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.
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Cor Orans reflects on the observance of “Cloister” within the broader framework of the whole monastic life of nuns, restoring a proper balance in understanding the observance of cloister.
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First of all, if this is you, you’re not alone. In fact, you’re in fantastic company.
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It was a bright sunny day when I awoke on January 17, feast of St. Anthony, called the first hermit. This celebration would be simple.
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Cloistered life has a whole vocabulary of its own. As you read about nuns, you may wonder why they sit in choir, rather than singing in choir. And you may have no idea what a hebdomadarian is.
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The smallness of the world did not stifle the Incarnate God. Rather, he brought his infinite love into the cramped quarters of our fallen world and transformed it into a truly boundless place.
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No 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.
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The 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.
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When 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.
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In 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.
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St. 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.”
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Our life at the monastery is about being rather than doing. That's what most people find hard to swallow.
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On July 22, 2016, the Holy See issued the Apostolic Constitution Vultum Dei Quaerere on women’s contemplative life. The Holy Father called for reflection and discernment on twelve aspects of monastic tradition.
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