The Apostle would have us keep silence, for in silence he tells us to work (cf. 2 Thessalonians, 3:12). As the Prophet also makes known to us: ‘Silence is the way to foster holiness’ (cf. Isaiah 32:17). Elsewhere he says, ‘Your strength will lie in silence and hope’ (cf. Isaiah 20:15).

For this reason I lay down that you are to keep silence from after Compline until after Prime the next day. At other times, although you need not keep silence so strictly, be careful not to indulge in a great deal of talk, for, as Scripture has it—and experience teaches us no less— ‘Sin will not be wanting where there is much talk’ (Proverbs 10:19), and ‘He who is careless in speech will come to harm’ (Proverbs 13:3); and elsewhere: ‘The use of many words brings harm to the speaker’s soul’ (cf. Sirach 20:8). And our Lord says in the Gospel: ‘Every rash word uttered will have to be accounted for on judgment day’ (Matthew 12:36).

Make a balance then, each of you, to weigh your words in; keep a tight rein on your mouths, lest you should stumble and fall in speech, and your fall be irreparable and prove mortal (cf. Sirach 28:29-30). Like the Prophet, watch your step lest your tongue give offense (cf. Psalm 38:2), and employ every care in keeping silent, which is the way to foster holiness (cf. Isaiah 32:17).

In the “Declarations” for updating of the “Primitive Constitutions” of the Order in accordance with the directives of Vatican Council II, we find in Number 70 this confirmation of Saint Albert’s original reflections:

We strive to keep silence and to respect the solitude in which our sisters work and pray. Consequently, whatever our activities or occupations may be, they must not take from this spirit of silence, so that our monasteries may be truly houses of prayer that speak to men of the living God present among us.

The silence enjoined by the Rule is to be faithfully observed from Compline to the end of Lauds the next morning.

In the midst of what we know by experience to be a noisy and, sad to say, a noise-polluted world, the question facing us today is: What does the Rule of Carmel have to say to us about the relevance of silence?

The second allusion to Holy Scripture made by Saint Albert is to Isaiah 32:17, which indicates that the effect of righteousness, understood as holiness of life, is peace along with quietness and trust in God. For Saint Albert this prophetic promise means that “silence is the way to foster holiness.” This ancient text again rings true today when we consider the Vatican Council II document, “Dogmatic Constitution on the Church” (Lumen Gentium, 1964). It states that “…all Christians in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of love, and by this holiness, a more human manner of life is fostered also in earthly society.” What better confirmation could there be of silence in the modern world than the connection made here between “Be still, and know that I am God!” (Psalm 46:10) and the universal call to holiness?

When we explore somewhat further the link between silence and holiness, we begin to see that silence is not to be shunned as empty space; it is to be befriended as fertile ground for intimacy with God. Noise has the opposite effect. It tends to fragment us. Silence enables us to center ourselves in the Holy and from this holistic perspective to see all sides of a situation. Silence enables us to collect our thoughts and move toward clear-eyed decisions. It is not a luxury for monks on mountaintops but a survival measure in a noisy world.

In silence the scattered pieces of our life fall into place, and we see again where we are going. Silence puts us in touch not only with the human spirit in all its richness but also with the Holy Spirit. It opens us to the dimension of transcendence. We experience rest and peace. Stress and confusion, argument and anxiety, diminish in intensity. Silence becomes a sanctuary in which faith, hope, and love are restored. It readies us to listen to words that ring with eternal truth. Silence is almost like a psychic force that produces a heightened capacity for meditation, prayer, and contemplation.

The encounter between the soul and God ultimately transcends what language can contain. In many ways such intimacy is unspeakable. It is beyond words. In that silent center, where the Holy Spirit prays in our hearts, we transcend our bodily frailty as well as our functional limits. Neither seem to matter at such moments. Stilled, like a child on its mother’s lap, we are with God and God is with us. We are wordlessly present to one another, yet a world of communication transpires between us. Because language cramps this reality, we fall silent. Words signifying human mastery dissolve as we listen to God’s song. Tones we ordinarily miss due to life’s rush are heard in silence. During such gratuitous moments, we are in tune with a silent treasure, with God’s presence in the core of our being.

This deep silence may not feel like much on the emotional level. It is not meant to produce spiritual highs. It simply warms our heart. We know, without being able to prove why, that in the midst of the ups and downs of daily life we stand on the firm ground of God’s unchanging love. He assures us of this love not in flashes of lightning or furious thunder but in soft, gentle breezes (cf. 1 Kings 19:13). We wait upon God in these gifted moments as God waits upon us. We feel at one with the Mother of Christ, who silently listened to the angel and then gave her consent to bear God’s Word in the flesh.
Silence touches every sphere of our existence. It brings to our physical selves the grace of relaxation, to our minds the benefit of increased attention. It makes possible thoughtful speech and leads to more reflective action. Most of all it enables us to be centered in God. Its practical implications for formation are obvious, since it is a founding principle of the spiritual life.

Everyone needs silence: the teacher, the nurse, the social worker; the artist, the poet, the doctor; the lawyer, the housewife, the cabdriver. To neglect this need is to risk living a tense, fragmented, spiritless life. If we do not nourish our souls, they atrophy as does a body without food. To maintain any kind of Christlike presence in the world, we need to seek silence and its fruits in the practices of spiritual reading, meditation, prayer, and contemplation.

Words of power like those written by Saint Albert flow from a wellspring of silence. They ready us to listen to the wisdom found in scripture and in the writings of the spiritual masters, a wisdom that teaches us how to integrate daily life with divinely inspired revelations embedded in texts that contain lasting truths. A powerful example of such wisdom comes from the pen of Saint John of the Cross who wrote:

The very pure spirit does not bother about the regard of others or human respect, but communicates inwardly with God, alone and in solitude as to all forms, and with delightful tranquility, for the knowledge of God is received in divine silence (The Sayings of Light and Love, 28).

This saying may remind us of the end stages of the Lord’s life on earth. When he was questioned by his accusers, he chose not to answer them; his option to remain silent meant that he would not offer a defense for any of the charges brought against him. This tactic amazed everyone, especially Pontius Pilate (cf. Matthew 27:11-14).

Saint Teresa confirms the strength of soul shown by Jesus when she writes in Chapter 15:1 of The Way of Perfection: “Indeed, it calls for great humility to be silent at seeing oneself [as she saw herself before her inquisitors] condemned without fault. This is a wonderful way to imitate the Lord who took away all our faults.” She asks her sisters to take great care to observe this practice because “it brings with it great benefits.”

Returning to the “Primitive Rule,” we see prescribed by Saint Albert the duration of nightly silence, confirmed by the “Declarations” to last from Compline to the end of Lauds the next morning. For the rest of the time, Carmelites, he says, “need not keep silence so strictly,” but, by the same token, they must “be careful not to indulge in a great deal of talk,” especially that which resorts to vulgarity, loquacious gossip, and the danger of sinning with one’s tongue. As the Apostle James warns us: “How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire…with it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing” (James 3:5-10).

The proverb (10:19) cited by Saint Albert, that “sin will not be wanting where there is much talk” inspired Saint Benedict of Nursia, who, in Chapter 6 of his Rule, counsels restraint of speech. He refers to Psalm 39:2-3 where the psalmist begs the Most High God for the grace never to sin with his tongue. Saint Benedict points as well to Proverbs 18:21, a text which confirms the Apostle James’ warning that “death and life are in the power of the tongue.”

We live in a world where all of us have been victims of “ double-speak”—someone saying something, for instance, in the religious and political realm, and meaning something else. In the media we also see multiple violations of the Rule of “restraint of speech.” Talking heads out-shout one another. Anyone with an opinion is held up as a purveyor of truth. People are plugged in to their cell phones and seem to need, for whatever reason, to talk all the time, to text one another, and to blast their private lives in public. Have we not drifted miles away from Thomas Merton’s conclusion in his book, Thoughts in Solitude, that silence is the mother of truth?

The other proverb cited by Saint Albert is 13:3, which issues a caution contemporary ears ought to hear: that carelessness in speech leads to great harm—not only for individuals but for one’s family and faith community and, by extension, for society as a whole. To say what we mean and mean what we say ought not to be a lost art, though, alas, all too often it is.

To prove this point Saint Albert stresses in the next citation from the Rule the words of Sirach 20:8 that “whoever talks too much is detested, and whoever pretends to authority is hated.” These are strong words, but it is not difficult to validate them. All we have to do is to read the headlines to see that people hate to be duped, to recall but one example, by corporate leaders who preach generosity but practice pure greed. The burden of proof always falls on the side of justice since, as the Rule states, citing Matthew 12:36: “Every rash word uttered will have to be accounted for on judgment day.”

Finally, Saint Albert offers a series of imperatives that ring true for any soul on the way to living a holier life. The truth of the Rule in this regard is like a sweet fragrance that seeps through the walls of Carmel and purifies the outside air. He says first that we must keep the right balance between silence and speech and, above all, “weigh [our] words.”

Support for this counsel can be found in another one of The Sayings of Light and Love by Saint John of the Cross. He observes in Number 109: “Wisdom enters [the soul] through love, silence, and mortification. It is great wisdom to know how to be silent and to look at neither the remarks, nor the deeds, nor the lives of others.”

Saint Albert’s second summary directive is to “keep a tight rein on [our] mouths, lest [we] should stumble and fall in speech.” He adds the dire warning that such a fall could be both irreparable and morally reprehensible. Words that mock, and worse still, abuse the weak; scathing, vengeful remarks that strip a person of dignity; proud words that make the poor feel forgotten by God; painful infliction on others of words that point out their faults—such examples may not be that obvious in a convent but subtle “digs” are always possible.

This observation leads to Saint Albert’s third imperative: “Watch your step lest your tongue give offense.” It is as if in one sentence the Saint summarizes the key to desert wisdom: keep vigilant and guard your heart. In the Sayings of the Desert Fathers there is this story told of Saint Anthony the Great:

Three Fathers used to go and visit blessed Anthony every year and two of them used to discuss their thoughts and the salvation of their souls with him, but the third always remained silent and did not ask him anything. After a long time, Abba Anthony said to him, ‘You often come here to see me, but you never ask me anything,’ and the other replied, ‘It is enough for me to see you, Father.’

Here we observe the transcendent power that resides in non-verbal communication between holy souls.

Saint Albert’s fourth and final directive applies to the people of God, who “employ every care in keeping silent, which is the way to foster holiness.” With this closing thought, the patriarch of Jerusalem comes full circle, ending this section of the Rule with the quote from Isaiah 32:17 with which he began and restating the universal call to holiness.

This plea for silence in a noisy world is an invitation all of us ought to accept. The reason why can be found in what is perhaps the most profound saying (Number 100) of Saint John of the Cross: “The Father spoke one Word, which was his Son, and this Word he speaks always in eternal silence, and in silence must it be heard by the soul.”