Signs are all around us, communicating information and meaning. A monastery too, is a silent sign. I have witnessed over the years an amazing communication of the Holy Spirit that happens in the minds and hearts of people who drive onto this property, this holy ground.
Read MoreThe Institute on Religious Life (IRL) recently rolled out a redesigned version of their website devoted to promotion of contemplative vocations, CloisteredLife.com.
Read MoreOn May 15, 2018, the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life issued Cor Orans, the long-awaited implementing instruction on Pope Francis' 2016 Apostolic Constitution Vultum Dei quaerere.
Read MoreThe cloistered life is very important in the world, even today, because cloistered nuns are meant to be signs pointing to the life of the world to come, to remind humanity that this present world is passing away and we are all meant to be journeying to the Heavenly Jerusalem.
Read MoreAfter four graced days of retreat (Nov. 17-20), the nuns of our community renewed their vows during the Holy Mass commemorating the Presentation of Mary in the Temple. As we renew our self-offering to God on this feast each year, we ask her intercession help us persevere in faithfulness as handmaids of the Lord and His work of redemption.
Read MoreThe primary "work" of a contemplative nun is prayer. This opus Dei, "work of God," as St. Benedict terms it in his Rule, takes many forms. Private prayer is the necessary complement to prayer in common. Times of deep immersion in God enable us to abide lovingly in His presence throughout the rest of the day, as we fulfill our daily tasks.
Read MoreWhat is the purpose of the cloistered vocation? What does it look like? What value do our hidden lives have for the Church and for the world? As implied by the adjective “contemplative”, cloistered contemplative nuns come to the cloister to enter into a contemplative prayer relationship with the Holy Trinity. This is our vocation in the Church.
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