By Michael Patrick O’Brien–
Sleep eludes us all from time to time. For me, this typically occurs when the stress, worries, and activity of the day seep into the silence of the night and thrust my brain into a hyperactive thinking mode. One time when sleeplessness hit me, I remembered, for some reason, that I never heard an insomnia complaint from any of my friends, the Trappists who used to live at the monastery in Huntsville, Utah. What is it about a monk’s life that makes one sleep better?
There are, perhaps, many answers to this question. The Utah Trappists woke up at 3:15 am every day, and went to bed at 7:30 pm every night. They worked at hard manual labor on their farm almost every day, in contrast to the sedentary lifestyle most of us maintain. They also spent part of their day praying, and developing inner peace and mindfulness. A regular schedule, hard work, and peace of mind could make anyone sleepy at the end of the day. I admit that such habits are hard to develop overnight (no pun intended), so is there something else to be learned from a monk’s good rest?
Every night the Utah monks chanted their final prayers of the day, called Compline. As a young boy/man, I heard the chant hundreds of time. It was the monks’ way to say goodnight to someone they loved, to God. I think it is part of why they slept so well. I still remember what they sang each night:
“O God creator of all things, and ruler of the universe,
our days you fill with radiant light, our nights you fold in peaceful sleep.
Now that the day has run its course, and darkness covers things from sight,
we beg for pardon, plead for grace, and ask protection for the night.
O mighty Father hear our cry, through Jesus Christ our Lord most high,
who with the Spirit we adore, who reigns with you forevermore. Amen.”
After singing, the monks rang their bells, the abbot (leader) blessed them with holy water, and they all went to bed, and slept soundly.
One night recently when I couldn’t sleep, I chanted this song several times to myself (quietly, of course, so I would not wake up the other non-monks sleeping in my house). It worked. I felt better and at peace. Soon afterwards I fell asleep. The next day, a line from another phrase the monks sang at compline, from the Fourth Psalm, came to my mind: “I will lie down in peace and sleep comes at once, for you alone Lord make me dwell in safety.”
I am working on developing good long term habits like keeping a regular schedule, working hard, praying, being mindful and content, and saying goodnight to God and my loved ones each evening. I think these endeavors will make my nights more restful. Still, it’s nice to know that in a sleepless pinch, it might also help to sing like a monk.
*Mike O’Brien is a writer and attorney living in Salt Lake City, Utah. His book Monastery Mornings (found here), about growing up with the monks at the old Trappist monastery in Huntsville, Utah, will be published by Paraclete Press (more information here) in August 2021.
