Random Thoughts

ora et labora… A Daily Routine

Who can honestly say that the daily rhythm of their life has not been upset to some degree by the introduction of the COVID-19 virus into American society? While millions around the world have become infected, we are fortunate at least that the mortality rate of the current virus is significantly lower than the previous pandemic. In fact, to quote numbers, in 1918 the influenza epidemic was notable for its virulence where over 20 million people died worldwide: approximately half a million (500,000) in the United States with a death rate of 174 per 100,000. The current pandemic, as of 17 July, records 137,864 deaths in the USA, a national mortality rate of approximately 42. per 100,000 infected individuals. The current mortality rate among South Dakotans is 13 per 100,000. My source was not some lame stream media talking head, but statista.com (https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104709/coronavirus-deaths-worldwide-per-million-inhabitant) a well-known source of statistical data. And yes, I have heard that old refrain and often repeated it myself that there are lies, damn lies, and statistics, but one must choose an information source, cite said source, and then let the reader decide for themselves the validity of the information provided. You may be thinking, well this information flies in the face of what O’Donnell, Holt, and Muir are reporting during the nightly news on their respective television stations. Go figure!?!

But what has all this to do with Saint Benedict and his teaching of pray and work (ora et labora) you wonder. By way of apology, only loosely I must admit because the temporary loss of some semblance of a daily rhythm to life would have proven deeply unsettling to the monks of the Abbey of Monte Cassino who spent eight hours a day in prayer, eight hours working, and eight hours sleeping. Imagine the rituality of such an existence. We faint hearts of the 21st century cannot spend eight minutes let alone eight hours in contemplation without a phone fix every few minutes. Think about entering Monte Cassino after a black-robed monk opens the gates with the word PAX (PEACE) inscribed in stone over the arch to enter a life of prayer and labor in order to achieve inner peace. I think about our State’s own Blue Cloud Abbey and the monks that once lived and labored there in quiet solitude and wonder if I possess the willpower to commit to such an existence.

The Abbey of Monte Cassino, on the other hand, is one of the most famous Abbeys in the world. Founded by Saint Benedict in 529, he chose the mountain (il monte in Italian) of Cassino to found a Christian monastery where the dignity of praying and working were interwoven in the pattern of daily life. The monastery was damaged several times in the intervening centuries. In 577 by the Langobards/Lombards (ethnically Germans), in 887 by the Saracens (ethnically Arabs), in 1349 by an earthquake, and most famously in February 1944 when it was almost flattened by Allied bombardment in the mistaken belief that the mountain Abbey was fortified by the Herman Göring Division of the German Wehrmacht of WWII. Each time; however, the monastery was resurrected, restored, and made stronger.

Ora et labora, known as Saint Benedict’s Rule, is still followed daily by the monks at the Abbey of Monte Cassino. The strength of the monks’ commitment to Saint Benedict’s rule is something for those of us with less strength of will to ponder. We weaker modern day versions of our forebears must find the commitment and will to see ourselves, our families, our neighbors, and our friends through what are most assuredly troubling, but temporary times.

It is so easy for us to forget, probably because we are a young country with extraordinarily little history in comparison, and what little we have is at present being pulled to the ground by an insignificant and radical faction of our society. Our nation’s history, if properly taught in our schools today, would inform students that the pandemic of 1917 rolled in waves through our society until finally subsiding somewhere in 1920. There are relatively few alive today who can honestly say they lived through the previous pandemic, and they unfortunately, are the ones most vulnerable to the current national health crisis.

So, in these trying times, seek to find some balance in your life that follows the example set by Saint Benedict and his monks, past and present. On a personal note, in the mid-1970s I was deeply affected as a young man by a visit to the Blue Cloud Abbey, a Benedictine Monastery near Marvin and just off US Highway 12, as I chauffeured my aging Grandmother to visit her daughter and family in Minnesota in order to attend a grandson’s high school graduation. As we approached the Abbey entrance, my Grandmother who was not overly conversant like this grandson, directed me to turn in at the entrance. Knowing an order when I heard one, I followed her instructions and helped her enter what seemed to me a cavernous church compared to where we attended weekly services. My Grandmother said little, nothing of note that I recall, but what she did was more powerful than words. She simply knelt and prayed. Quietly, serenely, as though this was the true purpose for our travels. I have lost and found my faith over the years, mostly found of late, and when I think back on those precious moments with my Grandmother watching her lost in prayer, I know that the example she set is the reason why my day begins with a small litany of prayers. And I know now that the aging woman I watched silently praying those many years ago had been a young girl of 15 when the influenza was at its peak in Edmunds County in 1918. It sickened her entire family, took the life of her 18 year old brother, but spared the rest of the family. May we all be as fortunate in the weeks, months, and perhaps even years ahead. A daily prayer before our daily labors may help. Ora et Labora.

“He should first show them in deeds rather than words all that is good and holy.”

― Saint Benedict of Nursia