Benedictine Spirituality
Mass is the culminating moment of the monk's daily life. Everything springs from her and tends towards her. When in it the Word of God is proclaimed, the LECTIO DIVINA is lived in its maximum expression, when in it the communion of the same bread is lived, communion in LIFE is lived in its maximum expression IN COMMUNITY , when the prayers are sung and recited in it, the monk's entire prayer life, his PRIVATE PRAYER and the official LITURGICAL PRAYER of the Church are concentrated on this.
The work also forms part of the everyday life of the monk: "Then you will truly monks if they live by the labor of their hands as our Fathers and the Apostles." (RB, 48, 8). In the course of history, monks have been engaged in all kinds of work: agriculture , crafts, trades, copying manuscripts, all kinds of workshops, bookbinding, etc., without excluding intellectual work, research and study.
