Wednesday Noon Meditation

from Abbott Andrew Marr of St. Gregory's Abbey
March 27 at 10:50 AM

Here is my second meditation during this pandemic:

“Stay in your cell and your cell will teach you everything.

This is one of the more oft-quoted sayings of the early desert monastics and it has echoed through the centuries among the writings of monastics and those following the life of a hermit. During this time of social distancing that has turned many people into hermits, I have been pondering this dictum more often than usual.

Using a cell to teach us about God and about ourselves is treating it as sacred space. Sacred space is precisely something many of us are fasting from. In a monastery we still have the monastic church but any of us get sick will also have to stay away and be confined to the cell. Exile from a sacred space is not new. Many psalms lament the loss of the Temple of Jerusalem after the Babylonian conquest and exile.

One way of coping with losing a sacred space is make another space that is available sacred. Any space can become sacred, the center of the world. This is what the early monastics did with their cells. The cells were made sacred by praying constantly in them. The cell was also the workplace for the monastic. By praying while at work, the work was also made sacred. Since the monastic also slept there, sleep was made sacred as well, a time of resting in God. “I sleep but my heart is awake” (Song of Songs 5: 2) is a popular verse among monastics. It is worth noting that in the psalms, one’s bed was a place for meditating on God.

For many, one’s house or apartment is an anchorage. For others who have families, especially for those with children, this anchorage is rather crowded, enough to make one wish for more social distancing yet. The cell of early monastics also had this effect as a disciple or two might be living with an elder to learn the ways of prayer and giving of self to God. If this is the case, those with us are part of the sacred space. A practical way to deal with this is to have a space, however small for quiet. Also, a space, however small, for each person can also be helpful.

May these thoughts help all of us consecrate our lives all the more deeply…