Monastic Life

“Listen carefully, my child, to my instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart. This is advice from one who loves you; welcome it and faithfully put it into practice.”
(Prologue of the Rule of Benedict.)

Community

For the Benedictine, community is our primary ministry. Our ministries of service and hospitality flow from our efforts to be community. Belonging to a monastic community involves listening: to God, self and one another; attending to the needs of others more than our own; reverencing all of God's creation; and putting into practice daily the gospel message to love.

Liturgical Life

Liturgical life is central for the Benedictine life. The community gathers morning and evening for the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours. Regular celebration of the Eucharist, and daily commitment to lectio (sacred reading) and personal prayer form and nourish the spirituality of the monastic woman.

Our liturgical life is a gift shared by people who come to the monastery to:

  • celebrate feasts, holy days, special events
  • seek solitude and space in which to meet God
  • participate in prayer groups, retreats, days of prayer and reflection, programs
  • experience the monastic rhythm of prayer, work, leisure
  • affiliate with the sisters in the spiritual and ministerial life of the community

Lectio Divina

Lectio, sacred reading, is an ancient approach to prayer at the heart of Benedictine life. Kept alive by the monastic tradition, lectio is premised on the belief that God desires to communicate with us and that the Holy Spirit inspired not only the writing of the Holy Scripture but our receiving the Word as well. It is a simple practice that shapes our lives personally and corporately.

Manual Labor

Manual labor is an essential part of monastic spirituality (RB 48). The manual labor that most of us participate in is quite ordinary: housework, seasonal yard clean up, gardening, sewing. Through our work in the monastery we make visible our commitment to serve one another and to be faithful stewards of the gifts we have been given: the earth, the goods and tools of the monastery, each person, and all of creation.