Showing posts with label Cassian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cassian. Show all posts

Saturday, March 7, 2020

Praying the psalms with St Benedict 5A: Three models for 'praying without ceasing'/1: The drousing virgins of Arles

When the twentieth century liturgists and historian Dom Adalbert de Vogue looked at the purpose of the monastic Office, he argued that its purpose was not, above all praise and adoration on behalf of all Christians, as I argued was the case in the previous post, but was rather, consistent with the monastic versus cathedral office distinction so beloved of the twentieth century liturgiologists, fundamentally about fostering personal prayer and meditation.  Above all, he and others argued, the monastic Office aimed to help the monk fulfill the injunction to 'pray without ceasing', above all through a constant recitation of the psalter.[1] 

Subsequent work has somewhat modified this picture: the  hermits of Egypt who Cassian visited had a communal liturgy only on Sundays, and then consisting only of the hours of Vespers and Matins, with twelve psalms each.  While the monk may have said some form of Office each day, in the model that Cassian advocated, most prayer took a non-liturgical form, in the repetition of the psalter as the monk worked;  rumination on Scripture during the day; and the repetition of the invocation 'Deus in adjutorium meum intende...

Nonetheless, critiques by Dom Armand Veilleux (whose book on fourth century monastic liturgy effectively demolished the takes on Cassian and Pachomian practices promoted by Baumstark and his disciples) and others notwithstanding, the liturgists continue to insist that the monastic Office did not have an ecclesial dimension, but was directed purely at individual meditation. [2]  

The claim that St Benedict subscribed to a very literal interpretation of the injunction to pray without ceasing, and the total rejection of an ecclesial dimension to the monastic Office, has had, I think, dire consequences on twentieth and twenty-first century monasticism, so it is worth taking a much closer look at this issue.  My own view, as I hope to show as this series unfolds, is that this is really a case of 'both/and': both the monastic and non-monastic liturgies were, from the beginning intended to be both ecclesial and foster individual devotion.  

In this post I plan to provide something of an overview of the debate, and take a look at the Rule of Arles in this regard.  In the next two posts, I will look at Agaune and the Benedictine traditions respectively.

What does it mean to pray without ceasing?

There are several difficulties with the view that the Benedictine Office is directed at the aim of literally praying without ceasing, as many others have pointed out - not least that, in stark contrast to some of the other rules of the time such as that of Caesarius of Arles, the Benedictine Rule never actually quotes this Scriptural injunction.  Nor does it instruct monks to recite the psalms or pray while working, or provide for spiritual reading during manual labour (as Caesarius of Arles Rule does) for example. [3]

All the same, St Benedict does, as we shall see, allude to one of the related Scriptural formulas on continuous prayer, noted in the previous post, namely Psalm 1's description of the blessed man who meditates the law of the Lord day and night. And others have suggested that it is not so much that St Benedict did not implicitly have this injunction in mind, but rather that he interpreted it rather more symbolically (the seven repetitions of O God come to my aid, for example, meaning completeness) than literally for each individual monk or nun. [4]

In fact, I would suggest, though, that the most fundamental issue is just what the formula really means, and in the foundation documents of the  monasteries of St Benedict and his contemporaries, one can find, I think, at least three competing interpretations of what it means to pray without ceasing.

It is these different interpretations that I want to start teasing out over the next few posts, as one of the key forces that shaped the particular form of the Benedictine office, and differentiated it from others.

St John Cassian on praying without ceasing

Dom De Vogue's argument was basically that St Benedict instructed his monks to read the Institutes and Conferences of St John Cassian, and Cassian, in his conferences argued that the injunction (from 1 Thess 5:17) should be fulfilled literally.

It is true that Cassian urged the monk to learn as much Scripture by heart as possible, in order that it might constantly be turned over in his mind.  He also urged them to repeat the formula that opens the day hours of the Benedictine office ‘O God come to my aid, O Lord make haste to help me’, not just seven times a day, as St Benedict instructed, but continuously:
We must then ceaselessly and continuously pour forth the prayer of this verse, in adversity that we may be delivered, in prosperity that we may be preserved and not puffed up. Let the thought of this verse, I tell you, be conned over in your breast without ceasing. Whatever work you are doing, or office you are holding, or journey you are going, do not cease to chant this. When you are going to bed, or eating, and in the last necessities of nature, think on this. This thought in your heart maybe to you a saving formula, and not only keep you unharmed by all attacks of devils, but also purify you from all faults and earthly stains, and lead you to that invisible and celestial contemplation, and carry you on to that ineffable glow of prayer, of which so few have any experience. [5]
Memorization of Scripture, and most especially the psalms, certainly remained a key element of the monastic way of life for many centuries.

It is less obvious though, that St Benedict put quite the same emphasis on this, as opposed to active study of Scripture, as Cassian had though, in contrast to some of the other monasteries of his time. [6]

The nuns of Arles: waiting for the bridegroom

One of the key monasteries I mentioned in an earlier post was that of the nuns of Arles (founded circa 510), and it is worth starting with them on praying without ceasing, for its foundations documents are the only one of the three to explicitly refer to the injunction to Cassian's teaching on this subject, and to interpret it literally.

In chapter 21 of the Rule, Caesarius instructed the nuns to:
Set yourselves to praying without a break [sine intermissione], in accordance with that injunction of the Evangelist: pray all the time in order to be held worthy, and the apostle said: pray without ceasing. [7]
To understand where Caesarius was coming from on this, it is worth contrasting the opening paragraphs of St Benedict's and St Caesarius of Arles' Rules.  St Benedict famously opens his Rule with a call for the monk to enlist as a soldier of Christ, and to heed God's call for workers (for the vineyard). [8]

The Rule constructed for the nuns of Arles draws instead on another common monastic exemplar (employed in the monastic literature for both men and women), namely that of the wise virgins, waiting  with lamps burning and a good supply of oil, for the arrival of the bridegroom (Matthew 23). [9]

Bishop Caesarius explained the relevant of the image in the opening paragraphs of his Rule:
Because the Lord in his mercy has deigned to inspire and aid us to found a monastery for you, we have set down spiritual and holy counsels for you as to how you shall live in the monastery according to the prescriptions of the ancient Fathers.  That, with the help of God, you may be able to keep them as you abide unceasingly in your monastery cell, implore by assiduous prayer [assiduis orationibus] the visitation of the Son of God...Hence I ask you, consecrated virgins and souls dedicated to God, who, with your lamps burning, await with secure consciences the coming of the Lord, that, as you know I have labored in the constructing of a monastery for you, you beg by your holy prayers to have me made a companion of your journey; so that when you happily enter the kingdom with the holy and wise virgins, you may, by your suffrages, obtain for me that I may not remain outside with the foolish.… [10]
The good works of religious

One of the most common interpretations of the oil of the virgins was that it represented good works. [11]

But for Caesarius (in stark contrast to St Benedict's Rule), prayers and vigils - provided they were done for the right reasons - were the only good works religious needed to undertake.  In one of his sermons to monks, for example, he said:

you fulfill everything by your deeds…am I to give you advice to give generous alms when I know that out of love of Christ you have rejected all the wealth of the world, and when I see that you have given the Lord not only all your possessions but your very selves?...Do I dare to say that your holy selves should not be occupied with idle gossip, when I know that you are busy with reading and prayer, and that you meditate on the law of God by day and by night?  Only this one thing remains, then, dearest brethren, since the Lord has deigned to gather you and put you in a holy monastery as in a haven of rest and refreshment as if in some part of paradise.  By your continuous prayers may you strive to obtain for us that we who are ceaselessly tossed about by the waves of the world…[12]

The nuns had, moreover, a model to emulate in their founder-bishop, for the Vita commissioned by the sisters after Caesarius’ death claimed that:

He had him [God] in his heart not only in prayer and entreaty, but also at meals and on journeys, in conversation and in solitude, and in prosperity and adversity; even in his sleep he always had him with him.  Indeed, we ourselves and our fellow servants who stayed in his cell know what we are talking about.  Between interruptions in his sleep that his age not only required but also sometimes demanded because of sickness - his spirit being ever vigilant - he used to say, 'Come now, speak', as though he were advising someone to recite a psalm.  No one doubts that he used to sing psalms spiritually with the saints or that he certainly fulfilled that saying of the prophet, 'I sleep, and my heart remains on watch'.  [13]

The liturgy of Arles

The Arles liturgy was steeped in this theology.  

Seilac and McCrane have pointed out that one particularly notable feature of Caesarius’ discussion of the liturgy in the Rule for Nuns is that, although he drew on the (much earlier) Augustinian Rule's liturgical prescriptions when writing the text, he explicitly modified them so as to be more consistent with Cassian: where Augustine wrote 'be assiduous in prayer at the scheduled times and hours', Caesarius substituted "persevere in prayer without ceasing".  He also replaced Augustine's warning not to disturb those who wish to pray in the oratory with two scriptural invitations to pray without ceasing; and admonishes the nuns to always ruminate on something from Scripture. [14]

As the table below indicates, Caesarius required the nuns to nuns recite an enormous number of psalms each day. [15] They also read a large quantity of Scripture each week, both through formal lectio divina; Scriptural readings while they worked; and above all in the liturgy itself. [16] Each Saturday and Sunday night, for example, they said several ‘vigilia’, blocks of readings, prayers and psalms in addition to the core hours. [17]  And if they were struggling to stay awake, they were urged to stand up in order to fight off fatigue. [18]


Office design elements
Arles
‘Hours’

[7-9] Nocturns/Vigils, Lauds, Prime (S&S only), Terce, Sext, None, Lucernarium, Duodecima,
Estimated length of liturgy each day

12-16 hours per day
Extended/all night vigils
Yes – Fridays and Saturdays, feasts; some seasons
Psalter said over…
2-3 days, depending on season
Psalms per day
60-80+
Psalm order
Some fixed psalm for each hour; at Vigils, numerical order
Scriptural readings (other than psalms)
Scripture heavy - Readings at all of the hours except lucernarium + vigils of readings interspersed with prayers and psalms Sat&Sun plus winter.
Hymns, antiphons, prayers
yes
Explicitly intercessory elements
Capitella (psalm verse selections for particular intentions)

The Arles Rule was not though, the only Rule to attempt to legislate for perpetual prayer, and in the next post in this series I plan to look briefly at another regime that stood in contrast to St Benedict's, and that I think also helps to illuminate it, namely that of Agaune.

Notes

[1]  See Adalbert de Vogue, The Rule Of Saint Benedict: A Doctrinal and Spiritual Commentary (Cistercian Studies) (vol 1), 1983.  For a reassessment of the validity of the cathedral-monastic distinction see Stig Simeon R. Frøyshov, The Cathedral–Monastic Distinction Revisited
Part I: Was Egyptian Desert Liturgy a Pure Monastic Office?, Studia Liturgica 37 (2007), 198-216.

[2] Armand Veilleux, La Liturgie Dans Le Cenobitisme Pachomien Au Quatrieme Siecle,  (Strrdia Anselmiana 57); Herder, Rome 1968. For a more recent restatement of the liturgists position see Terrance G Kardong, Benedict's Rule Atranslation and Commentary, The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, 1996,  See especially pp 209-217.

[3] Caesarius of Arles, Rule for Virgins, chapters 20-22.

[4] see in particular Fr Cassian Fulsom, Pray without ceasing.

[5]  C.S. Gibson, trans, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 11. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1894, Conference 10, ch 10.

[6] Only the short, repeated readings of St Benedict's Office are done from memory for example, and the Matins readings are read from the book except for the short weekday readings of summer (see in particular RB 9: 5, 8 - Quibus dictis, dicto versu, benedicat abbas et, sedentibus omnibus in scamnis, legantur vicissim a fratribus in codice super analogium tres lectione...Codices autem legantur in vigiliis divinae auctoritatis...10:1 ...excepto quod lectiones in codice, propter brevitatem noctium, minime legantur, sed pro ipsis tribus lectionibus una de veteri testamento memoriter dicatur; RB 12, on Lauds, says: Inde benedictiones et laudes, lectionem de Apocalypsis una ex corde...).  The time between Matins and Lauds in winter is allocated to memorization of the psalms and lessons for those who needed it (RB 8: Quod vero restat post vigilias a fratribus qui psalterii vel lectionum aliquid indigent meditationi inserviatur.), but this is separate for the time generally allocated to lectio divina (set out RB 48).

St Benedict also explicitly provided for the reading of the commentaries on the books, which may have reflected a more intellectual approach to Scripture in Italy more generally: his contemporary Cassiodorus, for example, lists out the appropriate commentaries to use of the monks of his Vivarium in his Institutes.

By way of contrast, there is no reference at all in the Rule of Caesarius to the reading of the Fathers, and the nuns of Arles were required to do more substantial readings from Scripture at several of the hours.  The eighteen readings of their Friday night vigil from Easter to Pentecost were to be said from memory. (RC66)

[7] Rule for nuns of Caesarius of Arles, chapter 21.  The full Latin text of the Rule, along with a french translation can be found in A de Vogue and J Courneau (trans and ed), Caesarius D'Arles, Oeuvres Monastique, Sources Chretienne 345, Paris, 1988, vol 1, pp 190 ff.  An English translation can in theory (though the book is very rare) be found in Maria Caritas McCarthy, The Rule for Nuns of St. Caesarius of Arles, Volume 16 of Studies in mediaeval history: New series, Catholic University of America, 1960.

[8]  Prologue.3,14: Ad te ergo nunc mihi sermo dirigitur, quisquis abrenuntians propriis voluntatibus, Domino Christo vero regi militaturus, oboedientiae fortissima atque praeclara arma sumis...Et quaerens Dominus in multitudine populi cui haec clamat operarium suum, iterum dicit.

[9]  For earlier treatments of the wise virgins as a monastic exemplar for men, see for example Aphrahat Demonstation 6 (on monks): "Whosoever is invited to the Bridegroom, let him prepare himself. Whosoever has lighted his lamp, let him not suffer it to go out. Whosoever is expectant of the marriage-cry, let him take oil in his vessel; and Oresius in  Pachomian Koinonia 3, Instructions, Letters, and Other Writings Of Saint Pachomius And His DisciplesTranslated and annotated by Armand Veilleux OCSO.  The image was a staple for female monasticism, cited in numerous treatments of the subject.

[10] Ch 1, trans McCarthy, in La Corte, Daniel Marcel, and Douglas J. McMillan. Regular Life: Monastic, Canonical, and Mendicant Rules, Second Edition. Series: TEAMS Documents of Practice Series. Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute Publications, 2004, pp 58-9.

[11] Caesarius set this out himself in Sermon 156, which drew heavily on St Augustine's interpretation of the text: St Caesarius, Sermons, trans Mary Magdeleine Mueller, Fathers of the Church, 3 vols (31, 47, 66).  See also the discussion in Derek A. Olsen, Reading Matthew with Monks: Liturgical Interpretation in Anglo-Saxon England. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2015, pp228-9.

[12] ibid, Sermon 234.

[13] Caesarius of Arles: Life, Testament, Letters, trans W Klingshirn, Liverpool University Press, 1994, Bk II ch 5.

[14]  Colleen Maura McGrane, The rule of virgins: the evolution of enclosure, ABR 59:4 - DEC. 2008, drawing on L. de Rodorel de Seilhac, L’Utilisation par S. Césaire d’Arles de la règle de S. Augustin. Étude de terminologie et de doctrine monastiques (Rome, 1974).

[15] The liturgical provisions of the Rule are contained in chapters 66-70.

[16]  All the hours have at least 2 or 3 readings except Lauds (which is followed by lectio for two hours) and Lucernarium (followed immediately by duodecima).  On reading while at work, see chapter 20.

[17] On the vigils, see RC chs 66, 68, 69.

[18] RC 15.

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Praying the psalms with St Benedict 3A: Was there ever 'a' monastic Office? The diversity of the Office in late antiquity

One of the key questions about early monastic liturgy is just how much choice monastic founders such as St Benedict had when it came to selecting, adapting or designing their own Offices.

In the next few posts, I want to explore this issue briefly, looking at the dimensions of liturgical diversity, and some of the key drivers that are often suggested for this.

One correct form of the Office?

St John Cassian (430), in his Institutes, insisted that once his monk was properly clothed, he should 'next learn the system of the canonical prayers and Psalms which was long ago arranged by the holy fathers in the East', intended to help the monk 'pray without ceasing' [1].

St Benedict and other monastic founders of his time had certainly read and absorbed Cassian's teachings, and they encouraged their disciples to do likewise. [2]

When it came to the liturgy though, it would seem that Cassian's insistence that there was one correct form of monastic Office seems to have fallen mostly on less fertile ground.

Cassian observed disapprovingly that in his time, pretty much every monastery had their own form of the Office:
For we have found that many in different countries, according to the fancy of their mind (having, indeed, as the Apostle says, a zeal, for God but not according to knowledge), have made for themselves different rules and arrangements in this matter...And in this way we have found different rules appointed in different places, and the system and regulations that we have seen are almost as many in number as the monasteries and cells which we have visited. [3]
At the day hours, Cassian observed, some used three psalms at each hour (his preferred model, based, he claimed, on the practice in Palestine); but others as many as six.  At the Night Office, he noted, many went well beyond the 'canonical' twelve psalms:
some have appointed that each night twenty or thirty Psalms should be said, and that these should be prolonged by the music of antiphonal singing, and by the addition of some modulations as well. Others have even tried to go beyond this number. Some use eighteen. [4]
Sixth century monastic liturgies

Although some have claimed that Cassian's liturgical dictates were extremely influential, the bulk of the evidence would seem to suggest otherwise, for almost a century later, nothing had changed. [5]

The Office of  the Master, which may represent early sixth century Roman region practice (though its date and location continue to be disputed), had a variable number of psalms in the night office, depending on the season. [6]

A 567 Office of Tours involved up to 30 psalms a night. [7]

The Office said by the nuns following the Rule of Caesarius of Arles involved six psalms at the day hours (or even twelve at times) and also went well beyond Cassian's numbers for the Night, saying up to 41 psalms each night in their proper office, as well as even more in the form of vigil 'fillers'. [8]

And the Office of St Maurice of Agaune (circa 515) probably involved reciting at least the entire psalter (and probably more) every day. [9]

Dimensions of difference

The differences between these liturgies though, went far deeper than things like the number of psalms said, as the table [10] below illustrates.

Dimension
Differences
Number of times of prayer (‘hours’) said each day

2 (Egypt, Severinus, Fulgentius) to 24 (Constantinople’s sleepless monks)
Balance between the Book of Psalms and other Scriptural material

Almost entirely psalm based (Benedictine) vs largely (other) Scriptural readings (Pachomius, Arles)
Order of the psalmody
Mostly selective (Benedictine) vs mostly numerical order (Rule of the Master)

Use of non-Scriptural material
Benedictine uses hymns and Patristic readings; Caesarius of Arles specified hymns and readings from the acts of the martyrs; Rule of the Master and  Roman used neither hymns nor non-Scriptural readings.

Vigils
Caesarius of Arles specified regular all night vigils for his nuns; Benedict provides only for a somewhat longer form of the Night Office to be used on Sundays and feasts.

Obligation to say
Benedict makes it an individual responsibility – even when away from the monastery, the monk must say his ‘pensum’ of psalms.  By contrast at Agaune, the Office was a collective responsibility, fulfilled by shifts of monks working in turn.

Time spent on the Office
Benedictine 4-8hrs compared to 12-16 at Arles; and more at Agaune.

Performance methods
Benedictine/Roman – primarily antiphonal, with two choirs answering each other.
Gaul – primarily responsorial, with soloist leading.

Variation with the natural seasons
Fixed structure Offices, with little or no variation, except in length of readings – Egyptian, Benedictine and later Roman vs
Offices that lengthened as nights became longer in winter (Augustine, Arles, the Master, etc).
Variation with the liturgical seasons

Benedict: use of the Alleluia
Arles: length of hours, hymns used, vigils
Prayer while working?
Egypt – yes; Arles – during ‘vigilia’ only; Benedictine – no.

Psalm cursus arrangemen
(1) Same each day - all 150 (Sleepless monks/Agaune?) or selection repeated, eg early Alexandrine

(2) Mostly fixed but some variable elements each day such as collects, psalm(s) for the day of the week for one or more hours, set psalms for feasts

(3) Variable number of psalms at night office depending on season, so that psalms not fixed to a day of the week.

(4) Offices that added extra psalms and other elements for Saturday and Sundays  - eg Arles

(5) Fixed weekly psalm cycle (Benedictine)

No of psalms said at each hour
Benedictine - units of 3/4/7/12 (+2) depending on hour.
Gaul – units of 6/12/18 depending on hour


In short, to paraphrase a contemporary commentator writing on the Jura monasteries, monks read Cassian and other monastic rules, but they followed their own, particularly when it came to the liturgy:
My discourse has caused me to touch on some of the institutions of the fathers as they were imitated by blessed Eugendus….In no way am I belittling, by a disdainful presumptuousness, the institutions of the holy and eminent Basil, bishop of the episcopal see of Cappodochia, or those of the holy fathers of Lerins and of Saint Pachomius, the ancient abbot of the Syrians [sic], or those of the venerable Cassian, formulated more recently.  But while we read these daily, we strive to follow those Condadisco... [11]
The drivers of diversity

What then drove these differences, and why did St Benedict settle on the particular ones he did?

In the mid twentieth century the consensus was that monasteries usually simply adopted the liturgies of their locality [12]; more recent studies though, have seen the differences as reflecting different underlying theological drivers. [13]

More on that in the next post in this series.

Notes

[1] John Cassian, The Twelve Books of John Cassian on the Institutes of the Coenobia, and the Remedies for the Eight Principal Faults, Book II, C.S. Gibson (trans). Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 11. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1894.)

[2] St Benedict paraphrased Cassian throughout the Rule, and prescribed the reading of his conferences and institutes (RB 43&73).

[3] Op cit, II.2

[4] Ibid.

[5]  In particular, Peter Jeffery, Psalmody and Prayer in Early Monasticism, in The Cambridge History of Medieval Monasticism in the Latin West, January 2020, pp 122, argues that the monastic Rules of Caesarius of Arles reflect Cassian's model.  It is, on the face of it, hard to see how, given that the number of hours is not a conflation of Cassian's description of the Egyptian and Palestinian monastic Offices, but rather includes two additional hours (which Taft argued were Cathedral additions to Caesarius' Lerins model), and far from being based on the three/twelve psalm model Cassian advocated, uses six psalms at most of the day hours, and 18 as the base for the nocturns.  To describe this as 'an expansion' of Cassian's 3/12 model, rather than a continuation of the longstanding gallic practices Cassian had condemned seems a stretch.

[6] Adalbert de Vogue (ed), La Regle du Maitre, Sources Chretiennes, 105&106, Les Editions de Cerf, 1964.

[7] Synod of Tours, 567, Canon 19, Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina, Turnhout 1954 - 148 A:202.

[8] A de Vogue and J Courreau, trans and ed, Ouevres Monastique, vol 1, Sources Chretienne 345, Paris, 1988, pp 190ff.

[9] Very few details of Agaune's perpetual liturgy have actually been preserved, but for a survey of what is known, see Marcel Dietler, Laus perennis ou la psalmodie angélique à Saint-Maurice, Dans Echos de Saint-Maurice, 1965, tome 63, cahier spécial, p. 9-33'; P. Bernard, "La laus perennis d’Agaune dans la Gaule de l’antiquité tardive : état des questions et éléments d’un bilan, Sine musica nulla disciplina… Studi in onore di Giulio Cattin, dir. F. Bernabei et A. Lovato, Padoue, 2006, p. 39-69.

[10] In addition to the sources cited above see:
Egypt: Barsanuphius, Quaestiones et responsiones  F. Neyt and P. de Angelis-Noah, Barsanuphe et Jean de Gaza, Correspondence, tome I-II [Source Chrétiennes 426/427. Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 1997-98]; TLG: 2851.001. Q. 125-170 based on: Letters from the Desert, Barsanuphius and John, A Selection of Questions and Responses, tr. & intr. by John Chryssavgis St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, Popular Patristics Series, Ed. John Behr, New York 2003) (Questions and responses); Armand Veilleux, Pachomian Koinonia (4 vols), Cistercian Studies, 1989-1992.

Severinus (Danube region, eventually settled in Italy), see Eugippius, Life of Severinus).

(North Africa and Sicily): Augustine,  Ordo Monasterii; Fulgentius -  A. Isola (ed.), Anonymus. Vita S. Fulgentii episcopi, Turnhout, 2016 (Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina, 91F) and for an Englsh translation, Robert Eno (trans), Fulgentius: Selected Works vol 1, Fathers of the Church 95, Catholic University of America 1997.

[11] Tim Vivian, Kim Vivian and Jeffrey Russell trans, The Life of the Jura Fathers The Life of the Holy Fathers Romanus, Lupicinus , and Eugendus, Abbots of the Monasteries in the Jura Mountains...,  Cistercian Studies Series no 178, Cistercian Publications, Kalamazoo, 1999,  Studies Series 178

[12] See for example Marilyn Dunn, “Mastering Benedict: Monastic Rules and Their Authors in the Early Medieval West”, English Historical Review 105 No. 416 (1990): 567-594 and “The Master and St Benedict: A Rejoinder”, English Historical Review, 107 No. 422 (1992): 104-111.

[13] There has, for example, been a vigorous debate on the source and purpose of the liturgy of Agaune, with three main camps.  Barbara Rosenwein argued it grew out of local liturgies, in response to the needs of the bishops involved (in Perennial Prayer at Agaune, in Monks and Nuns, Saints and Outcasts, Religion in Medieval Society, Essays in honor of Lester K Little, ed Sharon Farmer and Barbara H Rosenwein, Cornell UP, Ithaca and London, 2000, pp 37-56); Albrecht Diem has argued (unconvingingly in my view) that it similarly had local origins, but in the needs of Prince Sigismond of Burgungy (Who is Allowed to Pray for the King? Saint-Maurice d’Agaune and the Creation of a Burgundian Identity, in Post-Roman Transitions: Christian and Barbarian Identities in the Early Medieval West, Walter Pohl and Gerda Heydemann (eds), pp. 47-88, Brepol 2014). Anne-Marie Helvétius argues that it was largely an imported liturgy from Constantinople, for essentially political reasons (L’abbaye de Saint-Maurice d’Agaune dans le haut Moyen Âge, in Autour de saint Maurice. Actes du colloque Politique, société et construction identitaire : autour de saint Maurice, 29 septembre-2 octobre 2009, Besançon (France )- Saint-Maurice (Suisse), dir. N. BROCARD, F. VANNOTTI et A. WAGNER, Fondation des Archives historiques de l’abbaye de Saint-Maurice, 2012, p. 113-131),

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Deus in adjutorium...(Psalm 69:1)

In this series on the repeated psalms of the Benedictine Office, I thought it might be useful also to give some mention to the repeated verses of the Office, and since the Deus in adjutorium verse from (Psalm 69) opens each of the day hours which I'll start on in the next post, I thought this might be an appropriate point to look at it.

I want to suggest that there are actually three reasons why St Benedict may have so favoured it:first as a prayer asking for God to perfect our work of the Office, and aid us at all times; secondly to make clear the Christological nature of the Office; and finally as a prayer for perseverance.

Psalm 69

First lines of psalms, in Scripture at least, are traditionally regarded as pointing us to the consideration of the entire psalm, and I think that is particularly worthwhile in this case.  Accordingly, here is the text of the full psalm:

Vulgate
Douay-Rheims
In finem. Psalmus David in rememorationem, quod salvum fecerit eum Dominus
Unto the end, a psalm for David, to bring to remembrance that the Lord saved him.
1 Deus, in adjutórium meum inténde : * Dómine ad adjuvándum me festína.
O God come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me.
2  Confundántur et revereántur, * qui quærunt ánimam meam.
3 Let them be confounded and ashamed that seek my soul:
3  Avertántur retrórsum, et erubéscant, * qui volunt mihi mala.
4 Let them be turned backward, and blush for shame that desire evils to me:
4  Avertántur statim erubescéntes, * qui dicunt mihi : Euge, euge.
Let them be presently turned away blushing for shame that say to me: 'Tis well, 'tis well.
5  Exsúltent et læténtur in te omnes qui quærunt te, * et dicant semper : Magnificétur Dóminus : qui díligunt salutáre tuum.
5 Let all that seek you rejoice and be glad in you; and let such as love your salvation say always: The Lord be magnified.
6  Ego vero egénus, et pauper sum : * Deus, ádjuva me.
6 But I am needy and poor; O God, help me.

7  Adjútor meus, et liberátor meus es tu : * Dómine, ne moreris.
You are my helper and my deliverer: O lord, make no delay.


Perfect our prayer

St Benedict, in the opening to his Rule, instructs that whatever good work we undertake, to start with a prayer asking God to perfect it.  This verse, I think, provides a built in means of doing this each time we pray the Office, that ultimate 'good work'.

The origin of the use of the verse has generally been attributed to Cassian, for in Conference 10, chapter 10, he provides an extended dissertation instructing the monk to employ this verse in all times and circumstances.  There is an excellent audio conference on this that you can listen to on the Norcia Monastery website, provided by Fr Cassian Folsom OSB.

The short version though, is that Cassian puts the verse in the context of cultivating a sense of continuous prayer and cultivating a sense of our total dependence on God.  In particular he sees it as the remedy against every kind of danger:

"For it embraces all the feelings which can be implanted in human nature, and can be fitly and satisfactorily adapted to every condition, and all assaults. Since it contains an invocation of God against every danger, it contains humble and pious confession, it contains the watchfulness of anxiety and continual fear, it contains the thought of one's own weakness, confidence in the answer, and the assurance of a present and ever ready help. For one who is constantly calling on his protector, is certain that He is always at hand. It contains the glow of love and charity, it contains a view of the plots, and a dread of the enemies, from which one, who sees himself day and night hemmed in by them, confesses that he cannot be set free without the aid of his defender. This verse is an impregnable wall for all who are labouring under the attacks of demons, as well as impenetrable coat of mail and a strong shield."

 Through his Incarnation and Resurrection

Fr Cassian in his series on continuous prayer notes that St Benedict interprets the Office as 'the work of Christ'.  This psalm fits very nicely with this Christological view of the Office, for the title of the psalm in the view of the Fathers, points us to the Resurrection.  St Augustine, for example, commented on it that:

"Thanks to the Corn of wheat, because He willed to die and to be multiplied: thanks to the only Son of God, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who disdained not to undergo our death, in order that He might make us worthy of His life."

That is important to keep in mind, since aside from the first verse, the psalms is essentially a repeat of the second half of Psalm 39, which is primarily focused on the Incarnation, opening a verse about waiting in hope for the coming of the Messiah.  Verses 2-4 in fact reprise a key theme of Monday in the Office, namely the promise that the devil will be defeated through Christ: you can find the words of those verses  repeated in various forms in Psalms 34, 6 and 128 in particular.  The Deus in adjutorium verse, then, can be seen as a plea for Christ's aid in our battle against the temptations that assail us.  And verses 4 and 5 perhaps invite us to draw on  Our Lady's example, for they seem to me at least to contain obvious echoes of the Magnificat.

A prayer for perseverance

The other key reason for use of this psalm though, seems to me to be as a prayer for aid in perseverance.

The final verse essentially echoes the first, but St Augustine's commentary on it puts a nice twist on it.  Rather than focusing on God's seeming delay in responding to our pleas, he puts the blame for any delay back on our poor efforts, and turns the psalm into a prayer for perseverance:

What is, delay not? Because many men say, it is a long time till Christ comes. What then: because we say, delay not, will He come before He has determined to come? What means this prayer, delay not? May not Your coming seem to me to be too long delayed. For to you it seems a long time, to God it seems not long, to whom a thousand years are one day, or the three hours of a watch. 

But if you shall not have had endurance, late for you it will be: and when to you it shall be late, you will be diverted from Him, and will be like those that were wearied in the desert, and hastened to ask of God the pleasant things which He was reserving for them in the Land; and when there were not given on their journey the pleasant things, whereby perchance they would have been corrupted, they murmured against God, and went back in heart unto Egypt: to that place whence in body they had been severed, in heart they went back. 

Do not thou, then, so, do not so: fear the word of the Lord, saying, Remember Lot's wife. Luke 17:32 She too being on the way, but now delivered from the Sodomites, looked back; in the place where she looked back, there she remained: she became a statue of salt, in order to season you. For to you she has been given for an example, in order that you may have sense, may not stop infatuated on the way. Observe her stopping and pass on: observe her looking back, and do thou be reaching forth unto the things before, as Paul was. Philippians 3:13 What is it, not to look back. Of the things behind forgetful, he says. 

Therefore you follow, being called to the heavenly reward, whereof hereafter you will glory. For the same Apostle says, There remains for me a crown of righteousness, which in that day the Lord, the just Judge, shall render to me. 2 Timothy 4:8

I can't help thinking that this particular take on the psalm fits particularly well with St Benedict's spirituality...

Spiritual and liturgical uses of the psalm
 

NT references

1 Peter 5:7 (6)

RB cursus

Matins Wednesday II, 3

Monastic feasts etc

Maundy Thurs Tenebrae, I, 2;

AN (2330); 1547 (4);

Responsories

7475 (2) – Passion Sunday no 8

Roman pre 1911

Thursday Matins

Roman post 1911

1911-62: Thursday Compline  . 1970:

Mass propers (EF)

Lent 2 Monday GR (2, 7);
Lent 2 Thursday, IN (1-3);
Lent 4 Thursday, OF (1-3); 
PP 12, IN (1-3)

 

Friday, May 2, 2014

Psalm 3: Five reasons why St Benedict uses it as a daily invitatory



Psalm 3 is the first psalm said each day in the Benedictine Office, opening the hour of Matins (Vigils), said in the dark early hours of the morning.  In this post, I want to summarise some possible reasons why St Benedict made it one of the daily psalms of his Office.

Psalm 3: Domine, quid multiplicati sunt
Vulgate
Douay-Rheims
Psalmus David, cum fugeret a facie Absalom filii sui.
The psalm of David when he fled from the face of his son Absalom.
2 Dómine quid multiplicáti sunt qui tríbulant me? * multi insúrgunt advérsum me.
Why, O Lord, are they multiplied that afflict me? many are they who rise up against me.
3  Multi dicunt ánimæ meæ: * Non est salus ipsi in Deo ejus.
Many say to my soul: There is no salvation for him in his God.
4  Tu autem, Dómine, suscéptor meus es, * glória mea, et exáltans caput meum.
But thou, O Lord art my protector, my glory, and the lifter up of my head.
5  Voce mea ad Dóminum clamávi: * et exaudívit me de monte sancto suo.
I have cried to the Lord with my voice: and he hath heard me from his holy hill.
6  Ego dormívi, et soporátus sum: * et exsurréxi, quia Dóminus suscépit me.
I have slept and taken my rest: and I have risen up, because the Lord hath protected me
7  Non timébo míllia pópuli circumdántis me: * exsúrge, Dómine, salvum me fac, Deus meus.
I will not fear thousands of the people, surrounding me: arise, O Lord; save me, O my God.
8  Quóniam tu percussísti omnes adversántes mihi sine causa: * dentes peccatórum contrivísti.
For thou hast struck all them who are my adversaries without cause: thou hast broken the teeth of sinners.
9  Dómini est salus: * et super pópulum tuum benedíctio tua.
Salvation is of the Lord: and thy blessing is upon thy people.


Psalm 3 arguably encapsulates five key aspects of St Benedict's spirituality.

1. Remembering the physical world: St Benedict seems, in his Rule, to enjoy finding ways in which to carry out quite literally the injunctions of the psalms while pointing to the underlying spiritual meaning of doing so.  'Seven times a day have I given praise to you' is translated quite literally, for example into seven hours to be prayed during the day, while 'at midnight I rose to give praise to thee' justifies Matins (RB16). 

One of the key reasons for the selection of this psalm as the first for Matins then, must surely lie in the words of verse 3, for in the early hours of the morning, well before dawn, the monk or nun can truly say with the psalmist, 'I have slept and taken my rest, and I have risen up because the Lord has protected me'.

The verse though, also has a Christological interpretation, indeed, the oldest surviving Patristic reference to Psalm 3, from St Clement of Rome (c96) states that the verse alludes to Our Lord's death and Resurrection.  
Indeed, an early tradition is that the first three psalms of the psalter are about, respectively, the life (Psalm 1), death (Psalm 2) and Resurrection of Christ (Psalm 3).  And of course, the Fathers urge us to apply its message to ourselves as well: we must trust that God will protect us so we rise up, both each day now, and at the last, with him.    

2. The spiritual warfare: The idea that we must wage spiritual warfare against our enemies with the help of God resonates throughout the St Benedict's Rule.  Indeed, in the very opening lines of the Prologue he urges us to renounce our own will, in order  'to fight for the true King, Christ', and take up the 'strong and glorious weapons' of obedience.

The psalm, particularly in verses 1 and 7, makes it clear that we cannot expect the spiritual life to be easy: rather, it is a battle.  We must struggle daily with enemies ranged around us, such as discouragement and temptation. 

3.  Why does God often seem so slow to act?:  This psalm opens by asking why God allows us to be surrounded by our enemies (verse 1), and also asks why the good often seem so badly outnumbered (verse 7).  The challenge posed by a God who often seems to sit back, allowing sinners to flourish while oppressing the good (verse 2) is also a key theme of the psalms the saint places at Prime each day.  Why then does God seem to hold back?  

The issue seems to have been a particular preoccupation for St Benedict, reflected not least in his choice of the psalms set for Prime.  


This psalm doesn't directly answer the question, but in the Prologue to the Rule the saint does suggest one key reason, namely to give us - and those mired in evil - time to repent that we might yet be saved:


"And the days of our life are lengthened and a respite allowed us for this very reason, that we may amend our evil ways. For the Apostle saith: Knowest thou not that the patience of God inviteth thee to repentance? For the merciful Lord saith: I will not the death of a sinner, but that he should be converted and live."

4.  Ask God for help: Another reason for God's delay is suggested by Verse 7 of the psalm, which introduces some key motifs or memes in the Benedictine Office, often used in antiphons and elsewhere, in the words 'exsúrge, Dómine/salvum me fac, Deus meus' (or  'Arise Lord, save me my God). The point is that although God always calls to our hearts, he also gives us free will, and part of that gift is that we must actively ask for his help to ensure, and to perfect what we do.

St Benedict seems to have had some particular attachment to these sentiments for he deliberately splits psalms in two, even across days in order to arrange for these two phrases (or slight variants thereof) to be used as incipits twice on Wednesday: firstly at Matins (Psalm 67/68) and again at Prime (Psalm 9 pt 2/Psalm 11).

5.  Trust in God:  Finally, closely linked to the requirement that we actively ask for God's help is the deep sense of trust in God to make everything come out right, and help us win the race that we must cultivate.  Verse 4 of the Psalm alludes to God as the one who is our sustainer or protector (susceptor), who lifts us up.  In many respects the themes of the psalm, and this verse in particular, echo the stanza of Psalm 118 that surround the Suscipe verse that is used as part of the monastic profession ceremony.

Indeed, the idea of God as our 'susceptor' has an important theology behind it.  St Augustine's take on the word points to the analogy of the Roman paterfamilias, who 'received' (acknowledged) his child, thus saving it from the fate of exposure.  He also explains it as a word used to mean a powerful man who takes up the cause of someone, or a doctor or lawyer accepting a case.   When God becomes our susceptor, in other words, he acts as a Father or powerful protector of us, someone who has taken our cause on as his own, and will work to sustain, help and heal us.  The monastic commentator Cassian (c. 360 – 435) took the discussion of its meaning a step further, for in Chapter 17 of his Conference 13 he discusses God's intervention in various types of vocation:


"Hence it comes in our prayers we proclaim God as not only protector and Saviour, but actually as our Helper and Sponsor [adjuitorem et susceptorem] for whereas He first calls us to him, and while we are ignorant and unwilling, draws us towards salvation, he is our Protector and Saviour, but whereas when we are already striving, He is want to bring us help, and to receive and defend those who fly to Him for refuge, He is our Sponsor and Refuge.' "


St Benedict's contemporary Cassiodorus' commentary on the verse puts more emphasis on the idea of God as our ongoing sustainer, particularly in the ennoblement of the flesh through grace made possible through the Incarnation:


"Sustainer, that is, of the form of slave, since the taking up of human nature is the Word made flesh. So it is the flesh which speaks of its glory and the lifting up of its head, for the all-powerful Word assumed it so that the divine and human substance might be one Person without any admixture. This verse is relevant too to the confounding of the Pelagians, who believe that man can by his own efforts achieve something good; for who, pray, could be self-sufficient for performing good without abundance of divine grace? It is through grace by which it is united to God that human nature has taken its place at the Father's right hand."


Throughout the psalm there is a clear message: if we but put our trust in God and cry out to him with strength, he will destroy our enemies, be they of the world, the flesh and the devil.  

Verse by verse notes on the psalm

I've previously provided more detailed notes on Psalm 3 which you can find as follows:


Introduction to Psalm 3
Psalm 3:v1
Psalm 3:v2
Psalm 3:v3
Psalm 3:v4
Psalm 3:v5
Psalm 3:v6
Psalm 3:v7 
Psalm 3:v8

I also provided some crib notes on the Latin:
Notes on Psalm 3 grammar and vocab Pt 1
Notes on Latin of Psalm 3 Pt 2
Notes on the Latin of Psalm 3, Pt 3

Alternatively, you can jump straight to the introduction to the next psalm in this series, Psalm 94.