Slowing Our Pace with Saint Benedict

The Rule of Saint Benedict asks us to go inward and to cultivate a gentle pace and slow rhythm, listening not to external sounds but to God’s presence with “the ear of our hearts.” In many ways, this is at odds with the understanding of progress that shapes American culture, and indeed the Western modern tradition. For us, progress is linear, committed to visible growth, and predicated on accelerating speed. This retreat will focus on the slow, rhythmic beauty of the Benedictine tradition as it calls us to slow our pace as we search for God and develop a new understanding of progress.

Focus will be on the topics of listening, rhythmic prayer, and slowing our pace, which contrasts with the contemporary emphasis on speed, growth, and constant acceleration. It will be grounded in the Rule of Saint Benedict and Sacred Scripture, while also examining how modernity in the West foregrounds and defines “progress”. The slow movement will be mentioned as it overlaps with the Benedictine tradition.

Presenter: MARY CAPUTI has been an oblate of Saint Andrew’s Abbey since 2007. She holds a Ph.D in political theory from Cornell University, a Master’s in International Relations from the University of Chicago, and a Master’s in Italian Studies from California State University, Long Beach.

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