Before addressing the mundane tasks involving physical labor that had to be done around the monastery, Benedict writes about prayer, specifically praise. Physical tasks had to be done to maintain the community, and Benedict considered this work to be holy work, too. However, the most important work of God (opus dei) was prayer. The fact that other work was interrupted seven times a day to perform together the Daily Office demonstrated its priority in the daily life of the monastery.
In Chapter 16 of the Rule, Benedict writes:
“Seven times in the day,” says the Prophet, “I have rendered praise to You” (Ps. 119:164). Now that sacred number of seven will be fulfilled by us if we perform the Offices of our service at the time of the Morning Office, of Prime, of Terce, of Sext, of None, of Vespers and of Compline.
In my 2013 Desert Diary, the account of my first visit to the Monastery of Christ in the Desert, I wrote:
“Observing the daily office seven times a day is very conducive to being in a prayerful state of mind all day. This doesn’t mean I was always consciously praying, but I was aware this afternoon of a heightened state of mindfulness and hypersensitivity to God’s presence.”
Brother David Steindl-Rast makes the distinction between “prayers” and “prayerfulness.” My experience at the monastery was that joining the monks in prayer several times a day led to an experience of heightened prayerfulness throughout the day. The chanted phrases of praise from the Psalms often were going through my head. Scripture tells us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). Through prayerfulness, every activity can and should become prayer.
Improbable Benedictine 