Seek Things Above Mount Angel Institute

Monastic spirituality can be a guide for life and following Christ not just for monks, but also for Christians living in the world. This is the third of four lectures on monastic spirituality in the winter/spring 2024 Christian in the World lecture series.

In this lecture from March 9, 2024, Fr. John Paul Le, OSB, a monk of Mount Angel Abbey, explores monastic spirituality from the perspective of prayer and how this prayer can enrich the life of a Christian living in the world. The first part of his talk focuses on lectio divina, the ancient monastic practice of prayerfully reading the sacred Scriptures. Throughout the centuries, monks developed this method of reading the Scriptures which can be broken down into four steps: reading, meditation, prayer, and contemplation.

The theme of the second part of the lecture is the Liturgy of the Hours (or Divine Office), the prayer of the Church. St. Benedict calls this rhythm of chanting the psalms and other Scriptures the “Work of God.” Through the Liturgy of the Hours, we unite ourselves to Christ in his eternal prayer to the Father.

The Christian in the World lecture series, sponsored by the Mount Angel Institute, is an integrated program of study, prayer, and discussion for Catholics who want to live their faith more deeply. The program seeks to help participants gain a more profound understanding of the Scriptures and the Church and to support lay people in exploring how to live their baptismal vocation in everyday life.

For more information about Christian in the World, visit https://www.mountangelabbey.org/join-us/christian-in-the-world/

In this talk given at Mount Angel Abbey on February 11, 2024, Dr. Pamela Patnode explores the relevance of the Rule of St. Benedict for the life of the Christian layperson. She focuses on five themes within the Holy Rule: prayer and work (“ora et labora”), obedience, humility, stability, and hospitality.


Dr. Patnode is a Benedictine oblate, wife, mother, grandmother, and director of the Catholic School Leadership Program at Saint Paul Seminary in Minnesota.


For more information about being a Benedictine oblate of Mount Angel Abbey, visit https://www.mountangelabbey.org/monastery/oblates/.


For more information about programs and events of the Mount Angel Institute, visit https://www.mountangelabbey.org/monastery/mai/programs-and-events/. 

Monastic spirituality can be a guide for life and following Christ not just for monks, but also for Christians living in the world. This is the second of four lectures on monastic spirituality in the winter/spring 2024 Christian in the World lecture series. In this second lecture from February 10, 2024, Abbot Peter Eberle, OSB, a monk of Mount Angel Abbey, explains how monastic community life is structured, its purpose, and how learning about the spirituality of community life can help lay people live out their Christian vocation.

He bases his presentation, in part, on chapter 72 from the Rule of St. Benedict:

“… This, then, is the good zeal which monks must foster with fervent love: They should each try to be the first to show respect to the other (Romans 12:10), supporting with the greatest patience one another’s weaknesses of body or behavior, and earnestly competing in obedience to one another. No one is to pursue what he judges better for himself, but instead, what he judges better for someone else. To their fellow monks, they show the pure love of brothers; to God, loving fear; to their abbot, unfeigned and humble love. Let them prefer nothing whatever to Christ, and may he bring us all together to everlasting life.”

The Christian in the World lecture series, sponsored by the Mount Angel Institute, is an integrated program of study, prayer, and discussion for Catholics who want to live their faith more deeply. The program seeks to help participants gain a more profound understanding of the Scriptures and the Church, and to support lay people in exploring how to live their baptismal vocation in everyday life.

For more information about Christian in the World, visit https://www.mountangelabbey.org/join-us/christian-in-the-world/

Monastic spirituality can be a guide for life and following Christ not just for monks, but also for Christians living in the world. This is the first of four lectures on monastic spirituality in the winter/spring 2024 Christian in the World lecture series. In this first lecture from January 27, 2024, Br. Ambrose Stewart, OSB, a monk of Mount Angel Abbey, focuses on the Desert Fathers – those 3rd and 4th century monks who first fled to the Egyptian desert in search of God.

The first half of the lecture considers the life of Saint Antony, “the father of all monks,” and the collected Sayings of the Desert Fathers. In the second half, we look at Saint Pachomius, the father of cenobitic (communal) monasticism, along with Saint John Cassian, whose Institutes and Conferences synthesized the wisdom of the Egyptian desert and transmitted it to the Latin West.

The unifying theme in all of this is Scripture. The desire to radically embody Scripture in their lives consumed these early monks. This desire is just as relevant for Christians in the World today as it was for the 4th century desert-dwellers.

The Christian in the World lecture series, sponsored by Mount Angel Institute, is an integrated program of study, prayer and discussion for Catholics who want to live their faith more deeply. The program seeks to help participants gain a more profound understanding of the Scriptures and the Church, and to support lay people in exploring how to live their baptismal vocation in everyday life.

For more information about Christian in the World, visit https://www.mountangelabbey.org/join-us/christian-in-the-world/.

The fall 2022 series of Christian in the World, a four-part series by Br. Thomas Buttrick, O.S.B., considered the images of nature found in the psalms. 

The fall 2022 series of Christian in the World, a four-part series by Br. Thomas Buttrick, O.S.B., considered the images of nature found in the psalms.