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The phrases "pray and work" (or "pray and labor"; Latin : ora et labora) and to work is to pray (laborare est orare) refer to the monastic practice of working and praying, generally associated with its use in the Rule of Saint Benedict. [1]
Ora et labora is the traditional slogan of the Benedictines. [2] This derives from Benedict's desire for his monks to have balanced lives, dominated by neither work nor prayer. [3] St. Benedict's Rule prescribes periods of work for the monks for "Idleness is the enemy of the soul" (RB 48.1). [4]
Some orders applied the concept directly to farm work and became an element in the movement towards land reclamation from rot and agricultural development in Western Europe. Other orders, such as the Humiliati, applied the concept to the production of woolen cloth using wheels in the period prior to the Industrial Revolution.
The phrase expresses the need to balance prayer and work in monastic settings and has been used in many religious communities from the Middle Ages onwards.
In addition to praying the Liturgy of the Hours, the Benedictine monks of St. Andrew Abbey teach at Benedictine High School and staff a retreat house. [5] Ora et Labora is a publication of Benedictine High School and St. Andrew Abbey. [6]
While the monastic life of the monks of Our Lady of Dallas Cistercian Abbey is centered upon the liturgy, their primary occupation is teaching. They find this "a successful symbiosis of Cistercian life and apostolic mission". [7]
The Anglican sisters of the Community of St. Mary in Greenwich, New York pray the Divine Office five times each day and raise Cashmere goats for wool. [8]
An alternative rendering of the phrase, laborare est orare (literally "To work is to pray"), [9] features prominently in Thomas Carlyle's Past and Present (1843): "Admirable was that of the old Monks, Laborare est Orare, Work is Worship." [10]
Edward King, Bishop of Lincoln and graduate of Oxford University, referred to the motto "laborare est orare" as one he adopted to shape his daily life. [11] In 2010 Rowan Williams Archbishop of Canterbury scheduled an episcopal visit to Lincoln Cathedral on the 100th anniversary of Bishop King's death.
Professor Murphy has published an 18-page 21st century analysis of nuances comparing "laborare est orare" versus "ora et labora." [12]
In 1818, Dalhousie University was established in Nova Scotia, adopting the motto of Ora et Labora in 1870. This is also the motto of Clan Ramsay, of which the Earl of Dalhousie is the leader. [13]
In 1874, Wesley College, Colombo, a high school in Sri Lanka, was founded by Methodist missionaries. It has been using "Ora Et Labora" as the motto since its inception.
Ora et labora is the motto of Melbourne Grammar School [14] in Australia and the current motto of St. Joseph's Institution, [15] an independent school in Singapore.
It is also carved into the entry of The King's School Chapel, Parramatta, Australia.
It is also the motto of Infant Jesus Anglo Indian High School (IJHS), Tangasseri, Kollam, Kerala, India, the motto of the Chapel of St Olav in Sandefjord in Norway and the motto of the St. Michael's Secondary School in Penampang, Sabah, Malaysia.[ citation needed ]
The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict, are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529 they are the oldest of all the religious orders in the Latin Church. The male religious are also sometimes called the Black Monks, especially in English speaking countries, after the colour of their habits. Not all Benedictines wear black, however, with some like the Olivetans wearing white. They were founded by Benedict of Nursia, a 6th-century Italian monk who laid the foundations of Benedictine monasticism through the formulation of his Rule. Benedict's sister, Scholastica, possibly his twin, also became a religious from an early age, but chose to live as a hermit. They retained a close relationship until her death.
The Rule of Saint Benedict is a book of precepts written in Latin c. 530 by St. Benedict of Nursia for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot.
The Cistercians, officially the Order of Cistercians, are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contributions of the highly-influential Bernard of Clairvaux, known as the Latin Rule. They are also known as Bernardines, after Saint Bernard, or as White Monks, in reference to the colour of their cowl, as opposed to the black cowl worn by Benedictines.
Benedict of Aniane, born Witiza and called the Second Benedict, was a Benedictine monk and monastic reformer who had a substantial impact on the religious practice of the Carolingian Empire. His feast day is either February 11 or 12, depending on the liturgical calendar.
Lay brother is a largely extinct term referring to religious brothers, particularly in the Catholic Church, who focused upon manual service and secular matters, and were distinguished from choir monks or friars in that they did not pray in choir, and from clerics, in that they were not in possession of holy orders.
In Western Christianity, Lectio Divina is a traditional monastic practice of scriptural reading, meditation and prayer intended to promote communion with God and to increase the knowledge of God's word. In the view of one commentator, it does not treat Scripture as texts to be studied, but as the living word.
Cluny Abbey is a former Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul.
The Abbey of Our Lady, Help of Christians, commonly known as Worth Abbey, is a community of Roman Catholic monks who follow the Rule of St Benedict near Turners Hill village, in West Sussex, England. Founded in 1933, the abbey is part of the English Benedictine Congregation. As of 2020, the monastic community had 21 monks.
The Abbey of Ealing is a Roman Catholic Benedictine monastery located on Castlebar Hill in Ealing, England. It is part of the English Benedictine Congregation.
Westminster Abbey is a community of Benedictine monks in Mission, British Columbia, established in 1939 from the Abbey of Mount Angel, Oregon. The abbey is home to the Seminary of Christ the King and is a member of the Swiss American Congregation within the Benedictine Confederation.
Saint John's Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Collegeville Township, Minnesota, United States, affiliated with the American-Cassinese Congregation. The abbey was established following the arrival in the area of monks from Saint Vincent Archabbey in Pennsylvania in 1856. Saint John's is one of the largest Benedictine abbeys in the Western Hemisphere, with 110 professed monks. The Right Reverend Fr. Doug Mullin, OSB, serves as the eleventh abbot.
Mount Saint Benedict Abbey, also known as The Abbey of Our Lady of Exile is a Benedictine monastery following the Order of Saint Benedict. This monastery is located in the northwestern town of St. Augustine in Tunapuna–Piarco in Trinidad and Tobago.
Solesmes Abbey or St. Peter's Abbey, Solesmes is a Benedictine monastery in Solesmes, Sarthe, France, and the source of the restoration of Benedictine monastic life in the country under Dom Prosper Guéranger after the French Revolution. The current abbot is the Right Reverend Dom Abbot Geoffrey Kemlin, O.S.B., elected in 2022.
St. Gregory's Abbey is an American monastic community of men living under the Rule of St. Benedict within the Episcopal Church. The abbey is located near Three Rivers in St. Joseph County, Michigan.
Saint Joseph Abbey is a Benedictine abbey in Saint Benedict, Louisiana, governed by the Swiss-American Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation. The monks of the abbey also operate Saint Joseph Seminary College.
St. Andrew Abbey-Cleveland is a Benedictine monastery in Cleveland, Ohio.
St. Benedictusberg Abbey, also Mamelis Abbey, is a Benedictine monastery established in 1922 in Mamelis, a hamlet which administratively falls within Vaals, Netherlands. It is a rijksmonument.
Newark Abbey, also known as The Benedictine Abbey of Newark, is a Benedictine monastery located in Newark, New Jersey. It is one of only several urban Catholic monasteries in the country. The monks serve the community through Saint Benedict's Preparatory School and St. Mary's Abbey Church, which are situated on the Abbey grounds. As of 2022, the community is composed of seventeen monks, including eleven priests.
The abbey of Sainte-Madeleine du Barroux also known as Le Barroux Abbey is a traditionalist Benedictine abbey located in Le Barroux, Vaucluse, France. It was founded in 1978 by Dom Gérard Calvet while the current abbot is Dom Louis-Marie de Geyer d’Orth.
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