Holy Rule for July 24

[St. Mary's Monastery]

+PAX
Br. Jerome Leo’s Daily Reflection on the Holy Rule

March 24, July 24, November 23
Chapter 44: How the Excommunicated Are to Make Satisfaction

One who for serious faults is excommunicated from oratory and table shall make satisfaction as follows. At the hour when the celebration of the Work of God is concluded in the oratory, let her lie prostrate before the door of the oratory, saying nothing, but only lying prone with her face to the ground at the feet of all as they come out of the oratory. And let her continue to do this until the Abbess judges that satisfaction has been made. Then, when she has come at the Abbess's bidding, let her cast herself first at the Abbess's feet and then at the feet of all, that they may pray for her. And next, if the Abbess so orders, let her be received into the choir, to the place which the Abbess appoints, but with the provision that she shall not presume to intone Psalm or lesson or anything else in the oratory without a further order from the Abbess. Moreover, at every Hour, when the Work of God is ended, let her cast herself on the ground in the place where she stands. And let her continue to satisfy in this way until the Abbess again orders her finally to cease from this satisfaction. But those who for slight faults are excommunicated only from table shall make satisfaction in the oratory, and continue in it till an order from the Abbess, until she blesses them and says, "It is enough."

REFLECTION

There is a LOT here for family and workplace, though one might not think so at first glance. This chapter is not about kneeling and prostrations, it is about asking for and receiving forgiveness.

The most important part of the puzzle here is that the offender accepts correction, even punishment, and goes through the process to amend. One more really important point here; especially in the really major offenses, it is quite likely that more monastics are involved, not just the Abbot and the offender. Still, St. Benedict does not include them in the decision to forgive.

This is strikingly useful. The terms of forgiveness are NOT in our hands, but in those of the Abbess. There is someone who has the authority and right to say: "This is finished, we've got to move on!" Wow! Now that's the sort of umpire or referee we could use in many areas of life. It may not be available at your place of work (unless you are the boss), but it surely can be a big help in any family when a parent assumes this role justly.

There is yet another bit of wisdom to be gleaned here that has nothing to do with body language 1,500 years old. St. Benedict establishes a system for the contrite one to actually make amends, to ask for forgiveness and receive it. Sad to say, there are people who would not forgive or forget. "There is NOTHING you could do that would ever make me forgive you!"

This is a horrible thing, but truthfully, after a certain point, it is no longer the fault of the one who originally goofed, but of the one who refuses to forgive, who bears a grudge. This is a much more serious issue than kneeling or not kneeling in choir, more detrimental to community than stretching out by the door for a week or so. This is cancerous. If Christians don't forgive when asked, our common life cannot go on, and common life is an integral part of Christianity. When people accept correction and ask for forgiveness and try to amend, we must honor that somehow.

We still have to live with people, for all 7x70 times they ask to be forgiven. Maybe we will never be able to be as vulnerable with them again, but we have to establish at LEAST civility, and hopefully even more than that. And, who knows, maybe, in time most of our original innocence and vulnerability will return. But those things do take time. To refuse outright to forgive is to guarantee that the good things about reconciliation for both parties will never happen at all. We are denied the "luxury" of such refusals by both Gospel and Rule.

Br. Jerome Leo Hughes, OSB (RIP)