Seven Times a Day I will Praise Thee

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As the Prophet saith: “Seven times a day I have given praise to Thee,” this sacred sevenfold number will be fulfilled by us in this wise if we perform the duties of our service at the time of Lauds, Prime, Tierce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Complin; because it was of these day hours that he hath said: “Seven times a day I have given praise to Thee.”

St. Benedict (2011-04-30). The Rule of St. Benedict (Kindle Locations 504-507). PlanetMonk Books. Kindle Edition.

Today is the official first day of summer.  As days grow longer, Benedict shifts the daily schedule to accommodate the seasons so that the structures of prayer – seven times a day – and work and community fit into the season.  As of this month, I have retired from teaching, and I shift from one season of my life to the next.  Yet within this shift remains this same Benedictine balance of prayer, work and community.

In the chaotic two weeks which transition from school season to summer season, from work to retirement -- I rested, I regrouped, I closed out the year and I readied the house.  I also wandered around the house, and sat on the couch, and watched Netflix, and read three romance novels and a murder mystery.  I had lost the underpinnings of my life; I have been adrift and without a clear direction.

With yesterday’s reading, I begin to realign my schedule for the new season.  Prayer – seven times— I mark out my day in 3 to 4 hour increments that fall naturally into the rhythm of work and meals and I name these parts of the day by the liturgy of the hours, for my day is to be marked and measured by prayer; it becomes then the center around which all else revolves.  

But it is a flexible schedule:

Lauds:  Awaken, read, morning prayer, tea

Prime:  Morning stretches and prepare for the day

Terce:  Morning Work

Sext:  Lunch Break

None:  Afternoon Work

Vespers:  Close of workday, evening stretches & work out,

            The Evening Meal: Time with Family

Compline:  Bedtime

In each of the hours, I recite a remembered prayer or listen to a song; this will become the sound track of my day.   In today's reflection, Sr. Joan talks about those prayers and psalms we have memorized, that these are the words we can use when we stop our day to pray.  The important point is to stop. And pray. 

Each day I begin with the reading of the Rule and the psalms; each day I open my calendar and determine my work for the day.  Each day ends in community: time with my husband, phone calls to my children, emails to friends.  As I shift into this new time of life, I pray for God to open before me the direction he would have me go, to give me greater goals.  In the meantime, I follow the Rule, day by day.