LOVE OF LEARNING

We begin a series on the “Love of Learning” with an exploration of “The Reading List,” looking into books that have been significant to the monastic community.

Monastery library

The Reading Rule

While the monastic motto of “orare et laborare” may sound melodious and poetically complete, it does not fully capture the inescapable demands that Benedict makes of his monks to read. A monastic trio of “Prayer, Work, Reading,” may be preferable. The three weave a “seamless garment” for a life that seeks God. It therefore seems appropriate for a series on the “Love of Learning” to look at our monastic reading lists. What have the monks been reading? What books have shaped their own monastic journey? Are there any that have been of particular vocational significance? Do they have any “must read” suggestions? We hope to delve into these questions over the course of this monthly series.

To begin our exploration, let’s bring into focus just how important reading is to St. Benedict. Many are aware of the monastic practice of reading at each meal. Chapter 38 of the Rule give us the specifics:

Monastery library, floor two

Benedict vividly singles out reading as the central activity to accompany the meals of a monk. And he does not appear to be satisfied with quiet and passive listening. He requires the attention and focus of the community: complete silence should be maintained, informed preparation of the reader should be made, qualified readers should be selected. Benedict also requires that prayer ground the reading, that through the word that is read, through the mouth of the lector, God’s own word be spoken.

The Current has previously looked into the significance of this role of the Weekly Reader at meals. But the activity of reading for Benedict, in addition to this collective celebration, must also permeate the individual monk’s day. The directives concerning meals are supplemented by a carefully mapped out schedule of reading for the all monks. Chapter 48 of the Rule addresses this schedule, designating times, varying through the seasons, for labor, prayer, and reading. It reveals, at a minimum, the desire to keep the monks occupied: “Idleness is the enemy of the soul. Therefore, the brothers should have specified periods for manual labor as well as for prayerful reading.” Benedict directs that “from Easter until October... from the fourth hour until the time of Sext,” his monks will “devote themselves to reading.” At which point they can rest... or read some more. Then, “from the first of October to the beginning of Lent, the brothers ought to devote themselves to reading until the end of the second hour.” Following None, more reading is possible. Lent is for more reading, and this practice is to be rigorously enforced:

“During the days of Lent, they should be free in the morning to read until the third hour, after which they will work at their assigned tasks until the end of the tenth hour. During this time of Lent each one is to receive a book from the library, and is to read the whole of it straight through. These books are to be distributed at the beginning of Lent. Above all, one or two seniors must surely be deputed to make the rounds of the monastery while the brothers are reading. Their duty is to see that no brother is so apathetic as to waste time or engage in idle talk to the neglect of his reading, and so not only harm himself but also distract others. If such a monk is found–God forbid–he should be reproved a first and a second time. If he does not amend, he must be subjected to the punishment of the rule as a warning to others.” (RB 48)

Even the Lord’s day, it seems, provides no rest, when it comes to reading: “On Sunday all are to be engaged in reading except those who have been assigned various duties. If anyone is so remiss and indolent that he is unwilling or unable to study or to read, he is to be given some work in order that he may not be idle.” It is noteworthy this Chapter dedicated to “daily manual labor” in fact devotes much of its air time to daily reading. Generally, the tally is two to four hours a day of reading (see Marmion, Christ the Ideal of the Monk, 339). For Benedict, the reading he has in mind is from Scripture, Fathers, or early monastic conferences (Marmion, 363). And to the mere avoidance of idleness, positively this activity will promote spiritual growth: “In truth, the monk whose soul, pure and faithful, is attentive to keep the silence of the lips and heart, who listens devoutly to holy reading day by day, is excellently prepared to live in God’s presence.” (Marmion, 367)

What Were They Reading?  A Time Capsule

The Current has previously looked at some of the past readings of the monastic community. We will offer below another selective “time capsule” of books being read at meals in this community over the years. These offer an intriguing portal into the issues and discussions presenting themselves to the community in these moments.

A Quarter Century Ago (1997). Dated as “9/17” for the refectory of 1997, we find J.N.D. Kelly’s Golden Mouth: The Story of John Chrysostom―Ascetic, Preacher, Bishop, published in 1994. Amazon provides an excerpt from the Catholic historical Review: "No other author has delved so deeply into the life and work of this complex, influential, and tragic figure of the fourth century and produced such a far-ranging but precise, solidly researched, and eminently readable account.... Chrysostom emerges as a sympathetic and tragic figure of great integrity, whose human failings contributed and perhaps led to his downfall.... Kelly has used a careful analysis of many of John's writings and sermons to present new insights and to confirm details of Chrysostom's life previously considered doubtful; his comments and summaries stimulate one to turn to the originals. Those who are interested in Chrysostom or in this historical period must read this book.” For those who have time for only a thumbnail sketch of the saint, the much more basic educational video available online (search for “Golden Mouth”) does list Kelly’s book as one of its sources.

Three Decades Ago (September 1992). Listed under “Spiritual reading” we find Carlos Fuentes, The Buried Mirror: Reflections on Spain and the New World. Amazon describes it as, “A best-selling and lavishly illustrated history of Hispanic culture from the ’Balzac of Mexico,’ The Buried Mirror is a classic in its field. It provides an excerpt from an LA Times review: “A bittersweet celebration of the hybrid culture of Spain in the New World…Drawing expertly on five centuries of the cultural history of Europe and the Americas, Fuentes seeks to capture the spirit of the new, vibrant, and enduring civilization [in the New World] that began in Spain.” Fuentes in fact narrated a five-part video series produced in 1994, which you can either purchase on DVD for $89 or watch entirely for free on YouTube. It is an engaging presentation by the author and raises contemporary issues, issues that have perhaps changed little in the past three decades, concerning race, heritage, identity, migration. Remembering his childhood imagination, Fuentes speaks of the ocean waves, arriving from Spain to Mexico, returning back, a conversation that serves metaphorically to introduce his historical and cultural discussion. While the nearly 30-year old program technically seems faded, it has aged well and still engages the viewer. Fuentes sees Christianity as a kind of synthetic catalyst in Spain’s history, “compounding all the previous traditions,” resonating with them and reshaping them into a set of distinctive cultural identities.

From this week’s “time capsule”

From the Half-Century List (1972). From July, it was Cronin’s Napoleon that captivated the refectory ear.  “Vincent Archibald Patrick Cronin FRSL (24 May 1924 – 25 January 2011) was a British historical, cultural, and biographical writer, best known for his biographies of Louis XIV, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, Catherine the Great, and Napoleon, as well as for his books on the Renaissance.” (Goodreads) This work on Napoleon was published January 1, 1971, intended to address the author’s sense that in most that was written about Napoleon, no convincing personality could be seen to emerge. His portrait, many would say, succeeds in presenting a compelling account.

From mid-October a half-century past, the monks were reading Janet Flanner’s, Paris was Yesterday, a 1971 collection of her writings from Paris. “In 1925 Flanner began her New Yorker Letter from Paris, from which most of the pieces in this collection are drawn. They give an incomparable view of French life before World War II.” (Wikipedia) For those unfamiliar with Flanner, Wikipedia tells us: “Flanner was a prominent member of the American expatriate community which included Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Dos Passos, e. e. cummings, Hart Crane, Djuna Barnes, Ezra Pound, and Gertrude Stein—the world of the Lost Generation and Les Deux Magots. While in Paris she became very close friends with Gertrude Stein and her lover, Alice B. Toklas. She played a crucial role in introducing her contemporaries to new artists in Paris, including Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Henri Matisse, André Gide, Jean Cocteau, and the Ballets Russes, as well as crime passionel and vernissage, the triumphant crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by Charles Lindbergh and the depravities of the Stavisky Affair. One finds on YouTube a fascinating interview of Flanner, an encounter with an extraordinary personage, who was also known by the penname “Genêt.”

The Refectory

Six Decades Past (1962). The Portsmouth Priory community of 1962, under Prior Aelred Graham, having recently adjusted to its new monastery, gathered in its new refectory to read the two-volume work, The Vatican Council. This historical study based on Bishop Ullathorne's letters was written by Cuthbert Butler, edited by Christopher Butler. Their community’s reading was, of course, contemporaneous with the momentous Second Vatican Council, called nearly a century after its eponymous predecessor.

Following what would appear to have been a two-month slog through Butler’s volumes, that community then turned to The Education of Catholic Girls by Janet Erskine Stuart (preface by the Archbishop of Westminster). Also known as “Mother Janet Stuart,” the author had converted to Catholicism in 1879, and for the next decades was active in the Society of the Sacred Heart, becoming its Superior General at the time of the publication of this book, in 1911. The book opens with a remarkably contemporary comment: “The principle educational controversies of the present-day rage round the teaching of religion to children, but they are more concerned with the right to teach it then with what is taught…” For Stuart, “None of the combatants except the Catholic body seem to have a clear notion of what they actually want to teach, when the right has been secured.” Her book offers a strong dose of that distilled wisdom. Outwardly, it appears devoid of any particularly scientific analysis – one does not spot too many footnotes – but it remains an enjoyable and engaging read, consistently pertinent beyond expectation, though often inevitably more representative of its own time than ours. Its table of contents begins with two chapters on Character, proceeding then through “Catholic philosophy,” “The realities of life,” “Lessons and play,” and then successively: Mathematics, English, Modern Languages, History, and Art. Then “Manners.” Stuart also discusses the higher education of women. While specifically discussing girls, many of the themes Mother Stuart considers would have been quite pertinent to the boys then being educated at the Portsmouth Priory School, and all of the students now at the Abbey School.

Ahmari’s book, ready for reading

So, what are they reading now? Currently resting in the refectory is Sohrab Ahmari’s From Fire, by Water, his account of his journey to Catholicism, from his life as a teenager in Iran under the ayatollahs. Amari spoke at this year’s Humanities Summer Symposium provided by the Portsmouth Institute. The Institute’s website provides this biography: “Sohrab Ahmari is a founder and editor of Compact: A Radical American Journal. Previously, he spent nearly a decade at News Corp., as op-ed editor of the New York Post and as a columnist and editor with the Wall Street Journal opinion pages in New York and London. In addition to those publications, his writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Spectator, Times Literary Supplement, Dissent, and The American Conservative, for which he is a contributing editor. His books include From Fire, by Water (Ignatius, 2019) and The Unbroken Thread (Convergent/Random House, 2021).”