Apologies and update

Sincere apologies for the apparent abandonment of this blog, and particularly to those whose comments were not approved for quite some time.

After Easter this site will be merged with the main website of the community, D.V.

Advent: You Snooze, You Lose

For a reflection on this theme, check out this page from the Crossroads Initiative site.  Many other good things are to be found on that site too.

The Advent wreath in our church:

Advent wreath Glencairn church

Sr Josephine goes to Nigeria

We have a daughter-house in Nigeria: St Justina’s Monastery near Abakaliki.  This community was founded in 1981, and has grown and flourished.  However it is not yet completely self-sufficient, and we still have a responsibility towards its development.

 So our Sister Josephine (Ryan), who spent some years at St Justina’s in the 1990s, has returned to spend some more time there, particularly to help with liturgy and music.  She flew from Dublin last Monday.  We will miss her here, but we know that she will do great work there, probably remaining there for a few years.

At the same time, we have welcomed Sr Mary Agnes from St Justina’s to spend some time here with us and, later, to study theology in college.  She is adjusting to our Irish culture and climate!

(The photo, taken last year, shows Sr Jo with her sister and brother-in-law.  Photo of Sr Mary Agnes to follow!)

Another candidate

Another candidate is making definite arrangements to enter our community in the not-too-distant future, please God. 

She has passed through the various stages of discernment: first, hesitantly speaking to a spiritual director and getting advice, then coming to stay in our guest-house for a few nights to get an intial “feel” for the place, and later coming for a “live-in” experience of a few weeks.  Over time, she prayed, thought, discussed, wondered, prayed, discussed, listened to what we hope is the whisper of the Holy Spirit in her heart… and asked to be accepted as a postulant.

We agreed.  She undertook a psychological assessment (we ask this of all candidates before they enter), the feedback from which will be one of the tools which, hopefully, will help her to grow during her time of initial formation.

She applied for leave-of-absence from her job, but this was not granted, so she handed in her notice instead.  She is making arrangements for her house to be rented – if she goes on to make profession here, it will be sold, but not just yet.  She suffered the anxiety of her Dad being admitted to hospital suddenly with a heart attack… thankfully he recovered and is now discharged.

She broke the news to her family and friends of the step that she is undertaking, and experienced people’s very mixed reactions.  It is not easy for many to understand what she is doing.  Some are shocked, some are bewildered, and some are delighted.  Monastic life is a challenge to people’s value-systems, including to those of faith!  Dealing with these varied reactions can be difficult.  But it is an opportunity to witness to the Gospel and to one’s dedication to Jesus Christ.

This week she hopes to bring her mother to visit the monastery for the first time.  (Dad is not well enough to travel yet).  Rarely does a mother find it easy to see her daughter entering a monastery!  So we pray that this first visit will be an experience of God’s grace and peace, and as happy as possible.

After that, she has some other practicalities to tidy up, and hopefully it will not be long more until this candidate becomes a postulant, joining the six others already in initial formation in Glencairn.  Watch this space for an update to that effect!

What the candidate said

Usually I never mention candidates, or anyone who is enquiring about our life, or discerning her vocation to monastic life.  Someone at that stage on her journey is entitled to a lot of privacy, and doesn’t need her details posted on the internet.  (Unless of course she does it herself, on some other website).

But I’m going to make an exception here, because a candidate made a very interesting remark to me.  This woman is staying with us for three months, as she learns about our life and seeks to know if this might be her calling from God.  She has been with us for a few weeks now.

A few days ago I went for a long walk with her, through our grounds and farmland.  I wished I had a camera with me!  (It would have been better to wish that SHE had a camera with her, because I am the world’s worst photographer – but we still wouldn’t have had one!).  The soft November light was beautiful, and there were so many signs of God’s presence in nature that would have made wonderful shots to post on this blog!

We began our walk by passing through the cemetery, where more than forty sisters who have lived their lives in this community are buried.  The oldest grave dates from 1933, and the most recent from May of this year.  A majestic cedar tree overhangs the cemetery and adds its own special dignity to the earthly resting place of our sisters.

We passed by the apple orchard (our own apples are available every day in the refectory, and they are delicious), and on to the vegetable garden.  This is a walled garden, dating from the era when Glencairn was an Anglo-Irish country gentleman’s estate.  November is a fallow time in the garden, for the most part, while nature rests a little. 

Continuing on to the farm, we passed a field of large bullocks, who barely raised their heads to glance at us as we passed by.  We passed the fields where the wheat and barley had been harvested earlier, just the stubble left now, to be ploughed back in to the land later.  We passed a field of younger cattle, much more vigorous, who came rushing over to take a closer look at us (but there was always an electric fence between us and them, so they did not get too close for comfort). 

Descending a steep hill we came down to the inches (the fields by the river).  These were pretty mucky, still sodden because of all the rain that fell earlier in the year, but both of us were suitably dressed for the underfoot conditions.  Crossing the inch, we arrived at the bank of the majestic Blackwater, flowing swiftly on its course towards the Atlantic, and paused for a while to admire it.

After that we entered a wooded area, with autumn gold and red and brown all round us, and followed the pathway back towards the monastery.  Climbing up again, we eventually arrived once more at the cemetery, at the corner where a little “Lourdes grotto”, with statues of the Virgin Mary and St Bernadette, always seems to have some flowers blooming around it.

See what wonderful opportunities there were for photos, even very amateur ones?  And we didn’t have a camera!

But never mind about that.  The interesting thing that the candidate said to me was this: after a few weeks in the monastery, her impression of Glencairn is that it is “a place of freedom”. 

She is right.  For those who are called to live this life, the monastery is a true place of freedom, where we can serve God and our sisters in simplicity and joy.  St Benedict says that though it may be difficult at first, ”as we progress in monastic life and faith we shall run along the way of God’s commands, our hearts freed and overflowing with the inexpressible delight of love.”

It is good that the candidate can see that this becomes reality here.  And it is good for us too, to have it confirmed by someone from outside.

Twiturgy

I have no first-hand experience of Twitter (”a free social messaging utility for staying connected in real-time”), but from what I’d heard, I judged it to be one enormous waste of time, promoting a kind of “communication” which is quite at odds with monastic values – superficial, over-frequent, and unnecessary.

But now there is Twiturgy. Sign up for this, and at each of the seven “hours” every day you will will receive, via text message, a “twitter” containing a short phrase of Scripture.

Two things about this strike me as very monastic indeed.  First, it is rooted in the Word of God, as are all the Hours of the liturgy.  Secondly, it connects people with the Word at regular intervals through the day, which is exactly what the Liturgy of the Hours does.

So it seems that “staying connected through short status messages” is not always a bad thing. 

I would love to hear from anyone who has signed up for Twiturgy – what has been your experience of it?

Breaking the Great Silence

I’m sorry – it’s been too long since I posted!

I have been away from Glencairn for a few weeks, serving as a secretary at the General Chapter of our Order.  This meeting of all the abbots and abbesses of the Order which takes place every three years.  This year it was held at a convention centre run by the Franciscans in Assisi.

The most important matter at the Chapter was the election of a new Abbot General, to be the head of the whole Order.  On Sept. 8th, in a prayerful and peaceful atmosphere, the electors chose Dom Eamon Fitzgerald, abbot of Mount Melleray Abbey, right here beside us in Co. Waterford, to fulfil this role.

Dom Eamon leaves to reside at our General House in Rome next Sunday.  Yesterday he visited us here in Glencairn.  We celebrated with him and assured him of our prayerful support in his new ministry.

You can read more about the General Chapter here, and about Dom Eamon’s election here.

Terce, Sext and None (or “The Little Hours”)

The names Terce, Sext and None mean, respectively, “the third hour”, “the sixth hour” and “the ninth hour”.  In antiquity, time was measured by dividing day and night into twelve “hours”, the length of which varied from summer to winter.  It has been Christian tradition from the earliest centuries to pause for prayer at the third hour of the day (mid-morning), at the sixth hour (midday), and at the ninth hour (mid-afternoon).

Themes of these Hours
The Office of Terce is particularly associated with the sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost which, according to Acts 2:15, took place “at the third hour”.  We ask for a renewed outpouring of the Spirit upon us, that our hearts be inflamed with the fire of divine love, and that we may witness to the gospel as did the disciples after Pentecost.   On weekdays we also ask God’s blessing on the work of the day that is about to begin, and pray that through it we may serve God and one another.

Sext is sung when the sun is at its highest point in the sky.  Its great heat and light inspire a number of the prayers for this Hour.  At this time too the course of the day is half done: we begin the Office by taking a few minutes in silence to bring to awareness the graces we have received, for which we are grateful, and the areas in which we may have sinned and need to ask forgiveness.  Furthermore, at this hour we take a break from work and share the midday meal, and for these we give thanks.

At None, we ask for the grace of patient endurance and perseverance in our daily Christian journey, and for God’s blessing on the work we are about to resume.  Already too the day is moving towards evening, and some themes of closure and fulfilment can be heard at this hour.

On Fridays the Church is particularly mindful of the Lord’s passion.  At Terce, Sext and None, episodes from the Gospel accounts, which assign particular times to these events, are commemorated.
“They crucified him, and divided his clothes among them… It was the third hour when they crucified him” (Mk 15:24-25).
“From the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land, until the ninth hour.  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice… and yielded up his spirit” (Mt 27:45-46, 50).

Structure of the Hours
Terce, Sext and None follow the same structure.  After the opening verse and its response, we sing a hymn appropriate to the Hour or to the liturgical season.  Some psalms follow, then a short reading from Scripture, and a silent pause in which we allow this Word to resonate in our hearts.  An antiphon in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary is included in all the Hours.  A short litany asks God’s mercy on all who suffer, on any of our sisters who are absent from this Hour, and on all who have died.  A collect concludes the Office, and the invitation and response “Let us bless the Lord / Thanks be to God.”

The psalms at the Little Hours
On weekdays at Terce and on Sundays at Sext we sing some sections of the longest psalm in the Bible, psalm 118, which praises God’s law.  In its biblical sense, “law” means not just a set of rules or prescriptions, but the very way of salvation, the path of life revealed by God.  As we sing this psalm in a Christian context, we praise the law of life, the Gospel, revealed to us in Jesus Christ, and re-commit ourselves to walking in this path.

Psalms 119-131 are sung at other Little Hours in the course of the week.  Known as the “pilgrim psalms”, these were sung by the Jews going up to Jerusalem on pilgrimage.  We sing them conscious that we too are on pilgrimage, through life and through each day, and we entrust ourselves to God’s protection on this journey.

Every second Friday, psalm 21 is sung at Sext.  Its opening words were cried by Jesus on the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  United with him, we offer this prayer for all who suffer, and move from lament to praise as the psalm ends on a note of trust and joy: the Lord “has never despised the poor, but heard them when they cried… My soul shall live for him.” 

Lauds and Vespers

Lauds and Vespers, or Morning Praise and Evening Praise, mark key moments in the day, and are of the highest importance.

Morning Praise: Lauds
Lauds is the Hour of sunrise.  The new light of the sun, which puts to flight the darkness of night, is for believers a symbol of the resurrection of Christ, the true light of the world.  There is, therefore, a strong note of joy and praise in Lauds, including praise for creation.  This morning prayer also consecrates the day to God and orients our hearts and minds to God before we begin our daily tasks.

Evening Praise: Vespers
Vespers is celebrated as the sun goes down and the day draws to a close.  At this Hour we give thanks for the things that have been given us during the day, and for what we have accomplished.  We turn our eyes to Christ, the Sun which never sets, and see in him, in his self-offering on the cross and in the mystery of the Eucharist, the fulfilment of the “evening sacrifice” of the Old Covenant.

Elements of Lauds and Vespers
These two Hours follow the same pattern.

After the opening versicle, a hymn which expresses the themes of the Hour, the season, or the feast, unites us as a worshipping assembly and draws us into the celebration.

Psalms and canticles follow: at Lauds, the first psalm usually has a “morning” theme; this is followed by a canticle from the Old Testament, and another psalm, usually with a theme of praise.  At Vespers there are three psalms, followed by a canticle from the New Testament.  Each psalm and canticle has its own antiphon, a short sentence taken from the psalm itself or from elsewhere in Scripture, sung before and after the psalm.  The antiphons help to illustrate the character of the psalm; they draw our attention to phrases which we might otherwise miss; and they can enable us to approach the psalm more prayerfully.

A short Scripture reading follows, a true proclamation of the Word of God.  We ponder it in silence for a few moments, and then respond to it by singing a short responsory.

Next comes a canticle from the Gospels.  At Lauds it is the Benedictus, which was sung by Zachary, father of John the Baptist, praising the fulfilment of God’s promises in Christ, “who visits us like the dawn from on high”.  At Vespers we sing the Magnificat, the song of the Virigin Mary, glorifying and thanking “the Almighty” who “works marvels” for her, and rejoicing in the mighty acts of God.

After this, some intercessions bring the needs of the world before God, and we venerate the Virgin Mary by an antiphon in her honour. 

The Lord’s Prayer follows: St Benedict told his monks to pay special attention to the words “forgive us as we forgive”, because each day there are failures in community living which need to be forgiven.

A concluding prayer sums up and completes the Hour; the abbess pronounces a blessing; and the dismissal is sung.

It’s been too long!

Sorry about the silence! It has been too long since I updated here.
Let’s get back on track now, picking up with some more posts about the different Hours of the liturgy and their meaning.