CHAPTER 45
84 The Rule, Chapter 45 back into choir, but he may not " presume to lead a psalm or a reading or anything else in the oratory without further instructions from the abbot/' At the end of every hour of the Divine Office, the monk is instructed to prostrate himself at the place where he prays. All of this is for grave faults.
'Those excommunicated for less serious faults from the table only are to make satisfaction in the oratory for as long as the abbot orders. They do so until he gives his blessing and says: 'Enough.' "
St. Benedict does not wish to prolong the monk's penances, but he is adamant about seeing that they are done.
Whenever we participate in the sacrament of reconciliation, we expect to receive a penance for our sins. The excommunicated monk has to do the penances described in chapter 44 in order to become reconciled with his community. Making satisfaction is both penance and apology. St. Benedict asks that reparation be made for serious faults, and all of us should certainly be considerate enough to beg forgiveness for even the smallest faults by which we offend people. Making satisfaction is not just the monk's responsibility.
CHAPTER 45
Mistakes in the Oratory The Master, in his Rule, says, "Care must be taken while singing that there is not a lot of frequent coughing or prolonged gasping or constant spitting."1 St. Benedict does not draw his monks' attention to such crudities when they are at prayer, but he does say, "Should anyone make a mistake in a psalm, responsory, refrain or reading, he must make satisfaction there before all." No doubt there have been times when you wished that the person beside you in church could be called to task
The Rule, Chapter 45 85 for being disruptive, for singing too loudly, or giving a response that is not in unison with the rest of the congregation.
Such a person is usually not even aware of how annoying he or she is. St. Benedict wants us to be aware, to be conscious of our mistakes. His monastery is a place where people pray together all the time. They must be polite. They must help one another pray well collectively. The Work of God is something that monks should do with great care because it is the work that they value most highly.
Satisfaction must be made for mistakes, St. Benedict says.
"If he does not use this occasion to humble himself, he will be subjected to more severe punishment for failing to correct by humility the wrong committed through negligence." St.
Benedict, however, does not indicate the exact manner of satisfaction a monk is to make for a mistake in the oratory, nor the type of punishment that will be administered for not making satisfaction. An apology is appropriate, though— not only to the fellow monks but to God for faulty prayer in God's praise.
St. Benedict is more definite about the boys over whom the monks have charge. "Children, however, are to be whipped for such a fault." Anyone who has been to a boarding school run by Benedictine monks or nuns knows that you can't fool around in church. Benedictines are serious about liturgy.
And so are their Oblates. "Oblates highly esteem the holy sacrifice of the Mass and take an active and intelligent part in the celebration of the sacred mysteries of the altar" (Guidelines For Oblates Of St. Benedict).