Benedictine Community in the Everyday

Greetings,

Living the call to Benedictine Community can be great and grand like the Chapter Meetings and voting for new members, but it is more often built up during the mundane and everyday events in our lives.


"Just as there is an evil zeal of bitterness
which separates from God and leads to hell,
so there is a good zeal
which separates from vices and leads to God
and to life everlasting.
This zeal, therefore, the sisters should practice
with the most fervent love.
Thus they should anticipate one another in honor;
most patiently endure one another's infirmities,
whether of body or of character;
 vie in paying obedience one to another --
no one following what she considers useful for herself,
but rather what benefits another -- ;
tender the charity of sisterhood chastely..."
~Rule of Benedict, Chapter 72

This admonition by Benedict plays out in the dailiness of our lives...  Yesterday, Sister Roommate and I had a guest from the Monastery in the Apartment Convent!  Sister Traveler was passing through the city on her way to visit a dear friend in Florida.  However, passing through means a little extra work and deviation from our own needs.  I brought a little less work home from school and Sister Roommate stayed up a bit later so we could visit with our Sister Traveler.  We tried to anticipate what needs she might encounter in her short stay with us.  Most imporantly, we made sure she was safely delivered to the airport in time for her TSA check in : )  This meant that since I knew the way to the airport and even though I have been a night person since birth, I was up at 4:30 AM to warm up the car and help Sister carry her bag. 

This is like the many little things we all do for family and friends, but Benedict calls us to do them out of good zeal for each other and for God.  This good zeal or love should color all we try to do for each other.  So this morning, out of this call to love, I smiled brightly and listened as Sister Traveler shared about her upcoming fun in the sun, and I sent her off with a warm hug in the cold pre-dawn air and a promise of our prayers for her safe travel.

Blessings,

Supper and Celebration

Greetings,
 

Piles of Empty Pizza Boxes!


 At the end of a long day's Chapter Meetings, we gathered for supper in the refectory.  The monastery dinning room is host to a variety of meals; everything from turkey and dressing served family style at Thanksgiving to simple soups during Lent.  To celebrate the end of our Saturday Chapter Meeting (and let our lay staff go home early), we ordered pizza!

Our Sister Procurator ordered ahead for carryout.  When she went to pick up the over 15 pizzas, she took along a couple other sisters for help!  In Benedictine fashion we had a few choices of pizza...Chapter 39 of the Rule of Benedict begins...

"We think it sufficient for the daily dinner,
whether at the sixth or the ninth hour,
that every table have two cooked dishes
on account of individual infirmities,
so that he who for some reason cannot eat of the one
may make his meal of the other
Therefore let two cooked dishes suffice for all the bethren;
and if any fruit or fresh vegetables are available,
let a third dish be added."

We had the choice of supreme, pepperoni, or cheese slices of pizza.  The Sisters with serving duty for the day found the hot pepper flakes and brought up some sodas and beer.  The sisters, old and young, gathered their slices, a few cut veggies, and the drink of their choice and headed to fill the tables. 

You'd think that after a day of meeting and voting we would be weary enough to simply eat and go.  The room was filled with laughter, stories, and sisters catching up on friends, family, and news.  The relaxed meal stretched out as we chatted between bites of pizza.  While I checked to see who wanted seconds at the table, some of the elder sisters began to tell some tales of "we remember when..."  I love these stories!  The theme that night had to do with fun with their 'classes' during the novitiate and juniorate years.  We continued to laugh and share our stories long past our usual supper hour.  It was a wonderful way to end the day of seeking God in the midst of our deliberations at Chapter.

Blessings,

Pope to canonize and name Hildegard of Bingen as Doctor of the Church

Greetings,

It is exciting to learn that our much beloved Hildegard of Bingen is going to be "Sainted" this fall and then proclaimed as a "Doctor of the Church"!  Benedictine monks and sisters have long celebrated her wisdom and faith and studied her work.  It is a blessing that now we can share her with the wider Church.  To learn more about Hildegard, American Catholic has already added her to their listing of the saints and Pope Benedict XVI shared a series of teaching about her during his General Audiences on both September 1st and Semptember 8th of 2010.

Blessings,

Monastic Chapter

Greetings,

This weekend we gathered at the Monastery to pray, discuss, and do a bit of business...Monastic Chapter.  The most joyous part of our Chapter was one particular vote.  When considering new members, the Rule of Benedict says  "If after due reflection she promises to observe everything and to obey every command given her, let her then be received into the community" chapter 58, 14.  Our Sr. Jill stood before the whole community to request our permission to celebrate her perpetual profession in our community.  She shared a beautiful letter telling of her growth, prayer, and love in our Benedictine community.  While listening to her gentle voice, I looked around the room to the faces of our Benedictine family; sisters' faces were shinning in the reflection of Sr. Jill's joy, some grinning ear-to-ear, others tearing up, or remembering this moment from their own request.  After she finished sharing, the junior sisters left the room and the chapter then discussed and voted on the junior sister.  Later when Sister Junior Director brought Sr. Jill back into the chapter, we greeted her with applause and hugs of joy.  The Monastic Chapter had accepted her!  We will be celebrating the Perpetual Monastic Profession of Sr. Jill within a few weeks!

Blessings,

Celebrate Epiphany!

Greetings,

This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord. Tomorrow night at the monastery the sisters will process out of Vespers to bless the main entrance of the monastery. In the midst of a simple prayer the prioress chalks the ancient inscription above the doors "20+C+M+B+12". Sister and I will also be blessing the entrance to the Convent Apartment. A reminder that our Benedictine Hospitality is extended to all those who come through our doors.

This welcome to strangers is also reflected in my favorite reading
from the Mass on Feast...Isaiah 60: 1-6...

Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem!
Your light has come,
the glory of the Lord shines upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth,
and thick clouds cover the peoples;
but upon you the LORD shines,
and over you appears his glory.
Nations shall walk by your light,
and kings by your shining radiance.
Raise your eyes and look about;
they all gather and come to you:
your sons come from afar,
and your daughters in the arms of their nurses.
Then you shall be radiant at what you see,
your heart shall throb and overflow,
for the riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you,
the wealth of nations shall be brought to you.
Caravans of camels shall fill you,
dromedaries from Midian and Ephah;
all from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincense,
and proclaiming the praises of the LORD.

It is a joy-filled reading of the promised savior to come...Isaiah so long ago shared this vision of hope for everyone. But it is as vibrant in its promise today, we are all called to gather in the radiant light of the King. An amazing reminder that we are called to all come together
and share in the blessing of Christ.

Blessings,

Praying for Peace

Greetings and Happy New Year!

Times Square was packed with party-ers, fireworks were going off hour-by-hour world wide, and here at Sacred Heart Monastery, were spent a holy hour in silence broken only by occasional song or chanted Psalm.

Sunday, January 1st, was the World Day of Peace. We gathered in the semi-dark of our chapel to begin our prayer for peace in vigil. We began the holy hour with two of our sisters lighting the altar and dedication candles about the chapel (quiet organ accompanied them). Then we sat in silent prayer before God. My assignment was to call us from our silence to the next part of our prayer, Sister Liturgist gave me a bell to sound in calling us back from our recollection. Other 'parts' in our prayer included a song calling us to live in peace, a Psalm asking God to bring us peace, a reading about peace from Thich Nhat Hanh to remind us of the universal call to live for peace, and then we concluded with the Magnificat and a blessing from the prioress. But each of these moments was surrounded by silence, a silence that was filled with the our sisters prayer. A silence that was overpowering in its being so full.

Pope Benedict XVI also spoke for peace and the need to teach our youth to seek and strive after peace...I found his closing lines especially powerful.

All you men and women throughout the world, who take to heart the cause of peace: peace is not a blessing already attained, but rather a goal to which each and all of us must aspire. Let us look with greater hope to the future; let us encourage one another on our journey; let us work together to give our world a more humane and fraternal face; and let us feel a common responsibility towards present and future
generations, especially in the task of training them to be people of peace
and builders of peace.

Blessings,