Benedict and Lent

In the Rule of Benedict Chapter 49: The Observance of Lent we read: "At all times the lifestyle of a monk ought to have a Lenten quality."  Terrence G. Kardong, OSB, writes that "observance" means external behavior.  The chapter also discusses attitudes, but it is quite concrete in its interests.  "Monasticism is primarily a lifestyle and not merely a philosophy."  What counts is the translation of our beliefs into action and behavior. "Let each monastic deny herself some food, drink, sleep, needless talking and idle jesting."  This is not life as usual. The community is called to an observance as community when he says:  "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."  He is calling for a communal effort to enter into this holy season.  "We will add to the usual measure of our service something by way of private prayer and abstinence from food or drink."  It should be evident to all who enter the monastery during the Lenten season that there is a new intensity and intentionality about our living the monastic life. It is a communal witness that followers of Christ form community around God's word.

Yet Benedict makes clear that the real heart of this spiritual season is the voluntary and loving choice of each person.  Benedict's chapter on Lent is marked by a certain freedom and an emphasis on the spiritual motivations for Lenten observance.   Although the natural tendency is to associate penance with sorrow, Benedict believes that all of monastic life depends on a willing and spontaneous spirit of joyful love.   The most evocative and personal feature of RB 49 is its appeal to the inmost heart of the monastic for the motivation for Lenten penance. We are to go above the assigned measure "with the joy of the Holy Spirit."  The Holy Spirit does not appear often in the Rule but her appearance in this verse is theologically significant.  Benedict makes sure that the personal initiative of the monastic for Lenten penance does not stem from willfulness or self-delusion.   Only then can the Spirit work freely in one's heart.  The key sentence in this regard is 49.7 "Look forward to holy Easter with joy of spiritual desire."  He uses the word gaudium which appears in RB only twice.  Benedict is calling us to holiness and invites us to move beyond where we stand today.  We are to actively engage in conversion of heart.

God's word calls us during this season: to pray, fast and give alms; to forgive as we are forgiven; to bear one another's burden.  To answer these calls we must turn away from sin and seek repentance, and trust that God's Spirit will guide us in our journey during these days.  Lent invites us to concentrate in a special way on the spiritual life as we prepare to celebrate our life in Christ more fully, more intimately, and more authentically.  It is in the shadow of the cross and in the light of resurrection that we come to know our true identity and the meaning of our life.  Easter should be a celebration of resurrection in our own life.