Saturday, June 09, 2018

Yes, pray it even there

It seems our Celtic monastic ancestors were a bit squeamish about praying in the latrine, believing them to be haunts of devils and evil spirits. The ancient Rule of the Céli Dé prescribed that the only prayer a monk might say therein was the Adjutorium. "O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me." On reading this, I asked myself what it might mean. Comparing what I know of monastic prayer around the world, it seems most reasonable to me that the Adjutorium was a constant prayer for these monks, and so even while in the jakes it was permitted; it was not reasonable to ask a monk to stop at any time.

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