Easter 2010...

It was a HUGE new fire!

Ster Andrea sang the Exultet...and made the angels envious!

Joan directed the Schola. We never sounded better!

Sister Laurence, Sister Mary and some dear friends transformed the barreness of Lent into a lush Easter garden.

A little silence with your Cheerios...

I love being read to by our prioress. It is a Lenten custom in our house that we keep silence until after breakfast. While we eat our prioress, Sister Cecilia, reads to us from a worthy book. Actually, she often finishes one and starts another during the "40 Days."

This is an ancient monastic practice - for centuries Benedictines ate every meal in total silence. I am rather glad that we have both holy conversation and profound times of silence. Yet, I find myself wishing at the end of Lent, that this intimate sharing of a good word might continue. But, the Easter season will demand joyful voices and glad hearts.

There are many things about "table reading" that appeal to me. First, I feel a child-like wonder come over me as Sister reads to us. Every warm memory of being read to - and those that are so early they remain beyond my reach - seem to surface in a general feeling of safety and peace. I remember what it felt like to be held close to my Mother's heart as we turned pages together. The act of reading aloud to someone is, primarily, an act of love.

Table reading, as a monastic practice, enables contemplation. Michael Casey,OCSO, suggests that reading, in general, has primacy in the Benedictine life (see: Strangers to the City.) Whether we hold the book or "listen with the ear of [our] heart," we are completely attentive to the present moment. Reading takes us out of ourselves - beyond past hurts, memories that preoccupy and worries of the future - and holds us to the now where GOD dwells.

When the prioress reads to us, we all hear the same thing. I like the thought that throughout the day our individual meditations might move in a common direction. I believe GOD can use this opportunity to move our hearts. I suspect it is the Spirit who really selects the book. (Being prioress comes with so many graces. I believe there is little decided or done without prayer.)

When we are eating in silence together, it fascinates me how attentive we are to the noise we make. (Some mornings the sound of silverware being dropped into the "dirty" bucket, can be a bit much!) Lenten silence makes us each more aware of how we move our chairs and stack our dishes. All in all, table-reading is one of my favorite customs. Is there someone in your life you love enough to read to? I'll bet there is...

Blessings and love,

- Sister Vicki

Going to Jerusalem...

I spent Saturday with our oblates in Bedford, VA. It was a retreat day for the deanery - about 20 faithful friends of our monastic community. Oblates are an integral part of the mission of every Benedictine house. These good women and men take the spirituality of Saint Benedict out into the world for us. They are good Christians - of many denominations - who in marriage or single life, let the Holy Rule become part of their journey. It is a Benedictine way of life that runs parallel to ours in the monastery. They add their love and energy to our projects and passions. I can't imagine our life without them.

That said... Saturday was a very special day. We took stock of our Lenten observances - the graces that come with the failures, being lost and being found. We contemplated the Lord's entry into Jerusalem - the city that kills its prophets. Shared lectio, reflection and holy conversation created a bond of spiritual intimacy among us. Dwelling together on the richness of the the Triduum, we approached the Paschal Mystery with awe and gratitude. I have never felt more ready to enter into these holy days. I am grateful to our Bedford oblates for their willingness to walk so closely with the suffering Christ. It is in His journey that we make sense of our own. We will all go to Jerusalem...and beyond death we will know the joy of the resurrection.

Blessings and love to you all...

- Sister Vicki

It's all about love...

"Cooking As Contemplation:

A Spirituality for the Kitchen"

WHEN: May 18th

WHERE: Dominican Retreat House,

McLean, VA
CONTACT: http://www.dominicanretreat.org/

Hope to see you there!

- Sister Vicki

The displaced saint...

Today, in the universal Church, it is Monday of the 5th Week of LENT. But, in the Benedictine ordo, it is the Feast of Saint Benedict! How can this be? Well, liturgy is a little like poker – the Lord Jesus beats a full house of saints. The Lord’s Day – Sunday – always trumps a memorial, however significant it may be. There are solemnities that trump the Sunday, but they are “Solemnities of the Lord.” Confused? That’s OK. We who love liturgy can be a bit overzealous in defending its principles and less that clear in our explanations. It would be easier to say that Sunday – the day of the resurrection – is the day from which all Christian holiness flows. Therefore, the saints, as heroic as they were, do not claim to be holier that Christ himself. So, Benedictines everywhere held their breath yesterday and waited for Morning Prayer to chant the glorious antiphon of this feast.

“Let the children of Benedict ~

be especially joyful ~
on the celebration of him ~

who now rejoices ~
with the saints in heaven.”

Today, we recall the passing of this friend of GOD into his eternal glory. We remember how Saint Benedict died in the arms of his disciples after receiving Holy Communion. "Standing, with his arms raised to heaven, he did most happily yield his angelic spirit."

I love this feast – even more than the summer feast, July 11th. Though the great honor of being the “Patriarch of Western Monasticism” honors the holiness and longevity of the Holy Rule itself, I much prefer the winter feast. I prefer to dwell on his "happy death" – a death I long for with all my heart. Benedict's last breath was the fruit of living that rule. That great surrender to the Mystery that owned him all his days, Benedict's "passing" is, for me, an icon of the glory that awaits all who struggle to live the gospel in community. His passing encourages all of us to strain toward the goal of heaven with joy – not fear.

When I first contemplated entering the monastery, I was a little freaked out by our cemetery. Seeing my final destination as a Benedictine seemed like a lot at the beginning. Now, I cherish the silent walk we take up the hill with our beloved dead. Now, I listen to the tolling of the bell and think about how close our last breath may be for any of us – how tenuous and beautiful human life really is. Now, I pray for a happy death, like our Holy Father, Saint Benedict. I have seen it among my sisters. It is the last gift we can give one another – a gift that offers those who love us a glimmer of the resurrection.

Blessings, love and Happy Feast!

- Sister Vicki

New project...new friends!

Sister Elisabeth, AL; Sister Catherine, OK; Sister Colleen, MD & Sister Bridget, KS

(Click on each house at left and visit these wonderful communties.)

I returned last night from Mount St. Scholastica Monastery, in Atchison, KS. I had the privilege of working with four Benedictine sisters whose houses are within our federation. Our task was to begin planning a meeting of North American Benedictine women who are "55 & Under" - a daunting task, but exciting at the same time! Friday afternoon we dug in. Evening Praise and Supper came soon, so we decided to do some reading that evening and "sleep on it."

Saturday was magical! (The Spirit always comes when we call.) The five of us reached a total consensus on our theme. The "when," the "where," and the "who" were the next issues to resolve. (There is nothing like the moment when a keynote speaker says, "yes." We got the good news literally moments before the Sunday Eucharist. After doing a spontaneous "happy dance," we found our places in Chapel - just in time to sing the gathering hymn!) After that beautiful Eucharist with the monastic community, we happily reported to our federation president, that we had the "bones" of the program set.

We left in the afternoon to return to our respective monasteries. There is much left to do, but we've got a plan. We will reconvene again before the 2011 event. Today, I have a smile that defies the travel "hangover." I have four new friends - and we listen well to one another. That, in itself, is a foretaste of Easter.

Blessings and love to you all...

- Sister Vicki

A Bouquet of Love...

Q: When are fake flowers better than real ones? A: When they are made by every child in our elementary school.

Sister Joan Ann's funeral was a moment of grace for both Linton Hall School and our monastic community. Nearly 500 people gathered in our school auditorium for the liturgy. Our brother, Fr. Godfrey Mullen, OSB, flew in from Saint Meinrad to preside with the prioress. The parents prepared and ordered enough food to "feed the 5000" afterward. The walls of the gym were covered in construction-paper flowers - a bouquet of love for Sister Joan Ann. We have never had a funeral quite like this - never had a long trail of people follow the sisters right to the grave. What moved me the most were the children - the small ones in their LHS uniforms, clinging to their parents and to us for comfort. What a gift those parents gave to them in allowing them to bring their grief to school that day. What a priceless opportunity to bring every feeling to prayer and be comforted by the power of the liturgy itself. How good to allow them to see that death is part of living - not an enemy, by a friend who returns us to our true home. For many of those little people, it was their first experience of loss. As I watched them chase each other around the gym at the luncheon, I felt a rightness about it all. Their grief will turn to joy and happy memories of a Benedictine sister, who truly loved them all, will replace the sorrow. Sister Joan Ann will continue to love them from her place in God's glory. Love IS stronger than death for we who believe. That is the lesson I hope they never forget.

Blessings, love and gratitude to all who have shared these days with us...

- Sister Vicki