Benediction

Tomorrow, my birthday, is also the feast-day of Saint Benedict, a rather important figure to me — the establisher of rules for monastic orders, arguably the first Christian figure to take seriously the idea that you could use ritual to build a community of people praying and working together, until work turned into a form of prayer.

He’s taken as the first figure who said that it was okay to come off of the mountain and spend time with other people as a spiritual person. Previously the desert fathers were sitting on rocks and waiting for enlightenment alone.

A good icon for evangelical leftist spiritualists who understand the felicity of finding other people to talk to. I take it as a good sign.

Link: The Catholic Encyclopedia on the Rule of St Benedict