A long time ago I used to give days of recollection entitled "Printing and Prayer". I'd take people through the fascinating history of the Stanbrook Abbey Press, with many an example of fine printing for people to see and hold. Then I'd start to articulate the way in which all the beauty they had enjoyed was a by-product, so to say, of prayer: printing wasn't the purpose of the monastery, although for Benedictines especially, working with words and books has always been a good way of expressing our monastic values. If you think about it, the disciplines involved in printing are quite similar to those needed for a life of prayer. Qualities of honesty and perseverance are necessary for learning any craft; and as with the printer's art, so with the one who prays, simplicity costs. There has to be a stripping away, a glad loss of ego and self-concern. Obedience to the Word is fundamental. Just as the printer thinks as much about the white space on the page as about the words and images that will constitute its contents, so one needs to give some thought to the setting or conditions for prayer. Yes, one can pray anywhere, but it does help to set aside a regular time or choose a particular place, preferably as uncluttered as possible. The colour of a typeface, the differences in black inks, the look, feel and behaviour of different papers, all are taken into account by the printer who knows her stuff. Happily, prayer is a little less complicated and seeks no particular result, so one must not push the analogy too far. The illustration above is telling in its way. It's a page from the Rule of St Benedict that I use every day. It's an imperfect copy of a lectern edition printed at Stanbrook in 1930 on handmade paper (made up of discarded sheets we used as lining paper). The capitals on this sheet are incorrectly placed and some of the word spacing would cause a sharp intake of breath if it were allowed to go forth into the world unadjusted. It reminds me that only God is perfect, that prayer is a gift, given in His way and at a time of His choosing. (Second edition of this post, the first was corrupted on upload.)