#10
The life of a monk would be very lacking if the dominating part of our life was anything other than prayer. If this seems a very counter-cultural statement, I'm sorry, but prayer is the basis of monasticism. We are a cloistered, contemplative order as are the Benedictines (not all houses), the Carthusians, Cistercians, Trappists, Carmelites and Camaldolese. Other orders, such as Franciscans, Capuchins, Dominicans and Jesuits, for example, are communities geared to action, travel, teaching, preaching, pastoral services, health care, etc. They too pray but some of their time is spent with the above-named apostolates.
We reach out to the world via the Internet and various publications. Although monks everywhere spend one to several hours a day reading and studying, the Internet has become the de-facto reference library. But let me hasten to say that books can never be replaced and it is my hope that they never will. There are older, valuable spiritual classics that need to be read and re-read so that the monk will make their knowledge part of his prayer life.
How about you, dear reader? Do you make time in your busy schedule for spiritual reading? Do you visit your public library often to find something interesting to read to balance your day? Perhaps you work out (treadmill, etc.) or exercise in other ways—do you also exercise your mind by reading much?
Also, a monk, besides praying and reading knows that his mental and contemplative prayer would suffer greatly if there was no solitude. We attempt to eliminate unnecessary talking while we work. Do you make an effort to think of Jesus, Mary, the Angels and Saints during your day? Perhaps when you are on your way to work or when you are taking a break?
Worshipping God daily and hourly is necessary if you wish to achieve any interior life. We pray the Liturgy of the Hours (formerly called the Divine Office) and thus meet in chapel seven times a day and we also pray the Rosary together. We attend Holy Mass daily.
No one expects you to pray that much but I do recommend you pray at least one Rosary (5 decades) each day. The Blessed Virgin Mother asked us at Fatima to pray the Rosary. And it is so easy. Rosaries consist of the Apostle's Creed, one Hour Father, three Hail Mary's and a Glory Be, for the Holy Father the Pope, and then five decades. Each decade consists of one Our Father followed by ten Hail Mary's and a Glory Be. Rosary beads are available at every church and if you absolutely cannot obtain one, we sell them too. If you cannot afford to buy one, we'll even give you one! Best of all, to pray the Rosary takes only 10-15 minutes. Surely you can spare that little time for Jesus and Mary? We hope you will!