{"id":9,"date":"2015-01-10T19:30:25","date_gmt":"2015-01-10T19:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/?page_id=9"},"modified":"2016-01-24T04:17:03","modified_gmt":"2016-01-24T04:17:03","slug":"monasticism","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/monasticism\/","title":{"rendered":"Monasticism"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"St

St Vincent Archabbey Basilica, Latrobe, PA<\/p><\/div>\n

Although some may be surprised to hear it, monasticism is alive and well in the modern day.\u00a0 There are various forms of monasticism practiced in the 3rd millenium, but many men and women are still living out the vocation of developing a singular (mono) focus on God.\u00a0 The most venerable practice of monasticism in the western world, in the Roman Catholic Church, is Benedictine monasticism, whose practitioners seek to live out the wisdom of St Benedict as codified in his Holy Rule.<\/p>\n

A singular focus on the divine presence<\/h2>\n

The Holy Rule of St Benedict, written in the first half of the 6th century can be summarized in first verse of chapter 19, “We believe that the divine presence is everywhere and, ‘that in every place the eyes of the Lord are watching the good and the wicked,’ (Prov 15:3).”\u00a0 The singular focus of the monk is becoming aware of the divine presence everywhere.\u00a0 St Benedict arranges the life of the monastery to facilitate this loving awareness of the divine presence, such that the monk can experience God’s loving gaze in all he does–in prayer in common, in personal prayer (lectio divina<\/em>), in the Abbot, in the monastic brethren, in the guest, in the sick, in work, in meals, in the morning, in the evening, awake and asleep.<\/p>\n

Above all in the divine office<\/h2>\n

In addition to setting out the truth that the divine presence is everywhere and establishing this as the singular focus of the monk, St Benedict goes on to teach the monk where he can best develop this sensitivity–in the Divine Office.\u00a0 St Benedict writes, “But beyond the least doubt we should believe this to be especially true when we celebrate the divine office.”\u00a0 (RB 19:2)\u00a0 St Benedict knows that the Church’s prayer, the divine office, in which the monks gather together and pray the psalms, is the place where God’s presence is most obviously experienced.\u00a0 Just as in other areas of our lives (sports, art, writing, engineering), we benefit from practicing in a simpler environment.\u00a0 This liturgical prayer is the simplest environment for us to become aware of the divine presence.\u00a0 From the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharistic liturgy to the presence of God in the praying community, “enthroned on the praises of his people” (Psalm 22), we can best develop our sensitivity to the divine presence through the liturgy, which St Benedict calls the divine office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although some may be surprised to hear it, monasticism is alive and well in the modern day.\u00a0 There are various forms of monasticism practiced in the 3rd millenium, but many men and women are still living out the vocation of developing a singular (mono) focus on God.\u00a0 The most venerable practice of monasticism in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/full-width.php","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-9","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P7bfMR-9","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10722,"url":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/books-and-articles\/","url_meta":{"origin":9,"position":0},"title":"Books and Articles","author":"Father Boniface Hicks, O.S.B.","date":"August 27, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"What I have written, in one place \u2014 the books, the articles, and the academic work. 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