People always ask me what I "do" at Visitation Monastery in N. Minneapolis. All I can say is that it really is nothing like I would have thought. I expected a routine of sameness - instead, each day is unique. The monastic rhythm provides a framework for a variety of experiences. In the picture above, taken in my first week here, you see two young boys who joined us for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament on the first Friday of July. They had come here to work on a service project, banking hours toward their goal of attending summer camp. They came to the chapel for mid-day prayer with us.
There were only the seven sisters, and me - and three young boys (there's another out of shutter's range). They had never participated in this devotion before, but Sister Mary Frances explained to us that they would be joining us for a short visit during our longer one - and explained to them what Adoration is all about. I was impressed by their seriousness and how they entered into the spirit of adoration of Christ present to us in the monstrance.
Afterward they went to the kitchen and had some ice cream - then they stayed for mass when our other friends arrived. They told us how much they had enjoyed camp the year before, and how much they were looking forward to it again. The younger boy in the picture told us about his encounter with Jesus that previous summer at camp. He said, "I always talk to Jesus in my prayers, but he never talked back to me until that time at camp last summer."Well, summer camp has come and gone - and the boys have come back to tell us it was a wonderful experience again for them. They were here again the other day for a short visit. And yesterday a different group of boys arrived at our back door. They had found a dying squirrel in the alley. They knew they should not touch it but using sticks they had helped it find shelter in a broken cardboard box - and they came to us for solutions. But we didn't have any. Except that we went out and looked (and, sure enough, it was still alive enough to blink at us.) Sr. Katherine called the city's animal control, and they promised to come by to take care of it. We never saw them, but the squirrel did crawl up into our garden to huddle under some shady bushes. (I know. I know. Don would have killed it and put it out of its misery. But neither I nor Sr. Katherine were up to that. And we really didn't want to in front of the boys, anyway!) By evening it was gone. We decided to believe that animal control had found it.
The Visitation Sisters came here to share in the neighborhood as neighbors, in their words, to be a peaceful, prayerful presence in the neighborhood. We are not a social service agency. We do not have the resources to solve the great problems of poverty and social disorder that affect this neighborhood. But we can give a bus token to someone who needs to get to an appointment, maybe a sandwich to carry on the way, or even a paper cup of ice water on a hot day. And our neighbors help us, too - to till the garden, cut the grass, break down a stack of cardboard boxes that came packed with prizes for the Neighborhood Night of Peace so they can be put into the recycle stack. And we can share concern for a dying squirrel with some middle-school aged boys.
A donor gave money to provide a bus and tickets so some of our families could go to Valley Fair. We packed 50 sack lunches, and Sister Mary Frances and Vis Companion Miss Linda went with the families (each group of children had to have one adult family member with them) for a day of fun at the theme park. I was one of those who stayed behind to clean up (and rather glad not to be one of the chaperones - I was never a fan of field trips when I was a school teacher, either!).
We pray the Divine Office 4 times a day - 7 AM, 12 Noon, 4:45, and 8:15. Neighbors and friends of the community often join us in the morning, at noon, and in the late afternoon. I love praying the office with the sisters. We pray the office antiphonally - i.e. we are two choirs, taking turns singing/chanting/reading the psalms and prayers. There are pauses between the psalms when we do some faith-sharing - someone will speak of a person who brought a special need to the door, someone who has asked for prayer. Someone else will share a reflection on the scripture we have just prayed. And then we pray the next psalm, the response, or canticle.
The crucifix which is our center point is decorated for the feast or solemnity or season. The assigned person has selected songs for opening and closing which reflect the theme of the readings.We don't visit before the end of morning prayer; instead we gather in the hallway outside the chapel afterward, Everyone says together: Praise be to God. Good morning, dear sisters! Then there is a sharing of whatever information is necessary to begin the day - assignments, who has the car checked out out for when, a letter or message which has come in during the evening before, etc. And then everyone goes quietly about their business - fixing one's own breakfast, reading the headlines of the paper, or whatever is necessary for the day. There's not absolute silence during the day, but the house is relatively quiet and very peaceful. When the doorbell rings, someone goes to meet Jesus on the threshold! And that is what happens!
I have never lived in a situation where everything in the day, all conversation, all effort, planning, and the simplest of tasks are all oriented to the same end - to authentically "Live Jesus" (that's the Visitation charism - the overarching idea for one's whole life). I am impressed with these women who have lived together for these past 23 years and who hold each other accountable to the vision and charism of their founders, St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal.They may not even notice it, but I do - that they quote from their writings in every conversation:
- Be who you are, and be that well.
- Do ordinary things with great love.
- The same everlasting Father who cares of you today will take care of you tomorrow and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it.
- We are called to a liberty of spirit (something which includes obedience, but which excludes "constraint, scruples, and anxiety.")
- There is nothing so strong as gentleness and nothing so gentle as real strength.
Sounds simple. The sisters here demonstrate that it is possible, as do the Vis Companions who share their spirituality.
I am so loving it; I am so grateful to be able to share this way of living with them.
More to come . . . We've already had the Neighborhood Night of Peace, the ice cream social for National Night Out, two weddings, two funerals, and "Jazz and Gospel on the Lawn" (a fundraiser for Mary Johnson and her "Death to Life" ministry of forgiveness and healing. Things happen too often for me to keep up!!
Oh, and there was a special experience for me - my commitment ceremony. I wrote about it on the Visitation blog, so will post a link to that here:
