Since Lewis Mumford and Max Weber, historians and sociologists have recognized the importance of the Benedictine monastery in the development of time-keeping, scheduling, and Western notions of time in general. Zerubavel notes that in developing their regulated common life, the Benedictines deliberately broke with the natural and temporal rhythms of the surrounding society. In bed early, and rising long before sunrise for Lauds. They created an alternative temporal world, and asserted their dominion over time.
Zerubavel also nicely notes the analogy between liturgical sequence and the sequence of the Benedictine horarium . Their alternative temporal world was a world liturgically ordered.
Peter Leithart
Peter J. Leithart is President of Theopolis Institute. He is the author of numerous books on theology, literature, and culture, including Theopolitan, Defending Constantine, and Baptized Body.
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