Sacred Stones, Sacred Stories

St. Scholastica

According to Gregory the Great’s Dialogues (Book 2, ch. 33), St. Scholastica and her twin brother, St. Benedict, would meet once a year to share a meal and uplifting spiritual dialogue.

On one occasion she pleaded with him to spend the entire night focused on God.  When he refused, St. Scholastica called upon God’s favor, whose very being is charity (1 Jn 4:8) and her prayer was answered.

This story shows how deep and trusting St. Scholastica’s faith was in God and his benevolence.  It was childlike and honest.  All she wanted was to continue a spiritual conversation with her brother.

I cannot help but think that the discussion must have been deeply inspiring and helpful.  When her request was refused, she took her disappointment and desire and turned to God, who answers all prayers.

May we have faith as childlike and honest, and call upon God’s mercy in our need.  Then we too can rest our head and await his powerful response.

This solemnity celebrating our founder gives us time to ponder and remember how the Benedictine monastic movement came to birth back in the sixth century.

We know of St. Benedict from the writings of St. Gregory in his Dialogues.  Traditionally it is believed that Benedict and his twin sister, Scholastica, came from a wealthy Roman family in Nursia, Italy.  Born around 480, they grew up privileged and led lives of distinction.

Around the turn of the century, a young Benedict traveled to Rome to continue his studies, and it was here that he became dispirited with the lack of morality in the so-called civilized culture.  Thus, he left all behind and sought to live a life of worth and honor.  Eventually he came to live in a cave where he fasted, prayed and developed a deep reverence for all things holy.  During these years of solitude, Benedict grew in grace and wisdom.

Benedict’s life was a model that many followed and desired. After much entreating by those who found him out, Benedict moved back into community to be a spiritual guide and leader.  His years of being abbot gave him wisdom and understanding enough to write a rule, The Rule of Benedict.  He relied on other rules that were in existence as well as patristic writers such as John Cassian and St. Basil.  However, it was his reliance on Holy Scripture that gave his rule some moderation.  The influence of this rule made him famous and put his mark on western monasticism.

Since the beginning of the sixth century, women and men throughout the world have followed Benedict’s example and persevered in their journey of preferring nothing to the love of Christ and delving into the spiritual work of God.  The Benedictine motto, ora et labora (pray and work), prescribes that all monks keep before them the balance of life necessary to grow in holiness.

Today we thank God for St. Benedict and St. Benedict for being a humble man of God.  May we too prefer nothing to the love of Christ and together be lead to everlasting life (RB 782:11) St. Benedict intercede for us.

Today we celebrate the feast of the founder of western monasticism and the Benedictine movement: St. Benedict of Nurcia, Italy.

The Church actually has two feasts celebrating this man of God.  Today is the feast commemorating his death, a day he knew in advance due to his state of holiness and the graces bestowed upon him by God.

St. Benedict’s Rule helps those seekers called to monastic life (and other religious orders) to turn their lives over to the grace of God and the work of the Holy Spirit.  He wanted his monks to learn to live holy lives of inner conversion, lives rooted in prayer, holy reading and humble work.  His rule balances inner work and outer labor, silence and praise, cloister and guests.  His monasteries were schools of the Lord’s service, and we continue to refer to our monastery as such.  Here we learn how to serve God, but also how God provides, guides and loves us.

St. Benedict is the patron saint for those who suffer kidney diseases, for Europe and for students.  We Benedictines celebrate his feast twice – today and on July 11, the day his bones were supposedly translated to a different monastery outside of Italy.

Whenever you celebrate this man’s example, pray for the humility he knew, the love he felt and the joy he lived by putting nothing before Christ.

Welcoming friends and neighbors, the monks of Conception Abbey, for the Solemnity of St. Scholastica

Once a year, usually on or right before the Solemnity of St. Scholastica, we Clyde Sisters invite the monks from Conception Abbey to come for Vespers and dinner.

We honor the story of the yearly visit of St. Benedict to his sister’s monastery to talk and pray and to keep the friendship between our two present-day monasteries refreshed.

Last year we could not host the traditional gathering at our monastery because of the renovations. Instead, the monks hosted us at their home.  No matter where we gather together we always seem to enjoy the company as well as the prayer and meal.

Friday evening we again welcomed our brother monks into our home, many for the first time since we began the renovation.

Sister Ruth points out some of the monastery renovations

The Spirit was with us as we caught up on events with one another, processed into our  Adoration Chapel to chant Vespers together, and as we gathered around a very festive common table for a meal of choice foods.

We thank God for the opportunity to once again celebrate the life of St. Scholastica, to host our brother monks and for the blessings of their friendship and spiritual guidance.  God indeed has blessed us abundantly.

Two old window frames have been given new life in our entry way. The window frames are now niches in which statues of St. Benedict and St. Scholastica stand, guiding us and all our guests into the chapel.

The niches are framed out in wood detail and are light from above. The niches add beauty to this space and shows St. Benedict with his cup, raven and crosier…

…while St. Scholastica has The Rule and her crosier. A dove is perched on her arm.

A crosier is a symbol of monastic authority as each was an abbot and abbess respectively. The cup, raven, Rule and dove are significant to the story of Saints Benedict and Scholastica. Do you know their story?

Creating altar breads is our main source of income to support our contemplative life. However, we also make several handcrafted items, including fragrant soaps and lotions, rosaries and pottery, along with publishing several books.

We sell these items online at www.monasterycreations.com but also have a few available at our monasteries for visitors to purchase.

In the past, these items were on display at our Clyde monastery in what we tongue-in-cheek called the “gift shop hallway.” We didn’t have the appropriate space for an actual gift shop. Instead, we had a few shelves that lined a long hallway. It wasn’t pretty, but it served its purpose.

So we are excited the renovations created a new space for us – an actual gift shop! It will be located off the main entry (you can see the doorway on the right):

The main entry will also include the information and welcome center for the portress, a small office for her and a parlor (through the doorway on the right) where guests and visitors may sit while waiting for Sisters.

All in all, these new areas will be welcoming and filled with warmth and grace – all testaments to St. Benedict’s Rule of treating each guest as if she or he were Christ himself.

St. Benedict, founder of The Rule we follow

Today is the Feast of St. Benedict, honoring the man who founded the Benedictine order 1,500 years ago.

While St. Benedict’s legacy began so long ago, with humble origins, his zest for the Lord and a monastic life is still pursued today by those called to the same life. One of prayer, one of dedication and one of obedience.

He tells us to ‘Listen with the ear of your heart.’ Because only in silence, in contemplation, can we hear what the Lord is telling us. It is in those moments of quiet solitude that he speaks the loudest.

The Rule of St. Benedict, Prologue:

Listen carefully, my child, to your master’s precepts, and incline the ear of your heart (Prov. 4:20).

Receive willingly and carry out effectively your loving father’s advice, that by the labor of obedience you may return to Him from whom you had departed by the sloth of disobedience.

To you, therefore, my words are now addressed, whoever you may be, who are renouncing your own will to do battle under the Lord Christ, the true King,  and are taking up the strong, bright weapons of obedience.

And first of all, whatever good work you begin to do, beg of Him with most earnest prayer to perfect it, that He who has now deigned to count us among His children may not at any time be grieved by our evil deeds. For we must always so serve Him with the good things He has given us, that He will never as an angry Father disinherit His children, nor ever as a dread Lord, provoked by our evil actions, deliver us to everlasting punishment as wicked servants who would not follow Him to glory.

To learn more about incorporating St. Benedict’s rule into your own life, please visit our Oblate site. Oblates are lay men and women affiliated with a Benedictine monastery who have embraced many of St. Benedict’s lessons and folded them into their own lives.

When St. Benedict wrote that guests are blessings, he knew what he was talking about and we do too.

There are always guests in a monastery…and with them come blessings.  Recently, several guests arrived from Atchison, Kansas, in response to a call for help.  Srs. Elaine, Susan and Lou took part in one of our deconstruction parties on May 29.  They hauled wood, transom windows and pipes with about 15 of us without thought to tiredness.  Our other Sisters cooked, prepped the refectory, cleaned out more rooms and cupboards and lent a hand in any way they could.  God’s grace was with us and we retired for the evening spent but well pleased.

 Two oblates of ours, Shannon and Barb Jennings, came to Clyde for the first time about fourteen years ago.  Their first experience was so spiritually overwhelming for them that they knew they did not want to make it their last.  They travel as often as possible, relishing in the peace, solitude and “holy ground” aura. 

In their own words, “Praying with the Sisters in the chapel has been a transforming experience and we are able to bring Christ to the world in a better way.”  They are also members of our lay advisory board for our development office and look forward to the time when they can come once again and praise God in our midst.

Oblates Barb and Shannon Jennings

Monks live by the work of their hands, according to the Holy Rule.  Last Saturday, several of us Sisters helped with a “community assist” with the vacating and deconstruction work. 

Helping hands were evident all around.  Some of us dismantled lighting fixtures and sorted all kinds of little gadgets for later use.  Some of us pulled nails and many of us hauled the nail free bits of wood to a waiting trailer to be taken to a storage place. 

Some of us continued to clean out the numberless closets and hidden nooks and crannies.  One Sister made chocolate chip cookies and distributed cool water.  The spirit of camaraderie and purpose was palpable, and we did not stop until it was time to clean up for prayer – another thing we do with united hearts and purpose.