The rising bell sounds throughout the dormitory cloisters at 3:30 AM, and the monastery day has begun. Sister Maria, not gifted with the charism of early rising, dresses with heavy eyes but devout heart.
Read MoreIt was a bright sunny day when I awoke on January 17, feast of St. Anthony, called the first hermit. This celebration would be simple.
Read MoreNo matter how one may want to look at it, five o’clock is truly early in the morning; and it is at this time that the stillness of the monastery is abruptly broken by the alarm.
Read MoreThe world is sleeping as I make my way through the darkened cloister. Not all the world: I think of my friends who are nurses and new mothers. Perhaps our vocations are not altogether different.
Read MoreWhen we are more aware of God’s love for us, then we are better able to handle the sufferings of life, because we know that we are not alone.
Read MoreIn a world where “time is money,” the Monastic culture grasps a deeper reality. For the contemplative, it is not a matter of material gain; rather, all time is at the service of God.
Read MoreSt. Francis de Sales provided his spiritual daughters with a little book called The Spiritual Directory, in which he “walks” his daughters through the day from “Rising” and ending with “Going to Bed.”
Read MoreOur life at the monastery is about being rather than doing. That's what most people find hard to swallow.
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