|
 |
|
St Benedict calls
the monastery a school of the Lord's service. The
centre of our life is the worship of God. This
is done above all in our times of common prayer,
the Divine Office. St Benedict calls this the Work
of God. All our work is for God, but this is what
helps us give the whole day to him. Monks should
be men of prayer and, besides prayer together,
we also pray on our own every morning and evening
in time set aside for private prayer as well as
for lectio divina, a slow and prayerful
meditation on Scripture. Here we learn to listen
to God who speaks in our hearts. The heart of our
prayer, and the heart of all Christian life, is
the Mass, where we join ourselves with Jesus in
offering ourselves to the Father, and sharing in
the fellowship of his life as we gather around
his altar.
|
|
 |
|
We
also serve the Lord in serving others, sharing
in the mission of the Church to bear witness to
the Gospel of Christ. Our work in the school and
parishes (largely in our locality) are perhaps
the most obvious ways in which this is to be seen,
but they are not the only ways. From the beginning
of our life at Douai, education has been a vital
way of introducing people to a Christian sense
of culture and vision of society, but we also do
this in other ways through our study, in talks
and publishing. Our parishes, together with our
work as chaplains, and in giving retreats or spiritual
conferences, are ways in which we contribute to
the pastoral life of the Church. Most important
for Benedictines is the work of hospitality, in
our Guest House and in the St Bede Centre, which
enables us to reach out to groups of people in
need of spiritual refreshment. Bainesbury House
is a separate retreat centre for groups of young
people. Besides work in keeping the house, the
Church and gardens in good order, the administration
of a complex establishment is a demanding job in
which our monks are assisted by very many lay-people
in a number of departments, all of them contributing
to a Household of God, in which our fellow men
and women are welcomed as signs of Christ, and
in his name.
|
|
|
|
|
