I love how the first thing out of Jesus’ mouth to His Apostles after His resurrection is, “Peace be with you” (John 20:18). When I think of what “peace” means, I think it’s not so much about what’s going on outside as what’s going on inside. It’s the ultimate trust in God – believing that He is in control, and that no matter what happens, He has allowed it, and is taking care of it completely. I think that’s what gives God the greatest glory – when we truly trust Him to take care. Maybe it won’t be taken care of according to my timeline, but it’s His timeline that matters, not mine! I have to have confidence that it’s in His hands. I don’t have to worry about it. Sometimes we like to take back the things we’ve handed over to Him, saying, “Thanks for holding onto it, but now I’ll take care of it again!” But to place things in His hands and then really leave it there…That is truly a wonderful gift we can offer to God.
Easter is a time to give thanks, and praise Him for His power, and believe so confidently in that power. And then nothing can take your peace away. Nothing. The only thing that can take it away is if you give it away, in the sense that you allow somebody to take it, because you give somebody or something more power than your confidence in God. The peace of Christ in unshakeable, and I wish that Easter peace to everybody today.
May your peace be as unshakeable as this plant bursting through the asphalt this Easter
Our community hold the tradition of anticipating Easter by praying Jeremiah’s Lamentations during the Divine Office on Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday every year. Our custom is to appoint a different Sister to sing these in Latin during Matins. Beginning with the most junior nun assigned to sing, and ending with our Abbess, Mother Maria-Michael, this video highlights a short segment from each of the nine Lamentations passages we use.
Below is the full text of these moving scriptures:
Lamentations 1:1-5
How solitary sits the city, once filled with people. She who was great among the nations is now like a widow. Once a princess among the provinces, now a toiling slave.
She weeps incessantly in the night, her cheeks damp with tears. She has no one to comfort her from all her lovers; Her friends have all betrayed her, and become her enemies.
Judah has gone into exile, after oppression and harsh labor; She dwells among the nations, yet finds no rest: All her pursuers overtake her in the narrow straits.
The roads to Zion mourn, empty of pilgrims to her feasts. All her gateways are desolate, her priests groan, Her young women grieve; her lot is bitter.
Her foes have come out on top, her enemies are secure; Because the LORD has afflicted her for her many rebellions. Her children have gone away, captive before the foe.
(Jerusalem, Jerusalem, be converted to the Lord your God)
Lamentations 1:6-9
From daughter Zion has gone all her glory: Her princes have become like rams that find no pasture. They have gone off exhausted before their pursuers.
Jerusalem remembers in days of wretched homelessness, All the precious things she once had in days gone by. But when her people fell into the hands of the foe, and she had no help, Her foes looked on and laughed at her collapse.
Jerusalem has sinned grievously, therefore she has become a mockery; Those who honored her now demean her, for they saw her nakedness; She herself groans out loud, and turns away.
Her uncleanness is on her skirt; she has no thought of her future. Her downfall is astonishing, with no one to comfort her. “Look, O LORD, at my misery; how the enemy triumphs!”
(Jerusalem, Jerusalem, be converted to the Lord your God)
Lamentations 1:10-14
The foe stretched out his hands to all her precious things; She has seen the nations enter her sanctuary, Those you forbade to come into your assembly.
All her people groan, searching for bread; They give their precious things for food, to retain the breath of life. “Look, O LORD, and pay attention to how I have been demeaned!
Come, all who pass by the way, pay attention and see: Is there any pain like my pain, which has been ruthlessly inflicted upon me, With which the LORD has tormented me on the day of his blazing wrath?
From on high he hurled fire down into my very bones; He spread out a net for my feet, and turned me back. He has left me desolate, in misery all day long.
The yoke of my rebellions is bound together, fastened by his hand. His yoke is upon my neck; he has made my strength fail. The Lord has delivered me into the grip of those I cannot resist.
(Jerusalem, Jerusalem, be converted to the Lord your God)
Lamentations 2:8-11
The LORD was bent on destroying the wall of daughter Zion: He stretched out the measuring line; did not hesitate to devour, Brought grief on rampart and wall till both succumbed.
Her gates sank into the ground; he smashed her bars to bits. Her king and her princes are among the nations; instruction is wanting, Even her prophets do not obtain any vision from the LORD.
The elders of daughter Zion sit silently on the ground; They cast dust on their heads and dress in sackcloth; The young women of Jerusalem bow their heads to the ground.
My eyes are spent with tears, my stomach churns; My bile is poured out on the ground at the brokenness of the daughter of my people, As children and infants collapse in the streets of the town.
(Jerusalem, Jerusalem, be converted to the Lord your God)
Lamentations 2:12-15
They cry out to their mothers, “Where is bread and wine?” As they faint away like the wounded in the streets of the city, As their life is poured out in their mothers’ arms.
To what can I compare you—to what can I liken you— O daughter Jerusalem? What example can I give in order to comfort you, virgin daughter Zion? For your breach is vast as the sea; who could heal you?
Your prophets provided you visions of whitewashed illusion; They did not lay bare your guilt, in order to restore your fortunes; They saw for you only oracles of empty deceit.
All who pass by on the road, clap their hands at you; They hiss and wag their heads over daughter Jerusalem: “Is this the city they used to call perfect in beauty and joy of all the earth?”
(Jerusalem, Jerusalem, be converted to the Lord your God)
Lamentations 3:1-9
I am one who has known affliction under the rod of God’s anger, One whom he has driven and forced to walk in darkness, not in light; Against me alone he turns his hand— again and again all day long. He has worn away my flesh and my skin, he has broken my bones; He has besieged me all around with poverty and hardship; He has left me to dwell in dark places like those long dead. He has hemmed me in with no escape, weighed me down with chains; Even when I cry for help, he stops my prayer; He has hemmed in my ways with fitted stones, and made my paths crooked.
(Jerusalem, Jerusalem, be converted to the Lord your God)
Lamentations 3:22-30
The LORD’s acts of mercy are not exhausted, his compassion is not spent; They are renewed each morning— great is your faithfulness! The LORD is my portion, I tell myself, therefore I will hope in him. The LORD is good to those who trust in him, to the one that seeks him; It is good to hope in silence for the LORD’s deliverance. It is good for a person, when young, to bear the yoke, To sit alone and in silence, when its weight lies heavy, To put one’s mouth in the dust— there may yet be hope— To offer one’s cheek to be struck, to be filled with disgrace.
(Jerusalem, Jerusalem, be converted to the Lord your God)
Lamentations 4:1-6
How the gold has lost its luster, the noble metal changed; Jewels lie scattered at the corner of every street.
And Zion’s precious children, worth their weight in gold— How they are treated like clay jugs, the work of any potter!
Even jackals offer their breasts to nurse their young; But the daughter of my people is as cruel as the ostrich in the wilderness.
The tongue of the infant cleaves to the roof of its mouth in thirst; Children beg for bread, but no one gives them a piece.
Those who feasted on delicacies are abandoned in the streets; Those who reclined on crimson now embrace dung heaps.
The punishment of the daughter of my people surpassed the penalty of Sodom, Which was overthrown in an instant with no hand laid on it.
(Jerusalem, Jerusalem, be converted to the Lord your God)
Lamentations 5:1-11
Remember, LORD, what has happened to us, pay attention, and see our disgrace: Our heritage is turned over to strangers, our homes, to foreigners. We have become orphans, without fathers; our mothers are like widows. We pay money to drink our own water, our own wood comes at a price. With a yoke on our necks, we are driven; we are worn out, but allowed no rest. We extended a hand to Egypt and Assyria, to satisfy our need of bread. Our ancestors, who sinned, are no more; but now we bear their guilt. Servants rule over us, with no one to tear us from their hands. We risk our lives just to get bread, exposed to the desert heat; Our skin heats up like an oven, from the searing blasts of famine. Women are raped in Zion, young women in the cities of Judah…
(Jerusalem, Jerusalem, be converted to the Lord your God)
Watercolor of the stream running through the Abbey property
I was reading a little bit about the history of relics, and discovered that in the first centuries after Christ’s life, they would build altars over the places where martyrs were killed for the Christian faith. It is from that practice that we get the tradition of placing relics in the altars of Catholic churches when they are being constructed. It is good to remember those who have gone before us and laid down their lives for Christ; those martyrdoms are what our Church is built on. And it is good to remember that there are many unknown martyrs, who Christ knows so well.
I think especially of the white martyrs – the monastics. We are called to be martyrs, and give ourselves up for the love of Christ. We embody in a particular way the Gospel passage where Jesus’ relatives think He is “out of his mind” (cf. Mark 3:21). Isn’t that what some people think about martyrs? “Why are you dying for that?!” Similarly, many people wonder about people who choose to live the monastic life: “Why are you doing that?!” There is the red martyrdom, where blood is shed, and only God can give the grace for someone to have the courage for that. Only God can give the grace for someone to embrace white martyrdom, too. To live so closely to each other in community, serving each other even when there are difficulties and personality clashes, denying our self-will, following a schedule every day – these are all little martyrdoms that our world does not understand. The world may think we are a little crazy, but thank the Lord! Our ways are meant to be different than the world’s.
Really, every person is called to a type of martyrdom. Marriage is a type of martyrdom. Any vocation can be a martyrdom if lived well, because every vocation is meant to bring us to holiness, to bring us closer to Christ, to bring us to imitate Him Who gave up His life for the love of others. Being faithful to whatever God calls us to is the important thing, and that is one thing that is very mysterious to our culture: fidelity. Thank the Lord if people call you a little crazy, because they called Jesus a little crazy, too.
Their action resembles the snow which, covering the heights, is melted by the warm rays of the sun, and descends in life-giving streams to fertilise the valleys and plains.
We all know the story of Christ calling St. Peter out to walk on water. When the apostles saw Jesus walking on the sea toward them, Peter said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water” (Matt. 14:28). Christ tells him to “come,” so he steps out of the boat onto the water, but then he begins to sink and cries out. This episode shows how evil tries to make us doubt. That is one of the tools that evil tries to use against us – to doubt our faith, to doubt God’s love for us – and that is not from God.
When Jesus stretches out his hand to catch Peter from downing and says, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matt. 14:31), I don’t think He was rebuking Peter in a harsh way, or criticizing Peter for messing up again. I think Jesus was simply saying, “What made you think I wasn’t calling you forth? Don’t depend on yourself, but keep your eyes on Me, and follow through with confidence. You can trust Me.”
There is a point when we should actually doubt ourselves, and that is if we haven’t prayed. But if we have prayed first, and we feel confident about receiving direction from the Lord, then we should continue with confidence, and not let anything make us turn to the left or to the right. It is for us to put our trust in God, and not fear, and never take our eyes off Him. And if ever we begin to doubt, we should immediately call upon Him, like St. Peter did, and He will take care.
Our Sister Maria of Jesus, OSB, stepping out in faith and love, professed her solemn monastic vows on February 10! Adding to the already glorious occasion of the Solemnity of Saint Scholastica, Sister Maria’s profession day was a truly blessed and joyous one, and we were happy that so many of her loved ones were able to join us for the celebration. Click here to read an article from the Denver Catholic about Sister Maria’s Solemn Profession.
Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila calls Sister Maria forth to begin the rite of monastic profession
Sister Maria processes to the front of the church carrying her profession candle
During the Archbishop’s homily
Professing her monastic vows in the hands of Mother Maria-Michael
Singing her “Suscipe”
The Archbishop prays the prayer of monastic consecration over Sister Maria
Clothed with her new veil and cuculla (choir robe)
The Archbishop places her ring on her finger
Singing the “Ipsi Sum”
Presenting her candle to the Archbishop
The perfect picture to describe the motto Sister Maria took: “Looking to Jesus, Who emptied Himself”
The Archbishop’s closing remarks
Mother Maria-Michael and Sister Maria processing out of the chapel at the close of the celebration
Life’s journey can be full of distractions and diversions. Come to a day of recollection to find the meaning of Lenten observance and restore your vision of Christ for Easter.
Sister Maria Josepha, OSB
The Abbey of St. Walburga will be hosting two Lenten retreat days: March 10 and March 29 from 9:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Two conferences will be given by one of the nuns on the topic of “Returning to Christ”.
Participants are welcome to join the nuns for midday prayers (the Divine Office).
A light lunch will be provided, or you are welcome to bring your own food (refrigerators and microwaves will be available).
The cost is $35 per person.
Registration is required. Please email our Guest Mistress at aswretreats@gmail.com or call (970) 472-0612 to make a reservation.
A reflection for the New Year by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB
In 1 Corinthians 2:10, St. Paul says, “Brothers and sisters: The Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God.” You know what he doesn’t say? He doesn’t say that the Spirit criticizes; he doesn’t say that the Spirit murmurs. He just says that the Spirit scrutinizes.
What’s the difference? To scrutinize means to examine or inspect closely. You really, really look hard at it. To criticize actually means to indicate the faults of someone or something in a disapproving way. That’s criticizing, and a murmur is a soft, indistinct sound by a person or a group speaking quietly at a distance.
When there’s something in you that starts criticizing everything about yourself, I think you need to turn it off and not listen to it. There’s a time when we can critique ourselves, which means to look and be able to see a balance of good and bad. But criticizing yourself – to speak so negatively – I don’t think that’s what God wants for us.
We need to pay attention to these things because usually what you do to yourself, you will do to others. When you’re really hard on yourself, guess what? You won’t notice when you’re hard on someone else. And you don’t even mean it, but it’s just your way of thinking that’s come out.
Then, in 1 Corinthians 4:5 St. Paul says, “He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness, and will manifest the motives of our hearts.” But the more wonderful thing is that he goes on to add, “And then everyone will receive praise from God.” He’s actually anticipating praise! What a way to live! Do you live like that? When we have that way of living, anticipating good, it changes how we hear and see things. Instead of seeing black, we see that the dawn is coming; instead of seeing just the negative, we give the positive the first place.
In your desire to achieve great holiness, it’s in making those little changes. It’s the little things that make a lifetime. Think of that today: the little voice with which you speak to yourself. How is it? Know, however you’re speaking to yourself, everyone else will become aware of it. So don’t judge yourself or others too harshly. You too must know that you have a good intent. You too must know that, deep within you, you really mean well, and so does your neighbor.
Be kind to yourself, and you’ll be kind to others.
Photos from our chapel this Christmas season
…Give his people knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the loving kindness of our God
by which the daybreak from on high will visit us
to shine on those who sit in darkness and death’s shadow,
One of the first readings the Church gives us during Advent is from the book of Revelation: “‘These words are trustworthy and true, and the Lord, the God of prophetic spirits, sent his angel to show his servants what must happen soon.’ ‘Behold, I am coming soon.’” (Rev. 22:6-7). And that’s Advent. He is coming soon. Either we will see Him when He comes in the clouds, or we will see Him when we die and He comes to us, but one way or another we will see Him! Am I ready? Am I ready to see Him? I think that we should have great joy when we think about this, not because we are confident in ourselves, but because we are confident in Him. We should put great confidence in Him alone.
Then we will have a great sense of joy about His coming, and we will strive to live for Christ purposefully at every moment, so that when He comes we are ready. Part of that means being present to our prayer very purposefully, being present to each other very purposefully, giving a good example very purposefully. Take the time to notice one another. Don’t be too busy to notice those who are closest to you – those you whom you may take for granted. Take the time to encourage one another. Now is the time. Now is the real time of joyful conversion. Don’t wait, even an hour. Begin. Let each moment be a new beginning. And then how bright would this world be – how bright!
Christmas Day in the Abbey of St. Walburga Chapel
I also want to point out that in one of the special collects (prayers) that the Church has during Advent, we implore the Lord that “when He comes and knocks, He may find us watchful in prayer and exultant in His praise.” He comes and knocks in a special way during this season, and it is for us to ask ourselves, “How does God knock on my soul? Is my soul attentive? What are the deepest desires of my soul?” The season of Advent is the season of silence, so that you can be aware of what is going on in your soul, not only the negative things, but also the joyful things. What do you do throughout the day that makes Christ say, “I’m so happy I knocked on your door!”? The silence of Advent is a joyful silence, kept so that we can hear His footsteps when He comes, so that we can hear His voice. It’s a happy waiting, like a child at Christmas waiting for Santa Claus to make noise on the roof. It’s that sense of waiting in expectation, of asking: “When is it going to happen?” You don’t want to miss it. That’s the joyful silence of this season.
And if anyone feels like a lost sheep this Advent, just remember the importance of crying out to the Good Shepherd to be found. Why would someone not cry out? Shame? Pride? Self-reliance? But the Lord hears the cry of the poor, and He wants to find you and be found by you this Advent. So remember to cry out to Him, and let yourself be found.
“Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.”
Mark 6:11
I have to laugh when I imagine Jesus teaching His followers that they don’t have to fight people who don’t agree with them – they can just shake the dust from themselves (c.f. Mark 6:11). Not everything that sticks to you is mud. Most of the time it’s just dust. And you have to know how to discern that. Don’t see everything as big heavy weights. It’s as if Jesus asks us, “They’ve been mean to you? Shake the dust off! Why worry about it?” What a nice way to handle it. Sometimes we have to physically do something to shake off the dust; when something is really painful or hurtful, if we don’t physically do something it can run around in our heads. But a way to stop it is to physically do something.
I think hearing and understanding Jesus’ words tells us a little bit about how Jesus Himself had to handle things. How He took things, so that it wasn’t so heavy for Him. He didn’t let it become heavy. It was a choice: He could be upset, mad, and let it run around; or He could just shake off the dust, turn around and go to the Father. You don’t have to do it noticeably all the time; you can go into the inner corner of your heart and shake off the dust. But I would suggest that you find something to do so that you don’t carry around the dust of the world on your shoulders. Otherwise it just all collects.
One of the most helpful ways to shake the dust off is to turn to the Scriptures. Through the Scriptures the Holy Spirit speaks loudly. That’s so often how things are answered.
Cherish the Scriptures. Put love into reading them. Pray them. This should cause our hearts to love more. It should cause us to want to do more. It should teach us how to love more. True prayer will make us love others more. It won’t make us separate. Although as nuns we may appear separated because we’re cloistered, for us, praying with the Scriptures makes us love more in a different way, in the sense of bringing people before the Lord in prayer, caring about their cares. True prayer should bring us even more together. It is a happiness, a joy, to be united to all those you love in the Spirit. Let your prayer bring you to that place. It should really root us together in that way, and then it won’t be a surprise in Heaven when we’re together, too.
This fall, we tinted the upper windows of our chapel to solve the dilemma of having very direct sunlight hit our faces when we are trying to pray the Divine Office. It was a three-day ordeal, involving moving our liturgies to the conference room, fitting a JLG lift through doorways it almost couldn’t, and a constant process of building and re-building scaffolding, but it was all worth it, because at last, “By day the sun shall not smite you, nor the moon in the night” (Psalm 121:6).
Annual Community Retreat
On October 9-15, we had Father Jeff Loseke, Ed.D., S.T.L. (currently serving as Pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Parish in the Diocese of Omaha, Nebraska) direct our annual community retreat. His daily conferences were on the topic of healing, and were a great blessing to us.
How wonderful to compare the before and after pictures of our garden this season!
The Changing of the Leaves
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea and what fills it resound; let the plains be joyful and all that is in them. Then let all the trees of the forest rejoice before the LORD who comes, who comes to govern the earth, To govern the world with justice and the peoples with faithfulness.
This year’s calendar features photos of our Sisters performing daily monastic duties. The calendar also gives the days of the Church’s liturgical days and seasons, together with days commemorated by the Order of St. Benedict, as they are observed at our Abbey.
***We are now sold out of 2023 Calendars; thank you to everyone who purchased one!
