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I. Setting:
Holy
Thursday at the Spiritan seminary in Enugu, Nigeria. Holy hour in the
evening. I look forward to quiet prayer. No, it’s constant vocal
prayer: Rosary, litanies, etc. Hour upon hour. Later, I spend a few
days with some Nigerian sisters. By 6:00 in the morning, we are on our
knees in the chapel reciting morning prayer, Rosary, etc., etc. before
Mass. I’m definitely the outsider here in my expectations of prayer.
Then I remember hearing about the American Passionists first setting up
a retreat house in Korea, with private bedrooms, of course. But the
Koreans didn’t want to sleep alone, so brought mattresses into other
rooms so they could be together.
These are
examples of obvious cultural differences, communality over against
Western individualism and solitariness. And maybe more? Sophie wanted
to be a Carmelite. Carmelites will tell you that they are hermits who
live together, as contrasted, for example, with Cistercians, who have a
strong ethic of doing everything together as a community. What effect
has this had on our living of her charism?
How
were we trained, those of us who did novitiate before 1967? That prayer
was solitary. That our morning meditation and afternoon adoration were real
prayer. There was of course Mass, the common offering, but we retreated
behind our veils even for that. Then there were Office and night
prayer. Office was sort of an inconvenience that very few found
nourishing (although some did find life in it; for them, it was a
sacrifice when it ended).
Office has a long
history: the singing of psalms in the Jerusalem Temple, Pliny’s report
in the early second century that Christians meet before dawn “to sing
songs to Christ as if to a god.” By the third century, all Christians
were expected to pray three times a day: morning, evening, and
midnight; Hippolytus directs that if your spouse if not a believer, you
should rise in the night and go to another room to pray, so as not to
wake your spouse. When in the late fourth century Jerome gives
directions for the raising of a virtuous girl intended for the monastic
life, he says that she should pray the psalms morning and evening,
during the night, and also at the third, sixth, and ninth hours of the
day. This rhythm of recitation of the Psalms developed into the Divine
Office, originally intended for all Christians, but it got so elaborate
that eventually only monastics had time to do it. Thus the beginning of
the liturgical impoverishment of the West, when we gave up general use
of the daily rhythm of prayer in favor of concentration on Eucharist.
What we in the Society said was the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a form that arose in the 7-8th cents. as an extra devotion for
monastics, at Mt. Cassino, etc. At Cluny in the 11th
c. it was prescribed for sick monks who couldn’t follow the regular
Office, which at Cluny took as long as eight to nine hours a day!
Diocesan clergy were also obligated to say a form of Office, but as
private prayer.
Most female religious never got
into this. Male religious even now mostly do Morning and Evening Prayer
from the Prayer of Christians, rather than less structured community
prayer, maybe under the influence of the expectation that clergy to do
this. In my experience, few women’s congregations pray the Office
anymore.
II. A (very) Short History of Community Prayer in the Society
In the Constitutions of 1815, the Office of Our Lady is said in common. “It is a tribute of praise and gratitude” to be offered to Mary.
In 1967,
we were scrambling to catch up with liturgical renewal. So in the
Special Chapter documents of 1967, it is “Eucharistic celebration which
builds community,” while Divine Office is “the prolongation of the
Eucharistic Liturgy, the prayer of Christ through His Church praising
the Father and interceding for the world.” Lauds and Vespers or
Compline were to be said in the vernacular. Then the breaking point: “Ad experimentum:
variety in the way of saying Office and of making adaptations; to be
determined on the provincial level.” (p. 42) That was the implicit
permission to change the forms, and throughout the document of this
Chapter, adaptations are to be made at the provincial and local levels.
Immediately
after comes the call to “deepen our personal life of prayer,” and to
“strengthen the climate of prayer” in community by, among other things,
“Encouragement of fraternal sharing and exchange.” (p. 43) It is not
clear what that means. Community prayer as we now understand it may
have originated in France or in Latin America, but not in North America
(cf. Mary Beth Tobin).
The liturgical renewal of
Vatican II didn’t help. It focused on Eucharist and sacraments, and
ignored other forms of common liturgical prayer. This insight came for
me in 1981 when I was leading a large group for a semester in Israel.
In the group were four Benedictines, men and women, from three
different monasteries. When we put together the procedures for our
daily life together, they really didn’t care if we had Eucharist every
day or not, but they wanted Morning and Evening Prayer all the time.
For them, that was real liturgy.
The Chapter of 1970
produced the radical shift toward the option for the poor and attention
to justice issues in the world rather than to our lifestyle.
Consequently, little is said about specifics of our life. However, the
opening challenge contains these words:
“…either
we live our fellowship authentically, in the spirit of the Beatitudes,
or our life ceases to have meaning.” To do that, we were called to
“build fraternal communities centered in Jesus Christ.” (p. 7) Among
fundamental elements of this life, “a contemplative outlook on the
world, which presupposes times of deep prayer, both solitary and
shared.” (p. 14) Community prayer is seen as a way to build communion
for mission.
The Constitutions of 1982
continues the expectation. “The community takes to heart the need to
create a climate which favours experience of God, sharing among
ourselves and with others. Each day our life together is strengthened
by community prayer. We share the Word of God … and adopt forms of
prayer which help us to grow in faith, hope and love.” In the middle,
where the dots are, CRIS had inserted that we say Morning and Evening
Prayer of the Church unless dispensed by competent authority — but that
was not in the original, and has never been taken seriously. (#26, p.
173).
Finally, the document on formation of 1992,
“The fate of the Society is in our hands,” says of community: “Daily
interaction among ourselves, growth in our ability to listen, prayer
together, mutual support, can contribute to personal growth as well as
create a climate and attitude of openness that is welcoming to others
and to new members who join us.” (p. 8)
In all
these statements, there seems to be the expectation that community
prayer builds community and nourishes personal spirituality.
III. What is happening today?
Last
year, before the Assembly, Mary Frohlich sent around a questionnaire to
communities, as part of an Improvement Team project, asking three
questions:
1. “Please briefly describe any ways in
which your local community prays together. Include time, frequency,
format, and any other information you consider relevant.”
2.
“Do any members of your local community participate in other
RSCJ-sponsored forms of prayer with other RSCJ and/or with others? If
so, please describe.”
3. “If your local community experiences any regular or occasional obstacles to praying together, please identify them.”
There were 43 responses, mostly from different communities, though in a few cases, from more than one person in a community.
Mary’s general reflection on them: There is quite a bit of praying together going on, perhaps more than we know!
Answers to question 1.
43
responses. The most common format is 10-20 minutes either in the
morning or before or after supper, one to five times a week. It usually
includes readings and/or music, and petitions.
A second format is a longer time, ½ to 2 hours, once a week, once a month, or occasionally. Some communities have both forms.
Then
of course, there are the special times: birthdays, feast days,
community and area meetings, etc., when special effort is put into
preparation.
Answers to question 2.
43
responses. Quite a few Areas have shared Eucharist, reflection days, or
centering prayer, often with Associates. “From reading all this, one
gets a sense that communal prayer (beyond the local community) is a
strong value for a significant number of RSCJ. However, commitment to
RSCJ sponsorship of such prayer is more spotty and appears to be left
to the initiative of individuals or groups.” (Mary Frohlich)
Answers to question 3.
39
responses. Main obstacles are finding a good time and format, fatigue,
and mutual trust. The most frequently mentioned is finding the right
time, in the midst of busy and diverse schedules. (Jane Maltby told me
that the U.S. province is unique in the diversity of work schedules we
keep, which greatly inhibits time together.)
The
second most frequent obstacle is finding a format and shape that is
satisfactory for all. People have different styles and expectations;
some want intimate sharing while others are uncomfortable with this
kind of prayer.
The numbers factor: the larger the group, the easier to have a quorum but also the greater difficulty to find a common time.
IV. Contemplative Prayer Together
We
in the Society feel called to contemplative prayer; that is St.
Madeleine Sophie’s charism showing. We also have difficulty thinking of
common prayer as contemplative.
One of the
obstacles is that all classical treatises on contemplative prayer
consider vocal prayer as the lowest, “beginner” form of prayer.
Community prayer necessarily includes some vocal prayer. Is this part
of the resistance?
Rites and ceremonies. An anthropological distinction may be helpful in sorting this out.
Rites
celebrate passage: vow ceremony, Associate commitment, funeral, even
Sacrament of Reconciliation. And in the rest of life, baptisms,
weddings, ordinations, first communions, etc.
Ceremonies
celebrate identity and being: jubilee, anniversary, community
belonging. Eucharist is a prime ceremony, communal prayer (even though
in the liturgical renewal, many had to be dragged kicking and screaming
to “participate”; one of my cousins attends Mass Saturday morning
instead of Sunday because it’s quieter.) In the liturgical renewal of
Vatican II, somehow other ceremonies than Eucharist got pushed out,
continuing the liturgical impoverishment of the West. In the new lingo,
Mass was replaced with the word “Liturgy” — as if that were the only
kind of liturgy.
The 1994 Chapter document on Eucharist: “Our life in community
calls us to Eucharist as the root and source of all our relationships.
We are sent back to our communities impelled by a love which makes
sisters around the common table, more able to acknowledge our hurts and
capable of forgiving and being forgiven, giving space to each one thus
becoming a sign of unity in our diversity.” (p. 27)
Are
we sisters around the common table only in Eucharist? Can communal
prayer be contemplative? Let’s try thinking of it not as a rite, that will transform us and make us grow, but rather as a ceremony that celebrates who we are, and makes us who we are.
Back
to the statement about Office in the 1815 Constitutions: “a tribute of
praise and gratitude.” That’s quite doable in community prayer. Have we
neglected prayer of praise and gratitude? The sheer act of praise and
gratitude is about as contemplative as we can get. It celebrates our total dependence on God. Are we expecting more? Is that not enough?
Suggested Contents for Community Prayer:
3 essential elements:
1. Praise and gratitude (Wow!) Psalms? Music? Poetry? Common Lectio Divina?
2.
Remembrance of who we are (Called nonetheless) Scripture? Society
reading? Video clip of an RSCJ unpacking something contemplatively?
3. Petition (What have you done for us lately?)
And certainly silent listening.
The
wheel doesn’t have to be reinvented each time. Does community prayer
get boring? Then we haven’t understood what praise really is. In true
praise and thanksgiving, we never tire of telling God the same things,
because they are the things that make us who we are, and God who God is.
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