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ROBeRT mCCLORy
AT THe 2010 Christmas party at the Visitation monastery of minneapolis, visiting families prayed in the chapel while the Christmas story was told by Sister mary Virginia, V.H.m. Later, visitors went to the dining room to see Santa and receive a personalized stocking.
monastics find a new desert
Contemplative men and women bring presence and compassion to inner city neighborhoods.
by robErt mCClory
Today a new world is emerging, yesterday mainly rural, today almost wholly urban. your life therefore corresponds to a particularly real and urgent appeal from the world, the church, and God himself. . . . The desert is now inside the city. . . . Be a city-dweller with the city-dwellers of today.
HAT WAs the advice Father Pierre-Marie delfieux gave to the men and women who were enter-T ing the monastic community he founded
Robert McClory is professor emeritus at Northwestern university’s Medill School of Journalism and author of As It Was in the Beginning: The Coming Democratization of the Catholic Church (Crossroad, 2007) and most recently Radical Disciple: Father Pfleger, St. Sabina Church, and the Fight for Social Justice (Chicago Review Press), among other books. 36 years ago. it was to be a new form of religious life, combining the disciplined prayer and reflection of a much older Catholic monastic tradition with a commitment and presence to the secular city. delfieux is recognized as one of the founders of the “new Monasticism,” a term that embraces scores of communities around the world today. Their rules and membership differ radically, but many seek a spiritually grounded, integrated lifestyle within busy, loud, often fragmented urban settings. Along with these groups, some more traditional monastic communities have also chosen to live in city environments.
mission in reverse
More than 20 years ago some members of the sisters of the Visitation began
pondering a new leap of faith. The 400-year-old community of women is dedicated to monastic contemplation, but each of its houses in the U.s. has also traditionally operated a school.
“At the time we were teaching students the meaning of the preferential option for the poor [which the Latin American Roman Catholic bishops had called for] and discussing the U.s. bishops’ letter on economic justice,” says sister karen Mohan, V.H.M. “And we wondered what it would mean for some of us to live in the midst of the marginalized. What would it mean to have a contemplative presence right in the city, right in the ’hood?”
The talk about taking that leap continued off and on for years and then climaxed in 1989 when the order purchased a large, old, threestory house (and a few years later a second house) in north Minneapolis, one of the poorest sections of the city. Four sisters moved in, among them Mohan who is now 63 and still there. The neighborhood, a diverse population of African Americans and Latinos with some Hmong Asians, native Americans, and Anglos, was rife with low rates of employment and high rates of crime, drugs, shootings, and abandoned buildings. Twelve years later the neighborhood reality is much the same, and the Visitation Monastery of Minneapolis is still there as well.
The Visitation sisters went there to live monastic lives and, in addition, to interact with the community. “We came to cultivate relationships, to be a bridge between those who
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have and those who have nothing, to practice ‘reverse mission,’ ” Mohan says. This last goal, she explains, is to “meet Jesus in those who come to the door,” realizing that God is already here in these people and learning to receive and not only give. Today the two houses, about a block apart and indistinguishable from other homes in the neighborhood, have no identifying signage, with only peace symbols on the door and wellcultivated gardens in the backyards. They are now the residences of six Visitation sisters.
“nothing sets us apart from the people,” Mohan says, “We do no evangelizing work. We try to be a presence.” The sisters sing or recite the liturgical divine office four times during the day and have Mass three times a week, thanks to friendly, neighboring priests who are supportive of this “reverse ministry.” otherwise, says sister katherine Mullin,
V.H.M., the doorbell at each house is ringing constantly.
“People come for bus tokens, they come for food, they come for clothing though we don’t have that much. The children come, too—all the time.” individuals come for advice, students come for help with assignments, small groups come for discussion, and a great many in this troubled community come, the sisters say, just for conversation. The sisters join with the people in their own holiday celebrations and hold dinners and parties on numerous occasions.
The Visitation sisters, however, are not only nice ladies. They are plugged into every social service agency, local school, police district, and clergy alliance in the area; they make connections and get things done. They can talk back when necessary. Recently, says Mullin, “nothing sets us apart from the people. “
when a native American neighbor accused them of preferring African Americans and Hmong over his race, “we told him in no uncertain terms he was wrong. We do not favor any group! We treat everyone alike.” He cooled down after a while, says
SISTeR mARy Virginia Schmidt, V.H.m. with a neighbor who came to the Visitation monastery of minneapolis for an ice cream social.
Mullin, who joined the Minneapolis ministry 11 years ago after a career in school teaching and administration. Usually the sisters take one day off a week for recovery, putting signs on the front door that they are not available.
Mohan says the fire for their effort comes from the Visitation spirituality taught by saint Francis de sales and saint Jane Frances de Chantal in the 17th century. The image of Mary’s visit to her cousin elizabeth—“these two pregnant women of faith reaching out to help each other and marveling at what God was doing in their lives”—inspires their work, she says. Recently, when one sister looked out the door and saw a particularly troublesome
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person approaching, she exclaimed, “oh my gosh, i don’t know what to say!” one of the others responded, “Just say, ‘Good morning, Jesus.’ ” That served to break up the whole group and set the tone for another day.
Volunteers, who come from all
over the area to help in the work of the monastery are often amazed by what they experience. one says the outreach here is exactly like what occurred in the early church. Another comments on the sisters’ impact on the inevitable tension between racial groups in the community. Without
maybe your place — in God’s Plan is with the Franciscan Sisters of Chicago
You’re unique and so are we. We’re an exceptional congregation of women that share the joys and sorrows of life in the community. We live the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the spirit of St. Francis by proclaiming God’s love among all people serving them generously. Our life manifests the Franciscan spirit of prayer, poverty, simplicity, joy and ongoing conversion. We encourage you to call us today.
Franciscan Sisters of Chicago
Sister Lois Marie Rossi, Vocation Minister (773) 328-5566 vocations@chicagofranciscans.com Carol Lackie, Vocation Coordinator (630) 243-3555 clackie@chicagofranciscans.com www.chicagofranciscans.com
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ever mentioning the word reconciliation, he says, the sisters’ presence just makes it happen. The sisters have set up a Visitation internship program, and other volunteers are helping create opportunities for those willing to make a temporary commitment to the work. Thanks largely to younger volunteers, the monastery has a web
page, and the sisters are on Facebook and Twitter.
A praying presence
Another Midwestern city, Chicago, is the home of the Monastery of the Holy Cross. The monastery was established in 1991 by three monks
SISTeR KAReN mohan, V.H.m. welcomes two teens who came to a reunion of people who used to play during “Windsock Time,” a children’s play period at the Visitation monastery of minneapolis that is announced by the sisters hanging out a windsock.
searching for a more stable community life. The setting they found was a closed Chicago parish complex that Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, who wanted to encourage a contemplative presence in the city, donated to them in the south side Bridgeport neighborhood, an older, lower-middle-class area a mile and a half from the home field of the Chicago White sox. in many ways the eight Holy Cross monks there now follow traditional Benedictine practices. “of course,” says Father Peter Funk, o.s.B., prior since 2004, “prayer is above everything and is our first obligation.”
in fact prayer consumes about five hours a day, most occurring in the gathering of the whole community for Mass in the early morning and the singing of the divine office at various times of the day. Funk, 40, a lead singer in a Chicago rock band in his youth who later earned a degree in music from the University of Chicago, leaves no stone unturned to make these rites as meaningful as possible. Under his direction the monks sing a modified version of Gregorian chant. “i want us to sing with comprehension, not just to feel good,” he says.
The presence of Holy Cross in the neighborhood involves considerable contact with the outside world. “our prayer and liturgy are committed to the city,” says Funk. “We are constantly aware of the city noises outside. We know our neighbors, and we know the issues they’re concerned about, especially violence. We often get requests for prayer from people around here.” The sunday Mass at Holy Cross draws up to 50 people from the Chicago area. To help earn their keep the brothers bought two residences near the monastery, some units of which now house individuals or groups making retreats. Another unit is set up as a bed-and-breakfast, which tends to be booked solid from spring through fall. in Funk’s view this Benedictine monastery, planted in the unlikely
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CLOISTeR of the monastery of the Holy Cross.
FATHeR peTeR Funk, O.S.B., prior of the monastery of the Holy Cross in Chicago, prepares strawberries harvested from the community garden.
environs of a nondescript Chicago neighborhood, serves both for its inhabitants and for those who have only passing contact with it as a “presence, a touchstone, a beacon pointing toward God’s kingdom to be finally fulfilled at the end of time.”
Double the work
seven hundred and forty-five miles away, susannah kelly is practicing a different kind of monastic life. she is a member of the Jerusalem Commu-
nity of Montreal, Canada, the only presence in the Western hemisphere “What we do here is bring our prayer “ to the city, and the city to our prayer.”
(so far) of the order founded in Paris by Father delfieux. it now has 10 foundations in europe and overall some 200 vowed members, repre-
SISTeR SuSANNAH Kelly, F.m.J. helps prepare a community meal.
senting 30 different nationalities. Twenty hours a week kelly serves as a campus minister at McGill, the largest university in Canada. The rest of the time she lives a demanding monastic life at Montreal’s sanctuary of the Blessed sacrament.
The sanctuary is a large, wellpreserved T-shaped building, with the church forming the base and two residential wings at the rear, one with living quarters for the brothers (10 at present) and the other for the sisters (14). it is near the city’s downtown in a neighborhood of clubs, restaurants, art galleries, and looming skyscrapers. Though the men and women eat meals separately (except on high feast days), they gather daily for morning Mass and the singing of the divine office throughout the day in four-part polyphony. The beauty of the carefully planned prayers usually draws in 100 or more visitors and lay worshipers, especially for daily Mass, and up to 250 on sunday. it was delfieux’s idea that “the monastic life is not incompatible with the urban phenomenon.” Your calling, he told his followers “makes you and your brothers and sisters the living and humble witnesses . . . to the hidden God—hence your welcoming of every man or woman of good will who cares to join you, morning, noon, or night.” kelly, 40, says she is happier now than at any other time in her life. “What we do here is bring our prayer to the city,” she says, “and the city to our prayer.” kelly came to this way of life by a long and winding road. she grew up in new england in a sizeable family of 10 boys and one girl. it was a loving family, she says, though there was no religious practice or presence. in college she became curious
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Poor Clares are a contemplative branch of the Franciscan Order
Love God in Complete Surrender
—St. Clare
Our call is to intimacy with God and prayerful support of all people
Requirements:
An attraction to the life 18 to 45 years of age emotional and physical health
Monastery of St. Clare 1271 Langhorne-Newtown Road
Langhorne PA 19047-1297 www.poorclarepa.org vocation@poorclarepa.org
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THe SISTeRS and brothers (not shown) of the Jerusalem Community in montreal worship regularly together.
THRee JeRuSALem Community sisters go for a bike ride near downtown montreal. about God and concerned about the immensity of suffering and injustice in the world. she joined the Quakers, later the Adventists, then an evangelical church, and on to an episcopal community.
Almost by accident one day she attended a Catholic Mass. At the moment of consecration she had a sudden realization that Christ was really there. “The experience just blew away my mind,” kelly says. she became a Catholic in 1994 and after searching for a community where she could combine deep prayer with service to neighbor she stumbled upon the Jerusalem Community on a trip to Florence, italy. “it was love at first sight,” she says. kelly entered the community and was transferred to the Montreal foundation in 2006.
As she rides to McGill University on the Montreal metro subway in her long blue habit and white cap-like head veil, kelly is occasionally mistaken for a Muslim woman, which sometimes gives her an opportunity to explain herself and her work. At the school she hurls herself into a full range of activity including spiritual direction, teaching classes on apologetics and Pope John Paul ii’s theology of the body, and organizing Bible studies, days of reflection, and travel opportunities. Because she and a lone priest are the only Catholic campus ministers, kelly says, she is not above washing the dishes or cleaning the floor.
Like her, all community members work in some outside craft, trade, or profession such as information technologist, leather artisan, office secretary, nurse, even house-cleaner. Their job schedules
inevitably make the sisters and brothers miss some prayer time or other activity at the sanctuary. “But that is all right,” says kelly. “This is part of the double-work we are called to.”
Her most difficult challenge, she acknowledges, is counseling troubled students. “McGill is a typical college,” she says. “When you are a contemplative, your soul is open, and it’s so difficult to see human souls damaged through drugs, pornography, abortion, abuse. it is painful to see the suffering.”
But deal with it kelly does, then returns to the sanctuary to participate in the singing of hymns and canticles, bringing with her some of the concerns she has encountered—something that could be says for Visitation sisters in Minneapolis, Benedictine monks in Chicago, and other contemplative communities that bring a spirit of prayerful service to the city. =
SISteRS, bROtheRS, pRIeStS
A positive influence in my life . . .
“tO A VERY LARgE ExtENt, if I had perhaps not gone to school in a Catholic school, in a school that was run by sisters, by nuns . . . missionaries [who] were really very serious about values—they were very concerned about values and especially the value of service—I think I would probably have turned out to be a different kind of a person. . . . When people ask me, who inspired you? these are some of the people who actually inspired me—these nuns . . . .”
—Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement and winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, speaking in a 2011 radio interview about the Consolata Missionary Sisters who taught her in Kenya.
Before receiving her master’s and Ph.D. degrees—Maathai was the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate—she also earned a degree from Mount St. WANgARI maathai
Scholastica College (now Benedictine College) in Atchison, Kansas. Sister Mary Collins, O.S.B. and Sister thomasita Homan, O.S.B. of Mount St. Scholastica traveled to Oslo for Maathai’s Nobel Prize ceremony.
—From “Planting the future: An interview with Wangari Maathai” by Krista Tippet, On Being radio program
