Meditari aut Legere ...more Conjunctions

 Fr Koterski actually didn't have much to say about the conjunction "aut" ("or) in the formulation of "meditari aut legere", at least, not in the written form of his lecture.  He says a lot of good things in general, though, and the article is well worth reading -- an interlacing of monasticism, Thomism, and solid Ignatian spirituality.   

What he does say is in his conclusion:

Meditari aut legere – to meditate or to read. Learning how to read well can be a way of learning how to meditate. It is not a matter of reading quickly or reading a lot of things but a case of reading well – non multa sed multum – not many things but going into much depth. For Aquinas, this is the union of the love of learning and the desire for God.

 I could not find much else on the internet discussing conjunctions and their place in monasticism, but I did find where the phrase came from.   It is from chapter 48 of St Benedict's Rule, on Manual Labor which also contains guidance on lectio and reading habits in the monastery.     The meditari aut legere is in the instructions for Sundays-- I will emphasize the translation:

22 On Sunday all are to be engaged in reading except those who have been assigned various duties. 23 If anyone is so remiss and indolent that he is unwilling or unable to study or to read, he is to be given some work in order that he may not be idle. 24 Brothers who are sick or weak should be given a type of work or craft that will keep them busy without overwhelming them or driving them away. 25 The abbot must take their infirmities into account.

The "or" here is an interesting one -- it has the force of an "and".    It's inclusive, where the either and or are acceptable, two sides of a fulcrum.   Studying (or meditating) and reading are linked together, it seems, as two of the same sort of thing, and in fact that is Fr Koterski's point when discussing Leclercq's book -- that reading of the kind practiced by the medieval monks was a kind of athletic endeavor, a whole-body experience.    That is a topic for the next Leclercq post -- right now, I just want to dwell on the conjunction.   

Benedict wants to exclude idleness altogether, so monks who can't and won't sit down with a book should have work to do, even though it is Sunday.     With his provision for the sick and weak, he tempers the strictness of this choice by allowing arts or crafts that are suitable for their state and still constructive.    He assumes that reading and study are more difficult than light handiwork, and certainly, those who are chronically ill, or elderly, often find this to be true even in our days of silent cursory reading.

In this respect, the "or" is different in each case.

• "study or read" -- viable alternatives, perhaps close to the same thing.
• "work or read" -- the reading is preferable, but if monks have required work, or monks are unwilling to read, they can work.
• "work/study/read or stay idle"   this is an exclusionary "or".   It is like "life or death" -- one side is regarded as unacceptable.

Not all "auts", in other words, have exclusionary force.   Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.      In logic gate terms, if I am understanding correctly, some of the above choices are "ors" and some are "exors".   It sounds like in computer logic, if either or any of the alternatives are a go, then you can proceed.   It's been a long time since my college coding class, so I could be misunderstanding the terminology, but I do stand by the main point that there are different types of "ors" (there are also Nors, where neither alternative is acceptable, but I don't have an example for that).