Customer Reviews

Music of Silence: A Sacred Journey through the Hours of the Day

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Steindl-Rast examines the moods implied in the canonical hours of the day. I have purchased both the book and the audio tapes of the book. The ideas expressed by Steindl-Rast are positive, valuable, and applicable to daily life. Prime, for example, occurring early in the day, according to Steindl-Rast, might be considered too early and simply an oh-no-here-we-go-again complaint. (my word, not his!) Or, it can be considered an opportunity, kind of a drumroll to our work of the day, preparing us to go ahead with energy and commitment.

Steindl-Rast uses a picture by Fra Angelico, which includes angels for each of the canonical hours, to explain many ideas. He also quotes the poets Robert Frost and Rainer Maria Rilke in his explanations of ideas. The excerpts of poetry are excellent and have led me to read more of each of these poets.

The music of which the author speaks is Gregorian Chant. And the words of the chants are the prayers and meditations that express the hours.

A high school music teacher, I have found the author's defining of the roots of words to describe their applications to be an excellent way to share vocabulary with my students. I have also found many ideas about music and a positive approach to life, all of which my students seem to appreciate.

This is an excellent book.

M C Papadolias

The author discusses how time can be a deeply sacred part of the hours of our lives, and why an appreciation of time has been developed by the experts of the monastic orders. Nothing is as ordinary, or as sacred, as time. Far from being an infinitesimally small unit of measurement or a means of separating one event from another, time provides the means by which the still, small, silent voice of God may be heard. This is a book to take on a sabbatical journey.

While walking the reader through the daily life of a monk's spiritual journey, this author also inspires the lay person to listen to the "Music of Silence".

Every chapter deserves contemplation. The book gives everyone a direction to follow, as the hours of the day flow.

I found it even more inspirational to listen to Gregorian Chant while reading. I especially like "CHANT" by the Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo De Silos.

If you truly need a break from the hectic pace of today's life then this book is a must read.

It has become a permanent part of my library and look forward to reading more from this author.

I found "Music of Silence" a perfect book to accompany me on a week's retreat to a contemplative Benedictine monastery, where the life of a day is built around the offices, or hours, from Matins through Compline. David Steindl-Rast is a Benedictine monk who has written this companion of reflective essays for each of the monastic hours, to take the reader though the day, as it were. The essays are surprisingly wide-ranging, delving down many paths, from the Zen Buddhism of Thich Nhat Hanh to Rilke. They open up the meaning of such little hours as Terce and Sext, and in doing so they illuminate the various spiritual stages of every passing hour of the day, from night to night. Returning to my secular life I found myself still pondering the hours we pass through daily, as the stages of each passing day really do illuminate a whole life lived.

I purchased this complete with a copy of "Chant" by the Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos.

The beauty and stillness of this is enchanting and refreshing to the mind. We truly enter the world of sacred monastary in this way.

Just beautiful! Pax Domini!

An old expression goes, even a mute man can sing in his heart. This more than adequate book enables the reader to contemplate and appreciate the silence of the heart, and the physical silence of monastic tradition, a very positive way. Without being overbearing - or, in a sense, even religious - Br David Steindl-Rast delights the reader with powerful insights to the majesty, the mystery, the en-chant-ment of the Hours and how the solitary heart can sing to God. You don't have be Catholic or traditional Christian to appreciate the power of this little book.
(Br Graham-Michael)

This is one of the best of spiritual meditation books that I have ever read.
It is joyful and inspiring- I read a few pages every day at breakfast and feel so enriched by the insights of this Benedictine monk.

From first to last the book is filled with factual errors and misinformation. The fact that the author failed to get an Imprimatur is the first clue that domething is very, very wrong. Furthermore, it's not a companion to the CD Chant at all. Chant (the CD) contains selections from the Mass. Since the monks sing in Latin how's the average, non-Catholic American supposed to know? You'd expect a Benedictine to be accurate about Benedictine spiritual practises. When it's a Benedictine who's spent more time in Zen monasteries and retreat centers than his nominal monastery, you'd be wrong.
If you're wondering about the angels... Fra Angelico's angels, and there are 12 of them, adorn a tabernacolo (tabernacle) not a pala and have nothing whatever to do with the Liturgy of the Hours, or Ordo, as the Benedictines refer to the sung version of the Divine Office. Steindl-Rast is wrong in calling it the officium or Opus Dei. Thank heavens the edition pictured on this dropped the photo of a monastery garden.
The basis for the Ordo is Ps. 118:164. Rast-Steindl's philosophizing about the meaning and virtue of each hour ignores their real significance to the monks are called upon to reflect on events in Christ's life that took place at very specific times of the day. Space doesn't permit me to explain in more detail but if you're serious about understanding Benedictine spirituality (and learning just how dreadfully wrong the suthor is) there are a number of reliable Websites that can give you accurate information about how the Ordo is actually prayed - including the actual cancticle cycles, psalms, and other Scriptures. The actual Rule of Benedict is available online as well. It probably won't surprise you that St. Benedict and Br. David part company on a lot of issues! John Paul II takes a dim view of Christian mysticism and atheistic Buddhism in his Crossing the Threshold of Hope.
Sloppiness is one of my pet peeves and the kind of sloppiness evident in this book is inexcusable. No Psalmist ever sang anything of the kind on page 26 because no such Psalm exists in the Book of Psalms. We're promised a virtue for every hour and we don't get them. (Forgiveness is neith a cardinal nor a theological virtue. Gratefulness isn't either!!) What editor let slip the chant is folk art comment? Gregorian chant is anything but folk art! The Book of Wisdom mentioned on page 20 is not the one in the Bible, but a poem by T.S. Eliot. When Steindl-Rast quotes from Scripture he doesn't give chapter or verse. And on and on... (Sigh)
Warning to teachers: his definitions or explanations(?) for the origins of words are not those of his order or the Catholic Church. All the hours take place at very precise times of the day (Vigils/Matins at midnight, 3 a.m., 6:00 a.m., 9:00 a.m., noon, 3:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m., end with Compline at 9:00 p.m. His defintions of mystery, obedience, and the virtues of faith and forgiveness, among others are directly contradicted in Church documents.
There isn't a page that didn't make me feel like Wanda, correcting the hapless, dimwitted Otto in A Fish Called Wanda. We can all laugh - which is probably what Steindl-Rast is doing - all the way to his Swiss bank. Or is that his Swiss retreat center?