of its meaning: he didn’t just inherit it automatically, but purchased or acquired it deliberately.

testimónia tua in ætérnum = your testimonies forever

quia exsultátio =for the joy

cordis mei sunt =of my heart they are

=for/because they are the joy of my heart

Bellarmine paraphrases the verse as: "I have chosen your law as an everlasting inheritance, because it is most sweet and most agreeable to me, and the source of supreme joy and delight."

112 Inclinavi cor meum ad faciendas justificationes tuas in æternum, propter retributionem.
I have inclined my heart to do your justifications for ever, for the reward.

inclino, avi, atum, are, to bend, incline
propter, prep, with ace. In stating a cause: on account of, by reason of, because of, from, for, for the sake of.
retributio, onis, f. reward, recompense, requital, either as a reward or punishment

Inclinávi cor meum = I have inclined my heart

ad faciéndas justificatiónes tuas = to the doing/to do [of] your justifications

That is, the works of corporal and spiritual mercy according to Cassiodorus:

“Doing justifications means performing the Lord's commands with feelings of humility; breaking bread for the hungry, clothing the naked, sympathising with others' calamities, and the other activities which the Creator's devotion has deigned to recommend to the human race.”

in ætérnum =forever

Does the forever refer to the doing of your justifications or the reward? The text is ambiguous: St Jerome’s from the Hebrew version attaches it to the reward (which kind of makes sense); but the neo-Vulgate to the first phrase. But the choice to incline our hearts now to doing God’s will means that when we die that inclination is fixed forever, so it does make sense as the Douay-Rheims and others interpret it.

propter retributiónem = for the sake of the reward/requital/judgment

The neo-Vulgate changes this to ‘in finem’ or until the end. Either way, all it is saying is that our hope is the joy of heaven.

Scriptural and liturgical uses of the stanza

In the Roman Office it is said at Sunday Sext, and in the Liturgy of the Hours at Vespers.

NT references
Heb 13:15 (108);
RB cursus
Monday None (1)
Monastic feasts etc
-
Roman pre 1911
Sext throughout the week
Responsories
-
Roman post 1911
1911-62: Sunday Sext (7);  
Mass propers (EF)


And you can find the next part in this series here.