6 minute read
sIsTeR kATIe mcnAmARA, O.C.s.O
The secret to a balanced life: liturgy, lectio, labor
Three traditional monastic practices allow followers to be brought home to the heart of Jesus.
by SiSter Katie McNaMara, O.c.S.O.
In a world that seems at times to be spinning out of control, there is a place apart where life is simple, focused, and down-to-earth. In this refuge one can hear silence, touch solitude, and listen with the ear of the heart. and the best thing about it is that it is forever.
Unlike a costly vacation to a resort, where the peace advertised is for a space
Sister Katie McNamara, O.C.S.O., a Cistercian nun, is infirmarian and vocation director of Mount Saint Mary’s Abbey in Wrentham, Massachusetts. of time only, the monastic life offers a peace that is not an escape but a return to reality, to that real world for which the human heart was first created. In the cacophony of today’s society the heart is often deafened to the voice of God. In monastic life we are led out into the desert where there is no place to hide and therefore where we can find our true selves in God. The horizons stretch as far as the eye can see, allowing hearts to expand on the journey toward the God who has called us to follow. The wideopen spaces overflow with the freedom found only when one is brought home to the heart of Jesus.
The Cistercian way of life is lived on the three principles of liturgy, lectio divina, and labor. It is the living out of the gospel in a love that is uncluttered, selfless, and yet always nourished by the desire for more. More of what? Of God. After all, there is a part of the human heart made for God and God alone; as Saint Augustine said, “Our hearts are restless, O God, until they rest in you.”
Liturgy
In the liturgy we experience the joy that is ours in being given the privilege and responsibility of praying the Divine Office, the official and ancient prayer of the church. Seven times a day we gather to “sing unto the Lord.” The first office of the day, Vigils, begins shortly after 3 in the morning with the words, “O
Lord, open my lips.” The last office, known as Compline, completes the monastic day with the words of the final blessing, “May almighty God grant us a peaceful night and a happy death.” It is between these verses of prayer that the monastic lives out her or his daily life. I once heard it said that when we pray the psalms we pray with a
Enter #168 at VocationMatch.com
We make God more deeply known and loved. Join us.
Enter #154 at VocationMatch.com thousands-year-old heart because these are the very psalms Jesus himself prayed. And it is in this ancient prayer of the church that the waters of grace flow to cleanse, refresh, and sometimes flood the soul. All prayer reaches toward the center that is Eucharist, the moment of deepest communion with Jesus.
Lectio
Lectio divina, or “sacred reading,” is a great monastic practice and is central to monastic life. It is done daily. It is never finished. It never becomes old nor can it ever be put aside or replaced with something else. Lectio divina is the prayerful pondering of the Word of God—that Word that is so mysterious, powerful, purifying, fruitful, and life-giving. It is the monastic’s food and drink. Lectio is the door through which we allow God to enter into a place deep within ourselves where God already is, where God is already waiting for us. In other words, lectio brings us into the depths of our own hearts.
Vastly different from the kind of reading that skims a page for information or leisurely reads a novel for pleasure, in lectio divina we read slowly, attentively, so that we savor the Word. It is as if we are trying to hear God’s voice, look into God’s eyes, see God’s smile. It is leaning into God, laying our head against God’s chest with our ear to God’s heart listening for God’s heartbeat. Lectio divina does not come to a grinding halt when the book is closed but continues moving forward, bringing us with it as we move throughout our day, and we in turn carry the Word with us to whatever task is at hand and every person we encounter.
Labor
As the monastic lives in community, so does she or he work in community. It is important to realize that in maintaining a healthy monastic life the place of work is essential. Not only does it steady us in the midst of daily life but it allows us the privilege of being in union with the poor.
Work teaches us not only to
The Cistercian way of life is the living out of the gospel in a love that is uncluttered, selfless, and yet always nourished by the desire for more.
find God in all our actions but helps us to recognize that God is already present as we take our place alongside those who struggle to earn a living. One learns that God comes while sweeping the floor and weeding the garden, in caring for the sick and the elderly, teaching the novices and shearing the sheep. Work in the monastery varies from making food, answering the door or phone, and all the other simple activities that help keep the monastery functioning as a family.
For the greater glory of God
Regardless of what one is engaged
Enter #168 at VocationMatch.com
Enter #371 at VocationMatch.com
in at any given moment, liturgy, lectio, and labor are all given for the same purpose: the greater honor and glory of the God who first loved us and gave God’s self for us. The contemplative strives toward a life that sees all through the eyes of Jesus and hears all with the listening heart of Jesus.
Each of us has only one life to live. To live it for others in a way of life that is hidden in the heart of the church is to answer the call of Jesus that is as ancient as the rising of the sun, as new as each morning’s dew, and as precious as the gift each person is before God. =
