Oblates of Sacred Heart Monastery

Greetings,

We invite you to consider joining the Oblates of Sacred Heart Monastery!
We are welcoming new members during the month of February 2015.

Oblates are Christian men and women of all faiths learning a way of life through Benedictine spirituality and the Rule of St. Benedict. There is no cost except for occasional books. Meetings are held the third Sunday afternoon of each month at 1:00 PM at the monastery. There are also Oblate chapters in Sioux Falls, SD; Omaha and Lincoln, NE; and even online. Follow the link to our website for more information...Oblates of Sacred Heart Monastery.

Easter Blessings

Greetings,

Father lights the Easter Candle held
by Sister Penny while Sisters Acolyte
and Sacristan look on.

Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday are filled with all the symbol, sacrament, and sacred to fill a year of Sundays.  This year we were blessed with perfect weather for the blessing of the Easter Fire and new Easter Candle.  Many of the sisters, our family members, and friends gathered in front of the Chapel as Father blessed the new fire, carefully tended by our Sister Gardener, as Sister Penny, prioress, held the Easter Candle for procession.  But the fire blessing is only the beginning...the coals from the fire were used to light the incense for the Vigil, and then the whole of the gathering slowly processed inside to our Chapter Room for the Liturgy of the Word. 

After remembering God's promises through all seven of the Old Testament readings and Epistle, we rejoiced to sing out the "Alleluias" for the Gospel.  The homily wasn't as short as Mark's Gospel, but Father focused on four little words from Mark that changed the world..."He is not here!"

We then followed Sister Prioress and the Easter Candle to the entrance of the Chapel and our newly filled water font for the blessing of water, our renewal of Baptismal promises and the sprinkling rite.  In the midst of this solemn profession, Father doused us all quite well with the Holy Water; until he got to the Prioress and Acolyte.  These sisters had their hands full of the Roman Missal, incense, and Easter Candle; with a broad smile on his face, he lightly touched each of their forheads with the aspergillum (sprinkler).  Newly blessed and renewed in spirit, we all processed in statio into the semi-light of the Chapel.  The sisters at the front lit tapers from the Easter Candle to light all the altar and dedication candles as we sang the Gloria.

It was wonderful to fill the arches of our Upper Chapel with soaring music again.  The sanctuary and altar festooned with white lilies, bright spring flowers, and pussy-willow branches all reminding us of new life.  As the Chapel lights flickered to life, we continued with song, prayer and praise.  It was a joyous night to share with our sisters, family members, and friends of the monastery.

Blessings,

Good Friday

Greetings,

The monastery looks still from the outside.  We step away from our daily works and ministries and step into the silence of this day.  The shift even in our prayer is noticeable even to the visitors who join us for retreat during the Triduum... Lauds did not begin with the standard call to prayer and crossing of our lips since the prayer begun on Holy Thursday continues through today.  Our hymn, chanted Psalms, and Canticle of Zachariah were done with with only an occasional single tone from the organ to keep us on pitch.  The reading from Lamentations was chanted by our cantors of the monastery.  The three to six part Latin harmonies were as hauntingly beautiful as the cries for God's mercy that they contain. 

The day begun in prayer continues quietly.  Sisters have the opportunity for private reflection, devotion, and prayer throughout the day.  While praying our Sorrowful Way through the back lawn, I saw other sisters taking advantage of the bright spring day for outdoor prayer by our shrines or on a sunny bench.  Others prayed their way through their flowerbeds...pruning and weeding away the remains of winter to make way for new life.  Our sisters preparing the liturgies for today quietly set the Upper Chapel for our Commemoration of Christ's Passion.

Other changes in our day include our meals.  While all our Fridays at the monastery are 'meat free,' today there is also a restraint in the meal...fasting with simple, light meals.  However, there was one exception, Sr. Marcine's hot cross buns.  Freshly baked, these slightly sweetened buns were studed with currants and adorned with a simple cross of icing, a treat and a symbol.

Finally, there will be no Vespers tonight.  We leave that gap, a reminder of Christ's sacrifice.  An open space we know should not be there and is then all the more noticeable and keeps us aware. 

Blessings,

The Fourteenth Station: Jesus is Laid in the Tomb

These outdoor, tile-mosaic Stations of the Cross were designed
by our own Artisan Sisters of the Monastery.

I will praise you, O Lord, for you drew me clear and did not let my enemies rejoice over me. O Lord, my God, I cried out to you and you healed me. O Lord, you brought me up from the lower world; you preserved me from among those going down into the pit. Sing praise to the Lord, you his faithful ones, and gives thanks to his holy name. For his anger lasts a moment; his good will is for a lifetime. At nightfall, weeping enters in, but with dawn comes rejoicing.  Psalms 29: 2-6

Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die."  John 11: 25

The Thirteenth Station: The Body of Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross

These outdoor, tile-mosaic Stations of the Cross were designed
by our own Artisan Sisters of the Monastery.

O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them, and I will bring you back to your land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord. O my people! I will put my spirit in you that you may live. You shall know then that I am the Lord. I have promised it, and I will do it, says the Lord.
Ezechiel 37: 12-14

Jesus said, "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit."  John 12: 24

Holy Thursday

Greetings,

Our Holy Thursday service is complete; silence now hangs in the monastery hallways like the incense and beeswax from our procession with the Blessed Sacrament. Our evening of celebration, prayer and commemoration is reinforced by our call to community.

Following monastic tradition, we held our foot washing ceremony in our Chapter Room for the sisters of the community.  It is a simple service with scripture, chant, and then prioress, sub-prioress, and procurator sit or kneel between the choirs of sisters as we, one by one, come forward to have them wash our feet.  It is powerful to watch as the sister we elected as leader, carefully remove the shoes and socks of each sister and then gently wash and dry her feet before returning the footwear. 

"I chose my classmate [sister who entered at the same time] to wash my feet and it was very touching.  In fact, it brought me to tears.  Being a servant is what my life is about--bringing God's love to others." Sr. Barbara, perpetually professed many years.

"I chose to have my foot washed as a challenge to allow myself to be served rather than focusing on serving others.  At times, I find it very difficult to be served.  We need to remember to allow others the opportunity to serve."  Sr. Barbara, perpetually professed about six months.

After a closing prayer by our prioress, we processed from the Chapter Room to the refectory for a meal celebrating community and love, our love for each other and for Christ.  We shared wine and fresh breads, a wonderful meal that was hard to leave in preparation for our Holy Thursday Mass and upcoming silence.

At the end of our Mass, we processed ahead of Father Monk bearing the Blessed Sacrament to the St. Joseph Chapel.  We sang the Pange Lingua in our Bishop Martin Marty Chapel; then our musician sisters picked up the tune on clarinet and bass clarinet in the dim hallways as we silently followed the candle bearers.  The incense swung by Sister Acolyte before Father still lingers in the hallways, drifting up the stairwell.  We chanted the last verses of the Pange Lingua without accompaniment in the little Chapel as Father turned the key on the tabernacle.

Triduum silence has begun; it is palpable, heavy like the scent of incense and beeswax from the procession.  A silence that will nurture our prayer and reflection that we share as community over these days of Triduum.

Blessings,

The Twelfth Station: Jesus Dies on the Cross

These outdoor, tile-mosaic Stations of the Cross were designed
by our own Artisan Sisters of the Monastery.

My people, what have I done to you? or in what have I offended you? Answer me. What more should I have done, and did not do? I led you out of the land of Egypt, and you prepared a cross for me. I opened the Red Sea before you, and you opened my side with a lance. I gave you a royal sceptre, and you have given me a crown of thorns. With great power I lifted you up, and you have hung me upon a cross. My people, what have I done to you, or in what have I offeneded you? Answer me.
The Reproaches of Good Friday

Jesus said, "I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more." Luke 12: 4

The Eleventh Station: Jesus is Nailed to the Cross

These outdoor, tile-mosaic Stations of the Cross were designed
by our own Artisan Sisters of the Monastery.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me, far from my prayer, far from the words of my cry? O my God, I cry out by day, and you answer not; I cry out by night, and there is no relief for me. All my bones are racked.  My heart has become like wax melting away within my chest. My throat is dried up like baked clay, my tongue cleaves to my jaws; they have pierced my hands and my feet; I can count all my bones.  Psalms 21: 2-3, 15-17b

Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing."  Luke 23: 34

The Tenth Station: Jesus is Stripped of His Clothes

These outdoor, tile-mosaic Stations of the Cross were designed
by our own Artisan Sisters of the Monastery.

Happy is the man whom God chastises! Do not reject the happy punishment of the almighty. For he wounds, but he binds up; he smites, but his hands give healing. Insult has broken my heart, and I am weak; I looked for comforters, and I found none. Rather they put gall in my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinigar to drink. Job 5: 17-18, Psalms 68: 21-22

Jesus said, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous."  Matthew 5: 44-45

The Ninth Station: Jesus Falls a Third Time

These outdoor, tile-mosaic Stations of the Cross were designed
by our own Artisan Sisters of the Monastery.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? The Lord is my life's refuge; of whom should I be afriad? When evildoers come at me to devour my flesh, my foes and my enemies themselves stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart will not fear; though war be waged upon me, even then will I trust.  Psalm 26: 1-3

Jesus said, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."  Luke 9: 62

The Eighth Station: Jesus Speaks to the Women of Jerusalem

These outdoor, tile-mosaic Stations of the Cross were designed
by our own Artisan Sisters of the Monastery.

Come, all you who pass by the way, look and see whether there is any suffering like my suffering, suffering with which the Lord has afflicted me on the day of his blazing wrath. At this I weep, my eyes run with tears; far from me are all who could console me, far away are any who might revive me. 
Lamentations 1: 12-16

Jesus said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children."
Luke 23: 28

The Seventh Station: Jesus Falls the Second Time

These outdoor, tile-mosaic Stations of the Cross were designed
by our own Artisan Sisters of the Monastery.

Though he was harshly treated, he submitted and opened not his mouth; like a lamb led to the slaughter or a sheep before the shearers, he was silent and uttered no cry. When he was cut off from the land of the living, and smitten for the sin of his people, a grave was a ssigned him among the wicked and a burial place with evildoers, though he had done no wrong nor spoken any falsehood.  Isaiah 53: 7-9

Jesus said, "So that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"--he said to one who was paralyzed--"I say to you, stand up and take your bed and go to your home."  Luke 5: 24

Lauds of the Feast of Benedict



A statue commemorating the death of St. Benedict
in the courtyard at Monte Cassino,
the place of his holy death.

"Venite! Come, O sons and daughters of God! Come and follow me, I will teach you the way of Life. Venite!"
~Benedictus Antiphon at Lauds

Now we have written this Rule inorder that by its observance in monasteries we may show that we have attained some degree of virtue and the rudiments of the religious life. But for those who would hasten to the perfection of that life there are the teaching of the holy Fathers, the observance of which leads to the height of perfection....

...Whoever you are, therefore, who are hastening to the heavenly homeland, fulfill with the help of Christ
this minimum Rule which we have written for beginners; and then at length under God's protection
you will attain to the loftier heights of doctrine and virtue which we have mentioned above. RB 73

Eve of the (March) Feast of Benedict

Saint Benedict, framed by angels, above the altar in his cell
at his monastery, Monte Cassino.

Greetings,

Tonight, we begin our celebration of Saint Benedict, by commemorating his death we celebrate his life in Christ.  At our Monastery, this Eve of the Feast is celebrated with chanted Vespers.  The Lenten purple will not be completely shaken off for this feast.  However, a more festive joy in the day will pervade our Liturgy of the Hours, Mass, and community meals. 

"Come let us join with the angels and saints in offering thanks and praise to the Lord on this the solemnity of our Father Benedict."  Vespers Antiphon on the Eve of the Feast

The Sixth Station: Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus



These outdoor, tile-mosaic Stations of the Cross were designed
by our own Artisan Sisters of the Monastery.

A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter; he who finds one finds a treasure. A faithful friend is beyond price, no sum can balance his worth. A faithful friend is a life-saving remedy, such as he who fears God finds; for he who fears God behaves accordingly, and his friend will be like himself.  Sirach 6: 14-17

Jesus said, "The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him."  John 4: 23

The Fifth Station: Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus to carry His Cross



These outdoor, tile-mosaic Stations of the Cross were designed
by our own Artisan Sisters of the Monastery.

With a loud voice I cry out to the Lord; with a loud voice I beseech the Lord. My complaint I pour out before him; before him I lay bare my distress. When my spirit is faint within me, you know my path. In the way along which I walk they have hid a trap for me. I look to the right to see, but there is no one who pays me heed. I have lost all means of escape; there is no one who cares for my life.  Psalm 141: 2-5

Jesus said, "Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you."  Luke 6: 30-31

Lenten Wednesdays

A panel from the Bishop Martin
Marty stained glass windows
depicting the Sister's works.

  Greetings,

The Monastery always has meat free meals on Fridays, both in and out of Lent.  However, the Rule of Benedict reminds the monks and nuns that we are called to more sacrifice in Lent, "During these days, therefore, let us increase somewhat the usual burden of our service, as by private prayers and by abstinence in food and drink" Chapter 49.

This leads to our Wednesday meals during Lent.  On these days, the community shares an additional offering of abstinence from meat with fasting through simple fare at meals.  Last Wednesday, our lunch was a salad, potato pancakes, applesauce, and cheese slices.  I added peanut butter to my pancakes, but that was about the extent of the add-ons for the meal.  And yes, some of us were hungry before Vespers and supper, but that is part of the point.  Fasting aids prayer.  Supper last week was a bit more hearty with cheese tortellini soup with a variety of stewed vegetables, a bread filled with seeds, and cheese to carry us through the night.

The greatest aspect of fasting on our Lenten Wednesdays?  No pie.  Our long standing tradition at the monastery is pie baked fresh by our very own Sister Baker...apple, cherry, or apricot from our orchard...rhubarb, pumpkin, or gooseberry from our garden.  Sigh, it is going to be a long wait for Easter celebrations and pies on Wednesday.

Blessings,

The Fourth Station: Jesus meets His Afflicted Mother

These outdoor, tile-mosaic Stations of the Cross were designed
by our own Artisan Sisters of the Monastery.

To what can I compare you, O daughter Jerusalem? What example can I show you for your comfort, virgin daughter Sion? For great as the sea is your distress; who can heal you?  Lamentations 2, 13

Jesus said, " Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" And pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."  Matthew 12: 48-50

Our Lenten Prayer

Greetings,

The Monastery Peace Chapel

 
 The season of Lent 'colors' many aspects of our Sisters' lives at the Monastery.  Both the Bishop Martin Marty Chapel and the Peace Chapel are very simply decorated for Lent.  The Peace Chapel, our main prayer space for the Liturgy of the Hours and weekday Mass has a few drapes of purple, simple altar candles, and the Sister's Lenten intentions. 

These resolutions or intentions were placed before the altar on Ash Wednesday and will remain there throughout all the Lenten season, a reminder of what each of the Sisters has resolved to do in continuing to develop her relationship with God and community.

Lent in the Monastery has much to do with attentive quiet or silence.  Our morning silence is extended through breakfast. Sisters on their way to prayer or an early breakfast greet each other with a smile or bow of the head in the hallways; in a simple way, acknowledging Christ in each other.  Even the music of our prayer during this time is subdued.  We continue to chant our hymns and closing Canticles, but the tones are simple.  This year, our Prioress has also added an intentional prayer at the end our Lauds and Vespers.  After the Prioresses final blessing at prayer, the Sisters silently pray for all those discerning God's call in their lives.

In the quiet of our Lent, be assured of our prayers for you.

Blessings,

The Third Station: Jesus Falls the First Time

These outdoor, tile-mosaic Stations of the Cross were designed
by our own Artisan Sisters of the Monastery.

Why are your clothes red, and your garments like those of the wine presser? "The wine press I have trodden alone, and of my people there was no one with me. I looked about, but there was no one to help, I was appalled that there was no one to lend support; so my own arm brought about the victory." Isaiah 63: 2-5

Jesus said, "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls."  Matthew 11: 28-29