Wow, I'll have been here 100 days tomorrow. It is hard to believe it's only been that long, as it feels like much longer. Whatever. God's grace has been present and available to me for each and every one of those days, as it will be for the next hundred, too.
Here are ten things I love about life in the monastery (in no particular order, except the first):
1. Having Jesus as a housemate. It's seriously FANTASTIC. We have a big chapel that connects the monastery and the school, as well as two tiny chapels on two different floors of the monastery. The one on the opposite end of the 4th floor from my bedroom, just past the retreatant area, is done in a more traditional style compared to the one on the floor below, or at least that's what I've been told. (That one's in the wing occupied by the professed sisters, which is off-limits to me.) Regardless, Jesus is Eucharistically present in three places! Knowing that I can go and be at His feet at any hour of the day and night is a great gift.
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| The Blessed Sacrament area of the chapel, between the main chapel and the sisters' choir |
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| 4th floor chapel |
2. The elderly sisters. Not every moment of every day, but most moments of most days, they are my heroes here. Four are wheelchair-bound; five use walkers; two walk with canes; and a few are old yet still fully, independently mobile for the time being. Two are suffering from Alzheimer's; they've been best friends for decades and were longtime leaders of the community. Their leadership continues through their example, embracing with great humility the crosses they've been asked to carry by the Lord. They're referred to as "the living rule," meaning: "If you want to know what it means to truly live the Visitation charism, watch them." All in all, the elderly sisters remind me of my grandmothers, which makes them easy to love much of the time.
3. The Divine Office. The prayer of the Church is a privilege to pray. Growing in my understanding of it, learning that we're joining the saints and angels five times a day in offering praise to God, has been quite mind-blowing! Chanting the psalms and antiphons gives them a special quality that's hard to describe. It's like adding salt to food - it brings out rich flavors. I hear new things in the psalms each day, and I love how they run the gamut of emotions that we all experience: joy, pain, hope, despair...words of gratitude, pleading, anger, assurance, fear, confidence... A few of us get attacks of silent giggles during Office, too, depending on what's happening around us or how something strikes us. I don't think God minds...but if He does, I'm in trouble!
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| The choir side of the chapel, where we pray the Divine Office |
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| From Psalm 72 |
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| In the elevator, where the elevator certificate should be...only in a monastery... |
4. The wheelchair-bound sisters. Technically, this should be a subset of #2, since they're all elderly, but whatever. On day two or three I was asked to begin being mindful of them in terms of helping move them from to and from Mass, meals, the Office, etc. I have been primarily "buddied" with one sister. Her patience with me is seemingly endless; she's very soft-spoken and grateful for anything I do for her. It's also one of my informal responsibilities to serve her at meals. This usually entails wheeling her to her seat in the refectory (dining room), letting her know that I'm going to see what's being served for that meal, returning to give her the rundown, and then retrieving whichever items in whichever quantities she would like. She's a bit of a picky eater, but we always find something satisfactory. Anyway, she's always a welcome companion and I enjoy "traveling" with her.
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| The refectory |
5. The food. It's amazing. We have one sister in charge of the kitchen but two or three laypeople who come different weekdays to prepare the main dishes. At least one is a professionally trained chef. Some dishes are hit or miss, but most are delectable and pretty well-balanced. At supper, there's always PB&J as an option if I'm looking for comfort food or just don't feel up to whatever's being served that evening. We are spoiled rotten when it comes to the quality, quantity, and array of choices for all of our meals. (It's actually something I think the community needs to re-examine, in the light of the vow of poverty; until I have a voice, though, I'm cashing in!)
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| A salad I made back in February when I came here on retreat, unintentionally poisoning the former vocations director...oops |
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| A sign in the kitchen |
6. The built-in structure provided by the horarium (a fancy word meaning the daily schedule of those living in a religious community or seminary). Whether or not I desire to go, I attend daily Mass, the Divine Office, at least two meals (breakfast is optional), and recreation. In terms of communal prayer, the decision is made for me, which is very freeing. The challenge becomes deciding for myself (in the remaining hours) when to make my private/personal prayer. [The professed sisters do an hour of private prayer/meditation before the first community event of the day (which is usually 7:00 or 7:30), another half hour in the afternoon, and an additional half hour of spiritual reading. Those in formation do the same, except the morning meditation is half as long.] The windows between communal prayers or meals are relatively small: less than three hours in the morning, and less than four in the afternoon. When the bell rings, it's either time to pray or time to eat. Either way, it's a reminder to turn back to what - rather, Who - is most important and most deserving of our time and attention.
7. The clothes. [Ok, technically I'm not crazy about the clothes themselves per se... Keeping white, no-iron blouses white and not-needing-to-be-ironed is no small feat. I'm used to wearing stockings every day from various jobs I've had over the years, and the skirts are flowy and low-maintenance. I alternate between two pairs of black shoes, one of which have decorative buckles (sidestory: When I asked Mother Superior two weeks before entering if they would be ok to bring, she enthusiastically said they would, and that the buckles might help attract more vocations. She really said this.).] What I like is not having to think about what I'm wearing each day. I'm not a fashion-conscious person, so a manditorily (new word) frumpy dress code is not difficult for me to pull off. The uniform also allows me a few extra precious minutes of sleep each morning that I would otherwise be spending deciding what to wear...
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| Choices, choices... |
8. The Litany. I don't know the actual name for this practice, or if it even has one, but it's a simple tradition in this monastery (perhaps in other Visitations as well...? Not sure). After the first communal prayer event of the day (either Mass or Office), the sisters and I will leave the chapel or the choir single-file. The sister ahead will cross the threshold of the doorway, turn around, and with a bow say to the next sister, "God be praised! Good morning, my dear sister!" At the same moment she's bowing and speaking, the sister approaching the threshold is doing the same. Then the first sister goes on her way and the next sister crosses the threshold, turns back, and passes the bow-and-greeting down the line. Coming out of the choir we can double up and have two lines going at once, which is just plain efficient, but effective nonetheless. It's kinda beautiful, whether you're approaching the doorway or slowly moving away from it, to hear repeated over and over this cheerful greeting. How appropriate in a community that takes as its model the joyful meeting and profound greeting shared by two holy women...
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| The ramp leading from the main chapel, past the Blessed Sacrament chapel and past the choir |
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| An image of the Visitation from the refectory |
9. The lay employees. It's a big house to keep running, and the sisters are mostly advanced in age and cannot do everything themselves as they once could. The community employs at least a dozen lay men and women for nursing, office/accounting, maintenance, kitchen, and custodial staff. Many of the people on the payroll have worked here for decades or have at least had what would be considered long-term relationships with the community. They are devoted to the Sisters and fiercely protective of them. They think of the Sisters as family, and the Sisters feel similarly about the staff. I've gotten to know some of the employees very well over the past few months and find them to be a breath of fresh air, providers of much-needed perspective at moments when I'm trying to make sense of the new world in which I find myself.
10. My room on the 4th floor. I am the only person in formation right now, so I have a bathroom to myself and a large bedroom (larger than any I've occupied previously). I have a twin bed, a recliner, a dresser, a wardrobe, a desk, a bookshelf, a nightstand, a few lamps, and a small end table. After all that, there's still room for a square dance (not really, but it's fun to say). A few pictures came with the room that are still on the walls, but I shuffled them around to hang a few of my favorites from home. It's kind of like having a studio apartment, but without a kitchen or dining area. It's not at all what I pictured, but I'm pretty sure the rooms get smaller as one progresses in this life... Being on the top floor, I'm well-acquainted with all the staircases and have become very efficient when it comes to planning my ups and downs. I'm mostly alone at the end of the P Street wing, just a few blocks from a main Georgetown University gate. I hear (and see) more Reagan air traffic than college students, though, which is fine.
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| Each bedroom is dedicated to a particular saint; St. Anne's my confirmation saint, but the Sisters didn't know that... |
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| This statue of St. Anne and the BVM is right outside my bedroom. |
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| A glimpse of my room from the view of the recliner in the corner; this was the least messy shot I could get at the time... |
Obviously, this list is not all-inclusive, but it's a start. In many ways, I'm sure that a "ten things I dislike about life in the monastery" post would have been a more interesting read. Perhaps some version of that will come in time, just for the sake of balance. In the meantime, it was helpful for me to reflect on some of the best things about this experience thus far. Happy to share a little window into my monastery world! :)
p.s. - I welcome any and all questions, none of which would be considered dumb.
