Trappist monk. CW
Here I am, in a monastery of Trappist nuns, who have opened the doors of their home and given me the opportunity to share a few days of prayer and silence with them. By saying "a few days", I am stating that I am not a great connoisseur of the richness of your life, but I just want to tell you how beautiful the monastic life is and what I have been able to learn in these few days.
Prayer life
The life of the nuns is a life of prayer. His daily routine states that the most important thing is to worship and love God above all things, with all the soul and with all the heart. Already at 4:00 am, in the middle of the night, they are awake to start the day reciting the Vigils. At 6:30 it is time for Laudes and Mass. Then they continue with Tercia (8:15), Sixth (12:00) and Nona (14:15). In the afternoon are Vespers (17:50) and after dinner Complete (19:20).
That is, during the day, a maximum of three hours outside the Church, working (in the garden, cooking, making crafts ...) and dedicating their work to God while repeating some jaculatory, some brief prayer, such as "Come Spirit Holy".
They sing the liturgy of the hours, with sweet voices given by God to make the moments in which they are worshiped on earth sound beautifully. When they say "Glory to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit" they bow with such reverence that their back is parallel to the ground. Every day they sing several psalms. It takes them two weeks to recite the 150 psalms of the Bible, and when they finish they begin again.
I have spoken with the host nun, who has generously received me and helped me to decipher the book “Liturgy of the hours for the faithful” that I had a while ago at home and did not know how to use it. He explained that the liturgy that the nuns follow is more complete, since they pray seven times a day. This book is intended for the faithful to pray three times a day: lutes, vespers and complete. It is a highly recommended book.
I have hardly spoken with the other nuns. Luckily, this is one of the few places in the world where, although we are several people together, silence can reign . Said San Rafael Arnaiz Barón, Cistercian and Trappist monk of the early twentieth century: "How beautiful is silence! ... I am convinced, silence helps a lot so as not to lose the presence of God" (Happy, 2006, p.15). You are right, how beautiful and necessary is silence to be with God!
In the silence you can see the joy, humility and generosity of these Cistercian Trappist nuns who receive the guests in their home, their Church, their oasis of peace and praise that they have managed to create with thousands of hours of prayer directed full of love to the King of Heaven and Earth, to our Savior.
Leave it all
But before staying forever in the monastery, before becoming Trappist nuns, these women had to "die to the world" and leave everything. Leave families, jobs, surnames ...
If we stop to meditate deeply on this reality, we will glimpse the greatness of his surrender to God . How difficult to have to leave a family and some beloved friends! Leave the walks, the adventures, the amusements, the adventures. Leave nations, lands, languages and customs. Leave the boast, the extensive talks, the chattering of the mind. Leave dreams, desires and illusions based on one's ego.
Surrender completely to the will of God . Surrender to a life of humility and adoration. Surrender to silence and order. Deliver the body and all hours of the day. Watch at night. What a brave delivery! Who can do it? They, who are guided by the Rule of St. Benedict.
Beautiful way to follow Jesus . He said: “Whoever wants to come after me, deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. Because, whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but he who loses his life for me and for the Gospel will save it. What is it worth for man to win the whole world if he loses his own life? ”(Mark 8: 34-36).
Trappist monks
Communion with God
Although it is a difficult step to take, to leave everything, to deny yourself, there is no doubt that the reward for the brave is infinite. That is glimpsed in the nuns and monks: peace, joy, love, the truth that comes from God and floods the soul.
What is better than letting yourself be embraced by God ! What better than being all of God, in Him, for Him, with Him! Jesus prayed for his disciples at the last supper saying: "Holy Father, keep in your Name those you have given me, that they may be, like us, one thing" (John 17:11). He also said: "I say these things while still in the world, that they may have in themselves the fullness of my joy " (John 17:13). Thus, united to Jesus, for having delivered the body and soul to his praise, we are united to Him as He wanted, and as our joy is, our joy is total.
This is the ideal state to leave this world and deliver the body to the earth. The ideal state to start living eternal and celestial life .
Many thanks to the nuns and monks who keep the tradition of true praise to God alive and who open the doors of their home to live their existence that no longer has their feet in the mud and temptations of This world and its heart is firmly attached to that of its Lord.
Sources and bibliography:
- THE BOOK OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD THE BIBLE. Buenos Aires: Editorial San Pablo, 1981.
- Liturgy of the hours for the faithful . Greetings, Vespers and Complete. Presented by Pedro Farn s Scherer, Pbro. Official liturgical version. Bilbao: Descl e De Brouwer SA, 2014.
- Cistercian witnesses of our time. Blessed Rafael Arn iz Bar n. Happy pool. Vitorchiano (VT): Trappiste, 2006.
Author: Cecilia Wechsler, member of the Great White Brotherhood hermandadblanca.org
