Monastic Liturgy in Process 95 structure, etc.- were left to the creativity of the individual munities. It was a huge, and one might say, traumatic challange! For carmunities who actually to sang the hours,it would have been absurd merely translate the old office into English. And once the music and texts the are altered, why not the structure? like all organic systems, liturgy follavs the laws of cybernetics, so that to alter one aspect to changes the chemistJ:y of the whole organism. It all had together. grCM Fran this point on, the story is written in the pages of loose-leaf sheets of paper, discarded choir books, painful struggles and beautiful efforts of individual ccmnunities to develop a liturgy especially suited to e monks living there. The great variety of results is proof of its being a successful venture. Each monastery in the ccuntJ:y has, little by little, through a process of trial and error, developed its avn way of living the liturgical and day, one of the irrpOrtant discoveries has that it been is not so much the liturgical forms that have developed as the prolonged, prayerful and sanetines painful effort has and reaching for a true indigenous liturgy that been the reward. One gravs, not by finding so nn.ich as by reaching. There is no doubt that the monastic liturgies actually being used in Arrerican monasteries are far fran ideal either for that hruse or for the liturgy at large. There is no hiding the fact that the monks themselves are the most anxious to do better,but what is going foreward is strong and alive. to Nav the "period of e:xperimentation" is caning an end mind t.:i.roe and, at least in the of the has care to put Rare, monks the clamp on once again. The themselves have been invited to participate in the thing. The liturgical carmissions of the monastic orders concerned have been infonned that they should get together and cane up with a
Monastic Liturgy in Process 95 structure, etc.- were left to the creativity of the individual munities. It was a huge, and one might say, traumatic challange! For carmunities who actually sang the hours,it would have been absurd to merely translate the old office into English. And once the music and the texts are altered, why not the structure? like all organic systems, liturgy follavs the laws of cybernetics, so that to alter one aspect changes the chemistJ:y of the whole organism. It all had to grCM together. Fran this point on, the story is written in the pages of loose-leaf sheets of paper, discarded choir books, painful struggles and beautiful efforts of individual ccmnunities to develop a liturgy especially suited to e monks living there. The great variety of results is proof of its being a successful venture. Each monastery in the ccuntJ:y has, little by little, through a process of trial and error, developed its avn way of living the liturgical day, and one of the irrpOrtant discoveries has been that it is not so much the liturgical forms that have developed as the prolonged, prayerful and sanetines painful effort reaching for a true and indigenous liturgy that has been the reward. One gravs, not by finding so nn.ich as by reaching. There is no doubt that the monastic liturgies actually being used in Arrerican monasteries are far fran ideal either for that hruse or for the liturgy at large. There is no hiding the fact that the monks themselves are the most anxious to do better,but what is going foreward is strong and alive. Nav the "period of e:xperimentation" is caning to an end and, at least in the mind of Rare, the t.:i.roe has care to put the clamp on once again. The monks themselves have been invited to participate in the thing. The liturgical carmissions of the monastic orders concerned have been infonned that they should get together and cane up with a
Volume07Number02.docx