Life Lived Abundantly: Benedictine Wisdom from Mount Angel Abbey

[Music] [Music] oh god come to my assistance [Music] glory be to the father and to the son and to the holy spirit [Music] welcome dear friends this video is our introduction to benedict and monastic life here at mount angel abbey i'm abba jeremy driscoll i'm the 12th habit of mount angel our benedict monastery was founded in 1882 in the mid willamette valley in oregon but the original monks of mount angel came from engelberg abbey in switzerland and in the year 2020 engelberg celebrated 900 years of continuous monastic existence for 1500 years monks have been living out of the wisdom of the rule of saint benedict the life we live as monks here at mount angel is a continuation of a very long and esteemed tradition then saint benedict is considered the father of monasticism in the western church he designs a way of life centered on christ he says cherish christ above all things prefer nothing whatsoever to christ and everything we do in the monastery has that as its end and while all who live according to the rule of benedict have much in common each monastery also develops its own particular ways of living that rule so in this video we want to share with you what i call seven rich ways of being a benedictine monk here at mount angel these ways are ways that we live and practice every day within our monastic cloister and generally it's just us monks inside the cloister and so others don't see us living out the details but actually these ways that i want to tell you about can be lived by any person anywhere and the effects of such living are powerful humanizing in christ at last it's possible to be properly human these rich ways are an antidote to the to the turmoil and confusion and the extreme divisions that we're experiencing in our society today in a minute we'll look at each of the seven ways and share a little bit of how it's lived through our various works here at mount angel they said all seven of these ways are practiced inside the monastery cloister by all the monks or that's our ideal but the effects of how we live within the cloister bear fruit and have an impact outside the cloister in other parts of our whole monastery complex rich ways of prayer rich ways of life live together in community rich ways of deep thoughtful reading [Music] rich ways of hospitality welcoming all who come as christ rich ways of life centered on the eucharist rich ways of promoting arts and culture and finding rich ways of caring for the land and environment that support our life in so many ways living these ways with intention is what saint benedict calls a school of the lord's service it's a disciplined way of learning to grow more deeply in our life with christ and with one another in christ these are ways that anyone can choose to live you don't need to be a monk and a cloister to do it it comes down to paying attention to the little things that make up day-to-day life showing up and being present to one another to those with whom we live and work and it means seeking as saint paul are just seeking things above [Music] rich ways of prayer the liturgy of the hours defines the rhythm of our life five times a day we meet in the abbey church to chant the psalms reflect on scripture and pray for all our friends benefactors and the needs of the whole world benedict and monasteries have always opened their church doors to welcome all who come to join in prayer we hope to welcome you as well we amongst them on angel abbey gather at the abbey church several times each day for prayer pausing whatever other work we are doing for what is undoubtedly the most important activity that takes place on this hilltop the presence of the guests such as retreatants or seminarians or day visitors impacts my own prayer of the divine office in a sense it is more true to what the liturgy is all about and the liturgy is the work of the people well i'll tell you i i learned that uh with coven we uh and it especially true um last year that would that would have been uh christmas of 2020 we had that wonderful a high midnight mass and nobody was there and boy did that make a difference when you have when you have a full church um it just is so much different there's there's the whole assembly i guess it's a sense of the whole church praying and when you have a full church you you have the whole church for us you know and that that makes a a big difference uh even when in office i i enjoy uh like vespers on weekends especially because we usually have retreatants with us and to have people are praying with us that's that's a wonderful feeling i i think my experience of god is it's in i think in first kings where elijah was running away and he came to that cave and then god was going to speak to him and there was a mighty uh earthquake and god wasn't there and there was a mighty fire and god wasn't there and there was a strong wind and god wasn't there and then there was a gentle breeze and that's where god was and and i think that's always been my experience of god i never have never get knocked off my feet but i think over the years as i've reflected on it i think oh yeah god's been present in some way god has changed me rich ways of life together the monastic way of living doesn't mean we're all the same but it does mean that we are on this journey of life together no one goes to heaven alone saint benedict urges us to live with great patience for one another no matter he says the defects of body or character in our brothers he was talking about life in a monastic community but this is true for the whole church we either go to god together everyone coming along or we don't go over the centuries the image of a monk has become that of a solitary figure on the search for the divine perhaps to some on the search for an escape from the cares and troubles of this world in the life of a benedictine monk that image is about as far from our reality as it could be every element of the rule of saint benedict is concentrated on how to journey toward god together in community i like to say when when people ask and i'm talking about life together in the monastery there's a lot of i'm sorry's given that's just the reality uh there's a lot of forgiveness that happens here maybe you had a bad attitude with the brother in the morning or something and or maybe you were flout out pretty rude or something i don't know uh there's just so many opportunities uh to say sorry and and and just like families on the outside have to i don't want to say deal put up with love one another we have to do the same here at the monastery too it's not always easy in fact it's fair to say that this constant living together in community is our daily cross and also our path to salvation i like to call my brothers my tickets to heaven [Music] rich ways of deep reading we may not think of many who lived 1500 years ago as literate yet saint benedict in his rule dedicate several hours a day in the monk's schedule to lectio divina that is slow prayerful deep reading such reading focuses first on scripture but from there spans outward to embrace the whole world in christ we read this way at mount angel and you can too come spend a few hours in our beautiful library designed by one of the 20th century's greatest architects alvar alto hold the books in your hands slowly deeply read in the silent company of whoever else is there doing the same thing notice how you feel after you've done this for a while and then gently close the pages you are in communion with christ the word made flesh none of these seven rich ways exists in isolation from the others in our library where we strive to create an atmosphere in which the practice of deep reading lectio divina can be practiced and experienced by all who come prayer and communal living form the backbone our liturgical prayer consists of chanting all the psalms and other passages of scripture during the divine office five times every day each monk also dedicates time each day for lectio divina that is for reading of the scripture when he can quietly reflect on god's word and apply it to his own life by reading the bible in this slow prayerful way the early monks soon realized that they were being made to ponder the meaning of the whole of creation and the whole movement of human history their literature grew into sometimes vast libraries and what monks read now is not only the scriptural text but ultimately anything at all in which they might search for the convergence of all things in the christian mysteries we share this practice with all who come to mount angel's auto library and we also invite all who come to share in our life of common prayer by joining us at any of the hours of the divine office and the eucharistic liturgy rich ways of hospitality outside the cloister are two biggest works at mount angel are the seminary and the guest house [Music] the seminary is focused on forming future priests with all that requires the guest house receives all who come as christ that is we believe that christ himself comes in the guest in addition there is the brewery which attracts its own set of guests who end up in conversation with monks seminarians and those who come for retreats all together at mount angel we experience the crossroad of worlds and cultures almost from the beginning of our being here at mount angel we monks have held as primary the work of welcoming and educating men preparing for priestly ordination the seminarians studying at mount angel learn to read deeply and pray regularly according to the traditions of the church and to extend to all whom they meet the benedictine hospitality they experience here on this hilltop the men discerning a vocation to priesthood at mount angel participate fully in the life of the hilltop they have the opportunity to see and meet hundreds of retreatants who come each year searching and seeking for god others come for renewal and knowledge and still others for direction and peace of heart our holy father saint benedict instructs us to receive all who come as christ welcoming all to participate with us in the hours of prayer to spend time in the alto library to soak up the atmosphere of this space of beauty of silence and deep acceptance of the fullness of life christ offers us whoever comes to mount angel and for whatever reason we are blessed by their presence among us rich ways of centering on the eucharist this is the most important of our rich ways the eucharist is not unique to monasteries of course but there are ways in which a monastic community like ours patterns its life so as to bring into effect a strong sense of the eucharistic liturgy as the source and summit of the church's life no matter how where or when you connect with mount angel eucharist is what brings us together most deeply in the spirit and in christ when you're looking for god you don't look for him as if he were some other thing in the universe but you look for him in the everyday common experiences and the liturgy and the eucharist bring that out because it gathers all the community together and there god is really made present in a different way but amidst all of that it's always in a community for those who haven't been to the eucharist the holy sacrifice of the mass for a long time i think i would say to them that jesus wants to be united with you he came into this world to save us [Music] and jesus is emmanuel god with us and he is not a god who is far away in outer space but he is the word made flesh dwelling among us and so i would just encourage those who may be far away from the eucharist and the mass to open up your hearts once more to come to jesus say yes to that invitation to be with him and to enter into that loving communion [Music] is [Music] [Music] us [Music] uh is [Music] [Music] me it god [Music] she [Music] rich ways of promoting the arts and culture [Music] art and culture is what happens when you live these rich ways that's why a monastery feels like something to be at mount angel feels like something it's a place with the spirit of the place so it's not indifferent what the architecture is like what art is placed on the walls what music is chosen for each liturgy even how we dress creates a sense of place all that constitutes the environment we live in creates a beautiful cultural environment a unique mount angel monastic environment where the arts and culture are accessible to you and to all who come there's a scene in the life of saint benedict where he is in his tower at prayer he sees this world in a single contemplative glance in christ he sees all created reality for what it truly is in the sight of god he silently gazes on god in loving adoration as disciples of saint benedict we're called to that same loving gaze in our times but our gaze doesn't end in a silent gaze we're called forth to share the view of a truly human life and culture as it is created and sustained by the loving gaze of god when we find things beautiful then we are drawn to them it lifts the heart and it becomes our longing so beauty has a way of attracting and purifying the soul that beauty is transformed into artwork that is placed throughout this entire hill in every building and it's not an indiscriminate placement it's a placement that is very cleverly and clearly determined to help us all to see the beauty that surrounds us in creation itself [Music] rich ways of caring for land and environment caring for the environment and the land on which we live comes naturally from the facts that monks vow to live in one place for our whole life we take care of the place upon which we dwell and we cherish the natural beauty that surrounds us in previous centuries monks did lots of farming and were pioneers in the agricultural development of europe not angel all who come to visit the hilltop and the benedictum brewery know what this means simply by spending time in this space in this beautiful space fruit of the earth and work of human hands a monk learns to see all of creation as the dynamic work of god a lot of love creates all things and sustains all things moment to moment with that awareness respect and care for our environment lets us be co-creators with god the creator for example in landscaping where human genius brings up the beauty that god builds into trees shrubs and stone or in gardening where we nurture flowers for the church herbs for the kitchen squash for the table another good example of working with our environment is the operation of the benedictine brewery where the monks brew beer in the traditional monastic method [Music] we use hops from our own lands and water from our own well the current brewery at mount angel dates to 2013 but we know that the original founding monks of this monastery counted a brewery among their works as early as 1885. in other ways care for the environment makes us stewards of god's creation so having goats and cattle graze our hillsides keeps them clean and orderly that's good stewardship replanting trees after you cut some down is good stewardship composting leaves to fertilize the garden is good stewardship i think of so many of the classical benedict and monasteries that are placed up on a hill with great visibility for all kinds of marvels in nature certainly that's true here at mount angel just the last few days we've had some incredible sunrises that give us the vista of color and shapes of the hills and and uh the valley and we see that the the multiple colors of green and other shades that that that come into view which which really promote some reflection on on the beauty of nature itself and god's graciousness to us and in allowing us to share all that beauty in that and to reflect on what it means in terms of our relationship with him saint joseph was a quiet man and a patient man somebody who maybe didn't see right away the result of his labors often when we do physical work we do see the result of our labors right away but that also is a chance for great humility and patience i think saint joseph well represents the person who is trying his level best to work honestly diligently in the service of something that is much much greater than himself and for that reason our care of our landscape and environment here is not something that we try to be proud of it's simply an inheritance that we hope to preserve and pass on to the next generation of monks and to the world at large spouse of the blessed virgin mary to you god his only son if you marry placed her trust with you christ yourself and guide us in the past [Music] obtained for us grace mercy and courage and defend us from every [Music] you can learn more about mount angel and our way of life by visiting our our website but i hope also you come to visit us here at the hilltop mount angel and experience the living of these benedictine ways firsthand we the monks of mount angel look forward to meeting you soon [Music] [Music] you

Channel: MountAngelAbbey

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Length: 30min 37sec (1837 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 21 2022