Christ the Ideal of the Monk

the chosen souls to whom she entrusts a more important share in this
mission, 299; the Divine Office surpasses every other prayer in value
and efficacy.

IV. Through the heart and voice of man, the Divine Office becomes

the hymn of all creation, 300-301; it is through Christ that this hymn

rises up to God; the Gloria Patri; the Opus Dei our most precious

inheritance, 302-303.

V. The Divine Praise constitutes a perfect homage of the virtues

of faith, 303; of hope, 304; of love, 304-305; how these praises give

pleasure to God, 306.

Christ, the Ideal of the Monk.

VI.
Suffering makes of the Divine Office a veritable sacrificium

laudis, 306-307; God's praises sung at the foot of the Cross, 308.

XIV. The Opus Dei, Means of Union with God

310-336

The Opus Dei is likewise a means of union with God and of sanctifi-

cation, 310-311; how this truth applies to the children of St. Benedict,

311.

I. The Divine Office- especially the psalms supplies us

with formulas of prayer for all our needs, 312-314; the collects, 314;

how these formulas, recited with fervour, helps the soul to be united

to God throughout the day, 315.

II. Virtues which the Divine Office gives us the opportunity of

practising, 316-317.

III. How the Divine Office forms the best means of making us

one with Christ, 317-318; simplicity and safety of the spiritual life

for souls nourished by the Liturgy, 319.

IV. Dispositions for the good accomplishment of the Opus Dei:

the immediate preparation, 320-321; union with Christ, our Mediator

and Substitute, 320-321; Jesus wills to have need of our prayer for

the intentions of the Church and of souls, 324-326; the Divine Office,

a pre-eminently apostolic work, 326-327.

V. Attitude of the soul during the Opus Dei: to pray worthily,

327-328; with attention, 328-332; with devotion, 332-333.

VI. Always to regard the Divine Office with eyes of faith, 334;

what is to be thought of distractions, 334-336.

Stability in well-doing given by the life of prayer.

337-371

I. Place held by prayer in the monk s life, 338; why St. Benedict

does not assign any special length of time for the exercise of prayer,

339; importance of prayer in order to keep us at the height of our

vocation, 340; to make us profit by the means of sanctification given

to us, 341.

II. Qualities that our Blessed Father requires of prayer: filial

piety and reverence, 342-343; necessity of preparation before prayer,

343-344; in what it consists: purity of heart, 344; knowledge of the

things of faith, 345-346.

III.

Character of monastic prayer in the purgative way, 346-349.

IV. In the illuminative way, 349; our faith should seek to be

enlightened, 350, 351; to link mental prayer to the Liturgy which

puts us in contact with Christ's mysteries, 351-354.

V. - The Opus Dei an unfailing source of illumination for the

inner life, 354-356; affective prayer which flows from it, 356-358.

VI. The state of union in the unitive life, 358-359: how God

transforms the soul arrived at this union with Him, 359-360.

VII. Means of maintaining the life of prayer; solitude, silence of

the lips and heart, 361-362; the lectio divina in the Holy Scriptures,
363-367.

VIII. To live continually under the eye of God, 367; Divine visits

which the recollected soul enjoys, 368-369; precious fruits of the life

of prayer, 369 ; it is the normal state of a religious in his monastery, 370.

XVI. - The Spirit of Abandonment to God's Will

372-396

The spirit of abandonment is one of the purest forms of love, 373.

1. Objective basis of this abandonment: the Divine will, 373-374;

without God, we can do nothing, 374; with His grace we can do all

things, 375; how God's will towards us is full of paternal love, 375;

manifestations of this love, 376; to abandon ourselves to God Who

wills our sanctification, 377.

II.

This spirit of abandonment is to found in a high degree in

the Rule of St. Benedict, 378; in the concept that he forms of poverty,

378; of humility, 378-379; of obedience, 379.

III. -

How abandonment is to be practised: in face of God's will

manifested, 380-382; or hidden, 383-384.

IV. In hours of trial, 384-386; to confide our sorrows to our

Lord, 386-388; to keep our eyes fixed upon Christ, the most perfect

example of abandonment, 388-389.

How pleasing the spirit of abandonment is to God: it is a

continual homage of faith, 389; of hope, 390; of love, 390-392.

VI. Blessings which God heaps upon souls given wholly to Him:

He leads them by sure ways to the summit of perfection, 392-394;

encompasses them with special protection, 395; makes them taste

peace and joy, 395-396.

XVII. — Good Zeal.

397-427

The life of prayer and union with God, source of zeal, 397-398.

I. "Evil zeal" condemned by St. Benedict: its different forms:

bitter zeal of Pharisees, 398-399; excessive and unquiet zeal, 399-400.

II. Forms of good zeal in regard to our brethren in the cloister;

a) respect, 400; this respect in nowise stands in the way of fraternal

love, 400-401; what our affections ought to be, 402.

III. b) Patience mutually to support each others' failings and

infirmities, 402-403; admirable condescension of St. Benedict manifested

in his Rule, 403-404; how in this the Rule is a reflection of the Gospel:

Christ the perfect Example of this patience and loving-kindness,

404-405; to imitate our Divine Model, 405-406.

IV.

c) Promptitude in rendering service, 407; characteristics of

charity in the lives of the lives of the Saints, 408-409; to see Christ

in our brethren : Give, and it shall be given unto you, 409-410.

V. · Faults against charity: faults of weakness, 410; the fostering

of coldness or resentment, 411; how such failings in charity hinder

spiritual progress, 412; fraternal charity the subject of the last discourse

of Jesus before His death; ultimate recomendation of St. Benedict's

Rule, 413.

VI. How the exercise of good zeal ought to extend to the Commu-

nity taken as a whole, 413; to love our monastic family and desire its
spiritual welfare, 414; to safeguard the observances therein establisbed,
415.

VII. From the cloister, monastic zeal overflows beyond; divers

manifestations of this zeal intellectual labours, 416; the education

of youth, 417; hospitality, 417-418; the care of souls, 419-420; tra-

ditional devotedness of monks to the Roman Church, 420-421; the

love of God, the furnace where the flame of zeal is enkindled, 421-422;

for the monk, the exterior exercise of this zeal has its bounderies set

by obedience, 423.

VIII. To maintain this holy ardour, we must love Christ Jesus

with an absolute love: Christo omnino nihil praeponant, 423; this

love is expressed above all by acts of complacency and admiration

for our Lord, 424-425; the seeking after His companionship, 425;

the fulfilling of His will, 426.

XVIII.

The Peace of Christ.

428-443

Jesus Christ, the unique Ideal of the monk, .428; the gift of peace

to souls sums up the whole of Christ's work in regard to us, 429 ;

peace completes the whole harmony of the monastic life, 430-431.

I. Peace is the tranquility of order, 431; this peace, of which

sin destroyed the harmony, is restored by Christ, 432; in Him alone

we find true peace; such is the order established by God, 433-434.

II. We conform ourselves to this divine order through faith in

the Divinity of Jesus, 435; this faith if it is to be practical must sur-

render us to Him in perfect submission and deep adoration, 436.

III. Unchanging peace enjoyed by the soul thus surrendered to

Christ: it is secure against the attacks of the devil and the world, 437 ;

temptations and sufferings do not impair this peace, 438; nor yet

past sins, 439; neither does death trouble it any more, 440.

IV. Let us ask God to give us this gift of peace, 441; how St. Be-

nedict has organised everything in his Rule in view of making us find

this peace, 442-443.

ANALYTICAL INDEX

Abandonment. See Conference
XVI, pp. 372-396.
Abbey. See Monastery.
Abbot, his discretion, 50-52 ; cen-
tralisation of power in his
hands, 64 sq.; his power for
life, 66; must provide for the
needs of all, 195; holds the
place of Christ, 265 sq.; see
Conference III, pp. 40-62.
ABRAHAM, 329, 390.
Actions, value they derive from

the motive power that deter-
mines them, 2-3; to perform
them in union with Christ,
134-135; merit given to them
by obedience, 261; must pro-
cure God's glory indirectly or
directly, 292.
Activity must be directed by faith,

97 sq.; governed by Christ,
205-208; 436.

Admiration for the Person and

mysteries of Christ, 424-425.
Adoption, our divine adoption in
Jesus Christ, 92, 94; the child
of God lives by faith, 100-101 ;
must reproduce Christ's fea-
tures, 124-125; all his acti-
vity directed by grace. 220-
208; he is the brother of Christ,
222; magnificence of the Divine
Plan, 224; attitude of the
child of adoption in regard to
God, 342; God's love manifest-
ed in our adoption, 376.
Affections, must be supernatural,
401.
Aim, unique aim of the Christian:

union with God, 5-6.
ALPHONSUS OF LIGUORI (St),
300.

Altar, to love the altar of the
church of our monastery, 81-
82; our heart an altar whence
should arise the incense of sa-
crifice, 188.
AMBROSE (St), 7.

ANGELO OF FOLIGNO (Bl.), 169;
205, 231, 238, 245, 246.

ANSELM (S), 350.
Apostolate, exercised by the
Divine Office, 325-327; how
monks devote themselves to it
in the cloister, 413 sq.; out-
side the monastery, 419 sq.
Art, reproduction of an ideal,
123.

AUGUSTINE (St), 8, 12, 17, 130,

131, 132, 140, 147, 154, 165,
176, 178, 180, 211, 214, 235,
241, 243, 267, 293, 298, 307,
308, 315, 322, 331, 357, 431,
432, 434, 435, 437, 438, 439,
441.

AUGUSTINE OF CANTERBURY
(St), 407.

BABELON (M. E.), 416.
BEDE (Ven.), 80.
BENEDICT (St), his kindness,
52-53; his breadth of view, 59-
60; is exacting in the matter
of obedience, 61; to rejoice
to be his children, 82-83; his
resistance in temptation, 165;
character of his asceticism,
186; his strictness in regard
to poverty, 194 sq.; his con-
cept of humility, 219, 225 sq.;
his spirit of reverence and
adoration, 238; seeks, in his
Rule, to divest man of what-
ever is an obstacle to the
Divine action, 263-264 ; makes
of the Divine Office the prin-
cipal work of the monk, 293,
3011-312; man of prayer, 339-
340; his discretion in the
matter of prayer, 348; his
wonderful indulgence, 403-405;
blessings granted to those who
live according to his spirit,
415; his zeal for souls outside
the monastery, 419. See Rule
of St Benedict.
Benedictine Asceticism. "Christo-
centric character of St. Be-
nedict's Rule, 36 sq.; analogy
between the Church and the

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