Anniversary

April 29th 1984 was the day I entered the monastery – 24 years ago today.   That year it was the Sunday after Easter.
It was a day of very mixed emotions on my part: happiness, sadness, relief, fear, hope…
Since then: far more joy than sadness; far more blessings than I ever dreamed of; many surprises; many days of “just ordinary”, which is really fine.  Many things learned, far more still left to learn.
Deo gratias!

Blogging update

So far, so very interesting!  Over the last few days there have been lots of visitors to this site, many coming from other blogs who have given it a mention.  Some readers have left comments, and others have asked questions – great!

Two days ago I added the page “Religious Life and Vocation”, which gives a few basic thoughts about where religious life fits in the overall scheme of things.  

There will soon be other pages, for example on the liturgy in monastic life, and on lectio divina.  I hope also to post some of the sisters’ own personal vocation stories, but they are a little shy and may need a bit of persuasion.  So do call back and see how the site develops.

Thanks to all who have sent encouraging remarks!

Signs of vocation

HOW WOULD I KNOW IF I HAD A VOCATION?

This is a fundamental question.  Unfortunately, there is no short and simple answer!  However, here are some things to keep in mind.

 

For our community, someone who feels that God is calling her to the monastery would need: 

• to be a practising Catholic;
• who has not already made a permanent commitment to another way of life in the church (i.e. not married);
• with a sincere desire to seek God;
• an ability to live with others in community;
• and an ability to deal with solitude and silence;
• good physical health;
• psychological maturity;
• some work experience after school or college.   

Our preferred age range is 22 to 40 years.

 

But there’s more to it than just being able to tick all these boxes.  There is that “something else”, which can manifest itself in various ways.  It may be a persistent attraction to monastic life; a kind of nagging feeling that won’t go away; a sense that something is missing to which the monastery has the answer; a desire to give oneself exclusively to God; an attraction to a life of prayer and worship - all of these may be signs that God is calling a person to monastic life.  It may begin with an experience in prayer, through meeting someone living monastic life, from a visit to a monastery, from something you read, a sermon, a website, a casual remark that someone makes… God works in all kinds of ways!

  

The idea of vocation may dawn on a person gradually, or it may burst into her consciousness rather abruptly.  More often than not it comes as a shock to the one concerned!  It takes a bit of getting used to, and there may be a period of resistance before she is able even to consider the possibility.  “Oh no!  Not ME!”  Apprehension and uncertainty are quite normal first reactions. 

 

Have you ever considered the possibility of vocation?  Why not take some time this week to reflect and pray about it?  God might be gently offering you a precious gift.  And making a first enquiry does not commit you to anything - there is a long and careful discernment involved before any definite decisions are made.  So there’s really nothing to lose by enquiring.

 

Feel free to post a question here, or to contact me privately at vocations(at)glencairnabbey(dot)org .

Blessed Rafael: “God Alone”

Today, April 26th, is the feast of Blessed Rafael Arnáiz Barón, a Spanish monk who died in 1938 at the age of 27.  (Read more about him here).  “God alone” was his motto. 
          This is an extract from his writings, which we read at Vigils early this morning: 

 

“God, for me, is everything; he is in everything and I see him in everything.  How useless it is to busy oneself with that which is not God.  …  Lord, my God!  What but you could hold any interest for me?  What am I that I should be looking at myself so much?  You alone should occupy my life; you alone should fill my heart; you alone should concern me.

 

God is the reason for living, the reason for existing.  God should impregnate even the air we breathe, the light that illumines us.  God is the beginning, the centre, and the end of all things… God is in everything: in choir, in the fields, in work, when we eat and when we sleep.  It is all one, for all is a reminder of why we came to the monastery, which is to seek him in austerity, in silence, in the church, in the garden, inside as well as outside of ourselves.

  

We should be persuaded that God is with us at every moment.  Let us put aside impressions that deceive our senses, cast away from ourselves the self-centredness that does us so much harm, and let us throw ourselves into the arms of God as we are, with our weaknesses and virtues, sins and miseries.  Let us entrust our souls to him, in joy or in sadness.  If we truly do this and succeed in giving our lives totally to him and make him the All of our lives, we shall have achieved true peace of heart, and we shall be closer to heaven than to earth.”

 

“Spirituality” – new page

I have just added a new page to this site: “Cistercian Spirituality”.

Here you will find a brief overview of the spirituality of our Order, based on a statement from our Constitutions: Cistercian nuns seek God and follow Christ under a Rule and an abbess is a stable community which is a school of mutual love.

To read the whole overview, click on the tab “Cistercian Spirituality” at the top of this page.

Please feel free to leave your comments or to ask questions.

At God’s Disposal

Someone thinking about vocation to monastic life (or indeed any vocation) needs to have a basic attitude of openness and disposability.  Before getting down to the details of “Missionary life, or contemplative?  Diocesan priesthood, or religious?  This Order, or that one?”, the person who is discerning needs to be able to say, with as much freedom and wholeheartedness as possible, “At your disposal, Lord!  Ready for duty!  What would you like me to do?”

Or, as the psalm says, “Here am I, O Lord, to do your will.”

All very nice, of course, but how do we get to that place of inner freedom and disposability?

Here are a few things that help:

• Regular prayer.  Prayer brings us into the presence of, and into the awareness of, God’s enormous love for us.  This love is basic to the plan God has for us.  The more we are convinced of that love and rooted in it, the more easily we will be able to respond willingly and joyfully to any plan that God has in mind for us, to anything that God asks of us.




• Pondering the example of others who have followed God’s radical call in their lives - Mary of Nazareth, for example (Luke chapter 2), or Abraham (Genesis 12:1-5 and 22:1-18), or St Antony , or Bl. Teresa of Calcutta, or anyone whose response to God’s call strikes a chord in your heart.  Take courage from their experience!




• Becoming aware of the things that block us in our response to God.  What holds me back from being ready to respond to anything God asks of me?  What do I fear?  What might happen if God led me in a certain direction?  Reflecting on these things, perhaps writing about them in a journal, and bringing them gently to prayer, can lead to growth in openness and availability to God.

It has been well said that “Jesus doesn’t call those who are ready, but those who are willing.”

“Begin with prayer”

St Benedict instructs us: “First of all, whenver you begin any good work, you must ask of God with the most urgent prayer that it may be brought to completion by him.”

So as I begin to set up this site, I pray

• that God’s blessing may be upon this work, upon this website, and upon all who visit it;
• that anything written here will reflect God’s truth and love;
• that those searching here will find a word to guide them in their path in life;
• and that some will be inspired to take the next step in responding to a call to monastic life.
  Through Christ our Lord.  Amen.