CHAPTER 43
The Rule, Chapter 43 81 out. "Oh hell!" he said. That night there was no silence before Compline began, and some of us held our sides all through Compline.
Compline is the last hour of the Divine Office. It is the night prayer. The day's work has ended, the last of communal prayer has been said, and now the monk must calmly and quietly enter the night. Chapter 42 does not impose night silence on an Oblate, but it does suggest once again that a time of silence in your life is of great value.
CHAPTER 43
Tardiness at the Work of God or at Table "On hearing the signal for an hour of the divine office, the monk will immediately set aside what he has in hand and go with utmost speed, yet with gravity and without giving occasion for frivolity. Indeed, nothing is to be preferred to the Work of God." In a Benedictine monastery many different kinds of work are performed by the individual monks, but their most significant work is the Work of God. This is the communal work of a monastery, and St. Benedict wants the monks to be on time for it. Considering our human weakness, though, he suggests that the invitatory psalm for Vigils (the first of the hours) "be said quite deliberately and slowly" for the benefit of monks who have difficulty getting to church on time, for monks who are slow about getting out of bed. They are not late as long as they arrive in the oratory when Psalm 94, the call to praise, is being recited. Again considering our human weakness, St. Benedict says, come in even if you are late. You may have to sit in the last place but come in anyway. "They should come inside so that they will not lose everything and may amend in the future."
82 The Rule, Chapter 43 St. Benedict bends over backward in order to stretch out the time allowed for the monks to arrive in choir.
At the day hours the same rule applies to anyone who comes after the opening verse and the "Glory be to the Father" of the first psalm following it: he is to stand in the last place.
Until he has made satisfaction, he is not to presume to join the choir of those praying the psalms, unless perhaps the abbot pardons him and grants an exception. Even in this case, the one at fault is still bound to satisfaction.
In years gone by, we made satisfaction when we were late for Office by kneeling in the middle of choir and then standing and bowing an apology to each side of choir. This practice has been discontinued, even though monks still come late for Office.
Surprisingly, St. Benedict is more insistent on promptness in the refectory than he is on promptness for chapel attendance.
There is no leeway here. "But, if anyone does not come to table before the verse so that all may say the verse and pray and sit down at table together, and if this failure happens through the individual's own negligence or fault, he should be reproved up to the second time/7 For St. Benedict a community meal is a kind of liturgy, an extension of the Eucharistic banquet. Meals begin and end with prayer. Jesus served his disciples at the Last Supper, and the monks do the same when they eat. The monastery refectory is a place where monks practice charity. "The brothers should by turn serve one another's needs as they eat and drink, so that no one need ask for anything' ' (ch. 38).
If a monk is habitually late for meals and makes no effort to change his ways, St. Benedict says the offender should be forced to eat alone. If being separated from the community doesn't teach him a lesson, there is another punishment that will. "His portion of wine should be taken away until there is satisfaction and amendment."
The Rule, Chapter 44 83 Community meals are so important for St. Benedict that he prohibits monks from presuming "to eat or drink before or after the time appointed." Dining is a communal act. "Moreover, if anyone is offered something by a superior and refuses it, then, if later he wants what he refused or anything else, he should receive nothing at all until he has made appropriate amends." This, commentators say, refers to the breaking of a fast that a superior deems necessary. But the monk, in his pride, says: No! I'll show you! If the monk changes his mind, the superior must say: No. Not until you apologize for your obstinacy.
In chapter 43, St. Benedict speaks to all of us once again about the priority we should have for prayer in our lives. He asks us to be prompt when it's time to pray. And he tells us not to keep other people waiting for us at table. How often those of you who are parents have had to say, "Hurry up. It's time for church" and "Stop fooling around and come to the table." St. Benedict reminds us that the same commands have to be issued to adults sometimes— even to ourselves. St. Benedict helps us to be on time wherever we're supposed to be.
CHAPTER 44
Satisfaction by the Excommunicated St. Benedict returns to the excommunicated in this chapter.
"Anyone excommunicated for serious faults from the oratory and from the table is to prostrate himself in silence at the oratory entrance at the end of the celebration of the Work of God."
That is only part one of the monk's making satisfaction. When the abbot tells him, the excommunicated must prostrate himself at the abbot's feet and then before all the brothers, asking their prayers. With this accomplished, the offender is allowed