Meeting Jesus at Visitation Monastery in North Minneapolis - in Eucharist, in scripture, and in his people

A vignette captured as we prepared for mass
in our living room the other day.             

These words from a David Hass hymn speak to me

of the life we share here.

We come to share our story,

we come to break the bread,

we come to know our rising

from the dead . . . 

We are called to heal the broken

to be hope for the poor,

we are called to feed the hungry 

at our door.

You will lead and we will follow

you will be the breath of life

living water, we are thirsting 

for your light.    

The living room at Girard
house is ready for mass.

Eucharist: the "source and summit" of our lives -
Eucharist is the very center of life at Visitation Monastery in North Minneapolis. We have mass at the house at least three times a week. On other days - and on Sundays - we go out to one of several nearby parishes.

On Saturday mornings we have a Communion Service. So every day is centered around the Eucharist.

The Blessed Sacrament is reserved in the chapel in each of the two houses. We pray the Divine Office in one of these chapels four times every day - and as each sister enters, she makes a profound bow to the Real Presence in the reserved Sacrament in the tabernacle. On Sundays and other major feast days, incense is burned during the office - and all present are blessed with that incense.

The slightly larger chapel
at Fremont decorated for last Easter.

The small chapel at Girard.

Holy Mass: our central act of worship as Catholics.

Father Michael O'Connell
at Ascension Church one Sunday
morning recently.

In the liturgy, we experience the Real Presence of Christ in three ways: in the Word of God (the Holy Scriptures), in the assembly present, and in the Eucharist.

The priest says the words of institution, and holds up first the consecrated host, and then the chalice.  We each acknowledge the central belief of Catholics: that bread and wine have become, in fact and faith, the body and blood of the crucified Christ." We pray, "Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word, and my soul shall be healed."

All prayer services and liturgies are open to our neighbors and friends. Before we begin, one of the Sisters puts this sign on the front and back doors: The Sisters are at prayer now. If you would like to join us, please ring the doorbell. And they do - neighbors and people in search of help, friends and patrons - all are welcomed into the worshipping circle.

The Blessed Sacrament displayed in the Monstrance
at the Fremont Chapel.

On First Fridays we have Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament - where the consecrated host is placed into a small monstrance and displayed while we pray in silence before Christ present in the Sacrament. Neighbors and friends join us here, also.

We meet Christ in our daily work and ministry as well as in the liturgy.

Neighborhood Ice Cream party
at Girard

Outside of the chapel, as the work of the day proceeds, I see a deep courtesy, mutual love and respect in the interactions of the Sisters with one another - they treat each other with the same reverence given to the Real Presence in the Eucharist. That's because they recognize and honor Christ in one another.

This young woman grew up in the
Windsock ministry - the Sisters
would hang up a windsock at a
given time in the afternoon, and
all the children would come to play
with toys and games. She stopped by
to show the Sisters her new baby.

When visitors come to the door, they also are greeted with that same reverence and respect; the Sisters - and I - go to meet Christ on the doorstep, go to be Christ to that person.  Jesus said that as we feed the hungry, clothe the naked,  meet the needs of even the least of his brothers and sisters, we do it for Him.







So at Visitation Monastery one meets Jesus in one guise or another all day long -  Christ lives in and among us. The Kingdom of Heaven is present to us.

Praying with people who came looking for some help.
Sometimes all we can do is pray together. This
was one of those times.

That is at the core of my life here in the "monastic immersion experience," at Visitation Monastery in North Minneapolis. I am living Eucharist intensely and intentionally - all day. Every day. Every day I meet Jesus in the sacrament, in the Word, and in his people.




I told the Sisters the other day, it seems to me, that this is the very threshold of Heaven.


I do love the life here! What an adventure!