Welcome!

It is good to have you share in this retreat and I hope that the material provided will help you with your prayer and reflection. You can take it as a day retreat, or follow it at your own pace.

There are two recorded talks and some material for reflection. 

The first talk takes its starting point from St Benedict's own experience of isolation and how he grew through that experience.

The second talk offers some suggestions about how to live this strange time well. 

Hopefully we are emerging on the other side of this crisis, but it is revealing challenges for us as indivuals and society. Our prayer and reflection will be important for the months and years ahead. 

Begin with a psalm and a prayer. 

Watch the video.

Take some time to reflect and pray.

May the the Lord never allow us to stumble.

Fr Brendan

A prayer that God may keep you and others safe.

Psalm 120

I lift up my eyes to the mountains:

from where shall come my help?

My help shall come from the Lord

who made heaven and earth.

May he never allow you to stumble!

Let him sleep not, your guard.

No, he sleeps not nor slumbers,

Israel's guard.

The Lord is your guard and your shade;

at your right side he stands.

By day the sun shall not smite you

nor the moon in the night.

The Lord will guard you from evil,

he will guard your soul.

The Lord will guard your going and coming

both now and for ever.

May the Lord of life welcome the departed into his kingdom and grant comfort and hope to those still suffering, especially the elderly and those who are alone. May he never withdraw his consolation and help from those who are especially vulnerable, such as persons who work in nursing homes, or live in barracks and prisons.... Doctors, nurses, supermarket employees, cleaners, caregivers, providers of transport, law and order forces, volunteers, priests, religious men and women fa thers, mothers, grandparents and teachers ... showing our children, in small everyday gestures, how to face up to and navigate a crisis by adjusting their routines, lifting their gaze and fostering prayer.

As reflect quietly to ourselves, let us thank God for all those out there working for the good of all.

"Romanus... gave whatever help he could..." 

Queen Elizabeth said: "Our streets are not empty, they are filled with the love and the care that we have for each other."  

For whom and for what should we give thanks?

"He sought to please God alone."  

Alone or in company Benedict sought to do the will of God. Is there a different way that we can be Church in our present situation?

After his bruising encounter with bad monks, "He returned to his beloved place of solitude where he lived alone with himself [habitavit secum] in the presence of God."  

Do some people constantly irritate and disturb me?  Can I have to find a way of letting them be, and not expect them to conform to my ideas so that I live at peace 'with myself' and with God? [This does not mean we ignore the needs of others but finding a realistic way to respond.]

"I know that it is Easter because you have graced me with your presence."

How does Christ share his risen life with me, and how do I share it with others?

These frescoes are from the monastery of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, just south of Siena in Tuscany. They were painted by the Italian Renaissance painter Giovanni Antonio Bazzi 1477-1549. The describe the clothing of St Benedict (in white as the Olivetan Benedictines wear) by Romanus, the 'bad monks' in brown with the broken cup, Benedict awaiting his lunch, and with the unexpected Easter guests. 

It is worth remembering that the founder of the Olivetans, St Bernardo Tolomei, canonized in 2009 by Pope Benedict was himself a victim of the plague.

In 1348 Bernardo left the solitude of Monte Oliveto for Siena at a time when the disease was particularly virulent in the city. Bernardo and his monks devoted themselves to the care of the sick. On 20 August 1348, while helping his plague-stricken monks, he himself, fell victim of the plague along with eighty-two monks.

“To know God I must know myself first” 

"You may find that the cell is an ideal place to get to know yourself, to search realistically and regularly the process of your own mind and feelings. In judging our progress as individuals we tend to focus on external factors such as one's social position, influence and popularity, wealth and standard of education but internal factors may be even more crucial in assessing one's development as a human being: honesty, sincerity, simplicity, humility, purity, generosity, absence of vanity, readiness to serve your fellow men - qualities within the reach of every soul -- are the foundations of one's spiritual life. At least if nothing else, the cell gives you the opportunity to look daily into your entire conduct to overcome the bad and develop whatever is good in you. Regular meditation, say of about fifteen minutes a day before you turn in, can be very fruitful in this regard. You may find it difficult at first to pinpoint the negative factors in your life, but the tenth attempt may reap rich rewards. Never forget that a saint is a sinner who keeps on trying."

In the deserts of the heart

Let the healing fountain start

In the prison of his days 

Teach the free man how to praise.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High 

and abides in the shade of the Almighty 

says to the Lord: “My refuge, 

my stronghold, my God in whom I trust!”

It is he who will free you from the snare 

of the fowler who seeks to destroy you; 

he will conceal you under his pinions 

and under his wings you will find refuge.

You will not fear the terror of the night 

nor the arrow that flies by day, 

nor the plague that prowls in the darkness 

nor the scourge that lays waste at noon.

A thousand may fall at your side, 

ten thousand at your right, 

you, it will never approach; 

his faithfulness is buckler and shield.

Your eyes have only to look 

to see how the wicked are repaid, 

you will have said: “Lord, my refuge!” 

and have made the Most High your dwelling.

Upon you no evil shall fall, 

no plague approach where you dwell.

For you has he commanded his angels, 

to keep you in all your ways.

They shall bear you upon their hands 

lest you strike your foot against a stone.

On the lion and the viper you will tread 

and trample the young lion and the dragon.

Since he clings to me in love, I will free him; 

protect him for he knows my name.

When he calls I shall answer: “I am with you.”

I will save him in distress and give him glory.

With length of life I will content him; 

I shall let him see my saving power.

Visit this this house, we pray you, Lord: 

drive far away from it all the snares of the enemy.

May your holy angels stay here 

and guard us in peace, 

and let your blessing be always upon us.

Through Christ our Lord,

Amen.

Thanks for sharing in this retreat. 

Pray for us all at Belmont as we pray that you and your loved ones stay safe and well.