Esther de Waal, RRP $24.95, paperback, 160 pages
The Rule of Saint Benedict is a classic of Christian spirituality, and has been the major influence in Western monasticism throughout the 1500 years since it was written.
In recent decades, Esther de Waal’s Seeking God: The Way of St Benedict has had great influence in presenting the relevance of Benedict’s teaching in the Rule to the layperson in everyday, contemporary life.
Now, some 25 years later, de Waal has produced a new, substantial study based again on the Rule of St Benedict, this time focussing on the Rule’s Prologue as a source for understanding baptism and what it means to live our baptismal vows.
De Waal is a skilled historian and an eloquent writer, and in Seeking God her thorough research and contemplation of her reading are evident. Woven into the book is a treasury of apposite quotations from other writers, ancient and modern.
The book begins with some preliminary chapters on aspects of baptism, including the Easter liturgies, the need to recover historical roots, and the importance of “symbolic identity”.
The text of the Prologue itself is followed by some initial reflection on it and the tradition of lectio divina. In the spirit of that meditative and contemplative approach to reading (which is very much in the spirit of St Benedict), de Waal offers a series of meditations on key themes in the Prologue in relation to baptism and indeed to central aspects of Christian discipleship.
“I love the image of the Rule as taking us by the hand and leading us to Christ, for that brings the assumption of active co-operation, the willingness on my part to be actively engaged. At baptism I put my hand to the plough, and I must not turn back. This means perseverance, hanging on; it is linked to patience, to patientia, and so the passion and the paschal mystery that underlies everything in the Prologue as, God willing, it will underlie all that my Christian vocation is asking of me.”
The final, 30-page section of the volume is an anthology of well-chosen ancient texts taken from instructions to catechumens and baptismal homilies. The three main sources are St Cyril of Jerusalem, St John Chrysostom, and Theodore of Mopsuestia. There is a rich feast here for personal reflection, but also a resource for baptismal preparation and liturgy.
The book can be read at any time of the year, but has a special relevance for Lent and preparation for the Easter Vigil.
Kevin Mark
