Within the disciplines of St. Michael’s Lent, you might discover a seeming contradiction: “Get a Full Night’s Sleep (8 hours)” and “Hold Vigil for 1 Hour at 2 a.m. Friday Morning.” How can we get a full night of sleep if we’re waking up in the middle of it?
During St. Michael’s Lent, which begins August 15th, we are focused on healing. We, as human beings, are body-soul unities. What happens on the outside generally impacts the inside, and vice versa. When we’re weighed down in body, our spirit lags, and we have a hard time entering into prayer. When we are burdened in our soul, we often turn to physical consolations, attempting to soothe ourselves.
St. Benedict found the right balance. He directed his monks to rise in the middle of the night in the winter, about 2 am, for Matins, but only after going to bed early when it became dark. In the summer, when the nights are shorter, he directed Matins to take place later so that it would end as the sun was rising. He could balance the importance of rising in the night to make a vigil to watch with the Lord and the need for sufficient sleep so that the monks could give themselves fully to their prayer and work.
In our frenetic culture, we often burn the wick at both ends, pushing ourselves hard in our work and then turning to entertainment for relaxation. We might get up early but then stay up late to stream videos. This begins to take its toll as we become diminished in our capacity to give of ourselves fully to the people and tasks at hand.
The body needs proper care: sufficient sleep, healthy food, enough water, and exercise. This does not mean should idolize bodily health. And this is where the night vigil comes back in. Rising in the night, fasting, and other disciplines continue to point us to the priority of God in our lives. Our health is ordered toward holiness. But, when we become overly weighed down, we tend to make poor decisions and neglect our bodily and spiritual health.
Instead of watching Netflix late into the night, let’s go to bed earlier and then rise in the night to keep watch with Christ! Jesus asked his disciples, “Could you not watch with me one hour?” (Matthew 26:40). Wouldn’t it be wonderful to respond, “Yes, Lord, I will keep watch with you, at least one hour in the night.”
And on other days, St. Francis de Sales gives us some practical advice. 1) Go to bed early, 2) get enough sleep, and 3) rise early to pray. He explains in Introduction to the Devout Life:
“Everyone must take so much of the night for sleep, as his constitution and the profitable performance of his day’s work requires. Holy Scripture continually teaches us that the morning is the best and most profitable part of the day, and so do the examples of the Saints and our natural reason. Our Lord Himself is called the Sun, rising upon the earth, and our Lady the Day-star; and so I think it is wise to go to sleep early at night in order to be ready to waken and rise early. Moreover, that is the pleasantest, the freshest, and the freest hour of the day,—the very birds stimulate us to rise and sing God’s praises. Early rising promotes both health and holiness.”
Let’s unite what seems to be opposed. Let’s pursue bodily healing and rest while putting our strength into seeking the Lord with our whole lives. Let’s sleep but then wake up when everyone else is asleep. Keeping watch in the night will show us what sleep is ultimately for–to rest in the Lord by ordering body and soul to his glory.
