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 he
mission of Contemplative Benedictines is always and everywhere to
pray. How is this possible? St. Benedict himself gives us the clue.
Prayer is call and response. First we must listen with the "ear
of our heart" to
the voice of God inviting
us to follow him. Then we must
call on him: "And first of all, whatever good work thou undertakest,
ask
him with most instant prayer to perfect it." |
| (Prologue of the Rule
of St. Benedict) Monastic
life demands not only
the
discipline of stopping whatever one is doing when the bell rings to summon
the community for formal prayer, but learning to regard one's
work, study, community interactions, and encounters with guests,
indeed all that one does, as part of a continual dialogue with
God. |
 |
 egina
Laudis retains the observance of the full Divine Office, as originally
prescribed by St. Benedict, beginning in the stillness of night
with Matins at 1:50 a.m. and gathering as a community seven times
during the day to sing the psalms of Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext,
None, Vespers and Compline. We have also chosen to
sing the Mass and Divine Office in Latin and to retain the Gregorian
Chant. |
| Sometimes referred to as plainsong, because it predates the use of harmony or polyphony, the simple, pure lines of the
Chant go back to the origins of the first Christian communities
and the earliest recorded Western music. |
 |
he poetry
of the Chant texts conveys the richness of the inexhaustible Mysteries
of Christ's birth, passion, death and glorious resurrection. Through Lectio Divina and study we see by analogy these same mysteries incarnated in our
daily lives as we work together in monastic community. The texts of the Chant
never lose touch with the |
| fact that the life of faith is built upon
the truth of human experience, providing a secret wellspring for
the music's unfailing vitality. |
 ur
Foundress and first abbess, Mother Benedict Duss, insisted on the
spiritual and aesthetic value of the Chant from the beginning
of the Foundation, even when other monasteries were turning to
more contemporary musical expressions. In her own words: |
"I had an intuitive conviction that the Chant had the power
to
communicate the life of God as no other music does."
|
From the interview "Why Gregorian Chant?" by Tom Pomposello
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ach
day we celebrate Mass at 8:00 a.m., centering the day in the
Eucharist. This daily participation in the sacramental presence
of the body of Christ is then taken into every aspect of our
life. Within the containment of the enclosure we have the chance
to immerse ourselves in the pattern of
the life of Jesus, Son of Mary, throughout the whole year.
