Cap. LII
DE ORATORIO MONASTERII

[Ms P, fol. 135r – Paulus Diaconus –
Ps.-Basil: Ms K¹, fol. 142r; Ms E¹, fol. 153v; Ms E², fol. 232v]

Ch. 52
CONCERNING THE ORATORY OF THE MONASTERY

Translated by: Corinna Prior

Quia superius dixit, qualiter illi, qui in opere sunt vel in via, suum officium reddant Deo omnipotenti, nacta ex hoc occasione consequens erat, ut nunc etiam diceret de [page 499] oratorio, i. e. dispositis fratribus in labore vel in via directis, disponit etiam illos, qui in monasterio sunt, qualiter orent. Ideo subjunxit hoc capitulum de oratorio.

Since [Benedict] spoke above about how men who either are [engaged] in work or on a journey render their duty to almighty God, consequentially the opportunity arose from that for him to him speak now about [page 499] the oratory. That is [just as he spoke] about the brothers assigned work or sent on a journey, he now directs those who are in the monastery about how they should pray. Therefore he added this chapter about the oratory.

Sequitur: ₁Oratorium monasterii hoc sit, quod dicitur, nec ibi quidquam aliud geratur aut condatur. ₂Expleto opere Dei omnes cum summo silentio exeant, et agatur reverentia Deo, ₃ut frater, qui forte sibi peculiariter vult orare, non impediatur alterius improbitate.

Next: ₁Let the oratory of the monastery be what it is called: a place where nothing else is done or kept. ₂Once the work of God is completed, all should leave [the oratory] with the greatest silence and let it be done with reverence for God ₃so that a brother who perhaps wishes to pray privately for himself not be hindered by the wickedness of another.

Honestatem, inquit,¹ docet B. Benedictus, sequens auctoritatem canonicam; praecipiunt enim canones in concilio Laodicensi cap. 28, cujus titulus iste est: In ecclesiis prandia fieri non debeant. [Council of Laodicea (363/364), c. 28, part of numerous collections] Sic enim dicunt canones, quod non oporteat in dominicis, i. e. in Domini ecclesiis, convivia, quae vocantur agapae, fieri, nec intra domum Dei comedere vel accubitos sternere.

St. Benedict teaches honesty, Hildemar says, according to canonical authority, since the canons of the Council of Laodicea, chapter 28, of which the heading is Meals ought not to be prepared in churches, command it. For thus the canons say that it is not fitting for feasts that are called agapae to take place in churches on Sundays, that is in the churches of the Lord, nor to eat within the house of the God or to set up dining couches.

Bene dixit oratorium hoc sit, quod dicitur. Oratorium dicitur, quia orationi tantum est consecratum, in quo nemo aliquid agere debet, nisi id, ad quod est factum, unde et nomen accepit. Et Dominus dicit: Domus mea domus orationis est. [Mt 21:13]

It is well that he says Let the oratory be what it is called. The oratory is so named because it is dedicated only to prayer [orationi] and in which no one ought to do anything except that for which it was made and whence takes its name. And the Lord says: My house is a house of prayer. [Mt 21:13]

Quia propositum fuit B. Benedicto, sicut dicit cellerarius monasterii et decanus monasterii, ita etiam dixit oratorium monasterii, ac per hoc, cum dixit monasterii, ostendit, omnia oratoria comprehendere.

Because this was a principle for St. Benedict, just as he names the cellarer of the monastery and the dean of the monastery, thus also he names the oratory of the monastery, and through, this when he said of the monastery, he reveals that he included all oratories.

Verum si in aliis oratoriis non debent quidquam laici agere secundum institutionem canonicam, multo magis monachos oportet custodire. Unde non oportet monachum ad aliqua oratoria ire, nisi causa obedientiae vel necessitatis. Agatur enim attinet ad actionem, condere vero ad positionem.

But if according to canonical instruction the laity ought not to do anything in other oratories, it is much more fitting that monks guard [oratories for this one purpose]. Whence it is not fitting that a monk goes to any oratory unless it is for the sake of obedience or necessity. For is done is tied to action, but is kept is tied to placement.

Attendendum est, quia non dicit: cum silentio exeant, sed praemisit summo, i. e. non mussitatio, non susurratio, non inhonestus incessus, sed caute exire debent.

It must be noted that he does not say let them leave with silence, but prefaces it with the greatest, that is, no mumbling, nor whispering, nor shameful pace, but that they ought to exit carefully.

Quod vero dicit et agatur reverentia Deo, ita intelligitur , i. e. cum exeunt salutato altari [et] postea tunc exeant, quia reverentia ad honorem attinet. Reddit causam, quare, cum dicit: ut frater, qui forte sibi peculiariter vult orare, non impediatur alterius improbitate.

But when he says and let it be done with reverence for God, it is understood thus: when they leave with a sign to the altar, and then let them go forth afterwards, since reverence pertains to honour. He explains the reason why when he says: that a brother who wishes perhaps to pray privately for himself not be impeded by the improbity of another.

Nunc animadvertendum est, quare B. Benedictus dicit nunc: [page 500] ut frater, qui vult peculiariter orare et reliq. et subjunxit statim: ₄sed et si alter vult sibi forte orare secretius, simpliciter intret et oret, non in clamosa voce, sed in lacrimis et intentione cordis, cum nullum spatium donat orandi, nisi lectioni vacare, deinde laborare, postea manducare vel dormire? Quomodo potest quis remanere in oratorio aut intrare causa orandi, cum ipse non dat, sicut dixi, spatium orandi?

Now it ought to be noted why blessed Benedict says here: [page 500] so that a brother, who wishes to pray privately etc., and immediately added 4but and [sic] if another wishes perhaps to pray for himself more separately, he should simply enter and pray, not in a loud voice, but with tears and devotion of heart when he gives no time for praying, except [when a monk] is free for reading, or for working, [and] afterwards for eating or sleeping. How is he able to stay in the oratory or to enter for the sake of praying when Benedict does not, just as I said, give time for praying?

Quamquam specialiter spatium non dat orandi, tamen, quia pauci sunt, non praeposuit lectionem sive laborem contemplationi. Si enim contingit, cum quis habet contemplationem tempore lectionis vel laboris et reliq., non illi fraudavit lacrimas, sed ob hoc potest dimittere lectionem vel laborem et ire in oratorium causa contemplationis, sed pauci sunt, quibus hoc contingat; verbi gratia si unus stat in contemplatione, alter vero susurrat aut talia agit, ut ille impediatur, iste expellatur, ille alter stet.

Although he does not specifically give time for praying, nevertheless, because there are few [who want to do so?], Benedict did not place reading or work before contemplation. For if it happens that someone contemplates during the time of reading or of labour and so on, he did not steal tears from contemplation, ¹ but can on this account set aside the reading or work and go into the oratory on this account for contemplation. But there are few monks for whom this can happen; for example, if one stands in contemplation, but another mutters or does such things that [the individual wishing to pray] is hindered, that one should be driven out and the other remain.

Improbitate, i. e. susurratione; hoc est impedimentum, quod fit voce vel sono et reliq.

By the improbity, that is by whispering; this is an impediment, which results from a voice or sound etc.

Sequitur: simpliciter intret et oret. Simpliciter, i. e. caute, leniter. Non in clamosa voce, sed in lacrimis et intentione cordis. ₅Ergo qui simile opus non facit, non permittatur expleto opere Dei remorari in oratorio, sicut dictum est, ne alius impedimentum patiatur.

It follows: he should simply enter and pray. Simply: that is, carefully, gently. ₄Not in a loud voice, but with tears and with devotion of heart. ₅Therefore he, who does not do similar work is not permitted to linger in the oratory when the opus Dei is finished, just as it was said, lest another endure an impediment.

Cum dicit simile, subaudiendum est, sicut dixi superius, i. e. qui in lacrimis et in intentione cordis non orat, nec remoretur ibi nec intret. Nam sunt multi, qui se circumveniunt et non orant nec in intentione nec in lacrimis, et perdunt tempus obedientiae aut lectionis. Bene dixit, in lacrimis et in intentione cordis esse orandum, quia, qui negligenter orat et aliud sponte intenderit, illud intelligitur adorare et quasi Deum habere, quod intenderit.

When he says similar, it is understood that, just as I said above, that is he who does not pray with tears and with devotion of heart may neither linger there nor enter. For there are many who trick themselves and do not pray either with devotion or with tears, and they waste time of obedience or reading. He spoke well [when he said] that he must pray with tears and with devotion of heart, since one who prays negligently and turns his attention to something else of his own accord is understood to adore and consider as God what he turns his attention to.

De qua oratione dicit Caesarius hoc modo: Ante omnia, fratres carissimi, [omitted in ed. Mittermüller, inserted from PL: quoties orationi incumbimus, cum silentio et quiete supplicare Deo debemus: quia quicumque voluerit cum alta voce orare, omnibus juxta se stantibus orationis fructum videtur auferre. Rugitus tantum et suspiria vel gemitus audiantur. Nam oratio nostra talis esse debet, qualis fuisse legitur sanctae Annae matris beati Samuelis. Sic enim de illa scriptum est, quia flens orabat, et labia ejus tantummodo movebantur, et vox penitus non audiebatur [1 Rg 1:10, 13].

Concerning any prayer, Caesarius speaks in this manner: Before all things, most beloved brothers, whenever we devote our attention to God in prayer, we must do so in silence and peacefully. For when anyone prays in a loud voice, he seems to take the reward of prayer away from those standing next to him. Only moaning and sighs or groans should be heard. Our prayer should be of the kind we read about concerning St. Anne, mother of the blessed Samuel. It is written of her that she prayed while weeping and only her lips moved and her voice was hardly audible [1 Rg 1:10, 13].

Audiant haec omnes et imitentur, praecipue illi qui ita alta garrulitate sine ulla verecundia cum strepitu vocis orant, ut juxta se alios orare non permittant. Oremus ergo, sicut dixi, cum suspirio, rugitu vel gemitu, secundum illud propheticum, Rugiebam a gemitu cordis mei [Ps 37:9]. Oremus, inquam, non voce sonante, sed conscientia ad Deum clamante.

All should hear these things and imitate them, especially those who pray with great garrulousness, without any reverence, with strident voice. Therefore let us pray, as I said, with sighing, moaning, and groaning, according to the Old Testament instruction, ‘I moaned from the groaning of my heart.' [Ps 37/38:9] Let us pray, I say, not with booming voice, but with a conscience crying out to God.

Evagationes mentis in oratione Deum summe laedunt. Orantes autem, fratres charissimi, quantum possumus, adjuvante Domino laboremus, ut nulla nobis extranea cogitatio subrepere possit; ne forte aliud habeamus in corde, et aliud proferamus ex ore: ne forte dum lingua Deum rogat, cogitatio in rebus variis occupata ab oratione sensu discedat; et inde acquirat peccatum, unde potuit habere remedium.

Mental wanderings in prayer wound God supremely. Praying, then, dearest brothers, to the best of our abilities, let us labour with God’s help so that no extraneous thought can creep in on us, so that we not happen to have one thing in our hearts and put forth another from our mouths, so that it not happen that while the tongue beseeches God, thought occupied in various matters depart from the sense of the prayer² and acquires sin from where it could have had its remedy.

Si enim apud aliquam potentem personam velles aliquam causam necessariam allegare, et subito aversus ab illo, media interlocutione disrupta, aliquibus te velles occupare scurrilitatibus; qualem te putas injuriam illi personae cum qua loquebaris, inferre? quomodo contra te illius iracundiam commoveres? Si ergo cum homine loquentes, tota intentione animi laboramus, ne aliud cogitantes illi cum quo loquimur injuriam facere videamur; cum Deo in oratione loquentes, et ante tantam majestatem peccatorum nostrorum miserias allegantes, non nos pudet et non erubescimus captivis sensibus huc illucque discurrere, et infelicem mentem multis occupationibus a conspectu divinae majestatis abstrahere?

If you want to plead some necessary case before some powerful person and suddenly, turned away from him, interrupting the discussion in the middle, you want to concern yourself with inappropriate jokes, what sort of insult do you think you make to the person to whom you were speaking? How would you disable his anger toward you? Therefore, if when speaking with a man we work with complete mental attention, so that we do not, in thinking about something else, seem to insult the one whom we address, then when speaking to God in prayer, pleading for the miseries of our sins before such great majesty, does it not shame us and make us blush to wander here and there in our captive senses, and to remove a mind unhappy with its many concerns from the sight of divine majesty?

Et ideo unusquisque, antequam in oratione procumbat, omnes cogitationes superfluas ab animi sui intentione, Deo auxiliante, repellat: ut anima nostra sancti Spiritus fervore succensa, omne vitium compunctionis vel orationis igne consumat, et vagas ac volaticas cogitationes longe dispergat; ut solae virtutes tantum et sanctae meditationes in cordibus nostris locum semper inveniant.

And so every person, before bowing in prayer, should drive all extraneous thoughts away from the spirit’s attention, with God’s help, so that our soul, aflame with the fervour of the Holy Spirit, consume every vice with the fire of compunction and prayer, and chase far away wandering or fleeting thoughts and so that only virtues and holy meditations ever find a place in our hearts.

Hoc enim quasi adoratur, quod attentius cogitatur. Quid tum unice cogitandum. Si durum nimis est ut nobis in oratione subrepant quae alio tempore cogitare possumus, quid de illicitis cogitationibus? [Omnis enim homo, fratres charissimi, quod tempore orationis attentius cogitat, hoc sibi pro Deo constituit, et hoc quasi Deum habere et quasi Dominum videbitur adorare. Quae res, dilectissimi, nimium mihi aliquoties intolerabilem dolorem incutit et tremorem, cum in ipsa orationis intentione mens ad diversas occupationes saeculi rapitur: et cum videtur aliud agere, longe alibi cognoscitur cogitatione discedere; quasi sit aliquid, quod plus cogitare debeamus. Quando cum Deo loquimur, nil nobis aliud est cogitandum, nisi ut toto corde et toto animo et tota mente peccatorum indulgentiam et Dei gratiam debeamus expetere.

The more intently something is pondered, the more it is, so to speak, adored. What alone should be thought about. If it is very hard for us when things we should think about at another time creep in during prayer, what about about illicit thoughts? Every man, dearest brothers, sets up what he thinks very intently about in the time of prayer in place of God and will seem to consider it as God and adore it as the Lord. This situation, most beloved ones, often strikes great, unbearable grief and fear into me, when in the very exertion of prayer, the mind is seized by diverse worldly concerns. And when the mind seems to do something else, it is recognized to go far off elsewhere in thought, as if there were something that we ought to think about more. When we speak with God, we should think about nothing else except our obligation to seek pardon for sins and God’s grace with our whole heart, whole spirit, and whole mind.

Verbi gratia, cuicumque forte in oratione subripitur ut forum cogitet: si forum cogitat, forum adorat. Subripitur illi ut domum quam fabricat aut reparat, ante oculos proponat: quod ante oculos habuerit, hoc adorat. Forte vineas aut hortum aut aliud aliquid cogitat: quod ante oculos cordis proposuerit, hoc in illa oratione adorat. Taceo de malis et forte etiam turpibus cogitationibus vel immundis.

For example, it might occur to someone in prayer to think about business. If he thinks about business, he adores business. It slips into his mind that he has put before his eyes a house he is building or repairing; he adores what he has before his eyes. Perhaps he thinks about vineyards or a garden or something else; what he has put before the eyes of his heart he adores in that prayer. I keep silent about wicked or perhaps even shameful or unclean thoughts.

Considerate, fratres charissimi, quaeso vos, et videte quam sit dura ista captivitas, ut lingua quasi cum Deo loquatur, et tota animi intentio ad terram et parietes vel lapides dirigatur. Et si ista quae licite alio tempore vel cogitare possumus vel videre, nimis durum est ut nobis in oratione subrepant; putas illa quae etiam alio tempore illicite cogitantur, quantum mali erit, si ea in oratione positi cogitemus; id est, si cupiditatem, si odium, si iracundiam, aut luxuriam, vel adulteria et caetera his similia inclinati ad orationem ante cordis nostri oculos proponamus? Unde, fratres charissimi, totis medullis conscientiae Dominum deprecemur, ut nos ab ista ludificatione daemonum liberare, et peccatorum nobis indulgentiam donare dignetur.

I beg you, dearest brothers, consider and see how hard this captivity is, when the tongue speaks as if to God and the mind’s entire attention is directed to earth and walls or stones. It is very hard for us when things we can licitly think about our see at another time slip into prayer. Think about what evil there will be if, positioned in prayer, we think about things it is illicit to think about even at another time, that is, if when inclined to prayer we place greed, hatred, wrath, lust, adultery, and similar matters before the eyes of our heart. Dearest brothers, let us beseech the Lord in the very marrow of our conscience, so he deem it worth to free us from this mockery of demons and grant us pardon for our sins.

Pro quibus et quid orandum. Et ideo, dilectissimi fratres, iterum atque iterum rogo, si fieri non potest ut istas captivitates animae ad integrum possitis evadere; vel quantum possumus, auxiliante Domino, laboremus, ut eas vel tardius incurrere videamur: ne forte per negligentiam dum orantes aliud cogitamus, inde apud Deum inveniamus offensam, unde potueramus acquirere gratiam. Oremus ergo, fratres, non solum pro nobis, sed etiam pro omnibus, ubicumque sint, Christianis: nec solum pro amicis, sed etiam pro inimicis Dei misericordiam deprecemur.

What and for whom we should pray. And therefore, dearest brothers, again and again I beg: if it cannot be brought about that you are able to shun completely these captivities of the soul, let us work as much as we can, with God’s help, so that we seem to succumb to them even slowly and so that while praying we do not chance to think about something else through carelessness and offend in God’s eyes in that action from which we should have been able to obtain his grace. Therefore, brothers, let us pray not only for ourselves but also for all Christians, wherever they are; let us beseech God’s mercy not only for our friends but also for our enemies. ³

Et quia beatus Apostolus dicit, Quid oremus, sicut oportet, nescimus [Rm 8:26]; hoc semper et pro nobis et pro omnibus aliis supplicemus, ut nobis Deus hoc dignetur concedere, quod novit nostrae animae convenire.

And because the blessed Apostle says, We do not know how to pray as we should [Rm 8:26], let us always pray for ourselves and for everyone else that God deem it worthy to grant us what he knows is fitting for our souls.

Ante omnia, fratres, orationem dominicam in oratione dicamus: quia sine dubio libenter orationem exaudit, quam ipse pro ineffabili sua benignitate instituit. Haec ergo, fratres charissimi, si Deo inspirante, sicut consuevistis, libenter accipitis, et nobis facietis gaudium, et vobis] praeparabitis regnum. [Ps. Augustine, Sermo 283, c. 2-5, PL 39, col. 2281-2282]

Before all else, brothers, let us say the Lord’s Prayer in our praying, because doubtless he gladly hears that prayer that he himself established in his indescribable kindness. If you gladly take this advice, dearest brothers, as you are accustomed to with God’s inspiration, you will both give us joy and prepare a kingdom for yourselves. [Ps. Augustine, Sermo 283, c. 2-5, translated by Bruce Venarde]

In eo quoque loco, ubi dicit non in clamosa voce, manifestat, qua intentione hoc capitulum praeceperit; non enim dicit, ut ibi officium mortuorum non agatur, si generalitas [page 501] est, similiter si duplicare vult officium, si generalitas hoc agit; verum non licet cuiquam, si non est generalis congregatio, in voce orare.

And in this place, where he says not in a loud voice, he shows with what intention he taught this chapter; for he does not say that the office of the dead [must] not be performed there, if it is generally [done in that place] [page 501], likewise if he wishes to enlarge the office, if this is generally done; but it is not permitted for anyone, if there is not a general congregation, to pray aloud.

Sciendum est enim, quia potest in oratorio ponere illum librum, qui ibi legitur, solummodo.

For it ought to be understood that only the book that is read there can be placed in the oratory.⁴