Transcript Monks: "A Day in the Life"

Medieval Monks and Nuns:
A Day in the Life
The Benedictine Rule
•In 530 St. Benedict
established a monastery
in Southern Italy
•The Benedictine
“Rule”- or order of lifespread across Europe
•Monks and Nuns took
3 vows: poverty,
chastity, and obedience
A Life of Service
•Cared for poor and sick
•Set up schools
•Gave travellers food and lodging
•Missionaries- travelled spreading the
Gospel
Centers of Learning
•Preserved works
of Ancient
authors- Romans
and Greeks
•Copied beautiful
manuscripts
•Kept learning
alive in Europe
Convents
•Women could be independent and
escape limits of society
•Women could receive an education
•In the later Middle Ages, the Church
put more restrictions on women
•They still made many contributions
'A Day in the Life of a Monk'
By Dom Dunstan O'Keeffe
Downside Abbey, Somerset
It often comes as a surprise to learn that
they are also real people, living and
working in the twenty-first century. For
there are still monasteries of monks and
nuns in England, most of them
belonging to the Roman Catholic
Church, all of them witnessing to God
by their life of prayer and by a rich
variety of works including teaching,
running parishes, giving retreats,
creating beautiful objects like stained
glass and ceramics, and inspiring others
with uplifting music and worship.
A Day in the Life ... of a Monk
Unlike missionaries and friars, who
travel about quite a lot in the course of
their work, monks tend to stay put in
one place, so that the monastery which
they make their home becomes a focus
for the prayer life of the local
community and a stable point in a
rapidly changing world.
My home is at Downside Abbey in
Somerset, where I live with about
thirty other monks. I have several
different jobs, which I carry out in
the gaps between the fixed times of
prayer when all the monks come
together to praise God.
A Day in the Life ... of a Monk
This is a typical day:
6.00 a.m.
The day begins with the service of
VIGILS in the Abbey Church: this is
the first and longest part of the
'Divine Office' which gives a
framework to the monastic day.
During Vigils we sing psalms and
canticles from the Bible and listen to
the Word of God and to the writings
of Church Fathers.
There follows a half-hour break for
private prayer.
7.05 a.m.
LAUDS. This if the Office of Praise,
when we joyfully greet the dawn
and ask God's blessing on the day's
work; Lauds is shorter than Vigils,
and more 'upbeat' in tone.
7.30 a.m.
Breakfast, taken in silence in the Monks' Refectory.
8.35 a.m.
MASS. The whole community
is gathered together for the
celebration of the Eucharist, in
which we remember the saving
sacrifice of Christ, and renew
the offering of ourselves to
God. At Mass, since I am
Choirmaster, I lead the monks
in their singing of Gregorian
chant. Together with the choir
from our boarding school, we
have made two very successful
CDs of our singing. The whole
school joins us for Mass on
Sunday mornings.
9.15 a.m.
After Mass, the monks go about their
different jobs, whether it be teaching in
the school, looking after a local parish, or
dealing with visitors. A lot of my time is
taken up with computer work, as I edit
our quarterly journal, The Downside
Review, and most jobs that need IT skills
seem to come my way. I also run our
Conference Centre, so there will be
'phone calls, e-mails and letters to sort
out.
1.10 p.m.
MIDDAY PRAYER. In the middle of our working
day, we pause to remember that it is God who gives
value to our work and sustains us in our labours.
This if followed by lunch. We begin by singing grace
together; then, as we eat in silence, one of the brethren
reads to us an extract which the Abbot has chosen: it
might be an academic article from a journal, or a
sermon or lecture.
In the afternoons I try to get away
from my computer screen, though I
don't always succeed. If at all
possible I will try to do something
more physical, and there are always
jobs to be done. I spend quite a lot of
time maintaining a hostel for student
groups which I look after.
5.45 p.m.
VESPERS. Together with Lauds, Vespers is one of the
'hinges' of the day. For most of the community, the
working day is done, and it is time to give thanks to God
for the graces he has given during the day, in prayer and
singing.
After Vespers, there is another half-hour of silence so that
we can pray privately or meditate on a passage of the
Bible.
6.45 p.m.
Supper. As with the other meals, this is
taken in silence, but the reading is
lighter and more entertaining: it may
be biography, history or travel writing.
7.15 p.m.
Community Recreation. After we have tidied up in the
refectory, this is the time to relax together as a monastic
family, to swap news, ideas, stories, and just to be together.
It is important to have this time for conversation, as
monasteries are very busy places, and people might not
otherwise get the chance to talk.
8.00 p.m.
Compline. The last part of the Divine
Office, which we sing by heart in the
darkened Church. After Compline there
is silence in the monastery until
breakfast the next morning.
Some will go to bed soon afterwards;
for others there is still work to be done:
the school will not quieten down until
11.30 p.m. I tend to get to bed around
10.30 p.m.
Life as a monk is not as leisurely as it
can seem from the outside, and can be
compared to the swan gliding
gracefully on the surface of the water,
while underneath its feet are working
frantically. But for those who are
suited to its orderliness and sense of
purpose, it is a life that is richly
rewarding.
Each of the monks has his own
room, which we call 'cells',
though they are more
comfortable than prison cells!
I do most of my work from my
own room, so it functions also
as an office, with lots of filing
trays and hundreds of books. I
find I have to be very
imaginative about making best
use of the space!
Dom Dunstan O'Keeffe
Downside Abbey, Somerset