Provisional Constitutions Priory of Our Lady and Saint Laurence
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Provisional Constitutions for the Priory of Our Lady and Saint Laurence Monks and Nuns in the Antiochian Orthodox Western Rite Vicariate Seeking and serving God According to the Holy Rule of Saint Benedict Provisional Constitutions for the Priory of Our Lady and Saint Laurence, Tallahassee Creek, Fremont County, Colorado Founded September 14, 2013 Affiliates of the Benedictine Fellowship of Saint Laurence, Inc. Prepared by the Venerable Monk Theodore, Co-founder and Prior © Priory of Our Lady and Saint Laurence/Benedictine Fellowship of Saint Laurence, Inc., September 2014 1 2 Scriptural quotations and citation, excepting those contained within quotations from other sources (which are in some cases inexact), have been conformed to: The Orthodox Study Bible. Copyright © 2008 by St Athanasius Academy of Orthodox Theology. Old Testament Citations: Scripture taken from the St Athanasius Academy Septuagint.™ Copyright © 2008 by St Athanasius Academy of Orthodox Theology. Used by permission. All rights reserved. New Testament Citations: Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The images reproduced herein are, to the best of the Author’s knowledge, the property of the Benedictine Fellowship of Saint Laurence, Inc./Community of Our Lady and Saint Laurence, or are in the Public Domain and are used in good faith. They were obtained from the following locations: Cover: Provisional Coat of Arms of the Priory of Our Lady and Saint Laurence © 2014, the Benedictine Fellowship of Saint Laurence, Inc., dba the Priory of Our Lady and Saint Laurence Title Page: Logo of the Priory of Our Lady and Saint Laurence © 2014, the Benedictine Fellowship of Saint Laurence, Inc., dba the Priory of Our Lady and Saint Laurence Page 6: Crucifixion, Icon, Monastery of St. Catherine, Mt. Sinai, 13th Century http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Crucifixion_Icon_Sinai_13th_century.jpg Page 10: (1) The Tower of the Benedictine Monastery of St. Mary of the Latins, Mt. Athos http://eirenikon.wordpress.com/2009/08/20/benedictine-hagiorites/ [No ownership or copyright information has been found for this photograph, although it appears online in multiple places; its appearance gives the impression that it is fairly old and has been scanned] (2) The Campus of the St Laurence Center, Benedictine Fellowship of Saint Laurence, Tallahassee Creek, Fremont County, CO: original photograph by Lyle Ignatius Marti, Obl.SB Page 11: Icon of St Benedict, Mary Sullivan Coit, Denver, CO ©Benedictine Fellowship of Saint Laurence; used with permission. Page 12: The Community at its weekly Memorial Service for the Faithful Departed: original photograph by Marcão, used with permission. Page 15: St. Benedict delivering his Rule, France, Monastery of St. Gilles, Nimes, 1129 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._Benedict_delivering_his_rule_to_the_monks_of_his_ord er.jpg Page 43: Oratory, Feast of the Dormition 2014: original photograph by Monk Theodore. The font for the text is Georgia; the decorative font is Apple Chancery. All rights are reserved by the Author and Publisher: Priory of Our Lady and Saint Laurence The Ven. Schema-monk Theodore (Phillips), Prior Benedictine Fellowship of Saint Laurence 4076 Cabin Creek Road Cañon City, CO 81212 [email protected] 3 4 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ 3 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 7 Community Prayer to St. Benedict ............................................................................................... 11 Prologue to the Holy Rule of St. Benedict ................................................................................... 13 The Constitutions Article I: Regarding the Nature and Status of the Community ................................................... 16 Article II: Regarding the Coenobitic Life ..................................................................................... 16 Article III: Regarding Stability ..................................................................................................... 18 Article IV: Regarding Conversatio morum ................................................................................. 18 Article V: Regarding Celibate Chastity in Community and Self-sacrificial Love ........................ 19 Article VI: Regarding Common Property and Personal Poverty ................................................. 20 Article VII: Regarding Obedience ................................................................................................ 22 Article VIII: Regarding the Prior ................................................................................................. 23 Article IX: Regarding the Monastic Chapter ............................................................................... 24 Article X: Regarding the Election or Removal of a Prior ............................................................ 24 Article XI: Regarding Seniority and Order in the Community ................................................... 25 Article XII: Regarding the Appointment of Other Officials for the Community ........................ 25 Article XIII: Regarding Lectio Divina and Other Reading ......................................................... 25 Article XIV: Regarding Silence and Recreation ........................................................................... 26 Article XV: Regarding Divine Service .......................................................................................... 27 Article XVI: Regarding the Monastic Cell .................................................................................... 28 Article XVII: Regarding Discipline and Penance ........................................................................ 29 Article XVIII: Regarding Discipline for Serious, Harmful Disobedience or Scandal ................. 29 Article XIX: Regarding Leave, Release, Restoration, or Dismissal ............................................ 30 5 Article XX: Regarding the Sick, Illness, and Death ..................................................................... 32 Article XXI: Regarding Meals and Fasting .................................................................................. 33 Article XXII: Regarding the Prior’s Table and Seating in the Refectory .................................... 34 Article XXIII: Regarding Calling the Monastics to Services ....................................................... 35 Article XXIV: Regarding Communication with Family, Friends, and Others in the World ...... 35 Article XXV: Regarding Clothing and Personal Care .................................................................. 36 Article XXVI: Regarding Labor .................................................................................................... 37 Article XXVII: Regarding Hospitality .......................................................................................... 38 Article XXVIII: Regarding Mission Service ................................................................................. 39 Article XXIX: Regarding Conduct “in the World” ....................................................................... 39 Article XXX: Regarding Qualifications, Novitiate, and Solemn Profession ............................... 40 Article XXXI: Regarding Formal Studies and Ordination .......................................................... 42 6 7 Introduction After a lapse of several centuries, Orthodoxy is again blessed to have monasteries that follow, in an explicit manner, the Holy Rule of St. Benedict. 1 This has come about with the recovery – fostered by such venerable Saints as the Confessor Tikhon of Moscow and the Wonderworker John of San Francisco – of the forms of Divine Service developed in the western portions of the Roman world and in those areas evangelized by Latin- speaking Orthodox Christians. The Rule itself has always been considered an Orthodox document, dating as it does from the early sixth century A.D., before the serious theological rift between East and West developed. St. Gregory the Great (the “Dialogist”), who is venerated by the Orthodox Church as a liturgist and Father of the Church, promoted the life and witness of St. Benedict in his Dialogues. Through his work, St. Benedict became known throughout the Orthodox world and is hymned in the East as the “sun that shinest with the Mystic Dayspring's radiance, who didst enlighten the monastics of the western lands, [who] art worthily the namesake of benediction…”2 Adapting an ancient Rule to our era and circumstances Some portions of the Rule, venerable as it is, have little or no relevance to our situation. This is the case with the provisions for child oblates living in the monastery or being “donated” to it by their parents or guardians. Similarly, in our time and culture, the use of corporal punishment on adult monks would be considered inappropriate and possibly illegal. St. Benedict himself acknowledges that he has softened the discipline in some areas from what was done by monks before his time, since those of his day were generally unable to practice the same level of ascetic endeavor as their forbearers. The Rule itself acknowledges that some may wish to alter its precise liturgical provisions.3 We have done so to bring them into line with