Celebrating the Sacred Liturgy in a Benedictine house is always a little intimidating for a rough-edged secular such as myself. Everything is so perfect that I tremble in case I commit some liturgical solecism and mess things up. Sr Sacristan had all the books prepared for me and I think I managed OK. God has mercifully given me the ability to sing and provided me with good tuition in Latin so those are two obstacles removed, but I did try to pay careful attention to the rubrics of the Missal of Pope Paul VI.
Above you can see a view of the beautiful choir which is seen by the celebrant. It is filled with sisters of all ages, from young postulants, novices, and simply professed, to those venerable long-standing members of the community who still give so much from their experience.Here is a photo from Vespers in the afternoon: the incensing of the altar at the Magnificat:
At recreation after None, there was a gathering of all the community to celebrate Sr Claire's jubilee with songs and laughter. As with all contemplative communities, the sense of joy is infectious.
After the various party pieces, there was an opportunity for all the community to come to the grille and meet the visitors. This was a lovely occasion for me, since I had the chance to greet and chat with sisters whom I have seen in choir over the years but not met in person.
Naturally, the youngest of the guests received some special attention:
There was a special moment for Sr Claire and her four brothers:
12 comments:
I get the creeps when I see all those liturgical books - one just for prefaces! When will the dear nuns see the liturgical light and return to the Mass of One Book?
"As with all contemplative communities, the sense of joy is infectious."
I have to agree with you there, Fr Tim. I had a relation who was a Carmelite sister. On my visits to the convent, even through the grille, I was overwhelmed by the sheer love and joie de vivre which emanated from her and the rest of those blessed ladies. Requiescat in pace.
"It is filled with sisters of all ages,..."
Ooooh, I wonder why...? *scratches head* :p
That photo of the 2 Frs. (in the previous post) overlooking the Solent brings back memories of a great holiday on the IoW in the blazing summer of '76. On the Sunday morning we went to Mass in the church in Shanklin. What amazed me, coming from Ireland, was how all the conregation sang the Gloria and Credo (de Angelis) very well. It wasn't the custom in Ireland to do that, even back then not that long after all the changes.
The church would have been full of holidaymakers, of course, so the priest was perhaps taking a big chance that it all wouldn't just break down, as I don't recall there was an actual choir. I suppose he could depend on a large number of people still knowing what to sing, in those days? And maybe there were enough of his regulars there to carry the rest along.
Anyway, it was just one more nice memory of a really great holiday.
My dear friend, Dom Bede Price of my former monastic community of St. Louis Abbey celebrated the Holy Week Rites for Stanbrook Abbey.
After Easter Sunday Mass, the precentrix of the choir came up to Dom Bede and said, "Oh Father, you have such a lovely voice, it's a pity you can't read music!!"
Dom Bede has since taken an intense chant workshop to bone up on his neums!
Berni - to be fair, the one with the music in has the chants for all of the ordinary of the Mass so it is used from the Offertory onwards until after Communion. (The glitch is that you need to have a card with the prayer "super oblata".)
Thank you for posting pictures of inside the convent. I am going to spend some time at a convent in the beginning of July and while when I made the arrangements I was really excited and still remain so I am becoming more and more uncertain, nervous and anxious as I am not sure in the least what to expect. Well I know I know what I am going to be actually physically doing as they have 'a day in the life of a sister' on their website what I think I am most nervous about is how I am going to react what my thoughts and feelings will be that’s what has me so anxious (last minutes nerves perhaps).
Seeing the pictures of the grille and enclosed area has helped me understand a little how the cloistered principle works (no doubt I am sounding very ignorant here) I have been in correspondence via e mail and have been told I will be staying in guest accommodation and not permitted to enter the enclosure and well I have just never really seen a grille or enclosed area and had envisaged something foolish life sound proof glass and phones like on prison movies, and having to spend long periods of time in a place I am not very familiar with alone. Having seen the picture while I am still going to a different convent it does not seem all that daunting and actually rather cheerful and friendly.
Catherine - I'm glad the photos helped. The main adjustment, I think, is to adapt to living in community. Remember that the grille is not primarily to keep the sisters in but to keep others out!
Thanks for the photos of Sr. Claire's silver. I had to miss the celebrations but will be coming to live and work at the abbey later in July, so I will have lots of time to immerse myself in the Latin in the future.
Although I wholeheartedly support the marvellous ideal that the enclosed life offers to the world I must confess to having mixed feelings about the grille. As I understand it these are only ever used by women's order's never male ones. Indeed a full professed brother of an enclosed order, who is a friend of mine, once told me that he was horrified by the grille used in convents. In particular, I find it hard to understand why visitors who are blood relatives, and thus clearly no threat to a sister’s virtue, cannot meet their relative in a parlour, san grille, as would happen in a monastery if their relative was monk.
The important thing to remember is that the sisters choose to keep the grille. Indeed in one convent I heard of, the older sisters had got rid of it but agreed to let the younger sisters use a parlour with a grille if they wished.
It offers a richly symbolic barrier between the enclosure and the world - which the sisters have chosen to leave for the sake of the Kingdom of God.
It is actually very surprising that they retained papal enclosure but open wide the grilles. I don't really understand that. Papal enclosure means no contact with ppl from the outside, but you can see on the pix that they still do. Just like for mass, why open the grilles wide instead of using a fenestrelle?
In fact, the opening of the grille is an exception because of the particular celebration. Normally when I visit, the grille is shut.
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