Messages of health,
balance from the abbey
From:
Sent:
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Ruth
Engs
If you're looking
for a life of world travel, several interesting careers, and a chance for social
activism, you should consider becoming a monk. Disdaining the stereotype of
secluded aesthetics behind high abbey walls, the senior monks of Saint Meinrad
Archabbey in southern
In her new book,
Conversations in the Abbey,
"They have
experienced vast changes in society and the upheaval that has characterized much
of the modern history of the Roman Catholic Church," says Engs, professor in the
Through their
stories the positive spiritual-health of the monks comes through across their
varied tales of success and failure. Residing in a lifestyle with more rules and
restrictions than the ordinary person, they discuss how they cope with the
trying times in their lives and persevered.
"Doubt, uncertainty,
disappointments, struggle and the 'dark night of the soul' have been
experienced, just as they have been experienced by most of us; this is the human
condition," says Engs.
Engs is a volunteer
at Saint Meinrad's. All the proceeds of the book are donated to the upkeep and
operation of the Abbey. Active For
Life sat down recently with Engs to discuss the lessons in health
and wellness she observed in the Abbey.
AFL: The Benedictine monks at Saint Meinrad Archabbey
place special emphasis on the two activities of "work and prayer." How do they
achieve a balance in their lives between work and
prayer?
Engs: Benedictine monks
are not ascetic -- that is, only eat bread and water or go to extreme measures.
They do not pray all day long, nor do they work all day. They try to live a
balanced life -- much like what is promoted by health education professionals.
They do not go to extremes. They strive for moderation in all things. As one
monk stated in the book, "the key to Benedictine spirituality is living it."
Good health, or a healthy lifestyle, is a balance between social, physical,
emotional, vocational and spiritual well being. Conversations in the Abbey: Senior Monks of Saint
Meinrad Reflect on their Lives can be viewed as a work on spiritual
health, and not only an oral history of 11 older monks and the history of three
divisions of work at the community.
AFL: What are other characteristics of Benedictine
monks?
Engs: In Benedictine
monasticism, monks and nuns take three vows. The vow of obedience is placing
oneself under the direction of the abbot or prior or abbess or prioress, as the
case may be, of the community. Conversion of life (conversio) includes poverty,
or forgoing private ownership, celibate chastity, a life time of seeking God
along with a balance of prayer and work. These two vows come together in the vow
of stability where the individual commits him/her self to one particular
monastery for life. This vow includes stability of place (one community) and of
heart (unwavering pursuit of God).
AFL: What is the
typical daily life of a monk at Saint Meinrad including, work, prayer and
recreation?
Engs: As part of their
daily lifestyle, the monks have communal prayer together three times a day:
morning prayer before breakfast, noon prayer before lunch, and vespers before
dinner. These last from 15 to 40 minutes -- depending upon the occasion and the
Church season. In addition, they go to Mass once a day. Monks also say
individual prayer before they go to bed, and do spiritual reading. They
generally work an eight hour day and have many occupations -- teaching,
administration, clerical, technical, counseling, hospitality, creating music or
art. This is balanced out by recreation, relaxation, exercise or hobbies.
Hobbies range from
gardening, growing orchids, making soap, bee keeping, calligraphy, fixing model
trains, wood working, weaving, brewing, gourmet cooking, etc. The abbot and many
of the younger monks work out in the gym or jog. The older monks walk, if able
-- Brother Jerome in the book talks about walking every day early in the
morning. Father Rupert still rides a bike.
AFL: Do any of the
monks talk about failure, and how they cope with self-doubt and questioning
themselves?
Engs: Yes, all of them.
The main characteristic of these older monks is perseverance, or continuing on,
in the face of doubt and failure through faith, prayer and living the monastic
lifestyle. In other words, they keep on going in the face of unhappiness, doubt,
anger. They pull themselves up by their boot straps through their spiritual
faith. They accept change -- such as the elimination of the school, farm and
other traditional Benedictine monastic vocations -- as the way things are.
AFL: You spend time
volunteering at Saint Meinrad Archabbey. You also obtained permission to
interview elderly monks for the book. What surprised you the most about the
monks and their lifestyles?
Engs: They were
attempting to achieve what I was teaching in my basic health education classes
at
For example, they
drink wine in moderation. Wine is served at the evening meal. They serve well
balanced meals with a choice of entrees that include those with and without
meat. A salad bar is always available. The previous Abbot, Archabbot Lambert
Reilly, deemed a "no smoking" policy to improve the health of his monks in the
late 1990s, something considered controversial by monks who smoked. However, out
of obedience to the abbot and community, the monks and monastery and all its
buildings are now smoke free.
Recreational
activities and hobbies -- as mentioned above -- are encouraged. Moderate
exercise, to the ability of the individual monk is also encouraged, as is some
kind of work even among the most elderly monks -- some of the very old ones help
to fold programs, stuff envelopes, place printed material in mailboxes, etc.
They have a balance of quiet time -- in the evening and night -- and socializing
time.
AFL: What can the
average person take away from the monks that can aid their lives? Any lessons,
or habits (pun) the monks have that should be spread
outwards?
Engs: Moderation in all
things; striving for peace, love, harmony, kindness, hospitality in all aspect
of life. For example, Benedictine's "treat all guests as Christ." The Saint
Meinrad monastic community, as are most Benedictine communities, is a very
welcoming place. They believe in, and practice, the simple southern philosophy
of, "you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." They are most kind
to everyone. Guests are welcome at any time and you can stay there in their
guest house and enjoy the peace and quiet of rural
Engs is a prolific
writer about health history. Her other books include Clean Living Movements: American Cycles of Health
Reform (Praeger Paperback, 2001), The Progressive Era's Health Reform Movement: A
Historical Dictionary (Praeger Publishers, 2003), and The Eugenics Movement: An Encyclopedia
(Greenwood Press, 2005).
More information about Engs is available at her Web site, http://www.indiana.edu/~engs/.