Contemplative Horizon

Settling into Ordinary Time

2012-01-15T16:30:00.000-05:00

Here it is, the second Sunday in Ordinary Time. This is a 'skinny' season between Christmas and Lent. Ash Wednesday comes on the 22nd of February this year. Seems just a bit of a breather. But it really can be process time, opportunity to process, to sit with, to fully take in the deep, deep mystery of the Incarnation. There are no cards to write, no presents to buy, no trees to decorate. There is just an in between time, a time to 'be with'. Things even seem to slow down on the social scene in these months. Why not take advantage of it and and carve out a bit of retreat time - an hour, a day, a weekend. An opportunity is being offered. It is like the call to Samuel in today's first reading. Why not respond, "Speak Lord, your servant is listening."

And another matter:

These days we have been watching the dismantling of Mount St. Alphonsus. It is a 400 acre property dominated by a massive former seminary built in 1911. For three generations it has been a constant presence in the Hudson River Valley. For years the students taught Religious Education classes in local parishes. For years the professors fanned out every Sunday to celebrated Masses throughtout the county, bringing their particular Redemptorist approach to preaching and liturgy. Since 1987, it has been a retreat center drawing New Yorkers as well as folks from New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts. This week does truly mark the end of an era.

Stained glass dome in chapel

For us these days are filled to overflowing with continuing preparations for our relocation to a new monastery - not a new building but a new location. We are not able to share the details at this time but do that know we are moving ahead. We are so grateful for the support of the Redemptorists and our many friends. We are also grateful to have met so many others along the way who have been so helpf

Please continue to pray for us, that the gifts of the Holy Spirit of Wisdom and Counsel will be with us as we proceed. Please also pray for ourt community elections set for January 26th.

Mystery of the Hummel Figurine

2012-01-13T14:54:00.000-05:00

On December 27, 2011 I posted a piece about our Redemptoristine tradition of displaying the infant Jesus in many places in the monastery - some as big as a baby doll and some as small as this 5" Hummel figure. I told the story of how I received it as a gift over 50 years ago and have long wondered about its origin and value. Someone else, googling around to find out about their similiar baby Jesus was brought to this blog and sent the following:

I was searching "google" for information about my bisque Hummel Infant Jesus and your Blog came up. Because you told how you acquired your Infant Jesus, I'll tell you how I acquired mine.

My Hummel is exactly like yours, but mine is the "large" figurine -- it's about 11.5" long. I bought it in the fall of 1953 through my German teacher at Mundelein College, Chicago, a darling little German nun (BVM) whose name I now forget, but it probably is in my "year book", if I could ever locate that after all this time. She was well acquainted with Berta Hummel's religious order and had an arrangement to purchase the "Infants" at cost -- both the small one ($3 I think) and the large one ($6, as I remember). Most of my classmates who bought one, bought the small one. But I (and possibly one other student) bought the large one -- mine was my Christmas gift to my Mother -- so I needed to be generous. She displayed it with her Christmas decorations every year.

Following my mother's death about 6 years later, I reclaimed the Infant Jesus and have displayed it with my Christmas decorations since. It has survived the move from Chicago to Iowa to California, earthquakes, and 5 kids. I used to hang it above the fireplace, but now I display it on the mantel in a woven oval basket filled with gold-colored garlands, rolled up, to make a "bed of straw."

My figurine has the name "Hummel," and the "v" and "bee" stamped on it, indicating that it was made between 1950 and 1955. It also has the numerals: 78/6 on the back -- I have no idea what this means. It's the same light beige coloring, and has the two holes in back, as yours. I have a memory (which I no longer trust) that my German teacher said that Berta Hummel never made any figurines, except this one of the Infant Jesus -- as all her other works were drawings (and the typical figurines were made by other artists, based on her drawings). The Infant Jesus figurines, which you and I have, are (supposedly) made from molds of the original work of Berta Hummel.

Many thanks,

Also, I have no idea of the value of your Infant Jesus, or mine. My one "google" search was fruitless in this regard. But, I know that mine is as "priceless" to me as yours is to you.

Thank you for your Blog, and wishing you God's blessings in this New Year.

NCV

This correspondence got me searching again and came up with this. Here's the link:

www.tace.com/i/35663.html I found a complete description of my small Jesus and a perfect picture. It was made between 1952-1959. Unfortuantely no value was given because the item was sold off line.

Perhaps this bit of research and exchange of memories will excite those who collect Hummels and prompt them to to share stories and information.

Remember the Call - Vocation Awareness Week

2012-01-08T09:38:00.000-05:00

Because we believe in the endless invitation of God, we remain convinced that many women and men are called to enter into deeper relationship with the Divine. We believe that this interior prompting to remove oneself to an environment tailored to support the search for God is still observed in all the major religious traditions and across cultural lines. However, so many today, while sensing a nagging pull deep within, sensing a persistent desire, do not know where to go. Catholic education and culture today do not provide the information and exposure that would bring them to consideration of religious vocation in the Church.

Contemplatives, although the very life they wish to offer is a remove from the usual involvement in society, must make an effort to reveal their way of life, the search for God it offers, and the opportunity it presents for personal conversion which is transformation in Christ. For Redemptoristines it is the path to becoming a "Living Memory" of Jesus Christ", the inspiration of our foundress Maria Celeste Crostarosa. This blog, our Facebook Page, our website are efforts to invite and to educate.

The following remarks made to consecrated religious by Pope John Paul II are a reminder for us to reconsider our first call. They can also be an invitation to those who today are themselves experiencing the initial inspiration.

As you renew in your hearts your act of profession, recall to mind that interior inspiration of the Spirit which originally led you to set out on this way to God.

Recall the circumstances of this inspiration, how it became more and more insistant, possibly returning after a time, until you could not fail to recognize in it the voice of God, the force of love with which the Lord calls a person to belong to Him undividedly.

Recall this to mind, in order to thank God with a new heart and to proclaim His mighty works. That inspiration of the Spirit cannot die out. It is destined to endure and, together with your religious vocation, to become more mature throughout your entire lives.

During this week of Vocation Awareness think of your own vocation; help us educate the People of God about the nature of this life; pray for the effort. AND, if you know someone seriously pursuing the spiritual way, why not mention religious life to them and encourage them along the way?

Welcome The Prince of Peace

2011-12-31T11:31:00.000-05:00

The Presentation in the Temple by Brother Max Schmalz, CSsR

Mass Readings for Today

1 John 2:18-21

Psalm 95:1-2, 11-13

John 1:1-18

The first reading in the Liturgy of the Word today speaks of the end times. The celebrant, Fr. Thomas Deely, CSsR, asked us to consider this in terms of the end of one year and the beginning of another. He suggested we meditate upon how we might fill in the blanks in the following: "Today is the end of ___________. Tomorrow, the start of the New Year is the beginning of ________."

What would we like to see ended this day? And what would we like to begin with the first day of 2012? I immediately thought that this should be the last day of war and all its horrors. Perhaps I am being sent in this direction by news of our troops returning from Iraq while so many are still deployed and losing their lives elsewhere. Perhaps it is the books I am reading about the 1930s in Germany and the relentless build up in the will of a megalomaniac infusing a whole nation with a spirit of revenge and hatred preparing them to do the unspeakable. It may be the most recent constant conjecturing in the media about possibility of war with Iran.

Earlier this morning, at the Office of Readings which we combine with Morning Prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours, we were offered a selection from the writings of St. Pope Leo the Great. He proposes that we too are born with Jesus and born into his peace. Here are some exerpts to ponder...

In adoring the birth of our Saviour, we find that we are celebrating the commencement of our own life, for the birth of Christ is the source of life for Christian folk, and the birthday of the Head is the birthday of the body.

The enitre body of the faithful is born in the font of baptism, crucified with Christ in his passion, raised again in his resurrection, and placed at the Father's right hand in his ascension,so with Him are they born in this nativity.

But in the treasures of the Lord's bounty what can we find so suitable to the honour of the present feast as the peace which at the Lord's nativity was first proclaimed by the angel choir.

...[We] must offer to the Father the unanimity of peace loving sond and daughters.

...The Father in his gracious favour has adopted as his heirs...those that are one with him in feeling and affection. Those who are re-modelled after one pattern must have a spirit like the model.

The birthday of the Lord is the birthday of peace.

Responsory

Christ came and preached the Good News of peace to all..for he himself is the peace between us.

May January 1, 2012

be the birthday of

PEACE

throughout the world.

Finding a New Home

2011-12-28T13:33:00.000-05:00

"Home"
by Matthew Pleva
pencil 3-1/2' x 5"

"HOME!" What a loaded word that is! It is the place where we grew up; the place we raised a family; the place in which we feel safe and loved and comfortable. It conjures images, sensations, aromas and memories. The memories will run from the sublime to the unspeakable - always so powerful by virtue of that loaded word, "home".

This community of contemplative nuns has called the Monastery of Our Mother of Perpetual Help on the grounds of Mount St. Alphonsus their home since 1957. Talk about a place loaded with memories! As the Mount changes hands at the close of this year we continue to walk the path away from this beloved place toward a new home. It has been a varied path to many places and many disappointments. But now we think we have found a place in which we can establish our contemplative monastic household of God, provide comfort and safety for our sisters, provide space to continue our business making ceremonial capes for the Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulchre and allow us to be a praying presence in the local Church. It may surprise you to learn that it is an urban location. But that is where we have been led by God.

At this moment we are exploring how we might obtain this building and carry out a few adaptations for our older sisters. You can well imagine that money plays a part here.

Since networking is so important we have just created a Facebook Page for our monastery. the link is:

www.Facebook.com/RedNunsEsopus

Do consider signing up to "follow" our page to keep on top of breaking news from here.

Our old website: http://www.redemptoristinenunsofnewyork.org/

is still up and running. But we are developing a new one which will have the address http://www.rednuns.org/

In the meantime we depend on your prayers for the success of our new adventure. We hope to be able to move by the end of April. We have community elections in January and two of our sisters will attend the General Assembly of our Order in May. Much lies ahead of us.

Memories of Christmas

2011-12-27T17:39:00.000-05:00

Chapel Infant Jesus 2011
Hummel Bisque

Since the days of our foundress, Venerable Maria Celeste Crostarosa, there has been a Christmas tradition in our Order of displaying a large baby Jesus figure in a cradle. Her monastery in Foggia, Italy has an infant Jesus figure dressed in clothes that are said to have been made by her own hands. We continue that tradition and have this Infant Jesus under our tree. This Bambino is larger than most baby dolls, at least two feet in length. But the infant above is much smaller and brings it own story. This year it rests on a small round-topped table placed in front of the ambo in our chapel.

The little baby Jesus figurine is about five inches in length. It has been in my possession for fifty years and followed me to the monastery. It was a gift from a Sister of St. Joseph of Brentwood, NY, Sr. Mary Corita Hawthorn, CSJ. I was a public school girl who attended her 8th grade Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (aka CCD) class on Wednesday afternoons during 'released time' from public school. Yes, we were permitted to leave school at 2pm Wednesday afternoons to walk to the local Catholic school, if our parents wished it, for religious instuction. Sister and I struck up a frienship that lasted until 2010 when she passed on to her great reward. I think I was a real curiosity to her because even though the product of public education and non-church-going parents, I passed the exams for admission into the finest of Brooklyn Catholic high schools for girls, a flagship high school of her congregation. Some time during my high school years she presented me with this baby Jesus as a Christmas gift.

Being half German I fully appreciated the artistry and value of this Hummel figurine. On the back of the figure the Hummel name has been molded into the bisque. There is the familiar Hummel logo of the "vee" with the bumble bee above it and the word "Germany" stamped in ink on the back also. Unlike most other Hummel figures this one is not multi-colored but very subdued in light brown and biege. The back also has two holes which would allow for the figure to be hung on a wall.

I remember that it took me a few years of prowling around the post-Christmas sales in New York City department stores to find a cradle to fit this babe. This little one, just perfect in its construction of twigs delicately nailed together, has been carefully re-glued a number of times. But it survives.

These last few days I have searched the internet to find the market value of this piece. None of the Hummel price lists I have found included this exact piece. Maybe someone out there will know more about this. No matter what monetary value may be revealed, this Bambino is priceless to me. It speaks of Jesus in such a sweet voice and speaks of an old and dear friend who reached out to a student to encourage, to reassure and to teach the faith.

Our Community Christmas Letter

2011-12-11T19:47:00.003-05:00

From Your Redemptoristine

Sisters

Advent 2011

We come to you this Advent in the posture of Naomi and Ruth, Mary and Joseph: standing together at the crossroads journeying to a new home: Bethlehem.

Both couples were living in a time of mystery. Naomi, a widow, decided to return to her native land, Bethlehem, and her daughter-in-law Ruth joins her saying, “Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” And it can be imagined that as Mary and Joseph journeyed together in a time of expectant wonder to be registered in Bethlehem they said similar words to each other. And we, Redemptoristines in Esopus, echo that sentiment.

We began the New Year with a visit from the new Redemptorist Provincial of the Baltimore Province, Rev. Kevin Moley and his Council. They came to inform us about the decision made by their Chapter to end Redemptorist ministries at Mount St. Alphonsus in Esopus come January of 2012. This startling news held ramifications for us as we were told the whole property would be leased out and we would have to move to a new location next Spring. Thus our search began.

Along the way we have been helped by many generous people with advice and leads to houses and convents in the Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts area. We even looked into a place in West Virginia! Most of the places we visited, either on the Internet or in person, were not suitable for a monastery. Most old convents sit on small plots of land overshadowed by other buildings. They tend to be in disrepair and in need of renovation to permit our sisters to age gracefully within the monastery and for all of us to live fully our contemplative life. And even the luxury houses we investigated did not have the right configuration for a chapel, bedrooms, workspace, library, community room and offices, not to mention that they were outside our financial resources.

We do have hope and faith, expectant wonder, trusting that God is journeying with us in some mysterious way to our new home; a monastery where we can continue to live together our life of adoration, praise and intercession.

This has been a bittersweet year of last times: the last time for the celebration of our Triduum in honor of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in this monastery; the last barbeque on the patio, the last beautiful autumn colors on the trees of this magnificent property, the last stroll down to the Hudson River, the last celebrations of Thanksgiving and Christmas…

Other news:

We were blessed to be able to care for our Sr. Peg at home, with the help of the wonderful people of Hospice, during her final months. Sister died peacefully on February 21, 2011, with the community surrounding her with love and prayers.

We participated in three programs of the Metropolitan Association of Contemplative Communities this year: The Effects of Modern Technology on Contemplative Religious Life with Sr. Lynn Levo, CSJ; The Implementation of the Third Typical Edition of the Roman Missal: A Moment of Recognitio! with Sr. Sandra DeMasi, SSJ and Msgr. Richard Groncki; and Women Working for Peace with United Nations NGO Sr. Margaret Mayce, OP.

Our fifteen lay Associates met regularly on the second Sunday of the month for input concerning our charism, to deepen their prayer life and support one another in order to follow the way of Jesus, making the redeeming love of God present in their daily lives.

We were blessed to have Fr. Ronald McAinsh, CSsR Provincial from the London Province, as our Retreat Director. His timely reflections were on “Transitions: Physical, Generational, Emotional and Spiritual.”

We mourn the loss this year of Redemptorist Fr. Joseph Opptiz who made our foundress known throughout the world with his book, The Mystic Who Remembered: The Life and Message of Sister Maria Celeste Crostarosa OSsR. We published this popular book a number of years ago and next year we plan to publish a third run.

On December 7, 1957 six Redemptoristines came from Canada to begin the first foundation of the Order of the Most Holy Redeemer in the United States in Esopus. This December 7^th, to celebrate our 54^th year we invite the local religious and lay Associates for a Vigil Service for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, as a way of thanking them for their friendship and prayerful support throughout the years.

As we journey through this time of Advent, and as our Christmas gift, you and your loved ones will have a special remembrance in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass December 16^th to 24^th during our Novena before Christmas. On those evenings after Vespers we extinguish all the lights and pray by the glow of the Advent wreath for your intentions with these words:

‘Adore, oh my soul, in the bosom of Mary,

the only begotten Son of God,

who became man for love of you.’

In the coming months, when we have made our definitive plans, we will let you know our new address and contact information. In the meantime, if you wish to make a donation to help us in the moving process and making our new monastery handicapped accessible, we would greatly appreciate your gift.

May the Prince of Peace be your companion on the journey of life,

and grant you joy and blessings now and always,

Love and prayers, Your Redemptoristine Sisters

Redemptoristine Nuns of New York

P.O. Box 220

Esopus, New York 12429-0220

845-384-6533

RedNuns.Esopus@gmail.com

http://www.redemptoristinenunsofnewyork.org/

Blog: www.MonasticMusingsOSsR.blogspot.com

Sisters Moira, Mary Anne, Maria Linda, Mary Jane,

Paula, Mary, Maria Paz, Lydia, Hildegard

Our Immaculate Conception Vigil Office - A Love Fest

2011-12-08T10:04:00.001-05:00

Last night's celebration of the Vigil Office for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception was a lovely and very moving affair. So many of our friends gathered with us to honor our Mother Mary. So many came to express solidarity with us as we walk our current path toward a new location. Before calling us to prayer Sr. Paula, our Prioress shared these words of remembrance and gratitude.

Good evening everyone! And thank you for joining us. This evening marks a special anniversary for us—54 years ago six weary young Sisters arrived from Canada to begin this monastery in Esopus. The big bells of Mount Saint Alphonsus rang out as the two cars carrying the foundresses began the long drive in. We came to call those bells the “happy bells”. Whenever we heard them over the years we knew something special was happening. The bells were still sounding as the Sisters climbed the front steps of the Mount to attend solemn Benediction in the Mount’s chapel. At that time the chapel was filled with handsome young seminarians, eager to welcome their Sisters, the Steens.

So much has happened since that auspicious day. So many precious memories for which we are grateful. Three of those ‘young Sisters’ have gone home to God, after a good long life: Sr. Mary Bridget who died at our monastery in New South Wales, Australia; Sr. Mary Catherine and Sr. Peg, in our cemetery here—all awaiting the final Resurrection. Two of those Sisters are still with us, continuing to “age in place”. We leave it to you to guess who they are!

Tonight we remember too the many women, true God-seekers, who shared life with us for longer or shorter periods in those 54 years. We cherish our alumnae.

And we cherish you, our friends with us tonight, and all those who could not come, who have supported and enriched our lives over the years. The Redemptorists, the Marists, the Benedictines, monks of Holy Cross, Sisters of St. Ursula, Dominicans, Franciscans, Christian Brothers, Presentation Sisters, Sisters of Christian Charity. And all our Associates and friends. This is a time for memories, a time for gratitude. A very special time too, as it will be the last time we will celebrate this special day in Esopus.

Tonight as we honor Mary our Mother we celebrate our union in the mystery of the Communion of Saints, and we invoke a special blessing on each one here, and on ourselves as we move into the future. God bless us all! And thank you!

After prayer we enjoyed the company of our quests and they seemed to relish being with each other, particularly the religious whose ministerial paths have criscrossed through the years. They were also delighted to see a display of photos reflecting the history of the community.

Today we pray to our Mother Mary for the needs of Our Church and our needy world. We ask that her maternal love will be poured out upon the hungry and home, the jobless and the under-employed, the refugees and the undocumented immigrants. May she embrace us all.

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception - The First "Good-bye"

2011-12-07T16:31:00.001-05:00

The Redemptoristine Nuns of Mother of Perpetual Help Monastery celebrate today the 54th anniversary of their arrival at Mount St. Alphonsus in Esopus, New York. Six sisters came from Canada (three US citizens) at the invitation of the Baltimore Province of the Redemptorist Congregation of priests and brothers to establish the first American monastery of their contemplative order on property surrounding the major seminary of the congregation. It was December 7, 1957, a time when these sisters were still accustomed to complete enclosure and therefore quite overcome by their entrance into the seminary chapel where they were greeted by all the gathered students and faculty and ushered to the front row to participate in Solemn Benediction. Two sisters still speak of the bishop they saw standing behind the students in the entry foyer. Later, in questioning the Redemptorists about this bishop they learned that no bishop was present. Could it have been the spirit of Bishop John Nepomucene Neumann (1811-1860), Redemptorist Bishop of Philadelphia? They will not know until they reach the other side. On this auspicious note began the long story of close relationship between the Redemptorists and our community of Redemptoristines sharing this park-like environment of 400 acres on the banks of the Hudson River.

Tonight we will celebrate the Vigil Office of Readings for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Mother in the chapel of our monastery. We have invited the clergy and religious of our area, our lay associates and a few other friends to the first of our efforts to bid farewell to this home and to the people we have come to know so well in this place. Although the location of our new home remains a question we do know that we will be relocating some time in the spring.

In 2001 we moved into this new building and saw the old monastery go down. We salvaged its cornerstone but made no attempt to open the stone in which, it was said, a box of memorabilia had been placed. A few months ago we thought it about time to do the deed. While quite spoiled by moisture the collection we found reflected the community and the piety of its members. Evidence indicated that individual sisters had placed particular items into the metal box. The collection included a relic of our foundress Maria Celeste Crostarosa, a framed picture of Mother of Perpetual Help, holy cards, scapulars, a crucifix, ten different medals honoring Jesus, Mary and the saints. There were also the remains of a 1958 issue of Perpetual Help Magazine published in Canada and featuring photographs taken inside the enclosure of the Canadian Redemptoristine monastery. Most interesting was a copy of the leaflet given to guests who came to the open-house of the then new monastery from June 19-26, 1960. The sisters say they were exhausted by those days of meeting and greeting and escorting people through the building - a last opportunity for lay people to see the inside of the monastery before the enclosure was officially established.

You will note the strong emphasis on separation and enclosure. Today, as we will do so with joy this evening, we freely mingle with our guests praying with us in chapel, learning our charism as associates, seeking spiritual direction or just entiring into the quite of contemplation in this holy place.

Tonight we will pray with our friends honoring Mary, a source of strength. We will deepen our collective journey into Advent time. We will enjoy some refreshments afterward in our large gathering space just outside chapel. It will be our pleasure to thank those gathered for their friendship and support. Time marches on and history too with the hand of God beckoning, calling us into the unknown with the promise of divine companionship.

Prepare the Way of the Lord

2011-12-04T08:15:00.001-05:00

Jesse Tree
Frater Max Schmalzl, CSsR
1850 - 1930

Second Sunday of Advent

A voice cries out in the wilderness,

"Prepare the way of the Lord." In what direction do our preparations move forward? Do they keep us on the surface, just floating on a choppy sea pushing us from one chore after another, from item to another on an ever growing list of 'to dos'? Here is a prayer from Henri Nouwen which may add a couple of stabilizing pontoons to your fragile vessel bobbing its way through the season.

Lord Jesus,

Master of both the light and the darkness,

send your Holy Spirit upon our preaprations

for Christmas.

We who have so much to do

seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day.

We who are anxious over many things

look forward to your coming among us.

We who are blessed in so many ways

long for the complete joy of your kingsdom.

We whose hearts are heavy

seek the joy of your presence.

We are your people, walking in darkness,

yet seeking the light.

To you we say, "Come, Lord Jesus!"

Amen.

Henri J.M. Nouwen 1932-1996

Advent Season Begins

2011-11-30T16:10:00.001-05:00

Feast of St. Andrew
Start of a Christmas Novena

Now that we are well into tripping our way through Mass with the Roman Missal, Third Edition, we can move on. But before we do, why don't yopu take a bit of time to post a comment about how the adjustment to the New Roman Missal is going in your parish or how it feels to you. Just click on the word "comments" below and go for it.

We can now look toward orienting ourselves to the Advent journey. This is the mystery of Mary's "Yes" to the angel Gabriel and Jesus' "Yes" to the desire of the Father that the second person of the Blessed Trinity should become incarnate in human flesh, should enter into our human condition.

Today is the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle and the tradition day to start a Christmas prayer practice. I weas introduced to this as a high school student be the good sisters of St. Joseph of Brentwood, NY at Fontbonne Hall Academy. A little card I have saved through the years bears the 1897 imprimatur of Michael Augustine, Archbishop of New York.

Hail and blessed be the hour and the moment

in which the Son of God was born

of the most pure Virgin Mary,

at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold.

In that hour vouchsafe, O my God, to hear my prayer

and grant my petition

through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ,

and of His Blessed Mother.

Amen.

This prayer is to be said 15 times a day beginning today and ending on Christmas day. Perfect for the intention dearest to your heart at this time.

Time for a Book Review

2011-11-12T16:49:00.001-05:00

The Paper Garden

by Molly Peacock

Pancratium Maritinum

No, this is not a painting. No, it was not recently done. No, it is not the work of some agile, bright-eyed student of the fine arts or avid botanist. This is an exact botanical reproduction entirely constructed of cut paper. It was made in the late 1770s or early 1780s. The artist, Mary Granville Pendarves Delany (1700-1788) began creating such works in the 72nd year of her remarkable life. After the death of her second husband, a much older man with whom she had a most affectionate marriage (very unlike her first), she distractedly picked up paper and small scissors in an attempt to create an exact replica of a geranium blossom. With this creative act and she became the originator of the art of paper or mix-media collage. She produced 985 of these works in an eight year span. These breath-taking botanically correct cut-paper flowers are housed in the British Museum. In 2010 a large exhibit featuring some of her works was mounted at the Yale Museum of British Art.

Molly Peacock's book, The Paper Garden: An Artist {Begins Her Life's Work} at 72, NY: Bloomsbury, 2010, is an unusual combination of biography of the subject with a smattering of the author's autobiographical material. Although her family had good connections they were forever concerned with having enough money. However, the good connections served Mary Delany well so the book is sprinkled with great historic figures such as the composer Handel whom she met as a young girl and in adulthood was invited to sit-in on his rehearsals!

Her story appeals to the artist in me. Her pursuit of beauty and art throughout her life, her ingenuity and application and skill in her seventh decade sets her up as quite a heroine. Even more encouraging is that a lifetime of fine work in the needle arts seems to have prepared her for this tour de force. Twelve of her works appear in the book, some with additional detail images. It is worth looking for the book at your public library (where I found it by pure chance) just to examine and mediate on the blossoms.

The New Rite - A Mass for Mission

2011-11-04T19:59:00.002-04:00

"Go and preach

Jesus Christ

and, if you must,
use words."

Sixth and Last Article of a Series

The fifth essay in this series marking the arrival of the New Roman Missal on the first Sunday of Advent came to a close with the theme of transformation in Christ. The point being made was that the Liturgy of the Eucharist is not a mere memorial, a mere re-enactment of Jesus’ actions and words at his last supper. It is an act in which remembering calls into present time the saving action, the redemptive action, of that event which took place over two thousand years ago. And in that present moment at any Mass not only are the elements of bread and wine transformed into the body and blood of Jesus Christ but we too, along with those gifts or offerings, are subject to transformation. We arrive with a desire for God. We make ourselves available at the liturgy. We open our hearts to receive, however troubled, however skeptical, however distracted, and the transforming Jesus enters in. Yes, it is all very mystical. Karl Rahner, the great theologian said, “The Christian of the future will be a mystic, or not at all.

Anyone as old as I am will remember the Baltimore Catechism definition of a sacrament: an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace. What was just described here is the action of that grace. And we take it with us when we walk out the door of the church back into our lives, all a complicated mix of joys and sorrows, pain and ecstacy, disappointment and fulfillment. It is the power of our Trinitarian, relational, energetic God working in us.

The language of the New Roman Missal translation of the Latin Mass often emphasizes the sacrificial nature of the Mass, the fact that the Mass is designed to call to mind the entire Paschal Mystery, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ last supper is thought to have been a Passover meal, itself a remembering into the present of the preservation of the Hebrews by blood of slaughtered lambs splashed onto the door posts. Jesus knew he was going to die, that he would be sacrificed like the Passover lamb. To remember him fully is to remember his passion and death on the cross. Yet, at that last meal the gestures or actions he expressly asked his disciples to imitate were neither violent nor bloody. Before breaking the bread at table, he rose, put on an apron and washed the feet of those present, friends and enemies. Afterward he asked them, “Do you realize what I have done for you? This is what you too must do.” Knowing this would be a huge challenge, especially after experiencing his gruesome death, he left them his consolation. “Take this, all of you, and eat of it, for this is my body, which will be given up for you…for this is the chalice of my blood…poured out for you…for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of me.”

The Eucharist shared at the memorial meal, our Mass, is to spiritually empower us for the hard work of washing each others feet, of being other Christs, of preaching the love of Jesus Christ without using words. William C. Spohn has written, “If the disciples had taken Jesus literally, Christians would be washing feet every Sunday.” (Go and Do Likewise, 4) Jesus was not asking for literal imitation. He was asking them to love each other whoever "the other" happens to be. This was his last plea to them; an instruction so radical that only washing their feet as if he was a slave could adequately make his point.

We bring everything we are with us when we participate in a Mass. Perhaps we sit in the back because we know only too well all that we bring. We also carry a sack of emotions full of our joys, challenges and trials. In the hearing of the Word and the breaking of the bread we transcend time and space. We enter as mystics into the life of the Trinity. We trust in the transformative power of that life and carry away with us the effect of its rays, a heart burning once again, renewed by grace. And this is just the beginning.

May all of us find it in us to respond to the invitation of this occasion, the challenge of liturgical renovation. It is an invitation to go beyond words, to go deeper, to return to the Source. And it is an invitation to a level of participation in grace that is fully aware, fully conscious and ready for interior transformation. May this be a blessing for our Advent season.

Note: For another riff on the challenge of translation see "Making Sense of It", NYTimes Book Review, Sunday, October 30, 2011, p. 22.

Holy Eucharist

2011-11-01T15:05:00.001-04:00

Jesus is Made Present

by Our Remembering

Fifth Article of a Series

Stay with us, Lord! (Luke 24:29) With these words, the disciples on the road to Emmaus invited the mysterious Wayfarer to stay with them, as the sun was setting on that first day of the week when the incredible had occurred. According to his promise, Christ had risen; but they did not yet know this. Nevertheless, the words spoken by the Wayfarer along the road made their hearts burn within them. So they said to him, “Stay with us”. Seated around the supper table, they recognized him in the “breaking of bread” – and suddenly he vanished. There remained in front of them the broken bread. There echoed in their hearts the gentle sound of his words.

From the Urbi et Orbi Message of John Paul II, 2005

The previous article of this series marking the inauguration of the New Roman Missal offered an account of the Emmaus story. Here the words of Pope John Paul give a reprise of that vignette. With the travelers John Paul says, “Stay with us, Lord”, because Jesus has been recognized “in the breaking of the bread”.

We come to Mass with a burning, a yearning right on the surface or buried deep within, a yearning to meet God, to experience God in an Emmaus-like moment. This is the place, the event, that which is deeper than the words.

During the Mass we remember the life, the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, the Paschal Mystery. We remember in such a way that what we remember is made present in the gathered community. This kind of remembering is as old as the Hebrews. It is the kind of remembering engaged in at every Passover Seder when the saving acts of God in the Exodus of the Jewish slaves from Egypt is so remembered as to become a felt presence at the Passover table. And notice that this is done at a shared meal. This productive sort of remembering is called ANAMNESIS – your new word for today. In the days before the Nicene Creed to be Christians meant to be faithful to Jesus’ command to celebrate memorial. “Do this in Memory of me.” Luke 33:24-25. For their memorial they joined scripture and readings to the blessing of God for creation and redemption. “However named it has always been part of the church’s grasp of memorial that the mystery remembered becomes a living reality in the lives of those who celebrated it liturgically. For the early writers this was implied in the very idea of symbolic or sacramental representation.” (David N. Power, The Eucharistic Mystery: Revitalizing the Tradition, NY: Crossroad:1994, 488-49).

Celebrations of the Eucharist in which we share today are the occasions in which we call to mind the person and events of our salvation – Jesus Christ and his Paschal Mystery – in such a way that “we” render them living and active in our own time. The “we”, plural pronoun, is operative here. The priest, although in persona Christi, is not acting alone. The gathered community is not merely present or participating by observation. The community gathered for the memorial meal is integral to anamnesis, to recalling and thereby making actively present the person and saving action of the Redeemer. The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium) of the Second Vatican Council declared that God’s people gathered for Eucharist “offer the immaculate victim through the hands of the priest but also together with him”. (48)

The Eucharistic prayer emphasizes this integral function by repeated use of the pronoun “we”. We thank you for counting us worthy to stand in your presence and serve you (EPII). We offer you in thanksgiving this holy and living sacrifice (EPIII). We, your people and your ministers, recall his passion, his resurrection from the dead and his ascension into glory (EPI). Indeed, the level of participation penetrates more deeply if the community offers itself along with the gifts of bread and wine and unites itself with the words of Eucharistic Prayer III, “Father we bring you these gifts. We ask you to make them holy by the power of your Spirit, that they may become the body and the blood of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. By this collective effort and offering and in light of the concept of Eucharistic anamnesis Jesus becomes uniquely present in the consecrated bread and wine but also actively present in our time and within and among those gathered. And this answers the question; in what way is Jesus Christ made actively present at each Eucharistic celebration? At least in part, Jesus the Redeeming Christ, is made present within those who are united with Him in this memorial. Each of the four principal Eucharistic prayers includes a prayer of epiclesis invoking the power of the Holy Spirit as the agent of consecration; “let your Spirit come upon these gifts to make them holy”. (EP II) Whether we speak of “gifts” in the translation we will no longer us, or “offerings” as the new Roman Missal translation renders it, we acknowledge that it is by the power of the Holy Spirit that the gifts/offerings are transformed. To the extent that we present ourselves, all that we are – good, bad and indifferent – as gifts/offerings available for transformation by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are asking to be made holy and transformed into the mystery that we celebrate, the mystery of the sacrament of remembrance which is making Jesus present in us and among us.

Incredible, isn’t it. But St. Athanasius said in the 4^th century, “God became man that man might become God.” This is the incredible mystery of the Incarnation which qualifies us to stand in the presence of God and serve God. This is what the lofty words, the unusual vocabulary, the smells and bells, the vestments, gestures, posture, art and stained glass windows, speaking and singing are intended to communicate. Jesus asked us to break the bread as he did in memory of his life, death and resurrection and assured us that he would be there in the bread and the wine, in and among us in the pews and within us working our transformation into other Christs.

The last piece in this series will speak about the implication of the final words of dismissal at Mass. In the new Roman Missal there are three options for this line: “Go forth, the Mass is ended.” “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.” Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.” And what could all of that mean?

(For a fuller treatment concerning Eucharistic Anamnesis just type the word 'anamnesis' in the search box to the right.)

Technology and Contemplative Nuns

2011-10-30T08:21:00.000-04:00

Nuns Using the Internet

for Contemplative Outreach

Here's a link to a great article in the Irish Times of Dublin about how contemplatives there are using the Internet as a means of reaching out to the world and attracting vocations.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/magazine/2011/1029/1224306468864.html

Among the communities featured in the very well done and informative piece are our own sisters in the Monastery of St. Alphonsus in the Drumcondra section of Dublin. This is the community with which I spent three weeks last May. It was such a joy to be with them. Check out the article and get to know more about them.

Note: More to come on the New Roman Missal.

Disciples on the Road to Emmaus

2011-10-29T14:03:00.000-04:00

A Lens

Through Which

We Can Enter

the Holy Mass

Fourth Article of a Series

Writing a series of articles on the topic of the New Roman Missal which will be inaugurated throughout the world on the first Sunday of Advent is an exercise in ‘readiness’. I am preparing myself for the transition in an attempt to move to a deeper place; to unite myself more completely with Holy Mass, often described as the ”source and summit” of our faith. These thoughts are being shared here as a means of assisting others to do the same. We need assistance because change is rarely fun and there has been a great deal of rhetoric in circulation about this very significant event. The call is to go beyond the rhetoric and re-enter the Mystery.

Our understanding of the Mass, consisting mainly of a Liturgy of the Word and a Liturgy of the Eucharist, can be expanded by using the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-34) as a metaphorical lens providing greater clarity. What happens at Mass can be described as an ‘Emmaus process’.

In that very human story we find two disciples (two men or perhaps a man and a woman) walking away from Jerusalem, away from the great suffering and tragedy of the death of their Master. In their conversation they are trying to make sense of it all – the pain, the futility, the disappointment, the confusion and fear for their very lives. Along comes an eavesdropping stranger who, joining them in stride, enters their conversation and proceeds to cite scripture, illustrating to them how the death of the Messiah had been foretold by the Prophets and had now been fulfilled in their sight. His presentation must have been mesmerizing because we are told they had no desire to end the conversation and invited the stranger to eat with them. And Luke records: “…He took the bread, pronounced a blessing, then broke the bread and began to distribute it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him…”

The story has two movements that mirror the movements of the Mass; first, the Mystery is unveiled; it is revealed through the words of Scripture. And second, the person who is the very Mystery is recognized as being present their company. In the Liturgy of the Word, the readings from Scripture that we hear at the beginning of Mass, the mysteries of our faith and their meaning are revealed and expanded upon. They speak to our heads and hearts and can be further magnified by a well-prepared and delivered homily. Then we move into the Liturgy of the Eucharist in which the mysteries of our faith as embodied in the person of Jesus Christ are made present on the altar under the appearance of bread and wine. And we know Him in the breaking of the breaking of the bread.

Not unlike the troubled travelers on the way to Emmaus, we arrive at church for our Sunday worship awhirl in a myriad of emotions, pressures and concerns. We come, consciously or unconsciously, looking for clarity, solace, affirmation. We may also come with a heart full of joy and thanksgiving looking for an opportunity to offer praise to our benevolent God. At the end of Luke’s story the disciples ask each other, “Were not our hearts burning inside us as he talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” Our desire must carry us beyond the issues of the language of Mass, the quality of the presider, the babies who may or may not be crying around us or the annoyance of last minute arrivals. At the end of Mass, inspite of whatever tries to get in the way, we all want to leave with burning hearts, our faith fanned into flame once more for the love of God, our constant companion on the way.

Arriving Officially on November 27, 2011

2011-10-27T19:51:00.000-04:00

Receiving the New

Roman Missal

Third Article of a Series

We could call it a challenge. We could call it a transition. We could call it many things. Bottom line is that changes are always difficult. American Roman Catholics come to Sunday worship from so many different walks of life, cultures, races, ethnicities, levels of secular education and levels of religious education that the task of presenting the New Roman Missal for use at all Masses is a truly daunting prospect. Some, in spite of their misgivings and concerns, have already wisely launched into the process with efforts to inform and educate the community and gradual introduction of new wording and music. Others seem to have hidden their heads in the sand.

The New Roman Missal is coming knocking at the door. How will we receive it as individuals and as worshipping communities? That is the question. Sister Sandy DeMasi, SSJ and Father Richard Groncki, SJ, members of the Liturgical Commission of the Archdiocese of Newark, NJ, suggest that the occasion of this change in our worship calls us to give greater attention to the liturgical theological meaning of the Mass. Such consideration can be a means of spiritually encouraging full, active, conscious, participation in Holy Mass. After all the Mass is "the Source and Summit of our faith". In this level of discussion the issue is not Latin vs. English, the old English vs. the new English translation; not simply the accumulation of intellectual knowledge but rather the nature of the face to face encounter with Jesus Christ and contemplative engagement that takes place at the Eucharistic feast. Simply speaking, this time can be looked upon as an invitation to go deeper than words. Sister Sandy and Father Groncki spoke of it as “a moment of liturgical catechesis”.

As you wait for the next installment of this series to appear you might find it helpful, illuminating or just plain grounding to meditate upon what it is you experience when you come to Mass. What are you hoping for? What is it in the Eucharistic Rite that most connects with your being? What reveals God to you? What do you think is happening on that altar when the priest blesses the bread and wine and evokes the Holy Spirit? What is Jesus’ specific invitation to you in the words, “This is my body, which will be given up for you”?

Coming Soon to Your Parish

2011-10-24T14:57:00.001-04:00

The New Roman Missal
Second Article in a Series

About one week ago each of the sisters in our contemplative community was given a CD recording of the new adaptation of The Heritage Mass musical setting for the parts of the Mass often sung by the congregation. The melodies we have been singing for over 30 years are very familiar to all church-going American Catholics. But the changes in wording of these prayers in the New Roman Missal, which goes into use on the First Sunday of Advent, require some tweaking of the original music. Old habits are hard to break. We had a week to listen to the music privately and attune our ears and vocal chords to the differences. Today we had our first practice session with a music teacher. We did well, I must say, even though we do not all read music! We even got to listen to the new Mass music by Dan Shutte. Now we have another CD to listen to so that it will become familiar before our next practice.

My last post introduced the topic of the New Roman Missal for use at Mass and presented some of the historical background. Here I would like to present some additional information and some thoughts to ponder. Most of the material is taken from talks given by Monsignor Richard E. Groncki, SJ and Sister Sandy DeMasi, SSJ from the Liturgy Office of the Diocese of Newark, New Jersey. They spoke at a recent meeting of the Metropolitan Association of Contemplative Communities.

Picking up on the translation history in my last post, it is necessary to say that there has been a history of effort toward liturgical renewal in the Church all through the 20^th century and now into the 21^st. There was a movement for renewal and liturgical adaptations made in each pontificate of the period. This began with the reforms of Pius X (1903-1914) which promoted the reception of First Eucharist at a younger age for children. Another reform with which some of us are familiar is the abolition of the all-night fast before receiving Holy Communion. And most memorable is the great shift into the vernacular which took place in the 1970s. It is a mistake therefore to think that the way things are now is how they always have been. One can imagine a cry from some quarters about allowing seven-year-olds to received Communion or about the sacrilege of ending the overnight fast. We can go back even further to a long period in the history of Church when receiving Communion daily or even weekly was not permitted. Saints we revere had to get special permission to do so.

What we will experience this Advent season will be another change in the continuum of constant change in our world, or families, our lives, and our Church. But we resist change with all our might. It makes us very uncomfortable and we find it arduous.

The text of the Mass that we are now using was approved in 1975 to take the place of the first English translation of 1970. Both of these translations were created as dynamic equivalency translations. Since this was the first time we would hear the words for the truths of our faith in English, it was thought that although literal translation was important it was also necessary that the words made sense. Thus attention was given to the catechetical dimension – the ability of the text to be a teacher of the faith.

The type of translation called for in the 3^rd typical edition of the Roman Missal in English to go into use on November 27, 2011 is referred to as formal equivalency translation. This translation sought word for word equivalency in meaning and an effort to retain the syntax (sentence structure) of the original Latin. It is marked by great deference to God, a high level of theology, adherence to scriptural references and less allowance for the celebrant to make on the spot changes.

Next time, we can consider the challenge presented in this change. We can consider how we might view this great shift in the liturgical setting as a challenge in our faith development. But more to the point, how we might use it as a vehicle for deepening our relationship with the One we come to meet with our brothers and sisters gathering for worship. Can we find the invitation here?

The Biggest Secret in the Catholic Church

2011-10-23T20:31:00.000-04:00

The New Roman Missal
Coming

to Your Celebration
of Holy Mass
First Article in a Series

According to poll findings quoted in a recent national Catholic publication 77% of the Roman Catholics in the United States have no idea that when they come to Mass on November 27, 2011, the first Sunday of Advent, beginning of the Liturgical Year, all of the spoken parts of the Mass will have been changed, some in minor ways and some in major ways. At the very least, we will all be jarred out of our comfortable automatic response to the priest who says, “The Lord be with you.” We will no longer say, “And also with you,” but rather, “And with your spirit.” To be jarred out of sheer habitual response is not necessarily a bad thing. Much more thought provoking will be some unusual vocabulary, some unusual sentence constructions and, most importantly, changes in translation that will make us think more deeply and perhaps for the first time in a long time about just what it is we celebrate when we come together as the People of God and gathere around the table of the Lord for the Eucharistic Feast.

A bit of simple explanation for those to whom this is indeed big news. The words we say and hear at any Mass today are an English translation created in accord with the liturgical reforms instituted after the Second Vatican Council (1961-65). The translators were commissioned to produce an English version of the Latin Mass of the Missale Romanum. They were directed to translate for closest meaning into modern English the Latin in the Missale Romanum first promulgated in 1570 after the Council of Trent. In the four hundred intervening years minor changes had been made in the Missale Romanum however the language of the Mass remained Latin and the rubrics of the Rite remained virtually the same from 1570 on.

There is a saying among those who carry out the arduous and thankless task of translation; “The translator is a traitor.” Unless you know two languages well enough to attempt translation, you cannot appreciate how difficult the process of translating for meaning as well as fluidity can be. Languages simply do not match and nuances of meaning often cannot be put into reasonable words in the second language, never mind the impossibility of idiomatic expressions that defy translation because they are so deeply rooted in only their particular culture. These days amazing translations of Russian literature into English are being done by a much lauded team of husband and wife, Larissa Volokhonsky and Richard Pevear. A great article about them appeared in The New Yorker Magazine. She is a native speaker of Russian with a huge command of the English language. He is a native English speaker with a corresponding command of Russian. Each translates the Russian work independently and then they hash out all of the puzzles in the ways their versions do not agree. It takes years.

Prayers for Vigil Mass for Christmas

For years there have been complaints about our current English translation of the Missale Romanum. So, as you will find out if you go the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), it was decided that a new translation be prepared, a translation closely faithful to the literal meaning of the original Latin and even to matching its sentence structure. There has been a great deal of back and forth about this New Roman Missal. But over a year ago it was announced that it would become the official translation for the Mass on the first Sunday of Advent this year. As a bit of trivia – the book the priest uses at the altar which contains all of these prayers has been called the “Sacramentary” since 1970. No longer will it be so. The book on the altar will be called the “Roman Missal”.

These changes have also had consequences for church musicians since the wording for the parts of the Mass commonly sung, that is the Gloria, the Holy, the Eucharistic Acclamation, and the Lamb of God, have been changed requiring adaptation to some Mass settings and composition of entirely new ones. We will have to learn them. Some parishes began this process weeks, if not months, ago. Here in our monastery we have been listening to an adapted Heritage Mass Setting on CDs.

More will follow here on this subject. Perhaps this explanation and the links provided will assist you in beginning your own transition to the new text and also promote a smoother process in the community with which you worship. That which we partake at the Eucharistic celebration, that which we remember so as to make Him present in this place and time goes far beyond mere words, whatever the language.

2011-10-20T21:30:00.000-04:00

Sisters in Good Company

I awoke to clutter everywhere

Calling me to weave

My life into

Fabrics of soft, rich color or

Bold, dramatic design or

Lacey, light musical tones and texture

To drape on the soul

In her wild dance

Of Transformation.

Weaving a Life by Sister Bette

…Yet will Love remain constant and pure.

I shall dwell with Love in gratitude and joy;

I shall sing praises to the Beloved,

Heart of my heart.

Psalm 7 (last verses)

Psalms for Praying by Nan C. Merrill

An original poem and the ancient wisdom of poetic psalms speak of truth and constancy, two great lessons from blessed time spent with Sister Bette, hermit of Stockton Springs, Maine, living in the utter sufficiency of a circular wooden yurt on Lighthouse Road. Another structure, a canvas roofed yurt, her first home in the woods, now serves as her studio; the loom room in which she creates hand woven garments, shawls, mats and runners earning her reputation as weaver of note. This is paradise to the solitary weaver of her own handspun yarns.

First called to apostolic religious life in a Wisconsin community, Sister Bette eventually felt drawn to live an even further remove from the hustle and bustle of the ordinary market place. She began a long search for the right place to establish a hermitage.

“I…am waiting for winter, its silence and solitude speaking of Intimate love in the darkness – Let’s listen!”

Bette and I have written to each other once or twice a year since our first meeting at the 2004. I was drawn to her as a source of wisdom; an experienced practitioner of the contemplative way, following a solitary path. She was a courageous hermit persevering in steadfast presence before the God of Love and Mystery. Could she teach my extroverted self something about living as a contemplative in community? Could she offer some wisdom for my own journey, my experience of the contemplative way of living together as hermits sharing the common life?

“The unfolding mystery in us; is us.”

I have saved every wise and compassionate letter received from Bette. Our friendship is a strange, inexplicable mutual gift. We both admit to fumbling on our way to God – mysterious and remote while at the same time intimately present in ways beyond our comprehension. For us, sharing our struggles is a means of restoring the bulwark supporting the singular and often lonely contemplative path.

Sometimes longed for meetings with friends rarely seen in person can fall so short of eager expectation. However, my visit with Bette in the early days of August was all and more than I had hoped it would be. Merely being blessed with the opportunity for this contemplative nun and the reclusive hermit to meet was miracle. Bette was typically open and generous; happy as a child to know that I was coming; enjoying all of her planning and preparations for a quintessential Maine lobster lunch presented in her home. “Why eat out when we can talk so freely here?” Bette further explained how our festive meal was provided by the postponed use of a birthday gift from a generous friend. She rejoiced that the gift was magnified in being twice shared.

A tour of her weaving studio and then her wooden yurt replete with solar energy, wood stove, well water, and compost toilet gave a sense of the simplicity with which this hermits lives her days. After driving into the village to pick up steaming lobsters just out of the pot we drove passed the homes of her neighbors. Many of these friends are very supportive and attentive in their care and attention to Bette’s needs as an older woman living alone in natural terrain and sometimes hostile climate.

Bette put last minutes touches to a meal set out with great love, blessed by her prayers and crowned as sacrament in the wine we shared. Cracking open our lobsters, we enthusiastically sucked out every bit of juicy meat they offered. But greater than this feast of tasty food and enervating wine was our presence to each other. We rejoiced in the beneficence of God who makes all things possible, even a yurt and a visit to Stockton Springs on Maine’s rocky and lighthouse dotted coast.

“What really matters is Divine Love – and becoming an icon of Christ’s love in the world.”

We shared the challenges of our lives; making sense of vocations which seem to have little or no significance in our world and even our Church; coping with aging, mortality and loss of those we know and love; our own diminishing strength and number of days; the need for a tenacious hold on the Presence in us and among us; and persevering in our availability to the energetic Center of all creation.

Bette spoke so enthusiastically of the inspiration recently received at a Franciscan conference. The invitation issued there radiated from the lives of Saints Francis and Clare and the Gospel of John reminding of the call; the call to be in our own lives a constant presence, an ever-burning flame. If we do no more, we cannot fail if we but maintain ourselves as a burning flame in the Presence of God.

Woven in and out through our conversation like the hand spun yarn in Bette’s weaving shuttle was the theme of knowledge of self and truth to ones own reality. In remaining available to the Divine, in faithfulness to our spiritual discipline, in our generous contemplation, we learn who we are and find, in companionship with our loving God, the strength to live as who and what we were created to be. And so we ate with each other and fed each other all the while knowing and feeling the most Sacred of Energies flowing in, through and between, informing, enlivening, enriching and blessing it all.

A Spiritual "In-Service" Recommendation

2011-09-04T13:37:00.000-04:00

With the closing of ministry at Mount St. Alphonsus as of January 1, 2012 many things that we have enjoyed there will come to an end. One of them is a tradition begun by Father Francis Gargani, CSsR in the early 1990s. At that time, Brother Donald Bisson was serving as novice master in the Marist community down the road on Route 9W. Never one to miss an opportunity to get first class presenters on the Mount's program schedule, Father Francis arranged for Brother Don to give two Saturday presentations in the fall and two in the spring each year. Brother Don's expertise is in the areas of spirtuality and Jungian psychology. At. first amature recordings were made of the presentations and now most of them are available on CDs available at his website.

The last presentations that Brother Don will be giving at the Mount will be offered on Saturday, October 8 and Sautrday, November 19, 2011. Each begins at 9:30am, ends at 3:30pm. The cost for the day is $60.00 which includes lunch. Reservations are reququired.

Call 845-384-8000.

Saturday, October 8 - Intentional Community

In Our hectic and individualized society, ther is a growing hunger for intentional communities of faith and growth. This workshop will attempt to assist all forms of communities: families, religious congregations, support groups, parishes, etc., to become more conscious and intentional in living the call to unity and love.

Saturday, November 19 - Intentional Pilgrims

We re all called to the holy, but the pilgrim is an individual who is consciously on the quest of life long conversion. This workshop offered from a Jungian and Christian perspective will examine the cost and joy of being a daily pilgrim to the Divine even from the margins of our lives.

The Household of God

2011-08-31T13:15:00.000-04:00

The Household of God: Monastic Architecture

Holy souls setting out on solitary journeys into the deserts of Egypt in the 3^rd century of the Christian era provided the first expression of a movement from which monastic religious life would ultimately emerge. The landscape of the desert, the landscape of desolation, was sought as the proper setting for life with God alone. The call to set out, to withdraw from worldly cities, became more and more pronounced in the aftermath of the Edict of Milan issued in AD 313. Signed by emperors Constantine I and Licinius, the edict proclaimed religious toleration in the Roman Empire at the conclusion of the Diocletian Persecution. This declaration legitimized the followers of Jesus Christ as well as their Church thus eliminating the possibility of martyrdom for illegal activity as the penultimate sacrifice in true devotion. Absent bloody martyrdom, men and woman began to satisfy their desire for total self-donation by seeking the ‘white martyrdom’ of withdrawal to solitude and silence in deserted territories. The most outstanding of these early hermits came to be known as the Desert Mothers and Fathers, the holy Ammas and Abbas. Magnetic in holiness, they drew those who wished to live for God, to pursue a life of constant prayer. This way of being would be attained by attachment to these experienced mentors, stern, demanding, and wise, who taught more by example than words. From clusters of followers gathered around a hermit practitioner with a reputation for holiness gradually rose monasteries, organized communities under the tutelage and authority of a spiritual superior. Slowly clusters of solitary hermits became organized cenobites, women or men living in religious community together. Eventually rules of life would be formulated, the most well known written by St. Benedict in the 6^th century.

An introduction to development of monasteries from the historical perspective sets the stage for explanation of the nature of monastic life and community. Lack of familiarity, even among Catholics, of the purpose and features of the monastic household has become apparent as we seek a new location for our contemplative monastery. There is little, if any, sense of the organic daily reality of the monastic enterprise. Questions and suggestions received from family and friends; from apostolic religious whose life is dedicated to active service; and most profoundly from conversation with laity, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, indicate that the purpose and nature of contemplative monastic life remain to them almost a complete mystery. In addition, the fact of a relationship of architecture, the structural design of a monastery, with the intended use of this specific type of dwelling is lost. It has become necessary, over and over again, to explain how a monastic structure truly illustrates the principle which states ‘use determines form’.

Generally, the image conjured by the word ‘house’ is a dwelling in which one family whose members are related by blood makes its home. The image is limited to an experience of home as either an ordinary family dwelling or, in the case of vowed apostolic religious, as the typical residence for an active community. The visualization is limited to an abode which is a place of safety, nourishment and restoration for those who will be sent out into the world to be educated, to earn a living, to contribute to the well-being of others, to relate to the body politic and to be integrated into all facets of society and culture.

The monastic house, any monastery, is not intended to be such a launch site. It is not a place designed to send members forth prepared to act on the world stage. While a call to action is the most common vocational call, the monastic, the monk or nun of our time, no less than the hermit St. Anthony or the great Pachomius, father of monasticism, is called to go apart; to migrate to a place at the margins of social intercourse; to cultivate in silence and solitude an intimate relationship with the Divine. Recognizing their weakness and as an expression of humility, monastics seek the support and challenge of organized community as well as the authoritative guidance of experienced practitioners as they travel the path of interior transformation into the likeness of Christ within community.

From the very beginning these purposes motivated the creation of highly self-sufficient and self-contained enterprises. However varied in nuance of expression by virtue of spiritual charism and chosen modes of life, the members of all monastic orders pray, work, nourish themselves and recreate together. Prayer, both communal and private, is the central core, the rotating energizing hub from which all other functions radiate. Monastic institutions support themselves by work done within the monastery walls even while income is augmented by the philanthropy of benefactors. In earlier centuries the work was mostly agricultural, even for monasteries of women. In time income would also be generated through handicrafts and the arts: carpentry, calligraphy, manuscript copying and illumination, bookbinding, embroidery, lace making, weaving, woodworking, pottery and production of wine and foodstuffs, etc. These enterprises required space for organized production especially in communities where membership could soar to over one hundred. Today a common source of income for monasteries of women is the manufacture of altar breads (hosts) for Eucharist. It is a difficult and highly mechanized work requiring a great deal of space. Our own monastery business requires a space resembling a garment factory; rows of industrial sewing machines flanked by large cutting and ironing tables, surrounded by racks of neatly sewn ceremonial capes for the Knights and Ladies of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre ready to be packed and shipped.

Until thirty to forty years ago a few monastic architectural terms remained in the general Catholic memory. A Catholic vocabulary included the word cloister. However, the mental image of that term was often limited to an experience of some dark monastery vestibule dominated by a turn set into a wall. A delivery could be placed in the cylindrical device which would be rotated by an unseen hand while a disembodied voice uttered a word of appreciation and blessing. A second but none the less limited mental image associated with the word cloister was that of the monastic parlor where a privileged visitor could get a glimpse of a heavily veiled nun separated from her guest by metal grille work sometimes appointed with spikes to remind that the encounter would not include a touch or kiss.

These dark images spoke of separation and carried the notion of possible contamination by the world. They do not give testimony to the real purpose of the cloister or the traditional monastic enclosure from its beginnings to our time. While in the distant past some real protection from outside forces may have been required, the true purpose of monastic enclosure is to preserve and enhance the apostolic work of contemplative nuns which is prayer. The typical cloister, indeed any architecture of enclosure, protects by design the life to which the nuns within have dedicated themselves. The cloister or enclosure is constructed in such a way as to ensure that degree of silence and solitude in which the life of prayer can be born. Today few monasteries retain the vestibule turn or the metal grille in the parlor. Noting the absence of these features many conclude that the nuns must no longer require any form of enclosure. The direct opposite is true. Monastic cloister or enclosure is a living space for the community set apart from space open to the public (chapel, library, parlor, meeting room, etc.). In the public places nuns may mingle freely with those who come to worship, to unburden their hearts, to seek spiritual direction or to experience the monastery as a school of prayer. Today, our contemplative monastic community does not wish to be defined only by the descriptor which declares us ‘cloistered’, as women who live separate of from the world and from those who live in it as if warding off contagion or, even worse, announcing ourselves as special in the eyes of God. Rather, we present ourselves as a dedicated praying presence in the world, a burning flame of praise and petition before God. Contemplatives do whatever they find suitable in order to follow the often repeated directive of our Church to be ‘a school of prayer’ and offer comfortable spiritually enriching public spaces in their monasteries. At the same time, the heart of our vocation to constant prayer in the midst of the Church requires some more protected space provided by the architecture of enclosure. The enclosure is that more private space in which the contemplative way is lived by a community praying, working, eating and recreating together while managing a large household. Above all it is a space that allows for those activities as they cluster around the true center of the life; prayer and praise expressed at the Eucharistic table in the Mass and in the daily round of Liturgy of the Hours. The enclosure thus supports the public prayer life of the community and also guarantees an environment conducive to a quiet and recollected way of being personally available to God.

The monastic pilgrim travels two inseparable parallel paths in a journey of self-abandonment and interior transformation into Christ; the way of prayer and the avenue that is life in community. Within the enclosure created to support and protect a life of intensive intimacy with God and intensity of relationship with a stable group, all of the functions of the monastic household are carried out twenty four hours a day, seven days a week within a fixed group of members. Unlike the nuclear family or the small group of apostolic religious living together, the contemplative monastic residence must have room for everyone to do everything together most of the time. No members will be off to a ball game or have a late night at the office. No one will go out to work. No one can arrive home after a long hard day and announce their departure to take in dinner and movie with a friend. These realities determine architectural form. The dining room and community room (living room) have to be larger than one might expect. Anyone whose work for the community requires a private office space has to have one within the confines of the monastery. The income generating work of the community, whatever it may be, will call for considerable space, the equivalent of a small manufacturing enterprise including materials storage, assembly, shipping, ordering, etc. All of the members of the community will share the work of maintaining the household. Cooking, cleaning, communication, greeting and housing guests, and scheduling, to name a few typical household tasks, also affect the need for space within the enclosure. In addition, just as the nuclear family has a role in educating its young members so does the monastic family. Like any good parent, the monastic community seeks to provide sufficient resources as well space for instruction and study to equip and inspire new members for the life they have chosen. Monastic structures are designed to provide for both this intensive life in community and the solitary search for God which is the vocation of each member.

In early efforts to find a new home for our community we visited a number of large, attractive, newly constructed homes. It was our hope that one might be suitable as a monastery. We also visited older structures originally built for active congregations of religious. Invariably we realized that each structure conformed to the rule which declares ‘use dictates form’. Private family homes, no matter how large, were built to be just what they were. Buildings designed for apostolic religious supported the kind of life they lead, a life with work outside the residence, a life in which not all members of the community would be present at any time. So fit were these buildings for their specific function that no effort at remodeling would successfully transform them into a suitable monastic structure. Arriving at this conclusion brought us to in-depth consideration of our monastic enterprise. It required us to ponder the question, “What is it we wish to protect; what is it we wish to nourish and pursue in the structure we envision?” Use determines form, not the other way around. In the end we also recognized that no mere structure will guarantee dedicated contemplative life. Thoughtful design provides suitable space, an environment conducive to prayer, a place apart. The rest is the work of God’s grace in the desiring soul.

The Little Prayer Shawl that Grew

2011-08-24T14:04:00.000-04:00

Here is a quilted piece only hinted at almost a year ago. It was made at the request of the eastern region of the Association of Contemplative Sisters. The intended use was as a prayer shawl to be draped around the shoulders of a newly elected president or to envelop with warmth a member in need of healing and being prayed over by her sisters.

The organization provides mutual support to members who share pursuit of the contemplative way, both vowed religious and lay woman married or single, as well hermits, in a wide variety of locales, cultures and life styles. For those lacking a like minded group nearby, ACS conquers distances and provides members with a sense of community which offers encouragement for the spiritual journey.

Photoshop Adaptation

A single orans (posture of prayer and praise) figure has long been the logo of the organization. A cluster of these figures readily came to mind as the center motif. The background reflects the joy experienced by our members in the gift of God's creation. The piece measures 9 by 4 feet. All of the materials are 100% cotton. The orans figures are backed with iron-on interfacing and machine appliqued. The background, my first attempted at creating a land/sea scape in fabric, is a brick work mosaic pattern. Fabric was chosen with both color and depicted texture in mind. It is machine quilted in a free hand meander pattern. Small fabric loops were sewn to the top of the reverse to allow for hanging. Velcro allows the loops to be hidden at other times. Although this piece was a great challange it was a joy to create.

2011-08-17T17:31:00.001-04:00

A Little Gem of a Museum

Museum of Russian Icons

Clinton, Massachusetts

Icons and writing icons have become enthusiasms of mine in the last few years. Therefore it was a great pleasure for me to discover a little gem, a heavenly place for icon lovers and iconographers. In a small town southwest of Lowell, Massachusetts (home of a textile museum and quilt museum), is housed a sizeable collection of Russian icons dating from the 16^th through 19^th centuries. The collection was assembled by Gordon B. Lankton. It is mounted in a first class facility created in a former courthouse and jail built early in the 19^th century. Clinton became a sizeable textile center during the Industrial Revolution like many other mill towns in the state. Eventually the mills became the home of the Bigelow Carpet Company.

Mr. Lankton, President of Nypro, an international plastics injection molding company headquartered in the former Bigelow Mills began collecting in Russia while on a business trip in 1989. His frequent travels to Russia have allowed him to expand the collection to over 500 pieces, 250 of which are on exhibit at any given time.

I enjoyed the personal attention and information offered by a skilled and very interesting docent. The option to listen to an audio guided tour of the collection was also available. Adding to my enjoyment was the opportunity to visit an icon writing class taking place in the museum at the time of my visit. A really lovely highlight was meeting Mr. Lankton himself. His philanthropy made restoration of the building and mounting of the collection possible.

For details on hours, admission, directions, gift shop, etc. go to www.museumofrussianicons.org or call 978-598-5000.

2011-08-14T20:46:00.000-04:00

The Story of a Name

In the final days of my first long private ten day retreat in the monastery, a retreat in preparation for being received into the novitiate, a note was slipped under my door. The prioress, Sr. Moira, was asking if I had a preference for my name in religion. In the past, sisters and nuns routinely had their named changed by their novice mistress or prioress sometimes with consultation and sometimes without. The names of saints, frequently those with significance for the charism of the congregation or order, would be substituted for their baptismal names. In addition, particularly in contemplative monastic orders, a predicate would be added to the name. The Little Flower had two predicates - Sister Therese of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face! In the mid-1960s the documents of the Second Vatican Council reiterated the primacy of our baptismal call therefore many sisters and nuns returned to the use of their baptismal name, the name by which they were called into the life of Christ Jesus.

Sr. Moira's request to me was a very kind one. I had already given the issue some thought. I wrote back to her, "As if the name of Hildegard (my baptismal name) is not long enough, I would like to add ‘Magdalen of the Resurrection’ to my name if the space offered on whatever document has room enough." On the last day of my ten day retreat my novice habit was blessed in the sacristy before Mass. The next morning I appeared in chapel wearing that habit (a burgundy jumper and white blouse) and the white veil of a novice (an option in our monastery) ready for Morning Prayer which was the setting for being received into the Novitiate. There followed a procession to the Formation Room (place for instruction during Novitiate) where a special blessing was given by the Prioress and the community.

Why Hildegard Magdalen of the Resurrection? I entered this monastery eleven years ago today. I looked upon Mary Magdalene as the patroness of the process of my formation and integration into this company of women. Evidence indicates that Mary Magdalene was a mature woman when she joined the company of Jesus. Her past has been the subject of great conjecture. But surely it was varied and unlike that of the other women who followed Jesus. I imagined that it took her a while to fit in. She would help me to ‘fit in.’ I was also influenced by the image of the Magdalene presented in Andrew Lloyd Weber's musical Jesus Christ Superstar. There is such a haunting quality to the words of her soliloquy, "I don't know how to love him..." I was learning the contemplative monastic way of loving Jesus. In addition, my baptismal godmother's name was Madeline. I was not given a middle name at baptism but when I entered a small Catholic girl’s academy for high school the sisters insisted that I have one and I chose Madeline. My godmother was a creative, joyful, generous woman who had achieved a great deal in her life while overcoming poverty, lack of formal education and personal strife. She too was a role model.

Each year I marvel at the frequent mention of Mary Magdalene in the Easter liturgies and in the Mass readings of the Easter Octave. This is a major contribution to the transformation of her reputation from that of repentant prostitute to the Apostle to the Apostles. It is unfortunate that her person as been conflated with that of the woman who anointed Jesus at Bethany and the woman caught in adultery. Today, scholars agree that these are probably three separate people. That makes it so much more interesting!

I pray that Mary Magdalene will intercede for all women striving to make their way in the company of Jesus.