Ora et Labora, prayer and work, is the cornerstone phrase and encapsulating spirit of The Rule of St. Benedict. St. Benedict of Nursia (480 – 547 AD) was the founder of a dozen monastic communities in present-day Italy for whom he penned his Rule. Comprising 73 chapters, it has become the seminal guideline for monks and monastic living.
It is thus no surprise that St. Benedict is the patron saint of monks and people in religious orders. His influence has also made him the patron saint of a variety of occupations (e.g. civil engineers, farmers), diseases (e.g. inflammatory diseases, fever) and places (e.g. Europe), amongst others (e.g. students, temptations, the dying, against curses).
Central to Ora et Labora is maintaining a balance between prayer and work as St. Benedict believed that neither prayer nor work need overwhelm the other in a monk’s life. Its application does not stop at the monastery door, however, as it is instructive for spirituality in daily life.
A former boss of mine in academia always advised that one begin writing with defining the terms one wishes to speak about.
So, what is ora (prayer)?
“Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God.” (St. John Damascene)
St. Therese of Lisieux said, “for me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.”
The Church of England says, “to pray is to make our hearts ready to experience the love of God in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit…. Prayer opens us more deeply to the transforming grace of God. We enter into God’s presence, allowing the Holy Spirit to pray in us.”
Likewise, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 2558) describes prayer as “a vital and personal relationship with the living and true God”. The CCC further describes prayer as God’s gift, as “a covenant relationship between God and man in Christ”, and as communion.
In brief, prayer is relationship and communication with God; be it for thanksgiving, praise, repentance/forgiveness, salvation, protection, request, lamentation, direction or more — as we see in the Lord’s Prayer (Luke 11:2-4).
Personally, prayer is a manifestation of my faith; and faith is “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). When I pray, I do so in the firm belief that God listens to me and will answer me. I pray as often as I feel the need — anytime, anywhere, and employing any means – song, chant, word; out loud or internally.
Turning to labora, what is work?
In lay terms, work is “any activity performed by persons of any sex and age to produce goods or to provide services for use by others or for our own use” (International Labour Organization). This definition encompasses the variety of human endeavours from employment for income to knitting oneself a hat. However, it limits work to physical activity. Indeed, the Bible does recognise this kind of ‘physical’ work.
God charges humans to work: “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it” (Gen 2:15). In fact, the Lord recognises work as integral to human living: “Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work” (Deuteronomy 5:13); even our Lord Jesus Christ did have his handiwork: “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary…?” (Mark 6:3a).
However, besides divine work of God as in Genesis 1 and 2, the Bible does also speak of work that is manifestation or fruit — there are the works of the flesh and works which are fruit of the Spirit. In Galatians 5:19-21, St. Paul lists many things which are works of the flesh (including adultery, hatred, strife, heresies, murders, etc.). Conversely, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance…” (Galatians 5:22-23a). Here, St. Paul juxtaposes works which are vice and those which are virtue, neither of which need necessarily be physically enacted.
Ora et Labora: Pray and Work.
“Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.” These words are attributed variously to St. Augustine or St. Ignatius of Loyola.
To my mind, Ora et Labora highlights the importance of balance between prayer and work. The success of any work we do depends on God who we commune with in prayer. Our physical work — everything from animal husbandry to piloting aeroplanes, teaching to tending the sick, almsgiving to visiting the imprisoned — is underpinned by works which are manifestations of the fruit of the Spirit or works of the flesh; as are all our thoughts, words and deeds.
We pray to maintain our relationship, communion and connection with God, and for spiritual growth. By so doing, we are strengthened by God, through whose grace our physical work may be guided by the fruit of the Spirit. For instance, a lawyer could pursue justice and serve the poor pro bono or could act without integrity and defraud their clients. Prayer helps keep us tethered to God and on the path of righteousness.
Indeed, the need for balance is exemplified by 1 Thessalonians saying: “pray without ceasing” (5:17), whilst also saying: “make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands….” (4:11).
Our Lord Jesus Christ shows us that we should both pray and work.
The Gospels report our Lord praying at several times: Matthew 11:25, John 17, Luke 22:39-44, Mark 15:34, and others. Through this, Christ shows us that prayer nourishes our faith, strengthens us to run the Christian race, and keeps us actively connected with God.
Nonetheless, everywhere He went, our Lord was doing good works such as teaching as seen in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5); challenging exclusionary practices/ institutions, such as eating with ‘sinners’ (Matthew 9:1012); saving situations, like calming the storm on the sea of Galilee (Luke 8:22-25); casting out unclean spirits (Mark 1:23-28); healing the sick, including the woman with the issue of blood (Luke 8:43-48); and raising the dead, as He did with Lazarus (John 11:38-44). But His greatest act was ultimately dying on the cross.
Christ did these works recognizing the frailty of humans, as with St. Thomas who needed evidence of His physical works — i.e. touching the stigmata — to believe in His resurrection (John 20:24-29). Importantly, our Lord addressed the real and present needs of the people. The significance of this is emphasised in James 2:14-26 which teaches that “If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,’ but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus, also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
Ora et Labora are important for Christian life both within and without monasteries. Not least because most people need to earn a living, but also because prayer is crucial to our relationship with God and guides how we do our earthly work.
