Rising well before dawn for Vigils allows monks to add a whole extra dimension to their day. Vigils calls us to a loving listening. Because we have so much restlessness and noise in us, we find it hard to nurture a listening attitude. So even the very listening to chant begins cultivating that listening. It is an attentiveness that begins with our sense of hearing but leads much further and much deeper. Monks are encouraged to listen with their hearts so that in the end they may perceive "what eye has not seen, nor ear heard."

David Steindl-Rast, Music of Silence by David Steindl-Rast, Sharon Lebell