Sunday of the Prodigal Son: By the Waters of Babylon

As I noted in a previous post, last Sunday we opened the Lenten Triodion and so began the cycle of pre-Lenten Sundays that will lead us to Great Lent proper in a couple of weeks. Each week has a specific theme: last week’s was the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee, while today focused on the parable of the Prodigal Son—perhaps one of the best known passages of the New Testament. In addition to the hymnography specific to each week, there are some texts only sung at the Matins services of these pre-Lenten Sundays. Last week I discussed the special post-Gospel stichera “Open to me the doors of repentance, O Life-Giver…” We begin the other notable addition this Sunday. After the Polyeleos (Psalm 134/5 & 135/6) we sing Psalm 136/7:

St Benedict on Psalmody

St Benedict

I’ve been slowly working through the Rule of St Benedict in Latin, using the Dumbarton Oaks edition. Since in last night’s post on daily Bible reading I mentioned the Orthodox liturgical prescription of reading the Psalter in full once a week, it was interesting to come across the same principle in the Rule this morning. In chapter 18, Benedict lays out a detailed order for when specific psalms should be said in church. He then concludes:

“We urge this in particular: if this distribution of the psalms happens to displease someone, he should arrange it otherwise if he thinks it better, although in any case he must ensure that the entire psalter is sung every week, the full complement of 150 psalms, and is taken up again from the beginning at Sunday Vigils. For those monks who sing less than the entire psalter with the customary canticles in the course of a week show themselves lazy in the service of devotion, since what—as we read—our Holy Fathers energetically completed in a single day, we, more lukewarm as we are, ought to manage in an entire week.”

(Hoc praecipuae commonentes, ut si cui forte haec distributio psalmorum displicuerit, ordinet si melius aliter iudicaverit, dum omnimodis id adtendat ut omni ebdomada psalterium ex integro numero centum quinquaginta pslamorum psallatur et dominico die semper a caput reprendatur ad vigilas. Quia nimis intertem devotionis suae servitium ostendunt monachi qui minus a psalterio cum canticis consuetudinariis per septimanae circulum psallunt, dum quando legamus sanctos patres nostros uno die hoc strenue implesse, quod nos tepidi utinam septimana integra persolbamus. 18.22–24)

On Daily Bible Reading

We’re getting far enough into January that I know many people are beginning to struggle with their new year’s resolutions—that is, if they haven’t entirely given up on them already! It’s fairly common for Christians to attempt to commit to some from of daily Bible reading as a new year’s resolution, so I thought now would be an appropriate time to reflect on my own attempts at regular daily Bible reading. Like many, I have attempted several different plans for daily Bible reading, but with little success. While, on the face of it, resolving to read the Bible daily might seem quite simple, I’ve personally found that it’s fairly difficult to find an appropriate balance.

How much to read?

The first aspect of the difficulty is determining the quantity to be read. If my plan called for too much reading, then it would at some point seem too much of a burden and inevitably fizzle out when life seemed to get in the way. On the other hand, if it called for too little (say a single chapter at a time), then the progress was too slow for me to remain motivated; I would start calculating how many months it would take me just to get through the Pentateuch! So, for me, one aspect of the puzzle was simply figuring out how much I could consistently commit to: enough so that my progress through the Bible was noticeable and so more readily meaningful, but not so much that it became unsustainable.