SENPECTAS wise old monk

Mt 5: 43-48 Love your enemies Mass Tuesday 15th June Mt 5:43-48 ‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. It was a lively Chapter last evening. Not surprisingly, the Community Discussion is still with us, thinking of the contradictions or dialogue, or multi-alogue. We look for the golden thread through the talk-talk. The Gospel (Mt 5:43-48), this morning, rings the sound of Jesus voice in the stresses and strains in the exchange. The links of the ‘golden tread’ pin on the Father: Love your enemies, it is something so astonishing that it has to be the voice of God and none other you may be children of your Father your heavenly Father is perfect And lead us into the Mass …

The evening community discussion touched on the interesting topic of the elderly monks and the care of the sick.

The name SENPECTAS, a wise physician, is always a topic in monastic debate.

A Wise Physician “SENPECTAS”
XXVII. QUALITER DEBEAT ABBAS SOLLICITUS ESSE CIRCA EXCOMMUNICATOS Omni sollicitudine curam gerat abbas circa delinquentcs fratres, quia non est opus sanis medicus sed male habentibus. Et ideo uti debet omni modo ut sapiens medicus, immittere senpectas, id est seniores sapientes fratres, qui quasi secrete consolentur fratrem fluctuantem et provocent ad humilitatis satisfac-	CHAPTER 27. THE ABBOT'S CONCERN FOR THE EXCOMMUNICATED The abbot must exercise the utmost care and concern for wayward brothers, because it is not the healthy who need a physician, but the sick (Matt 9: 12). Therefore, he ought to use every skill of a wise physician and send in senpectae , that is, mature and wise brothers who, under the cloak of secrecy, may support the wavering brother, urge him to be humble as a way of making satisfaction, and console him lest he be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow (2 Cor 2:7). Rather, as the Apostle also says:
Notes: 27.2 "a wise physician" (sapiens medicus): The metaphor introduced here extends into Ch. 28. For the background of the idea of the abbot as a physician, see Appendix 4, n.77. See also Appendix 2, p. 352 and the note on 2.8. "senpectas", This word, which appears nowhere else in Christian literature, is variously interpreted. Some suggest a "mustard paste" (poultice); so E. Molland "Ut sapiens medicus. Medical Vocabulary in St. Benedict's Regula Monachorum" SM 6 (1964) 273-296; J. Svennung "The Origin and Meaning of the Word Senpecta" ibid. 297-298; J. Svennung "S. Benedicti Senpecta = sinapismus. Zur Haplologie in den cornposita" Rivista di filologia e d'istruzione classica 95 (1967) 65-71. B. Steidle suggests a play on words; Benedict hears the word sen-ior (elder) in the foreign word sen-pecta (Greek: sumpaiktes , meaning 'companion'); see Die Benediktus-Regel, Lateinisch-Deutsch. (Beuron: Beuroner Kunstverlag 1975) p. 115. De Vogue, 2.548-549, also thinks it more likely is derived from the Greek word, strengthening his case by a reference to G. Goetz, Corp. Gloss. Lat. 4.565,62; 5.331, 39, where sunodos has become senodus and is interpreted as congregatio senum (a gathering of old men). Because of this remarkable parallel, linguistics supports de Vogue and Steidle, whereas the con­text lends weight to the mustard plaster theory. Whatever may be the etymology, what is important is what St. Benedict understands the term to signify and that he has explained.
RB 1980: the rule of St. Benedict in Latin and English Collegeville,Minn.Pp. 222-223