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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, our Holy Father, 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." |
| 12:20 a.m. |
Rise for Matins |
| 4:50 a.m.. |
Rise for Lauds |
| 5:50 |
Coffee |
| 6:30 - 7:30 |
Lectio |
| 7:30 |
Terce |
| 8:00 |
Holy Mass |
| 9:00 |
Morning work begins |
| 11:25 |
Sext |
| 12:00 |
Dinner |
| 1:30 p.m. |
Rosary & None |
| 2:15 |
Work |
| 4:20 |
Vespers & Adoration |
| 5:25 |
Collation |
| 6:30 |
Recreation |
| 7:30 |
Compline |
| 8:45 |
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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Divina * Consecration
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Monastery * Archives
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