Living Lent Day to Day (Everlasting Lent)
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Slides from presentation by Sister Paule Pierre Barbeau at the December 2016 meeting Benedictine Oblates of St Scholastica Monastery, Duluth MN. This was one of a series focusing on the Hard Sayings of St. Benedict, drawing its inspiration from Chapter 49 of his Rule, which begins "The life of a monk ought to be an everlasting Lent."
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Living Lent Day to Day (Everlasting Lent)
- 1. HARD SAYINGS OF ST. BENEDICT: LIVING LENT DAY TO DAY (Everlasting Lent) Benedictine Oblates St. Scholastica Monastery Duluth, Minnesota 11 December 2016
- 2. Agenda • Introductions • Midday Prayer • 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 • Announcements • Conference • Discussion • Closing Prayer • Refreshments
- 3. Announcements • Handel’s Messiah Sing-Along, Dec. 13, 7:30 pm • $15 score • Caroling, Cookies and Cider, Dec. 15, 7:00 pm • Taizé Prayer and Song, Dec. 19, 8:00 pm • Christmas Masses at the Monastery • Dec. 24, 8:00 pm • Dec. 25, 11:00 am • Octave of Christmas, 11:45 am • Mary, Mother of God, Jan.1, 11:00 am • Retreat Works of Mercy, Jan. 21, 9:00-noon • Next Oblate Meeting, Jan. 15, 1:00 pm • NAABOD – July 14-19, 2017
- 4. RB 49.1 The life of a monk ought to be a continuous Lent. https://pixabay.com/
- 6. History of Lent • Latin quadragesima– fortieth • Old English Lencten – spring • Ash Wed. to noon Holy Saturday (46 d) • “40 d fast” (excl. Sundays) • Origin: Apostles after death of Jesus? • Mk 2:18-20 • St. Irenaeus (d. 203) • Letter to Pope St. Victor I commenting about differences between East & West • Regularized by Council of Nicea (325) http://www.forwallpaper.com/
- 7. Scriptural Basis for Forty-Day Fast of Lent • Jesus • 40 h in the tomb ***** • 40 d in the desert • Moses – 40 d on Mount Sinai • Elijah – 40 d walking to Mount Horeb • Noah – 40 d rain • Israelites – 40 y desert • Jonah – 40 d for Nineveh to repent or be destroyed
- 8. Purpose of Lent • Time of preparation through, historically, • Prayer • Penance • Repentance of sins • Almsgiving • Atonement • Self-denial • Modern times: • Prayer • Fasting/Adding spiritual discipline • Almsgiving http://faithcolouredglasses.blogspot.com/2012/03/cleansers-for-soul.html
- 10. History of Advent • Latin adventus – coming • Beginning of the new liturgical year • Fourth Sunday before Christmas until celebration of the Nativity of the Lord • 1st Sunday of Advent is the one closest to Feast of St. Andrew (Nov. 30) • Nov. 27 – Dec. 3
- 11. History of Advent (2) • Origin: unknown • 4th C - Feast of the Nativity • 5th C - Homilies – general prep. • 490 Bishop Perpetuus of Tours • St. Martin’s Lent • 3 d/w fasting from Nov. 11 to Christmas • 6th C – fasting Nov. 11 to Jan. 6 (Epiphany) • 56 d excl. Sat. & Sun = 40 d • 650 – Spain : 5 Sundays • 1073-85 – Pope Gregory VII • Reduced Advent to four Sundays
- 12. Purpose of Advent • Season of preparation • Wait in joyful expectation for annual event of Christ’s birth, and for His second coming • Historically, mainly penitential theme, similar to Lent • Today: • Less intense penitential theme • Prayerful, spiritual preparation for second and final coming of the Lord • Joyful preparation for Feast of the Nativity (Incarnation)
- 13. Observances Advent • Lit. color: deep purple • Prayer • Fasting/Spiritual Discipline • Almsgiving • Daily devotional • Omission of Gloria • Gaudete Sunday • Advent wreath • Jesse tree • Advent calendar Lent • Mardi Gras • Lit. color: violet • Prayer • Fasting/Spiritual Discipline • Almsgiving • Daily devotional • Omission of Gloria/Alleluia • Laetare Sunday • Stations of the Cross • Veiling of religious images • Easter Triduum
- 16. RB 49.1 • The life of a monk ought to be a continuous Lent. A NEW IDEA OR A SUMMARY STATEMENT?
- 17. RB 49.1 • The life of a monk ought to be a continuous Lent. • Since few, however, have the strength for this, we urge the entire community during these days of Lent to keep its manner of life most pure and to wash away in this holy season the negligences of other times. (v.2)
- 18. Prologue • …we must obey God at all times… (v.6) • If you hear God’s voice today, do not harden your hearts (Ps 94:8; v. 10) • …the Lord waits for us daily to translate into action, as we should, his holy teachings (v. 35)
- 19. RB 4 – The Tools for Good Works • Day by day remind yourself that you are going to die. (v. 47) • Hour by hour keep careful watch over all you do. (v. 48) • Live by God’s commandments every day… (v. 63) • These, then, are the tools of the spiritual craft. When we have used them without ceasing day and night and have returned them on judgment day, our wages will be the reward the Lord has promised. (vv. 75-76)
- 20. RB 7 - Humility • … if every day the angels assigned to us report our deeds to the Lord day and night, then, brothers, we must be vigilant every hour… (v.28-29) • For your sake we are put to death continually… (v. 38) http://www.toonpool.com/
- 21. RB - Prayer • Seven times a day have I praised you (Ps 118:164). We will fulfill this sacred number of seven if we satisfy our obligations of service at Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline. (16.1-2) • Reading before Compline (42.3-5) • Determined times for private sacred reading (48.1)
- 22. RB - Fasting • Love fasting (4.13) • Refrain from too much eating or sleeping, and from laziness (4.36-38) • Anger, grudges, deceit, hollow greetings, false oaths… (4.22-28) • Chapter 39 – Proper Amount of Food • Chapter 40 – Proper Amount of Drink • Chapter 41 – Times for Meals • Monks should diligently cultivate silence at all times, but especially at night (42.1) https://pixabay.com/
- 23. RB - Almsgiving • Time • Corporal works of mercy (4.14-19) • Talent • Monks will read and sing, not according to rank, but according to their ability to benefit their hearers (38.12) • Artisans should practice their craft with all humility and with the abbot’s permission (57.1) • Treasure • …monks may not have the free disposal even of their own bodies and will (33.4) • Pricing of artisans’ products (57-7-8) • Private Ownership (33) • Distribution of Goods According to Need (34)
- 24. Scripture • Need for Watchfulness (Mt 24:36-44) • Pray always (Lk 18:1) • The Rich Fool (Lk 12:13-21) • Justification by works and not faith alone (Ja 2:24) https://dwellingintheword.wordpress.com/2013/05/03/1045-luke-1232-59/
- 25. Summary • Christians are called to live a Lenten life of watchfulness, preparedness, prayerfulness, and charity. • Benedict gives us the tools and a roadmap to help us achieve this on a daily basis so that we are not caught unprepared at the second coming of Christ!
- 26. How Intentional Are You About Your Daily Lenten Observance? • Prayer? • Fasting/Spiritual Discipline? • Almsgiving?
Editor's Notes
- Mk 2:18-20 “18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people[h]came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.” St. Irinaeus: "The dispute is not only about the day, but also about the actual character of the fast. Some think that they ought to fast for one day, some for two, others for still more; some make their 'day' last 40 hours on end. Such variation in the observance did not originate in our own day, but very much earlier, in the time of our forefathers" (Eusebius, History of the Church, V, 24).