Greetings, Nous, in Christ,

Let me sincerely thank you for this post. It's wonderful!

First, you cite the Rosary as your salvation and your hope, and so it is. You discern the truth. It is your past, your present, and your future. Good.

Secondly, you have a strong calling to prayer. Also very, very good. And I would draw your attention to the notion that if one is to devote their life to prayer, then they should pray the most efficacious and powerful prayer available to them - namely the Divine Office, namely the prayer which has an objective rather than a subjective essence, the prayer which is formal and substantial rather than material and founded upon human changeability, the prayer which is infallible, canonized, not belonging to the class of individual prayer, but to the public, corporate prayer of Jesus Christ and His Church.

This is not so much a prayer we make, but a prayer we enter into. It is a prayer to which we have access by means of our membership in the Mystical Body. When this prayer reaches God's ears, He hears it, infallibly and efficaciously, because it is the Voice of His Son. There is a subjective element - an accidental quality - an element of individual merit; for one must set his will to the yoke of making this prayer daily and regularly, no matter how much the body and the passions flag. But, no matter the feebleness of the one who takes it up, this prayer is great, and full of potency to bring good, and order, and Divine power into the world, by the very agency of its essential objectivity and its Divine institution.

I wholeheartedly agree with you that the evil onslaught, so horrible and incomprehensible, so vast and metastasized, is incapable of responding to vigorous human intervention, let alone the effeminized impotence of the modern. Corporate action belonging to the temporal sphere is impossible now, due to the paralysis that has set in, the effect of incessant dissolution of natural and supernatural bonds.

But there is no need to lose hope. For we have remaining to us the principle of the Banner on the
battlefield. Down to the last solider, the Flag must be lifted up and carried for all to see. It is the rallying point for the corporate body, for the very kingdom. It must be lifted up, it must be seen and recognized, by the body, by the individual, by the foe.

There are two orders of the Banner, if I may so nominate. The visible order and the invisible order. Both nature and supernature participate the visible order. For example, we see in history that our Lord himself demanded of the king of France that the image of the Sacred Heart be placed upon the king's banner. I would speculate, however, that only supernature participates the invisible order. This is a mysterious reality, because it involves the direct relation of God and the individual soul, but simultaneously, the individual soul carrying the Banner relates to God also as an agent of the Body, even as the Body itself, just as the lowly battlefield soldier who picks up the fallen flag, represents the kingdom, is the kingdom itself - and yet earns the individual merit of his valor and fidelity.

I tell you, Nous, that the Banner of which I now speak is the Divine Office. I fervently believe that the Holy Rosary is necessary for salvation, and that if one must make a choice between praying the Office and praying the Rosary, one must choose the Rosary. For devotion to the Mother of God, and fidelity to Her Rosary, is sine qua non for getting in and staying in the state of grace.

There is an objective quality of the Rosary, which, when prayed corporately, has great coercive power over the agencies of darkness. See Lepanto, et. seq.. Nevertheless, given the vagaries and difficulties of the day, given we have no hierarchy to gather the Rosary in, and make of it the potent weapon it is meant by God to be, it often falls out that the Rosary is relegated to the care of individuals and small bodies, such as families and church congregations. In other words, the Rosary is somewhat at the mercy of men, in its being wielded as a mighty weapon, and therefore fluctuates in its participating the objective and the subjective orders. It is always efficacious, whether it participates either order, for it can save an individual soul or a family from damnation, regardless of any divisions that prevent a more efficacious and organized deployment. But, I think, the Rosary is somewhat dependent on the good will of men, with regard to its quality of participating the objective order.

Conversely, the Divine Office cannot be removed from the objective order. It is NEVER substantially the prayer of an individual. Even if only one man in a million is faithful to it, even if that man is divided from all other men - materially or psychologically - whenever he prays the Divine Office, he prays in the person of Christ, and in the Person of the Church. Though it does obtain merit for the individual, though it can be offered for souls and intentions, though it absolutely does sanctify the person devoted to it, because it steeps that person's mind in Scripture and Tradition, it is not a subjective prayer. It does not participate the subjective order, except accidentally.

Make no mistake. Christendom was founded upon the Mass and the Divine Office rising up to God every single day, for hundreds and thousands of days. Christendom rose upon the prayer that belongs to the objective order.

I can give you no advice about getting into a monastery, but I can suggest a guideline or two.

1. You are a late bloomer. You've got to play catch-up. You've got to reform yourself, and train yourself. You've really got to go into the desert in your current circuмstances. God will test you in smaller things before He sets upon your shoulders any bigger thing. And I caution you, should a "bigger thing" seem to appear out of nowhere, beware.

2. If you were in a monastery, your "job" would be to pray the Divine Office. I suggest to you that this is where you might begin in your current circuмstances. You say you feel the need to pray almost constantly, but feel you are not necessarily doing more than forming the words. The Divine Office would regulate your prayer life, train your body and mind to submit to Christ's yoke, and would bathe your soul in the most invigorating spiritual spring.

3. Should you object that it's too hard to pray the Breviary when one is in the world, because of time constraints and demands, etc, etc., I would only give you myself as an example. I'm a worldling who has prayed it since 1995. I've had tremendous responsibilities in the professional world, which ate up my time like rats eat cheese, yet I made the time for the Breviary, and it was never a burden. In fact, now that I am retired, now that I have all my time to myself, now I find the Breviary a grind!!! Absolutely a temptation!!!

I'm not in the habit of regurgitating my own posts, but I'm going to spit one up here, because it has long been my ardent desire to inspire other people to take up the Breviary. It can be taken up by many, many more than are willing. It's lying on the battlefield, fallen and un-picked up, is a grave, grave loss to the Church, and to the fight.

If you simply devote your life to the Mass, the Office, and the Rosary, you will accomplish many things, but above all, I pray for you that you will accomplish God's holy will.

Pax et Bonum!

Here's my spit up:
 

I wanted to give this a bump before it disappeared off the “front page” because of the importance of monasticism to the Church since the earliest centuries.  One recalls St. Anthony the Great (also known as  St. Anthony the Abbott and St. Anthony of Egypt), 252 – 356, who is referred to as the Father of Monasticism and Father of All Monks.  His feast day is January 17^th.  And there is St. Benedict of Nursia, 480 – 547, who is considered the Father of Western Monasticism, his rule is the norm for monastic life in the west to this day.
 
There is a body of thought in the Church that monasteries and hermitages are not niceties added on after the “important” structures are set up, but rather, since the earliest centuries, the foundation upon which all the other works are built.  One recalls the story of Martha and Mary (St. Luke 10:38-42) and how Our Lord said that Mary had chosen the best part.  I once read an article by a bishop who said that one of the most important things a bishop could do is to see to the establishment of a monastery of men or women in his diocese, as their prayer is a primary support needed for the other institutions to become established, such as parishes, schools, hospitals, orphanages, and the like.
 
So, I was very excited to see Nous’ post about his discernment about the monastic life.  I shared the resources I was aware of and mentioned that they may not be suitable for him because of their connection to the “mainstream” Church organization, though they follow the traditional liturgical forms.  I am surprised (my remark is meant to be observatory, not critical) that no one has suggested resources from the traditionalist movement, other than a monastery in France.
 
While not knowing Nous’ thoughts about the situation in the Church, I’ll make another suggestion.  I notice that there are several CMRI chapels in southern California where he is located.  While I don’t share their “theological opinion” as they call it, they have always seemed to be levelheaded and more focused on doing God’s work rather than arguing about what to do or talking about what other groups are doing wrong.  One of their priests might be a place to start, perhaps as a spiritual director.  One reason I thought of them is that if a call to be a hermit develops, Mount St. Michael’s in Spokane would seem to be an ideal location to have a detached hermitage, while still having access to Confession, Holy Communion, and spiritual direction.

I came across a couple of articles about modern Catholic hermits which are interesting, granted that the sources and context are not "politically correct" on this forum:

https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2013/10/28/modern-day-hermits-answering-the-call-to-solitude-prayer/

https://www.sfcatholic.org/vocations/diocesan-hermits/
 
 

On the website, what is ordo?

And what language should we pray in?

I see there is 2 tridentine versions.
Is there much difference between them and the Pius X version?
Is his objectively superior?

Do I just go through each

Matutinum Laudes
Prima Tertia Sexta Nona
Vesperae Completorium
Omnes Plures

One by one throughout the day?
And what times are they?
And do they need to be prayed immediately at the start of the hour?
And how does each one take to pray?
Is it the same each day of the week?

Thanks.

Other than midnight, I don't know what times those are.

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Quote from: moneil 15/08/2023, 05:51:44

I apologize, I replied before seeing all of your questions, I didn't scroll down.

Good information is here: https://www.divinumofficium.com/www/horas/Help/rubrics.html



Thanks, but that link has too much information and is more confusing. I don't want to read articles just pray.