••••• MEN IN•••••
BLACK
Men in bl ack .
While thi s moniker ha s b e en b or rowe d a fe w time s by p op-c ulture- s c i-f i-alien-cha s ers — or Johnny C a sh — we have proudly b e en the men in bl ack for centur ie s . St . B ene dic t instr uc t s u s in hi s Rule that “ your w ay of ac ting should b e dif ferent than the world’s w ay ” (R B 4:20). O ur habit i s a v i sible sig n of thi s dire c tive that , a s C hr i st said, we are to b e in the world but not of it . In the Abb e y C hurch thi s i s ag ain ref le c te d in our f re s co (at r ig ht); in the four “e ar thly ” p anel s e ver y thing – the building s , g round, c re ature s , tre e s – i s a shade of dull brow n w ith ju st one exce ption: the habit . It i s what di sting ui she s u s f rom the sur rounding world – by clothing ours elve s in it we s e ek to clothe ours elve s in C hr i st — c ar r y ing our clothing a s a cona st ant reminder of our vow s . Up on enter ing the mona ster y we are commande d to b e str ipp e d of all that we ow n and “clothe d in wh at b elong s to the mona ster y ” (R B 58:26). To b e clothe d in what b elong s to the community me ans the habit we we ar, but it al s o me ans to b e immers e d into C hr i st , to allow the Holy Spir it to g uide u s to a de e p er f aith in G o d, and a j oy in the go o d work s that f low f rom that . A s we re ceive the habit – k ne eling b efore the Abb ot a s he drap e s the tunic over our shoulders , he then pre s ent s u s w ith the c inc ture, and l ay s the s c apul ar over our he ad – thi s pro ce ss i s the f irst ste p into mona stic life. A s he pre s ent s the Rule to u s and g ive s u s our ne w mona stic name s , we undergo a spir itu al transfor mation, a de ath to our for mer s elf and a ne w life w ith C hr i st in the mona ster y.
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S t. B e n e d i c t ’ s A b b e y
