SILENCE IS GOLDEN

Mark Biolo, OSB Cam

As a member of a contemplative order I am often asked how we can spend so much our time in the monastery in complete silence. Well, I am certain that I would not be the only one to confess that, for most of us, it doesn’t come naturally, at least not at first. It seems that there is always something to say to someone, even if it is not important. But the exterior silence is a piece of cake. It is the interior silence, the solitude that is really tough to achieve. This interior silence, the emptying of one’s mind of all the stuff that keeps us from what it is really important, is a state almost nigh on impossible to achieve in this busy world in which we live.

Yet it is precisely this condition of interior silence that allows us to truly live the Benedictine vows of Stabilitas (Stability), Obedientia (Obedience), and, most especially, Coversatio Morum (Conversion of Life). This last promise is so aptly described by the Trappist monk Thomas Merton as “. . . the vow to respond totally and integrally to the word of Christ, ‘Come follow me’ by renouncing all that might impede one in following Him untrammeled, all that might obscure one’s clarity of intent and confuse one’s resolve. It is the vow to obey the voice of God . . . in order to follow Him in all things.” Paradoxically this interior silence which is so difficult to achieve makes it so much easier for us to live as we ought.

“So what?” you say, “I’m not a Benedictine!” Perhaps not, but if you’re reading this chances are pretty good you are a Christian, a follower of Christ. And as a Christian you too are called to holiness, to a conversion of life, to follow Him in all things. Such a life implies a life of prayer. Prayer, in its essence, is making oneself present to His presence. Sometimes we make ourselves present to His presence through words and song as in our various liturgical celebrations, devotions and vocal prayers. And sometimes we make ourselves present to His presence through silence, opening our minds and our hearts to His voice. And interior silence can only begin when exterior silence is in place. There is a time and a place for vocalization and a time and a place for silence.

One time and place for silence is in the church during times other than the celebration of the liturgies and devotions. This place is, after all, the structure in which Our Lord is really and truly present, body and blood, soul and divinity. Christ present in the tabernacle must inspire in us a tremendous sense of awe and reverence. All too often, however, we completely ignore Him and carry on frivolous conversation with our neighbors and friends within the walls of the church! How can this be?! How can we be so irreverent?! If we think about it, even just for a moment, we should be embarrassed by such behavior. And perhaps that is the problem – we just don’t think about it. We don’t stop to remember where we are and in Whose presence we stand. I often think about a story I once heard Fr Groeschel tell about a priest who was giving a tour of his church to a protestant minister. As he crossed in front of the tabernacle the priest stopped briefly to genuflect prompting the minister to ask “Why did you do that?” The priest answered, “As Catholics we believe that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist reserved in this tabernacle. Bending on one knee is a suitable gesture for those who really believe that, wouldn’t you agree?” The minister replied, “If I believed what you believe I would fall face down on the floor before Him and never get up!”

As a community, conversation and communication are important to our parish life. As Catholic Christians, silence is important to our prayer life and is the appropriate display of our sense of awe at His presence in the tabernacle. Here at St. Raymond of Penafort we have the perfect places for both – a wonderful gathering space for conversation and a beautiful church for prayer. We just need to be mindful of where we are when the occasions for casual conversation arise.