Praying Advent

by Katherine Schedler

Prayer is the soul’s greatest privilege,

Its hardest labor, Its purest joy.

A recent visit to an abbey in a neighboring state put me in mind of the above adage I received last year, imprinted on a small card and inserted into a Christmas greeting card.  I look at it daily and have committed it to memory.  There are approximately 40 priests and brothers who have chosen to take vows to live out their lives in the abbey and to do so according to the Rule of St. Benedict.  Theirs is a life of prayer; they are called to prayer and meditation five times each day.

During my stay at this abbey I, like others there for retreat and informal study of the Rule of St. Benedict, wondered how one discerned a call to what seemed a rather mundane lifestyle.  However, it became obvious that for those who regularly make weekend visits there and become a part of that community, through visits and prayer, they understood the choice made by the monks.  By the end of the weekend, I, too, had more insight into the joy that must come from living each hour of the day under the guidance of prayer.  After hearing from the monk who led our discussion that “we are like everyone else in this world-wanting to avoid work or divine reading or arriving late for Morning Prayer-except we have chosen to live here, in this community.”

For most of us it is easy to miss the power of the Advent Season because of all the secular activities and preparations that abound.  We are easily distracted from having an Advent Season that truly prepares us for the celebration of Christmas with all its meaning.  Devoting  these days of Holy Preparation to prayer and meditation will, perhaps, decrease our personal distractions and allow us to recognize the privilege,  accept the labor, and experience the joy of time committed to prayer.