I've been captivated by this 200 year old hymn and it's author, Anne Steele.  She lived quite an interesting life.  Do yourself a huge favor and go read her bio.  Her hymns are alive with her love for Jesus all the while expressing her own sorrow and pain.  I've copied the words to my favorite hymn of hers so far below.

1. Dear refuge of my weary soul,
On Thee, when sorrows rise
On Thee, when waves of trouble roll,
My fainting hope relies
To Thee I tell each rising grief,
For Thou alone canst heal
Thy Word can bring a sweet relief,
For every pain I feel

2. But oh! When gloomy doubts prevail,
I fear to call Thee mine
The springs of comfort seem to fail,
And all my hopes decline
Yet gracious God, where shall I flee?
Thou art my only trust
And still my soul would cleave to Thee
Though prostrate in the dust

3. Hast Thou not bid me seek Thy face,
And shall I seek in vain?
And can the ear of sovereign grace,
Be deaf when I complain?
No still the ear of sovereign grace,
Attends the mourner's prayer
Oh may I ever find access,
To breathe my sorrows there

4. Thy mercy seat is open still,
Here let my soul retreat
With humble hope attend Thy will,
And wait beneath Thy feet,
Thy mercy seat is open still,
Here let my soul retreat
With humble hope attend Thy will,
And wait beneath Thy feet

Worship music is forming.  It's refreshing to see music that's honest and yet hopeful.

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.  (Psalm 119:11 ESV)

 For the last 9 or 10 weeks, I have been slowly memorizing Colossians 3:1-17. Actually, everyone in my Apprentice Group has been memorizing this passage. We started off with verses 1-2. That turned out to be pretty easy. The next week we added 2 more verses which wasn't too terribly difficult. Fast forward to about week 6. By week 6, we should have had about a dozen verses memorized. That was a lot harder. It was kind of fun though because misery loves company and we were all feeling the pressure of trying to learn the first 17 verses of Colossians 3.

I have to admit that this exercise in Bible memorization has been the most intense memorization I've done in years, probably since Bible College.   It's harder than I remember it (or maybe I'm just older). All in all, I think it's been a good practice for me and our group. A few of my reflections follow.

Shared disciplines are powerful. To be honest, I probably wouldn't have done this on my own but when 6 people all commit to memorizing the same verses, it provides some extra motivation knowing that you would have to face those folks week after week. It's part of why monks rise early to pray because they know all their brothers are going to be there so they better join them. Peer pressure can be a good thing and in this case, it was a key component to us working hard at learning the assigned verses each week.

It works. Yes, you really can hide God's word in your heart. Not too long after starting this practice, this passage just happened to show up in our Easter liturgy. You can bet we all recognized it right away!  I also noticed that these verses often came to mind during the day when I needed to be reminded of them. The Holy Spirit has a way of bringing Scripture we've memorized to mind at just the right time.

Scripture changes us.  I don't think one could regularly memorize Scripture without meditating on it.  I find myself even now thinking about these verses and what they might mean.  As I hide his word in my heart, I am slowly but steadily opening up my heart to the work of the Spirit.  I am being purified by the Word.

So, yes, Bible memorization is hard but it's definitely worth it.  If you haven't tried it for a while, why not give it a shot?

It was suggested to me today that I should simply continue saying my prayers daily, receiving the Sacraments, and loving others - in other words, I should remain steadfast. After all, I am a Benedictine. I am called to a life of prayer. Part of the beauty of the Benedictine charism is its rhythm. Day in and day out, the monk prays the divine hours, fasts, works, extends hospitality only to get up and do it all again the next day (and the next, and the next). During the good times and the difficult times, I'm called to be faithful. To keep praying. To keep fasting. To keep extending hospitality. Maybe somewhere along the way, this feeling of discontentment will give way to something better? I doubt it. I tend to think the real blessing might be in living in the tension of the "almost but not yet" reality we Christians face until the coming of our Savior.

To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27 ESV

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, Colossians 2:13 ESV

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1 ESV

But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. Romans 8:10 ESV

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:3 ESV

Now, that is some good news! The trick is learning to live into this narrative.  I'm trying...I'm trying to grab hold of this truth.  I hope you'll do the same.

(From the YouTube Description)

"O Sacred Head, Now Wounded" is a Christian Passion hymn based on a Latin text written during the Middle Ages.

The hymn is based on a long medieval Latin poem, Salve mundi salutare, with stanzas addressing the various parts of Christ's body hanging on the Cross. The last part of the poem, from which the hymn is taken, is addressed to Christ's head, and begins "Salve caput cruentatum." The poem is often attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153), but is now attributed to the Medieval poet Arnulf of Louvain (died 1250). It was used for the text of Dieterich Buxtehude's Membra Jesu Nostri,

The last part of the poem was translated into German by the prolific Lutheran hymnist Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676). The German hymn begins, "O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden". 

The hymn was first translated into English in 1752 by John Gambold (1711-1771), an Anglican vicar in Oxfordshire. His translation begins, "O Head so full of bruises." In 1830 a new translation of the hymn was made by an American Presbyterian minister, James Waddel Alexander (1804-1859). Alexander's translation, beginning "O sacred head, now wounded," became one of the most widely used in 19th and 20th century hymnals.

Another English translation, based on the German, was made in 1861 by Sir Henry Baker. Published in Hymns Ancient and Modern, it begins, "O sacred head surrounded by crown of piercing thorn."

In 1899 the English poet Robert Bridges (1844-1930) made a fresh translation from the original Latin, beginning "O sacred Head, sore wounded, defiled and put to scorn." This is the version used in the Church of England's New English Hymnal (1986) and several other late 20th-century hymn books.
The English Hymnal, 1906 has a translation atrributed to "Y.H."

The music for the German and English versions of the hymn is by Hans Leo Hassler, written around 1600 for a secular love song, "Mein G'müt ist mir verwirret", which first appeared in print in 1601. The tune was appropriated and rhythmically simplified for Gerhardt's German hymn in 1656 by Johann Crüger. Johann Sebastian Bach arranged the melody and used five stanzas of the hymn in his St Matthew Passion, stanza 6 also in his cantata Sehet, wir gehn hinauf gen Jerusalem, BWV 159. Bach used the melody on different words in his Christmas Oratorio, both in the first choral and the triumphant final chorus.

The poor are not forgotten by God.

[18] For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.(Psalm 9:18 ESV)