St Benedict ordains that each monk shall have a book for Lenten reading assigned him by the Abbot (RSB xlviii, 15-16), who is ensure that he reads it (cf. RSB, xlviii, 17-20) and take it from him if he doesn't, giving him some work to do instead (RSB, xlviii, 23)!
In quibus diebus Quadragesimæ accipiant omnes singulos codices de bibliotheca, quos per ordinem ex integro legant; qui codices in caput Quadragesimæ dandi sunt.
In these days of Lent let each receive a separate book from the library which they shall read through continuously from beginning to end; these books are to be given out at the beginning of Lent.
— Rule of St Benedict, xlviii, 15-16
Having no Abbot (and being no monk), yet heeding the spirit of this advice, it seemed best to "think with the Church" by turning to two notable authors: St Thomas Aquinas and Pope Benedict XVI. (As mentioned earlier, I will also be reading more of Holy Writ, God willing.)
My plan, therefore, is to read through both Meditations and Readings for Lent, a compilation of short (approximately 2 page) extracts from the writings of St Thomas Aquinas, published by Sheed & Ward back in 1937, then reissued in the seventies (I have the 1979 reprint); and Benedict XVI's Jesus of Nazareth, Part II: Holy Week, from the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection. I've at least begun doing this over these first three days of Lent.
Dear reader, what is your Lenten reading plan?
I'm starting with Rabanus Maurus's commentary on the Lauds canticles. Depending on how I go I plan to move on to his poems on the cross. The first is not that long, but is alas not available in translation, so takes a little time in places to translate. But so far I'm enjoying it.
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