pat loughery

Abbot Christopher Jamison of Worth Abbey, which was the home from the BBC documentary called The Monastery, writes:

Christian prayer is the simple act of addressing God as “you.”

The great aim of the monastic life by Benedict was as simple as it was demanding: the aim was to pray constantly, in the general sense of keeping the memory of God alive in your heart at every moment of the day and night. […]

Another way of expressing this is to say that the purpose of the monastic life is purity of heart, that purity of heart which enables us to see God in everything and hence to be aware of “you” at all times.

Monastic life aims to remind us constantly that God is in our midst and sets up a virtuous circle of awareness to help us do this: pray constantly, in order to have a pure heart, in order to see God everywhere, in order to pray constantly.

If you can do this, then you have found sanctuary, no matter where you are physically or indeed mentally. Thus, the mind can be turned to God in the midst of noise and the heart can be turned to God in the midst of complex mental activity, just as a loved one is always present to us.

“Finding Sanctuary: Monastic Steps for Everyday Life” (Abbot Christopher Jamison), p. 53, 55