What Monasticism in the History of the Church can Teach Us

Introduction

Monasticism is a religious way of life that can be found in many parts of the world. It is a way of life by which men and women choose to be geographically apart from social, economic and political structures of urban life. Some choose this way of life as a permanent commitment, while others only temporary (to prepare for special work or mission in the world.

Monasticism in the Christian tradition had one of its original meaning from St. John Cassian and his writings. For John Cassian, monasticism involves: purity of heart, detachment from worldly possessions and ambitions, a great desire for interior silence, prayer and union with God.

Monasticism's influence in history

The more the monks in Christian tradition centered everything on God and their concern for all of Christianity, the more they produced an immense influence and positive impact on society. On the other hand, the more the monks attended to social, economic, and political affairs to the detriment of their contemplative life of prayer, silence and community, the more their influence diminished.

Cluny and the Cistercians

Cluny was an important monastic center in the history of Western Christianity. When Cluny was founded by Duke William of Aquitaine in the tenth century, its saintly abbots and monks created a great influence on European life and culture. This positive impact did not end with Cluny. The fullness of monasticism's positive influence came through the Cistercians.
The Cistercians' spirituality was able to balance well all the elements of the monastic way of life: liturgical prayer, sacred reading, labor to support themselves and their studies. It was the Cistercian way of life that gifted the Church with great mystical writers like: St. Bernard of Clairvaux, William of Saint-Thierry, Isaac of Stella, and St. Lutgard (or Lutgardis).

Conclusion

We can learn a lot from monasticism the virtues of moderation and balance in living. Moderation and balance is often lost when people in the cities and industrialized areas forget what is really essential in life. That is why many who are called to that vocation leave their secular way of life and rediscover the balance and moderation necessary to live according to the ideals of the Christian faith. It was the Cistercian monks (who followed the Rule of St. Benedict) who were able to achieve this balance at its best in many elements of their way of life. That is why their monastic spirit evolved into its fullest infuential force at a time in history when it was needed.

Sources of this blog post

• The New Dictionary of Theology, by editors Komonchak,
  Collins, and Lane
• Dictionary of Saints, by John Delaney
• The Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism, by editor
  Bernard McGinn

The Seven Penitential Psalms

There are many pious customs in Catholic tradition. During Lent, one of the more popular customs is to pray the Stations of the Cross. There is an old version still used by some parishes; and there is a new version - one based on scripture passages.

An older pious custom is the recitation of the Seven Penitential Psalms as prayers against the seven deadly sins: pride, sloth, gluttony, avarice, lust, envy, and anger. These seven penitential psalms are: Psalm 6, 31, 37, 51, 101, 129, and 142. Psalm 51 is recited every morning prayer for Friday by those who pray the breviary. Below are excerpts from these psalms; but you can read them in their entirety from a Bible translation of your preference.

Psalm 6
Lord, do not reprove me in your anger; punish me not in your rage. Have mercy on me, Lord, I have no strength; Lord, heal me, my body is racked; my soul is racked with pain.

Psalm 31
Happy the man whose offence is forgiven, whose sin is remitted. But now I have acknowledged my sins; my guilt I did not hide. I said: 'I will confess my offence to the Lord.' And you, Lord, have forgiven the guilt of my sin.

Psalm 37
My wounds are foul and festering, the result of my own folly. I am bowed and brought to my knees. I go mourning all the day long. O Lord, you know all my longing: my groans are not hidden from you.

Psalm 51
Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness. In your compassion blot out my offence. O wash me more and more from my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. My offences truly I know them; my sin is always before me. Against you, you alone, have I sinned; what is evil in your sight I have done. O purify me, then I shall be clean; O wash me, I shall be whiter than snow.

Psalm 101
O Lord, listen to my prayer and let my cry for help reach you. Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress. Turn your ear towards me and answer me quickly when I call. My days are like a passing shadow and I wither away like the
grass.

Psalm 129
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord, Lord, hear my voice! O let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleading. If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive? But with you is found forgiveness: for this we revere you.

Psalm 142
You are faithful, you are just; give answer. Do not call your servant to judgment for no one is just in your sight. For your name's sake, Lord, save my life; in your justice save my soul from distress.

In a hagiography of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, it reported that during his formation in the Cistercian order, he faithfully recited these seven penitential psalms. And there is a story that his formator - St. Stephen Harding - knew miraculously that St. Bernard forgot to recite at one time this devotion and reminded him to do so.

Eschatological Reversal in the Scriptures

Eschatological Reversal

What is Eschatological Reversal?

• This is a theological term that refers to
  the study of eschatology - the theology of the end times
• Eschatological reversal means that the present
  situation will be reversed during the end times [when the new
  heavens and the new earth is created] - meaning those who have,
  will not have, and those who do not have, will have
• We can understand eschatological reversal
  through scripture passages in the New Testament
• The Magnificat of Mary gives a glimpse of this
  "...He has pulled down princes from
  their thrones and exalted the lowly. The hungry he has filled
  with good things, the rich sent empty away." [Lk 1:52-53]
• The Beatitudes also present the reality of eschatological reversal
  "...Happy those who mourn: they shall be
  comforted.
  
  
  Happy those who hunger and thirst for what is right: they
  shall be satisfied. [Mt 5:5-6]
• The parable of the rich man and Lazarus:
  
  
  "There was a rich man who used to dress in purple and fine
  linen and feast magnificently every day. And at his gate there
  lay a poor man called Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed
  to fill himself with the scraps that fell from the rich man's
  table. Dogs even came and licked his sores. Now the poor man
  died and was carried away by the angels to the bosom of Abraham.
  The rich man also died and was buried. 'In his torment in Hades
  he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off with Lazarus in
  his bosom..." [Lk 16:19-24]
• There are many other passages in the Scriptures
  that present a glimpse of the
  the end times. The basic message
  of this end reality means that those who are now in situations
  of poverty, suffering, and affliction, will in the end receive
  the reward of a good life - something opposite to what they are
  presently experiencing. And those who are eating
  magnificently like the rich man, will in the end experience the
  opposite - suffering, torment and want.