what does it take to live a cloistered life?

3:40 AM

Rise and Shine
I woke up as usual, a little before the rising bell. My body clock had its own alarm, but that doesn't stop me from feeling far from fresh. I always have to struggle in the early wee hours of the mornings. Still not truly awake, I struggled with my monastic habit and scapular and rushed down to our Abbey Church and braved the sharp freezing morning air of the cloister on my way to Church. Another day has begun.

4:00 AM
VIGILS
The first service of the day breaks the silent darkness. Vigils (in Church) lasts about one hour. "O, Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise." The Psalms flowed from side to side of our choir, long Psalms, telling the story of God's chosen people, telling of the long centuries of watching, of vigil, before the dawning of God's light, of his coming into a world darkened by ignorance, malice and sin.

5:10 AM
Breakfast
A mug of hot tea, and a piece of whole wheat bread, butter and marmalade began to introduce some life into my still sluggish and reluctant body though my mind was clearer by the minute.

5:45 AM.
LAUDS and MASS
The second service of the day began as the new born light breaks through the sanctuary windows, and sets the pink and orange bricks ablaze. Lauds (in Church) lasts about thirty minutes, followed by Mass. Praise God, the Creator of Light! Praise Christ, the Son of God, who has risen, Victor over Satan, sin and death! In the words of the Canticle, the loving-kindness of the heart of our God has visited us like the dawn from on high. The celebration of the Holy Eucharist followed shortly after Lauds, the very heart of the monastic round. Who can grasp the mystery of Christ's body and blood? We receive the signs, the tokens of His love for us, and we enter into the great mystery of His passion, death and resurrection, to be united with the very source of our salvation. And we go out to share His peace with all around us.

7:20 AM
Back to the Cell
I returned to my cell for "lectio divina", that basic monastic practice of reading the Scriptures. I read the Scriptures, or rather, I listened to them, trying to catch the voice of the Spirit, who was trying to get through me, trying to tell me something of how He sees things, of how He wants me to respond to the Father. I couldn't hear much this time of the day, but never mind. Sooner or later, the Word which was received in quietness will come alive. How often has the memory brought forth the living Word and offered encouragement, correction or a challenge.

"Lectio divina" flows naturally into prayer. Some prefer the Church for personal prayer, but I would stay in my cell – so there were fewer outward distractions. But that did not stop the distractions from within. Waves of thoughts come on, by turns funny and fantastic, foul and fascinating. But they brought me face to face with something of my own darkness and need for God.
I try to put myself before him just as I am; He can cope with all that is within me, even if I cannot. And then deeper, much deeper than all this, I become aware of the roots of my being reaching out, seeking nourishment, seeking a source of stability in the midst of the turbulent void. Mysteriously, a certain confidence is born.

8:10 AM
Work meeting with the Abbot
Short Meeting with the Abbot declaring the work I am assigned for the day. This was also coupled with a short recitation of the Psalm

8:45 AM.
TERCE
The Third Service of the Day
Consisting of three short Psalms only. Terce (in Church) lasts about ten minutes.

9:00 AM
Monastic Work for all
Monastic day comes down to earth. Most of the days, I had been given the job of the guesthouse cleaner. I would clean all the vacated rooms of our small lodging house for guests, dump the dirty linens and beddings to the bins and clean the men's and women's toilets. How extraordinary the monastic life seems from the outside, and yet how ordinary from within – just basic human activities, encompassed by faith and prayer.

12:40 PM
End of Work Period

1:00 PM
SEXT
The fourth Service of the day was very short: a Hymn, three short Psalms, a reading and a prayer. But we were reminded of the Creator when our own affairs are liable to be uppermost in our minds.

1:10 PM
Monastic Main Meal
We processed from the Church to the refectory, and after singing grace, we all sit down together. No voice but the reader's is heard as we began our soup. We sit down together and we listen to the voice of the reader.Towards the end of the meal, the table reader read the lives of the saints we will commemorate for the next day, and then reciting a chapter of Saint Benedict's Rule. I've never had much difficulty in attending to both my food and the reading, especially if the book being read is an interesting one. Washing dishes and pots and pans followed.

2:10 PM
Rest and Relaxation
After the main meal, we could relax a little as a community. It is true that the brethren are not always relaxing company; building community is ever one of life's greater challenges. But mostly it is peaceful over a bowl of coffee, and any day is no exception. Monastic walk to the terrains and the climb up the Chama canyon would always dominate the monks' free time.

3:30 PM
NONE
The fifth service of the day, like Sext, marks the passing hours, and recalls our minds and hearts to the Creator of time. He fills every moment with his watchful and loving presence. How watchful are we, and how loving?

4: 00 PM
Lectio Divina
Back to the cells and Lectio Divina for the Solemnly professed monks like me and Lectio Divina in a group for the Novices and the Simply Professed monks.

5:20 PM
Silent Prayers in the Church
The monks meet again in Church for silent prayers and meditations. Monks have their own unique way of spending this time with the Lord. Some read the Bible and other theological books, others recite the five decades of the Holy Rosary an others just shut their eyes and allow God's presence to envelope and dominate their beings. The Holy Spirit comes in when the human soul is receptive and open to its dominion.

5:50 PM
VESPERS
The sixth service of the day is an evening sacrifice of praise at Church. We offer to God all we have received in the course of the day, and all we have done, or tried to do with his all-powerful help. "Let my prayer rise like incense before you, O Lord." Vespers lasts about thirty minutes.

6:20 PM
Light Meal
Light Meal until 6:50 PM in the monastic refectory for monks and guests as well.

7:30 PM
COMPLINE
The seventh and final service of the day, brings the monastic day to its close. "Now Lord, let your servant depart in peace." We sing the song of Simeon, the old man, whose life was prolonged by the Lord until his eyes had seen the salvation prepared for all peoples. We give thanks for the mercy we have received today, and pray for a quiet night and a perfect end. And with a final antiphon sung to Mary, Queen of heaven, and confident of her protection, we take our leave. "Farewell, O fair Lady, and pray for us to Christ."

What does it take to live a cloistered life? ...perseverance... faith... courage, patience, humility, discipline and love for God.

prayerlife

How is your Prayer Life?

Have you ever thought through why you do not spend more time with God?

What aspects of your time and commitment hold you back from prayer?

Most of us do not have the kind of prayer life we should have; in my experience, most people give up because either they do not know how to pray or they do not understand the significance of prayer.

Getting Ourselves Ready for Prayer

For real prayer to function at its apex, we need to acknowledge who God is, and see Him as Lord Supreme over all things, including our very lives.

We must seek Him out for all occasions in life so that in all situations, we have a first response of praising and adoring Christ for who He is, and because He is worthy of eternal praise. But, do we do this?


Being Formed for Prayer
What is prayer? Prayer is an intimate communication between God and man. It is the wonderful privilege of talking directly to God at any time about anything.

We have this opportunity because of what Christ did. The Christian life is about the ongoing, personal relationship you have with God through Jesus.


The Battle over Prayer
Prayer is not just about what our own needs are. It is about putting our lives and experiences in Him, sharing our days and lives, both in times of urgency and times of happiness, and bringing others to our thoughts and into our prayers.

Continual and effective prayer will build our relationship with God. We will realize that He is in charge of all that happens in our lives, and that we are in His Hands. How we interact with Christ as Lord and respond to others is rooted in how we communicate.

Prayer Life is a Relationship
Our spiritual growth and how we can connect to God with an effectual relationship is determined by how effective our prayer life is. It can be put this way: all we do in life is based on our ability to communicate—and our principal communication is to our loving Lord.

A relationship is a living, a growing entity that needs the fuel of attention and heart. Like in a relationship, we need to allow prayer to build slowly—just really like a relationship. Growing our prayer life is like growing a relationship. We start off as acquaintances; then, as we get to know each other, we become more confident and thus spend more time together. The time spent helps us get to know each other, and that helps build our trust, intimacy, submission, and so forth.

Prayer is a Recognition of God

When we grow more in our prayer life, we will see more of God in our lives, more realization of Him and His power. Thus, everything we do will be affected in a positive way as a response of His work in us and our personal adjustments in becoming less of ourselves and more of Him.

passion, death, resurrection

Life has its own passion, death and resurrection. As what my superior said many years ago, as monks- we needed to die from our old selves and the process of dying is a great passion that one monk must undergo and allow himself to  experience the death of his old self, in order to resurrect to a new life of purity, holiness, faith in God and total conversion of life....Every person, I believe,  must undergo the processes...in order to find new meaning in his/her life towards living with God  in the midst of the world.

weave of life

A monk of St Vincent Monastery in Latrobe PA, gave us a demo on how to do weaving the old fashioned way using the crude weaver.
Weaving as arts and crafts offered to the members of the monastery, gives so much exciting feeling of achieving something out of threads. Dom Michael, who was my mentor when I first arrived at the monastery from Indiana, was a very efficient and loyal monk of the monastery. He was my guide and assistant while I was learning the ins and outs and rudiments of monastic life of the community.

brotherhood

This photo was taken at the Churchyard of Baltimore Cathedral. I was with the monks of the school of Theology and seminary of St Meinrad during our March-for-life at Washington.