The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.
Read Chapter 15
Benedict of Nursia
AD 547
We believe God is everywhere, and his eye beholds the good and wicked wherever they are: so we ought to be particularly assured of his special presence when we assist at the divine office. Therefore we must always remember the advice of the prophet, “To serve God in fear,” “to sing wisely” and that “the angels are witnesses of what we sing.” Let us then reflect what behavior is proper for appearing in the presence of God and the angels, and so sing our psalms that the mind may echo in harmony with the voice.
“In every place the eyes of the Lord behold the good and the evil.” And when we are gathered together with the brethren in one place and celebrate divine sacrifices with a priest of God, we ought to be mindful of modesty and discipline and not toss our prayers about at random with uncouth voices and not cast forth with turbulent loquaciousness our petition. Rather, our petition should be commended to God in modesty, because it is our heart, not our voice, that will be heard. God, who sees our thoughts, is not to be admonished by shouts, as the Lord proves when he says, “Why do you think vainly in your hearts?” And in another place, “And all the churches shall know that I am a searcher of the desires and the heart.” The Lord’s Prayer
