About the Tradition of the Benedictus

The Benedictus, taken from Luke 1:68-79, is Zachariah’s prayer of praise at the arrival of his child.  (Zachariah is the father of John the Baptist.) 

Traditionally Benedictines pray this every day in Morning Prayer (or Lauds).  In some mysterious way, praying Zachariah's prayer allows people to join in the praise, and the commitments, between God and those who prepared the way for Jesus.

This daily reminder is part of the rhythm of prayer and work in Benedictine monastic life.  Praying the Benedictus calls Benedictine souls to timeless principles of faith.  It connects each one of us to Benedictine community around the world, and through out the past 1500 years.

In praying the Benedictus, I know that I am traveling with others who have been called to this path for more than 1500 years.  Whether I chant, or simply recite the Benedictus, I know that I am in community, even when I pray all by myself. 

My Own Experience of the Benedictus . . . . (or Song of Zachariah)

Early one Sunday morning, I found myself, a mid-western wife, with three Benedictine sisters and a priest.  We were in a small monastery chapel, praying a Morning Prayer service, which included the Benedictus (or Song of Zachariah).  The realization that I made in those moments has reshaped my life.

I am filled with gratitude for that ordinary Sunday morning.  That morning I realized that the Benedictus is not only a beautiful ancient prayer of faithful praise.  It has become my own prayerful call to live in the community of faith.  This is a call shared by the larger Benedictine community.  It describes faith in God as faith has been expressed since before the birth of Christ.  

The words of the Benedictus, and the act of praying them, continually call me back to community, and to the Rule of Benedict.  It serves both as my call to remember, and as my call to actively choose my life of faith, today.

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Lent 2009

Ash Wednesday seemed to arrive the day after New Year's Day.  It's arrival called me back to more regular prayer of the daily hours.  Along with reading the assigned lectionary readings.

Somehow praying Lauds or Morning Prayer draws out an immediate sense of connection to the community of faith worldwide.  I am reminded that others are stopping to pray in places around the world.  Some pray in groups, others in individual prayer.  Yet we are all part of this larger community of faith as we pray the hours.  This community reaches back over the centuries of history.  This community will reach forward beyond our own generation.

In reading (or praying) the Psalm or Gospel assigned for the day, I am challenged by ideas I did not choose or even expect.  Yet God speaks to me.  God calls me to consider concepts and experiences of faith outside my own.  In the Psalms I find the emotions of the faithful through the ages.  I am often comforted by the familiar feelings, challenged to consider those feelings outside my current experience, and called to more joy.  I am reminded that this life is not 'all about me.'  Or in these times, not about my current worries.  Yet, I am reminded how much God loves and cares for me, and for the larger community.

Dear God, help me to use this Lenten Season to draw into your presence daily, even repeatedly each day.  Help me learn to be more consciously aware of God's loving presence, by Easter than I was on Ash Wednesday.