October 17, 2012
Pax Inter Spinas (Peace Among Thorns) is a new site where “a modern monk discovers the liturgical riches of the Benedictine congregation of Saint Maur (1621-1790)”. “Pax” is Latin for “peace”, “Inter” means “among”, and “Spinas” in this context means “thorns” and refers to Jesus’ crown of thorns. I like the blog title because it calls us to contemplation in the midst of our thorny existence.
Most people won’t have a lot of time to read all the lessons and antiphons (the Propers) of the Divine Office presented there, but even snatching a few short readings or antiphons to think about is worth it. I am struck by this liturgy. It gives us an idea of the sheer length of time those monks spent (and today’s, too) in chanting prayer every day. And that was only the Divine Office. We can also read the hymns that were sung then to celebrate feasts – hymns lost to us today in some cases.
Our liturgical heritage is truly awesome. We have a wealth of traditional sacred liturgies which we can access for prayer, thanks to the internet. That includes the various Eastern rites. Nothing brings that home more clearly than to find sites like this. Check out the logo, too. The whole design is really classy. If you are a Benedictinephile, you’ll want to look at it.
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R. Now and forever!
(Click on the link above to read why I end my posts this way.)
