Lent and the Call for Silence

The holy season of Lent is upon us. The practice of silence is an essential way to enter into the penitential spirit of this season and experience its fruit—conversion. There are two points I would like to make in this regard:

1) Robert Cardinal Sarah affirms, "The silence of every day is an indispensable condition for living with others. Without the capacity for silence, man is incapable of hearing, loving, and understanding the people around him. Charity is born of silence. It proceeds from a silent heart that is able to hear, to listen, and to welcome. Silence is a condition for others, and necessary if one is to understand himself" (The Power of Silence, p. 33).

2) I invite you to watch this rousing lecture by Deacon Brad Watkins, the headmaster at St.Thomas More Academy, another classical school, which addresses how essential it is that we form our children in the "every day silence" of which Cardinal Sarah speaks so compellingly: How to Train Up a Child