According to Benedicts scheme the community reads through... the entire book of Psalms every week. The monks are therefore exposed... to all the despairing doubtful bitter vindictive jingoistic nationalistic and seemingly racist passages in the Psalter. It is not that every sentiment expressed by a psalmist is admirable but that in praying the Psalms we confront ourselves as we really are. The Psalms are a reality check to keep prayer from becoming sentimental superficial or detached from the real world.