I think it would be best to start this blog with giving you a little better understanding of
what a Monastic Immersion Experience actually is.
Monastic comes from the word monk. Monk, besides the obvious one we think of as a man wearing a robe, living, praying and working within the walls of a monastery really means "a call to seek God above all else, a deep desire and hunger for a deeper relationship with God". Monasticism is a spiritual call, a way of life, a set of values, priorities and structures. St. Benedict wrote THE RULE for people who wanted to seek God in community. THE RULE creates a holistic, comprehensive, structured way of life that is oriented toward seeking God. The good news today in the 21st century is that THE RULE can be lived by everyone, inside and outside of monasteries.
So now that you have a better understanding of what Monastic means let us move on to what Immersion means. Webster's Dictionary defines it as means to engross the attention of, engage deeply, to absorb. Absorb means to suck up, take in, engage wholly.
I apologize to those of you who were checking for my blog postings during the past three weeks. The Holy Spirit helped me to understand why I wasn't able to blog my experiences any sooner than now. It's was because I needed to experience the whole 3 weeks so that when I did share it, it would give you the complete picture instead of snippets here and there that wouldn't tie together.
So let me begin by giving you an idea of what a typical day would look like.
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
8:30 a.m. Morning prayer Chapel
11:30 or 11:40 a.m. Mass/Eucharist or Mid-day Praise Chapel
12 noon or 12:15 p.m. Dinner (Big meal of the day)
5:00 p.m. Evening prayer Chapel
5:30 p.m. Supper (more like our lunch)
On Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. we would have a class with Sister Teresa on Monasticism, Benedict's RULE, Psalms and Lectio Divino Divina. Lectio is a letting oneself be transformed by the slow reading of Scripture. We would also have group discussion.
As you can see by the schedule we had 3 meals a day and 3 times of prayer or mostly 2 times of prayer moring and evening with Mass in the latter part of the morning. In Benedict's Rule, they would have to stop what they were doing and pray 8 times a day. You can not experience physical or spiritual starvation at St. Gertrudes unless you choose not eat at the good sisters' dining tables or not participate at Mass and partake of Holy Communion at Jesus' banquet table.
"All you who are thirsty, come to the water; you who have no money, come receive grain and eat; come without paying and without cost, drink wine and milk". Isaiah 55:1
We were also spiritually supplemented by Father Meinrad's daily homilies based on the Scriptue readings for the day. The focus the first week was on the Eucharist, Jesus' Body and Blood. My understanding and gratitude for this great give of love from Jesus have been raised to new heights.
So we daily we had our physical and spiritual smorgasbords!
As previously mentioned above, the Praying of the Psalms is central to Benedict's Rule. I do not feel that my words are adequate to fully explain why this was so important. I have asked Sister Teresa Jackson's permission to use part of her words from her article in the Canticle of St. Gertrude entitled " WHY WE PRAY TOGETHER", which are as follows:
"Let's start at the beginning: When the bell rings, the world no longer revolves around me. I am called to come to silence, in openness, to a place that is only about prayer, a place where all of us come to sink into the presence of God, to open our hearts to the needs of a hurting world.
In coming together in our prayer, we recite the psalms that remind us how much bigger our world and our God is than our limited ability can imagine. We stretch our hearts in proclaiming the tremendous joy of the psalmist in praising the God who is creator, sustainer, source of all life and power.
When we gather together, we enter into the world of prayer where the deep hurts and divisions of our community are brought to a truce. Together as we pray the psalms, the prayers of an ancient community, and the Our Father, the prayer of our Christian community, we experience a tentative reaching out to one another, a holding of hands, the beginnings of healing. We come into prayers as broken people, as the stubborn, stiff-necked people of the desert, the Pharisees who have safely domesticated God, the people who can not see their own limitations and lack of forgiveness. Here is prayer the people of hardened hearts are given another opportunity to receive a heart of flesh, to forgive and be forgiven. We do it for ourselves, we do it on behalf of people who have no such opportunity to come together, in comunity, to pray multiple times a day, to have their hearts broken open."
Needless to say I now have a much greater appreciation for the psalms.
The monastic community at St. Gertrude's reminds me of the ant colony I observed the other day on the top of a hill between two trees. The swarm of ants were busily running back and forth, up and down this tree to accomplish whatever their very important task was. I noticed that it was never about a single ant's ego or agenda. Everything was about survival, well being, structure, good orderly direction, service and the common good of all the ants.
I observed just the same thing here at St. Gertrudes on a daily basis. A true sense of community where everyone cares and looks after each other. Each sister takes her turn in the rotation system that is in place to do whatever task is needed. The stronger sisters take care of the weaker sisters who are in the infirmary and wheelchair bound by pushing them to and from prayer and Mass. Each sister selflessly and humbly uses their God given talents and abilities to keep the community moving forward on a daily basis but also to insure the
future of St. Gertrudes. Being such a small community, the sisters go from task to task. ( I wouldn't say running like the ants but walking rather quickly). My mother would say, "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" and she was right. Everyday something big or small is being cleaned in the monastery. Yet it is done with a sense of reverence and peacefulness as the sisters and the staff go about their cleaning. You can feel God's presence in the midst of their everyday ordinary tasks. I assure you that the ants do not have anything over on the sisters and staff at St. Gertrudes!
At the end of the busy day, the sisters settle into their moments of relaxation, hobbies or private moments of silence, prayer and meditation. As I would walk the halls of the monastery at night most times I was all alone. Occasionally I would come accross another soul seeking something to snack on or a nice soothing mug of tea from the dining hall. I felt an overwhelming sense of security and serenity in the stillness of the night.
I will now try to describe what my part of volunteering here entailed. Upon arriving the first day we were told "Everyone does dishes, pots and pans". So I was assigned to washing and drying pots and pans after our noonday dinner. I mostly dried. Sisters Katie and Agness did the washing. They sure could scrub those pots and pans!!! Next we were told that everyone has to help pick the raspberrries off the bushes out back
on Mons., Weds., and Fridays. Well, we got here at the end of raspberry season so we would go out and be lucky if we could get a half a can. Another day, we went to pick apples right off the tree from the house of one of the staff here.
My main assignment was to work with Sister Corinne at the Inn which is St. Gertrudes Bed N Breakfast. I was very happy with this placement as I told Sister Teresa that hospitality was something that I had grown up with in my home. My tasks were to strip the beds, wash and dry the sheets and towels, remake the beds, clean bathrooms, dust and vacuum so the rooms would be freshly clean when our next guests arrived. Every night I would water the plants and shrubs out side the Inn. It was always so peaceful as the sun was setting, the moon was rising and as I watched the 3 little deer graze in the field next to the Inn. Some days I was in silence and by myself and other days I would be there helping Sister Corinne, then we would sit and have good conversation sipping our ice tea. My soul was at great peace doing these very simple tasks slowly and intentionally.
I was very happy that I would be here at St. Gertrudes for both the Blessed Mother's Feast Days; the Assumption on 8/15 and her Coronation on 8/22. A day before the Assumption , Sister Channelle asked me if I would take a ride with her to Lois' house to cut some flowers for the Sanctuary to honor the Blessed Mother. I immmediately said yes, as I love to bring the Blessed Mother flowers. We gathered the most beautiful gladiolas and dahlias in colors of pink, orange, purple, yellow and white. I know the Blessed Mother was soo happy.
I was soon delighted again when I found out that there was a statue of the Blessed Mother up in the Grotto, up the hill, near the Stations of the Cross. At 6 p.m. each night armed with my prayer book and multi-colored rosary that Sister Valine had given me, I would climb the steep path huffing and puffing. I would think of Jesus and how he had to climb all the way to Calvary carrying the heavy cross in such physical agony. I would say, " Jesus have mercy on me a sinner. Thank you Jesus! Thank you Jesus"!
In her great love for me, the Blessed Mother had bestowed on me the following gifts during my time at St. Gertrudes. A new appreciation for the powerfulness of saying the rosary. My new brown scapular which is Mary's Garment from her appearance at Fatima as Our Lady of Carmel and her promise that if I wear it devoutly and perseveringly, it means that I am continually thinking of her and in turn that she is always thinking of me and helping me and she will help to secure eternal life for me.
The best blessing from the Blessed Mother was a 4 volume book called "City of God, The Divine History and Life of the Virgin Mother of God Vol. 1 The Conception" that Sister Valine lent me to read. The Blessed Mother gave these revalations to Sister Mary of Agreda in Spain in 1637. She tells of the great love God has for his Creation and out of that great love He created her to be the Mother of His Son, His spouse, the Bride of the Church and the instrument that would begin his great Salvation Plan. She tells Sister Mary of the great mysteries that have never been spoken of in the Bible. The title of the bok refers to the Blessed Mother as the "City of God" because she is the new City of Jerusalem, the new holy temple where God will dwell. The Blessed Mother also mentors Sister Mary with directions to fear and reverence God, live a life that is pleasing to God and obediently and humbly follows God's will. I feel privileged to be privy to the knowledge of such mysteries and instructions from the Blessed Mother. THANK YOU BLESSED MOTHER!!!!!
I came to St. Gertrudes seeeking God's presence and to hear his voice speaking to my soul in this sacred place, but more importantly in the silence of my heart. I came to hear with the "ears of my heart". About a week into my stay here, the Holy Spirit told that I was becoming to easily distracted and needed to go into 5 days of silence, to withdraw and spend time alone with God. Good call Holy Spirit! I would have missed out on some of my greatest blessings that came from the silence. God spoke to me through the many things that I had the time to read. I felt like I was enrolled in the Holy Spirit College of Higher Learning. My mind felt like a sponge, absorbing, sucking up, taking in, engage wholly.
I came also asking God for some discerment if He is calling me a a religious vocation. He hasn't answered the question yet, but in His infinite wisdom and grace He did call me to a higher level of spiritual understanding which has brought me to a new depth in my relationship with him. These past three weeks, God has continued to transform me into my true authentic self which was made in his Image and likeness. The call He has for my life right now until further notice, is to be the best Christian that I can be.
So in conclusion, I would resoundly say that I have been thoroughly immersed in this monastic experience at St. Gertrudes. I have been blessed beyond measure. Thank you Holy Trinity and Blessed Mother. Thank you to the dear sisters for welcoming and embracing me, for all your kindnesses, your words of wisdom and encouragement, and
your prayers.
With Much Love & Gratitude,
Margo
