Bold is mine.
Just today, I was listening to a group of Benedictines from St. Bernard’s Abbey. He was explaining that for the Benedictine, the liturgy is the center of their lives; but they are not as rigid about it as we like to think. He explained that every abbot has the freedom to organize it as he best sees fit for his abbey. He went on to explain that if you travel from abbey to abbey the breviary is different and the form of the mass is different. They may have the mass and LOTH in either Latin or the vernacular. What they keep in common is the Gregorian chant, because that’s their trademark. But they may do it in Latin or English. They may say 150 psalms in one week or in one month. It’s up to the abbot how the breviary is organized. They also have the freedom to move holy days around, readings, collects and other parts of the mass to fit the culture of the abbey. There is a skeletal framework that the Church requires must be kept in place and another that St. Benedict requires. Nonetheless, St. Benedict gives the abbot a great deal of freedom in this regard and tells the monks and nuns that the abbot’s voice on these matters is Christ’s voice and may never be questioned. Christ decides what is best for each house.
With this mind, it is imperative that if one enters the Benedictine order, one enters with the mind of Benedict. The abbot is abbess is the voice of Christ and one enters to live a life of obedience and stability, everything else falls into place if one obeys.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
All excellent points. As a concrete example there are 4 published Benedictine schemas. The first one is the traditional psalm order laid out by St. Benedict himself in his famous Rule. But the Rule does allow some flexibility, as St. Benedict himself says that a monastery can choose another provided they do all 150 psalms in a week. Post-Vatican II that has been loosened a bit, and communities that are cloistered can do it in two weeks, and those with an external apostolate or for other valid reasons, can use the 4-week LOTH. When traveling monks can use the 4-week LOTH, or if visiting another community, the schema of that community to fulfill their obligation.
For example the house I am affiliated with as oblate uses Schema “B”, all 150 psalms in one week, but no repetitions, so the offices are somewhat shorter than St. Benedict’s schema, which repeats many psalms (3, 94, 66, 50, 4, 90, 133 and the Gradual Psalms every day). Vigils, and the minor hours are recited recto-tono in French but with the Latin Gregorian hymn from Liber Hymnarius. Lauds and Vespers are chanted in Latin, in Gregorian chant, on the Gregorian psalm tone appropriate for the antiphon. Compline is chanted in French in directum on weekdays, and on a more ornate tone on Sundays, but with Latin hymn and responsory, and the Marian antiphon in Latin Gregorian chant; the Nunc Dimittis is chanted in French without antiphon. The mother abbey, St-Wandrille in France which I have also visited, uses the original St. Benedict schema, with Vigils chanted recto-tono; at Compline there is no responsory, just a versicle, and no Nunc Dimittis, as is traditional for Benedictines, and it is chanted in Latin in directum. Our abbey has intercessions at Lauds and Vespers, whereas St-Wandrille only chants the Kyrie Eleison before the Pater Noster, as spelled out in the Rule. Two abbeys from the same congregation, and one being the foundation of the other, yet two very different offices. Both are done beautifully and reverentially, but as anyone exposed to Gregorian chant would know, the chant’s “voice” sounds very different in each abbey.
Whatever an abbot choses as the communities liturgy, you can be sure it will be done very carefully and reverentially and faithful to the rubrics. And you can be sure of another thing, any monk who does not faithfully obey the abbot, doesn’t remain a monk for very long.
) and to Discern with them! The Franciscans have been a great help in my discernment, even though I am not sure if I am called to their order!
They’re beautiful and simple, and they work with children and youth ministry.