Transcript
00:21
nestled on the banks of the Blackwater
00:24
lisent Mary's Abbey Glen Kern County
00:27
Waterford here a diverse community of
00:31
women have left their lives as banker
00:34
nurse or social worker to create a
00:37
powerhouse of Prayer a radical life of
00:40
being rather than doing a Cistercian
00:44
monastery as a school of mutual love
00:46
devoted to the search for God the
00:50
austere life of silence work and prayer
00:52
may seem a retreat from modern life to
00:55
some but the nuns believe that their
00:58
greatest contribution to the world is
01:00
through praying in community seven times
01:02
a day and living a monastic life that
01:05
has changed little in over a thousand
01:07
years
01:47
we're actually on the lands which were
01:51
originally part of the monastic lands of
01:55
the sixth up to the 12th century so
02:00
we're on sacred ground we do live in a
02:10
very mobile culture people are
02:12
constantly moving from here to there and
02:14
so this would be countercultural
02:16
to stay in the one place all of one's
02:18
life it's more monotonous maybe but I
02:23
think you do need a certain monotony for
02:26
prayer because you have to go deeper so
02:29
the life itself brings you deeper
02:48
a reading from the rule of our Holy
02:50
Father st. Benedict to put God's
02:54
commandments into practice every day to
02:58
love chastity to hate no one not to be
03:04
jealous not to act from Envy not to love
03:09
quarreling st. Benedict knows that if we
03:14
are to practice any skill or craft we
03:19
need tools and this is so with a
03:24
spiritual craft we need tools and these
03:28
tools are interior I was working in IT
03:32
I'd start to become kinda disillusioned
03:35
with the consumerism and with that type
03:38
of work where you're not really doing
03:39
anything for anybody apart from making
03:40
money so that they remember standing in
03:44
the busy streets particularly at
03:45
Christmas and thinking we're all insane
03:47
like this is insanity or this chill
03:50
working really hard to earn loads of
03:51
money so we can buy lots of things that
03:52
we don't need and it's just like a
03:54
vicious cycle and it doesn't really make
03:56
you happy
04:01
I began to do a lot of meditation I had
04:06
this urge to stay in the one place to
04:08
have a very simple life and to pray all
04:10
the time and I didn't really know why I
04:13
just knew that that's what I wanted to
04:14
push I just I didn't know why
04:58
we love the place we have a natural
05:02
enclosure here the Avenue is a kilometer
05:05
in length and the river borders the
05:08
other side and so there's a natural
05:12
quietness about the place
05:35
the foundation sisters came here on the
05:38
10th of March 1932 they were wonderful
05:42
women because the life then was
05:44
dreadfully hard I was really strict and
05:46
their poverty was extreme there was very
05:50
little furniture and and failed to the
05:53
food very little anything you know when
05:59
I came here first there was a very
06:00
strict enclosure and we had chicken wire
06:03
all around the place with barbed wire on
06:05
top i nobody could go down to the river
06:08
and we couldn't go down to the stream
06:10
behind the place and i used to look
06:12
through the chicken wire and I could see
06:14
the remains of a path I could hear the
06:16
sound of water and it was tough you know
06:21
you couldn't go it happened we can go
06:32
down to the river now and it going down
06:33
to the stream so the woods are open to
06:36
us which is a great blessing
06:41
it brings us in contact with God you
06:44
know that the nature is wonderful
06:53
silence is the thing that our society is
06:57
so afraid of if you ever notice even in
07:00
a group if conversation stops even for
07:05
30 seconds
07:06
somebody has to rush in there and finish
07:11
we can't bear there's this frenetic
07:17
thing going on all the time with noise
07:24
and it's like we're just not comfortable
07:27
in ourselves and the tragedy of that is
07:34
that it blocks out that so small voice
07:39
of God and what a great deal of our life
07:47
here about in the silence is trying to
07:51
listen for that voice and you can't do
07:56
that with it all going on
08:15
we have prayer sessions throughout the
08:20
day seven times beginning at 10 past
08:22
4:00 in the morning and the last one is
08:24
at 8 o'clock in the evening and then
08:27
lords and Vespers kind of begin and end
08:30
the work day the whole idea is to
08:33
sanctify the day to be brought back
08:37
again and again to worship in to God and
08:41
to to prayer
09:18
there's a rhythm to the day it's pretty
09:21
much the same every day and yet every
09:23
day is new in between the prayer we have
09:27
work we share the cleaning and the
09:30
housework we have four industries we
09:36
started the Achra spread as a way of
09:37
involving the elderly sisters and
09:39
distribute these two parishes
09:41
monasteries retreat houses throughout
09:43
the country we also manufacture
09:48
Christmas cards and greeting cards and
09:51
memorial cards that's another industry
09:53
we run a farm and a we have a very small
09:58
guest house where people can come and
10:00
have some quiet and share with the
10:03
community and prayer I didn't experience
10:14
God's call until I was in my forties I
10:18
lived a very comfortable life I had a
10:22
wide circle of friends and families and
10:24
sort of good social life I worked in the
10:28
central bank in Dublin I had a good
10:30
salary and good financial security I
10:33
suppose you could say I had everything
10:34
that I wanted but still there was this
10:38
restlessness that needed to be filled
10:41
you know I wanted a more meaningful way
10:47
of life I'm just too certified with the
10:50
secularism and the individualism in our
10:53
society and God was excluded from
10:55
everything I felt you know I took career
10:59
break and I went to Africa with the lay
11:02
missionary Viator's Christie I worked in
11:05
South Africa in a children's home and I
11:09
think that really changed my my life for
11:13
a few more cos I'm running out of them
11:19
there was a poster up about I think
11:22
monastic experience weekend or something
11:24
I followed it from there and I wrote to
11:27
them and then I came here to the
11:30
guesthouse and I just liked what I saw
11:33
no they were very normal community and I
11:36
took it from there then
11:46
all together the farm is 220 acres 40 of
11:51
dots in woodland there's a bit idiot
11:54
Allegiant Yeti acres and grassland the
11:58
crops is all done by contractors I don't
12:19
know how far back but there was dairy
12:21
hurt in the fire man there was a dairy
12:23
herd up on the farm until six years ago
12:25
and went into dry stock beef cattle the
12:30
neighbors onto the farm about four and a
12:33
half years ago so I continued that and
12:35
would buy and sell cattle I enjoy it you
12:46
know working with animals and nature
12:47
sort of thing over the last number of
12:55
years there's been an effort I think in
12:57
a lot of monasteries to move away from
13:00
oil and use natural products to help the
13:04
environment so we planted the Miscanthus
13:07
the purpose is to produce heat and we
13:13
have a large monastery and our oils
13:17
colossal so the idea would hope that we
13:21
would save money by using it to heat the
13:25
monastery now we're ready to install
13:30
Miscanthus burning a boiler somebody has
13:33
to put in a bale of Miscanthus every day
13:36
with the tractor and that'll be our
13:39
leasing we hope with this that we'll be
13:42
more comfortable
14:00
since I made my solemn profession just
14:03
last year I have been appointed the head
14:05
of the Eucharist bread department we
14:09
only have two ingredients which is a
14:11
specialist altar bread flour and our own
14:14
spring water
14:15
we humidify the bread we cut it and we
14:20
make it in all sorts of sizes so then we
14:22
have sorting and packing and
14:23
distribution because we make brown horse
14:28
it's unique in Ireland so we get good
14:32
sales for this and this good demand so
14:35
we're happy with that
14:49
in the last year two women have joined
14:52
so we're very delighted to have them and
14:54
there are a few people who are still
14:56
having a look and coming for weekend's
14:59
and discerning and so we're hoping that
15:02
more will come one or two every second
15:05
year is just fine
15:06
we'd like to keep the numbers up because
15:08
you need a certain number to to work
15:11
well as a community I'm doing vocation
15:18
promotion work and vocation direction we
15:23
have a website and that would be my main
15:25
way of promoting vocations there is a
15:28
tension between our internet presence
15:31
and our our commitment to monastic
15:35
enclosure and monastic solitude but I
15:38
think it's important that we try to
15:40
resolve that because when a young person
15:42
is exploring and searching for a
15:45
religious way of life the first thing
15:46
that they do is to go to the internet so
15:49
it's really important that we have an
15:51
internet presence and that it's updated
15:53
that it's fresh that it's alive that
15:57
they know we're awake there and that
16:00
they know we're human
16:04
so during Buddhist books and Christian
16:07
books and then I saw an article in The
16:10
Irish Times faced with Len Karen but
16:13
even then I didn't want I didn't think
16:15
that I would enter I had an interest in
16:17
entering or been and on I just wanted to
16:20
see what monastic life was like in
16:21
Ireland so I came on the monastic
16:24
experience weekend
16:28
someone coming on a monastic experience
16:31
weekend would be staying in our guest
16:32
house so it's a an interesting
16:35
experience of liturgical prayer as it's
16:38
lived out in the Cistercian monastery
16:53
it does take time to get used to the
16:56
office
16:59
I remember my first time and I was
17:02
bowing and at the office and I was
17:04
thinking how many times have I been in
17:07
this church today it's quite
17:09
overwhelming at first
17:14
I mean I'm amused at one girl who came
17:18
on the weekend who described it
17:19
afterwards and fondly as spiritual boot
17:23
camp because she couldn't get over how
17:28
many times we were we were in prayer and
17:30
and I was a prayer and back in
17:41
people find it hard to relate to
17:43
entering an enclosure why would you why
17:45
on earth would you in this day and age
17:47
with so many other choices available to
17:48
you but when you've discovered god I
17:51
mean a married couple would do the same
17:54
if if to be together they would move to
17:57
another continent
17:58
I came again for Easter and that Easter
18:05
is very beautiful here and very
18:06
meaningful to knows that was a big
18:09
experience for me I remember thinking at
18:12
that time that I would enter but then
18:14
once I left that kind of urge went to
18:17
off me thanks to go back to life as a
18:19
normal and she think I wanted to have a
18:23
little talk about community life you
18:26
know it's very important for us so
18:28
you've been living it and you've both
18:30
done so well I came at stage in the
18:33
monastery there was supposed to be for a
18:34
month originally but then I stayed for
18:35
two months after but he talked about
18:38
this I still was very much sitting on
18:39
the fence though but there is a lot of
18:41
fear comes with Joe entering here and
18:44
feeling that you're leaving your family
18:46
behind you that you know so you have to
18:49
kind of face those fears so I was afraid
18:50
I suppose you really need to have a good
18:58
library it's my pride and joy I've been
19:01
building it up for just over 30 years
19:03
now when I started there were very few
19:09
books really but I was fortunate enough
19:11
for a few years to be able to gather
19:13
books together and every space of wall
19:16
now is covered with books
19:26
lectio divina is really essentially the
19:30
study of scriptures a slow meditative
19:34
reading and reflection and study that
19:38
leads to contemplation we believe that
19:43
the Scriptures are inspired and through
19:46
reading the Word of God we come to know
19:48
who God is and we come to know ourselves
19:50
and we come to know how to live you're
19:55
actually changed simply by reading and
19:58
listening to the word you know you kind
20:00
of get insight into yourself and insight
20:02
into life and how God acts so it's
20:06
transformative actually doing lectio
20:09
Divina and it's also very nourishing as
20:12
regards love you know you once you know
20:15
who God is you you want to love him
20:17
because he's so good
21:30
there will be no consolation there will
21:34
be echoes of the cry of Jesus my God my
21:38
God why hast thou forsaken me
22:07
well to be honest I'm here because I
22:10
felt in my late teens that God was
22:14
calling me to religious life and I
22:16
didn't want to I couldn't think of
22:18
anything I wanted less and I wanted
22:22
freedom I wanted to travel I had a very
22:24
good job for a while but I just felt as
22:27
their call was getting stronger and
22:30
stronger so I just came in there was
22:35
something in my life he was away and
22:38
you're lying and my mother had to tell
22:42
him so and anyway that's the way things
22:48
happen sometimes I thought that you see
22:51
if I told him and said too much about it
22:55
that was afraid that I would be
22:57
persuaded to continue to resist coming
22:59
in and I knew that would be the wrong
23:01
thing I really would have been the wrong
23:03
thing it hasn't been a bed of roses
23:08
everybody has difficulty in their lives
23:10
we all could go through bad patches but
23:14
I have no regrets whatever
23:27
the processes that you do six months as
23:29
a postulant and then ever month away so
23:32
the month is really just it is to
23:33
reflect and contemplate but I suppose
23:36
you've already really made the decision
23:37
that you will come back so I was at home
23:40
for a month and saw our family and did
23:43
different things yeah and then I was
23:45
ready to come back then yeah I never
23:48
really wanted to go for the whole month
23:50
I only wanted a thought was a few days
23:51
away big rant I was have a cup of coffee
23:53
somewhere nice cappuccino or something
23:56
and then I come back okay so angela has
24:05
spent six months as a postulant and
24:07
tomorrow is really a monastic initiation
24:10
where she begins her two-year novitiate
24:12
and she receives the novices habit you
24:17
know she's moving out of one way of life
24:19
and into a new way of life so it's big
24:21
to write a big change just take a bit of
24:27
getting used to the change of clothes
24:29
and the veil and to not feel
24:31
self-conscious in this show until it
24:33
feels like urine you've always wanted
24:36
when I looked at myself in the mirror so
24:40
it's strange to see yourself in robes so
24:43
something I ever thought I'd wear so I
24:46
talked to my parents and we could go and
24:49
my dad was seems a little bit emotional
24:51
I think but no they're very supportive
25:00
tonight is Angela's last time walking
25:03
outside the abbey walls tomorrow she
25:06
will ask to take the veil and go from
25:08
postulant to novice entering an enclosed
25:11
order and committing to the discipline
25:13
of Cistercian life
25:19
this all sorts of challenges ahead
25:21
exposed letting go to let go the person
25:24
that I was before but the life that I
25:26
had before and you know the things that
25:27
I probably won't do now
25:33
and worries that I got very emotional
25:35
and I'll cry a lot of us I think
25:37
actually it'll be okay I think I
25:39
actually I'll just be very happy
25:40
yeah
25:48
you
26:03
you
27:06
it's 4:00 a.m. while the world sleeps
27:09
the nuns in Glencairn prepare to start
27:11
their working day vigils is a Liturgy of
27:14
waiting for the coming of the Lord and
27:17
the hope of a new day
27:20
a reading from Saint Paul's letter to
27:23
the Romans you know what our it is how
27:30
it is full-time now for you to wake from
27:34
sleep the night is far gone the day is
27:40
at hand
27:41
let us then cast off the works of
27:45
darkness and put on the armor of light
27:50
let us conduct ourselves becomingly
27:53
as in the day
28:04
at the seven hours we call them the
28:06
hours of the liturgy the first one
28:08
vigils so that's the waiting and keeping
28:11
watch there is a sense of God watching
28:16
watching over us protecting us mostly I
28:20
think it is to be there in prayer for
28:23
people the thing that is really playing
28:29
on your mind is the thing that wakes you
28:32
up usually about four o'clock in the
28:34
morning that's the time you can sleep
28:38
that's when your worries have reached a
28:41
point where you really can hardly face
28:44
the next day so that's why I'm on my
28:51
feet in choir praying for all the people
28:56
that are suffering whatever it is that
29:00
they will feel God's presence in that
29:04
trauma
29:24
Windsong then we see the dog come in you
29:32
know and you're reminded that people are
29:35
waiting for the dawn to come as well
29:37
people that are suffering and we just
29:40
pray that they'll experience God's
29:42
loving care and protection you know
29:44
during those hours
30:02
Angela Finnegan has traveled many roads
30:05
through Buddhism mindfulness and
30:07
meditation to find a path to God
30:10
it has led her here to st. Mary's Abbey
30:13
Glen Kearn today she will ask the others
30:16
to join Ireland's only Cistercian
30:18
monastery for women Angela what do you
30:24
ask the mercy of God and of the order
30:27
rise in the name of the Lord my dear
30:35
Angela today you take off the nice
30:39
bright colors of pink and green that we
30:42
have become accustomed to and you were
30:45
clothed in the wise novices habit it
30:49
seems to me Angela that you have always
30:52
been a seeker of truth going from your
30:56
BA in science to an MA then further
30:59
studies in IT and Social Work traveling
31:04
moving looking seeking for what might
31:09
bring you fulfillment and satisfy your
31:12
yearning heart my prayer for you today
31:17
Angela is that you will experience the
31:21
tender embrace of God's love that you
31:25
will find peace and happiness in this
31:28
community and that the affection of all
31:31
the sisters for you will soften the
31:34
separation from your family and friends
31:37
so Angela I ask you are you ready to
31:42
follow Christ along the path traced out
31:45
by the gospel and by the holy rule yes
31:49
Reverend Roy by the grace of God and
31:52
the assistance of your prayers may the
31:54
Lord bring to perfection the work he has
31:57
begun in you we for our part welcome you
32:01
into our community as a novice
32:26
research
33:08
fear craft for those who don't know is
33:10
the patron saint of gardeners and I was
33:13
fortunate enough to make a career of my
33:16
hobby which was growing themes quite
33:19
early on I was put in charge of the
33:21
garden I would have been a disaster as a
33:27
Carmelite because their enclosure is so
33:29
much smaller but here we have 200 acres
33:32
and for me that was so important because
33:35
I've lived the greater part of my life
33:38
outdoors somehow when you're involved in
33:44
a family business as I was because we
33:46
were running a garden center that just
33:48
wasn't time there wasn't time for God
33:51
you know and it was only much later on
33:56
when I quieten down started to really
33:59
listen it was 2006 I came on a Tuesday I
34:07
was here Wednesday Thursday Friday
34:09
Saturday I've never prayed so hard read
34:14
so much I was so busy trying to make it
34:18
happen that by Sunday I was all worn out
34:21
and I remember going into the church and
34:23
sitting down and gave an issuing God
34:25
with an ultimatum okay you got me here
34:30
and now I just feel it's all a complete
34:32
waste of time
34:33
so either you do something or I'm off
34:40
it was the most glorious morning and as
34:44
we walked along the path down by the
34:46
river this salmon jumped in the most
34:49
perfect arc and the sunlight reflected
34:53
on his speckles and I was just rooted to
35:00
the spot
35:01
I mean God in his magnificence
35:16
I'm 27 years here now in 27 years I
35:23
don't think of it as chalking up one
35:25
year after another once you come here
35:27
that's the kind of is you know you lose
35:30
another track of time years wise you
35:32
know and you charge your maintenance
35:36
just ordinary plumbing things and
35:38
washers and taps clogs on fixed clogs or
35:43
that on electrical equipment the general
35:49
small maintenance things I try and
35:51
unmanage myself push I know my limits so
35:54
anything over and above we had to get in
35:56
somebody to do it sometimes you can get
36:04
carried away with the work push the
36:07
office gives us reminders of you know
36:09
this we are here as a precondition
36:12
really you know I could be you know
36:19
outside doing maybe more beneficial work
36:22
other you know person it's not the
36:26
actual work I do here it's my motivation
36:29
for Jewish you know it's all in service
36:32
of the community which in the end result
36:35
really is in service of God really my
36:38
relationship with God
36:49
it is a busy life and people might not
36:52
realize that our life is very
36:56
conditioned with bears and times and
36:59
being punctual and that kind of change
37:05
The Hermitage would be a way of getting
37:08
in touch with your own interior
37:10
spiritual journey each sister every
37:14
month can take a day off normally to
37:17
either go apart and spend the time alone
37:25
it's an opportunity to deepen your own
37:29
prayer life as well
37:34
Benedict even himself lived as a hermit
37:36
for sometime or the early Irish saints -
37:41
at some stage we've determined like it
37:44
was always there and even in more recent
37:47
times Judge Thomas Merton lived as a
37:49
hermit I just like to get away myself
37:54
and be alone
38:34
in spite of great efforts to attend to
38:37
maintenance over the years the building
38:39
has deteriorated quite quite or not and
38:43
we need to put a lot of work into it
38:46
mostly it's really updating we need to
38:50
look at our safety damp we have rising
38:54
damp everywhere we probably have wet
38:56
wash and dry rot we need a completely
39:00
new water system we need a new
39:02
electricity system some of the stairs
39:04
are shaking the house needs repairing
39:09
parts of it a 300 years old so and we
39:13
need enough lot of work done in that but
39:15
there are different viewers about how to
39:17
go about it naturally what are those two
39:20
- the squares they wind your windows
39:22
skylights all from above and your
39:24
skylights on the top of dishes lengths
39:26
oh no they can't be traveling on the
39:28
floor above that no way of having em
39:30
glass no leather in the floor very nifty
39:34
well since 2008 we've been working with
39:37
an architect and a design team we did
39:40
get planning permission but then we
39:41
didn't have the funds sufficient funds
39:44
to start or the other option then would
39:47
be to try and reduce the size of the
39:49
bedrooms and put in another one doctor
39:52
not be feasible at the moment we're
39:54
concentrating and fundraising people
39:56
have been most generous and were so
39:59
appreciative we're a big community we
40:02
have lots of contacts everybody's making
40:04
an effort and it's coming on we have a
40:14
very good relationship with the local
40:15
community
40:16
it's good Mary and so many people who
40:19
come to the front door and ask for
40:21
prayers for particular intention so many
40:23
people email and phone and as well as
40:26
that sister I would like you to push on
40:29
the prayer list somebody who is very ill
40:31
there is a power that comes and there is
40:34
a healing and there is a grace that
40:37
comes through intercessory prayer
40:40
Thank You YouTube bye-bye now we have a
40:44
very small guesthouse where people can
40:46
come and have some quiet and share with
40:49
the community entire the receiving of
40:54
guests is a very big thing in the
40:57
Cistercian life and the rule always say
41:00
that the porter or portrait should
41:02
always be near ready to open the door
41:04
and welcome a person you know so the
41:06
whole thing of hospitality is terribly
41:08
important you get all kinds of different
41:12
visitors really yeah it's amazing I mean
41:17
we would know a lot and mostly if
41:19
they've just come therefore knock knock
41:21
and they come and spend away then there
41:23
are regular people to come back every
41:24
year to make the retreat some like a
41:26
private retreat themselves and they'd
41:28
come here for us and they join us and
41:30
the liturgy and then go there walk
41:32
suspend your walks with them and they
41:34
enjoy that you know we're lucky with the
41:36
surroundings we have you'll see it's
41:38
very thing junior here
41:49
Oh
42:25
we had three deaths this year as the
42:30
community ages yes we can expect one a
42:34
year but three is quite a lot and it
42:36
does impact on the community we have to
42:38
go through our period of bereavement you
42:40
know diminishing numbers and we lose
42:43
lovely people and with great gifts and
42:46
you'd love to keep them forever so we
42:50
have to adjust to their absence and we
42:52
missed them Oh missing player enormously
43:02
she was such a beautiful person but it's
43:09
the culmination of a life dedicated to
43:12
God God is what it's all about and
43:17
getting closer to him she didn't have to
43:23
suffer like there she was 96 on her feet
43:25
handsome before Naveed a night she had a
43:28
lovely life
43:32
I'm pilot was desperately sad as lnder
43:35
so quick
43:36
still she was saved a lot of suffering
43:37
she saves a lot of suffering or not she
43:43
just after she's gorgeous
43:45
those gorgeous
44:24
st. Benedict says be peacemakers be
44:28
peaceable be patient and compassionate
44:33
and if we do fail as we do each day that
44:39
we never despair of God's mercy Benedict
44:44
says that we are free to make known our
44:48
point of view or our opinion but at the
44:50
right time and in the right way in a
44:53
humble way and to do that is very very
44:58
difficult sometimes you might be
45:00
bursting to make it known you know how
45:03
you feel or what you want to do what
45:05
your agenda is etc but our spiritual
45:09
guide in st. Benedict is saying no you
45:11
have to wait and and in that time when
45:15
you're waiting for that right
45:17
appropriate moment if you've managed to
45:18
get that for maybe something like wisdom
45:23
descends and your senses count down and
45:28
you start to be more open to God's will
45:31
in the situation and not your own as I
45:37
have often such people if I was to pick
45:39
30 or 32 women to live I wouldn't pick
45:42
the torchy or authority to that are here
45:44
but this is where God has planted me I
45:47
take it in faith that this is where he
45:49
wants me to be molded and you know and
45:54
then there's strength in the community
45:56
as well like a given a community means
45:59
you know everything can be shared out
46:01
like every one person doesn't have to
46:03
take all the responsibility of all of us
46:06
going on
46:07
maybe people tend to dismissing close
46:11
life and say I couldn't possibly do like
46:13
I couldn't imagine it but it's important
46:16
to bear in mind that built into the
46:18
structures there is a significant amount
46:22
of silence and solitude so there
46:25
there's a healthy balance where I can
46:27
breathe I ran in the Dublin City
46:33
Marathon and oh I think it's 1980 and I
46:38
sometimes feel that this life is like a
46:40
like a marathon you know and rather than
46:43
a sprint you meet the wall and you have
46:47
good days and bad days and it's a
46:50
struggle you know and every day is a
46:53
struggle but I say to myself when I get
46:56
up in the morning today I begin again
47:43
Oh Brady I'm in the honeymoon period now
47:46
I mean there's been a lot of challenges
47:48
here but I have a real sense of peace
47:51
actually and contentedness and joy quite
47:55
a lot of the time actually and I never
47:57
would have thought that to know that I
47:59
will be able to say that you've quite a
48:05
lot of Solitude here so if time to to
48:12
work things out internally and to kind
48:14
of see the truth behind things now I
48:18
feel I'm more myself who God intended me
48:22
to be I suppose we had a lovely autumn
48:31
and winter then January commendeth heavy
48:34
rain the cattle haven't got to the grass
48:37
yet in this week is really the only
48:39
first dry weather we've had and then we
48:46
had a non merciful Gilder storm if I
48:48
recall it was a Darwin the cold and rain
48:51
from the middle of February when I had
48:55
the cattle fair that I'm just was gonna
48:57
ruin the coroner the next thing that's
48:58
on merciful roar it was like a volcano
49:01
noise you know just failed right behind
49:05
me and this lucky doesn't befall and
49:07
taught me so it was frightening
49:11
we'll go fifteen or sixteen trees down
49:14
with the storm witches we've never had
49:16
done like that before and then we had to
49:18
death made sister / sister Francis so
49:22
unexpected that was another shock she
49:24
did know something then my lambs give us
49:32
a better life to the place the first
49:36
mother here with the transits hoping
49:39
around oh they were born Sunday
49:40
afternoon Oh such teamwork alumna was it
49:44
all safer but one you developed
49:48
complications
49:49
the Abbess a former nurse came to help
49:52
I'd love this not ready yet she
49:55
don't know
49:56
come on favorite bird Krasner come on
49:59
old pace and push shows I'm expecting a
50:02
man to come to give us a hand if he
50:04
consent the yard stop them there and get
50:06
man here I can't get the thief oh I can
50:09
get the hair tied see if it's gonna be
50:10
caught or it may ever push out girlie
50:17
come on come on push shows go come on
50:23
cool
50:23
Lu obama-like enjoy now after all come
50:32
on
50:42
I have a voice on the job
50:53
yellow Saint Benedict says that you know
50:57
you live Lent in a joyful manner no I
51:01
bought in the gallon in fact the meaning
51:03
of Lent is springtime so it's a time of
51:06
growth new life and always with the
51:10
focus on Easter the joy of Easter the
51:12
resurrection is wonderful event
51:24
a monastic community is a school of love
51:33
so we learn how to love God and how to
51:35
love each other and how to love
51:37
ourselves it's very beautiful really to
51:41
the richness of community life and all
51:43
the different gifts that there are and
51:45
you really start to become kind of more
51:47
of a a we rather than an i
51:55
it's a warm caring tolerant community
51:59
and I've lived it for 50 years and I can
52:01
say that the truthfully as you know it's
52:04
a happy place our primary focus I think
52:11
myself is really seeking God coming to
52:14
know who God is who we are how we are in
52:17
relationship and that automatically
52:21
brings an energy into the world it's the
52:25
energy of good and the energy of grace
52:27
and it does touch everyone
53:20
you
No comments:
Post a Comment