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| What is our life
like? How to describe its movement? Entering a monastery is itself a
great witness to the transcendence of God, to the hope that sustains
us. The world watches a young woman actually turn her back on all it
values, on wealth and fame and power, on a thousand attractive yet
transient possibilities for no other reason than faith in a call and
faith in Him who calls. By entering a monastery she does not merely
walk across the threshold of a brick building in Virginia. Christ is
our temple, the indestructible temple built up in three days out of
the tragedy and victory of the Cross. One embracing the life of a
Poor Clare enters into Him through His pierced Heart, and she abides
with Him. This is but a preparation for a lifelong surrender that,
day by day, authenticates the vow we make to live "without anything
of my own." Our entrance, our leaving all else for God's sake and
going to the temple to seek His Face, represents one whole segment
of our life, and is repeated with each faithful answer to the
summons calling us to praise God. Going to the temple is truly a
"martyrgia" (a witness!) in the Church. |
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The second movement of our lives, after going to the temple, takes
place in the temple itself. How great is our joy in making a fourth
vow, one of enclosure, of remaining "hidden with Christ in God." The
monastic choir is the heart of the monastery, the space that opens
into eternity where Christ unceasingly praises His Father. In his
Apostolic Exhortation, Vita Consecrata, Blessed Pope John
Paul II, speaks of monastic cloister as "a response to a need to be
with the Lord. This radical poverty, expressed in renunciation not
only of things, but of space and contacts, allows you to be
consecrated for worship, and especially to enter more fully into the
Eucharistic Mystery." |
| 12:35 a.m. |
Rise for Matins |
| 5:00 a.m. |
Rise for Lauds |
| 6:05 |
Coffee |
| 6:45 - 7:30 |
Lectio |
| 7:30 |
Terce |
| 8:00 |
Holy Mass |
| 9:00 |
Morning work begins |
| 11:40 |
Sext |
| 12:10 |
Dinner |
| 1:45 p.m. |
Rosary & None |
| 2:30 |
Work |
| 4:15 |
Vespers & Adoration |
| 5:05 |
Collation |
| 6:00 |
Recreation |
| 7:00 |
Solitude Time |
| 7:45 |
Compline |
| 9:00 |
Retire |
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Then comes the third movement, the going forth from the temple to
bear witness to the primacy of love in service to our Sisters. After
contemplating Christ on the cross, we labor to lay down our lives in
the ordinary tasks of cooking, cleaning, gardening, sewing, typing
and bookkeeping. We join our brothers and sisters in the world of
work, lifting them as a sacrificial offering pleasing to the Lord. |
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