The contemplative life is so promoted by the Church because it is the heart of the Church. This is also the reason evil would like to get rid of the contemplative life— It’s what keeps the heart beating. It’s what keeps the flow of blood, of life, the precious Blood of Christ, flowing through the Body of Christ. He has chosen us to live in a contemplative spirit and in a contemplative environment. We are in the monastery not because we are holy but because we want to get there. And we live a life in which we have times together to learn to pray and live in the presence of God so that our eyes do not swerve away from Him. You can live that way at all times. Of course you need to pay attention to your work, but as St. Benedict says in the Prologue of the HolyRule, “every time you begin a good work, you must pray to him most earnestly to bring it to perfection.” He is the only one who can make it perfect. And “perfect” means the spirit in which you give it. Even if it is a failure in one way, if you give it fully, it is no failure in the eyes of God. In Chapter 7:27 of the Rule we hear, “…At all times the Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see whether any understand and seek God.” There you see the purpose of it all. Do we understand? Do we want to understand? Are we seeking God in all things? “And if every day the angels assigned to us report our deeds to the Lord day and night, then, brothers, we must be vigilant every hour” (HolyRule, Ch. 7, v. 28). That is the key: vigilance. We must be vigilant in prayer.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church has a beautiful chapter on contemplative
prayer. It says, “The choice of the time and duration of the prayer rises from
a determined will, revealing the secrets of the heart. One does not undertake
contemplative prayer only when one has the time: one makes time for the Lord,
with the firm determination not to give up, no matter what trials or dryness
one may encounter” (CCC, 2710). This is known by all of those who have faith
and live for God. There are times of dryness when we are tempted to ignore what
we are called to, but it is only a temptation. In order to follow through, we
have set times of prayer, because that’s what it takes—determination. We
remember that no matter how we are, God loves us. He loves us immensely. He
longs for us more than we could ever long for him. He waits for us. To come in
dryness is to stand by him in the time of trial. It is so powerful. To belong
to him when it is most difficult is to stand by him on the cross.
What really matters, and we need to pray for this grace, is that we grow in holiness. Don’t be afraid to ask where you need do better. Don’t be afraid, but face that question head on, so that you can become holy. We have to strive for it. And God loves to lift us up from our sinfulness; so be assured that it is greater for him when we need his passion and death. Use it. Call up on it. God expects this. He hasn’t called us to something he can’t give to us, but we need to ask. Life is short, and at any moment he can bring us to holiness. He can bring us from the very depths to the heights in just one second of desire. That’s all it takes. God is so great, greater than anything. Call upon him. He wills it.
Drawing of a nun at prayer by our Sister Maria-Placida, OSB
A reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB, on the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, celebrated every year on August 15
Titian, Assumption of the Virgin, 1518 Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice Public Domain
“Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death.” The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son’s Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians.
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 966
The meaning of the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary is that of culmination and a new beginning. With Our Lady’s Assumption into heaven, the promises of the Lord were fulfilled for her and as always, beyond all expectation. I would have loved to have seen Mary’s face at her arrival into heaven. She saw her Son under the horror of the Cross; and I’m sure that never left her heart. But now she gets to see the glory of her Son and she shares in that. Remember that as she came to heaven, she was body and soul—she had an expression on her face. And that expression has never left her. The beauty of her Son seated on His throne…
The word “assumption” comes from the Latin word “assumere,” meaning, “to take to oneself.” Our Lord Jesus Christ took Mary home to Himself where He is. Now, on Mary’s part, it was the work of a lifetime of being watchful and ready to preserve the deifying light in her soul. In the Prologue of the Rule of St. Benedict, we hear, “Let us open our eyes to the light that comes from God.” Mary never took her eyes off of the light that comes from God, her Son. Further on in the Rule it says, “Run while you have the light of life, that the darkness of death may not overtake you.” Well we could say that Mary ran the marathon of life and outran sin! She never stood around long enough for sin to “attach” itself to her. There was no selfishness in Mary for sin to cling to. And isn’t most sin about selfishness? And while we also remember that Mary is the sorrowful Mother, her sorrow was never about herself. Mary’s sorrows have only to do with anything that separates us from the love and life of Christ. It would be good for us to imitate Mary in knowing true sorrow instead of selfish sorrow.
The Assumption is seen as a sign of hope for all Christians, demonstrating the ultimate destiny of those who are united with Christ: the glorious reunion of body and soul in heaven. It highlights the goodness and dignity of the human body, destined for eternal glory.
There is a story, that perhaps you have heard, of a very holy woman who would serve God’s people during the day without ceasing to pray. She would go to bed late at night but would get up early every morning to continue to serve. And when she would get up in the morning, as soon as her feet hit the floor, hell shook and said, “Oh no, she’s up!” I pray that could be said for every one of us. But for that to happen, we have to live like Mary—attentive to the body of Christ, attentive to one another, attentive to everything that separates anybody from the love of Christ and His life.
Mary’s Assumption did not mark the end of her service. On the contrary, her service could now assume its universal work. We read in Lumen Gentium that “taken up to heaven, she did not lay aside this saving role, but by her manifold acts of intercession continues to win for us gifts of eternal salvation. By her maternal charity, Mary cares for the brethren of her Son who still journey on…” And Mary cares for us. Let us do nothing that would grieve the immaculate heart of Mary. Let us live in her presence.
As we celebrate the Assumption let us make our house a place where Mary wants to dwell. That takes work and it takes love. Mary suffered, but she loved more than she suffered. Like Mary, we too have to pay more attention to what we love than to what we suffer.
Archaeology has revealed two tombs of Mary, one in Jerusalem and one in Ephesus. The fact that Mary lived in both places explains the two tombs. But what is inexplicable apart from the Assumption is the fact that there is no body in either tomb. And there are no relics. Anyone who peruses early Church history knows that Christian belief in the communion of saints and the sanctity of the body—in radical contrast to the Gnostic disdain for “the flesh”—led early Christians to seek out with the greatest fervor relics from the bodies of great saints. Cities, and, later, religious orders, would fight over the bones of great saints. This is one reason why we have relics of the apostles and so many of the greatest saints and martyrs in history. Yet never was there a single relic of Mary’s body? As revered as Mary was, this would be very strange, except for the fact of the assumption of her body.
A reflection on Pentecost Sunday by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB
In Eden, after the Fall, the focus of Adam and Eve that was once directed toward God and eternal things was drawn to earth like a magnet. Love was twisted from being centered on God to being centered on self, and this is the great tragedy of our fallen state. But Pentecost changes everything for us. The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to strive to love rightly again. The gift of the Spirit prompts us to hate the weeds (our sins) that keep trying to take root in our souls. Our goal should be to return to Eden in our souls; and we do this through contrition and Reconciliation, responding to the Spirit’s promptings to continually uproot our vices by sorrowing over them and seeking the loving mercy of the Father. Remember the parable that Jesus Himself uses to teach us about the love of our Father in Luke 15, and let us never tire of running to the One who receives us as the loving father receives his prodigal son.
Not only does the Spirit grant us the grace of conversion; various virtues and gifts are given as well. In The Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena, we read her beautiful insight into how the Lord deigned that we each receive different virtues in order to build each other up, to build up the Body of Christ for the good of the world. The Lord said to her, “Why do I give this person one virtue and that person another, rather than giving them all to one person? It is true that all the virtues are bound together, and it is impossible to have one without having them all. But I give them in different ways so that one virtue might be, as it were, the source of all the others. So to one person I give charity as the primary virtue, to another justice, to another humility, to another a lively faith or prudence or temperance or patience, and to still another courage. … I have distributed them all in such a way that no one has all of them. Thus have I given you reason—necessity, in fact—to practice mutual charity. For I could well have supplied each of you with all your needs, both spiritual and material. But I wanted to make you dependent on one another so that each of you would be my minister, dispensing the graces and gifts you have received from me” (click here for full text of The Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena). How very cunning of the Lord to make us need one another. Do you know what your primary virtue is? Ask! Ask! I need your gifts. The Church needs your gifts. Strive eagerly to know our virtues so that we can serve each other well. Remember that without the virtue of love, all the virtues count for nothing. Yes, above all, we must strive to love as God does, first of all by allowing ourselves to be loved by God. Then we will restore Eden in our souls, and in this way bring the Kingdom of God to earth. May we all do this, and may He bring us all together to life everlasting!
Excerpts from Mother Maria-Michael’s Easter season reflections, which highlight the ways in which we can follow in the footsteps of the first disciples
Abbey of St. Walburga paschal candle department artwork
Commenting on Acts 9,
the first Mass reading from the third Friday of Easter:
We have much to learn from the reading about St. Paul’s
conversion. He had the courage to ask God the question, “Who are you?”, and
once he knew that it was Jesus, he made a 180 degree turn and followed Him, he
who had up to that moment been persecuting Christians for the sake of God. His
zeal was for God all along, only it was misguided. So he was open and ready to
change his mind and his life once he had been enlightened by Jesus. It goes to
show that when we truly want to know God and do His will, He will guide us.
However, it may require a complete change of heart on our part, as was the case
with St. Paul. Our sinful ways are never the end; Christ’s Resurrection has the
final word, and so our sins can be the very things that lead us to God if we
let them. Whenever we do our Lectio Divina, we should approach the Word in this
way, open and ready to be surprised by God. The course of our day, the course
of our lives, can be changed by the truth He reveals to us through our prayerful
reading, meditation and listening.
Commenting on Acts 16,
the first Mass reading from the fifth Saturday of Easter:
We hear that Paul and Timothy were prevented by the Holy Spirit from going to Asia to preach. I think this means that they knew how to listen well to the Spirit’s guidance in their lives; they must have cultivated that spirit of silent listening that is so important, that joyful silence which listens for the voice of God with the ears of the heart. In this way of being, you are even open to interruptions and failures because with God’s grace you learn to accept them as gifts from the hand of God. You may experience suffering or see suffering and not understand, but that is where faith comes in, trusting in God’s wisdom above one’s own, believing that He truly is working for the good. Yes, our ways are different than the world’s ways, because it the world tells us that we need to have an answer to everything. But as Christians we must try to accept the mysteries of life and not always need to explain them.
Commenting on Acts
22-23, the first Mass reading from the seventh Thursday of Easter:
It is good to have our motives questioned, as Paul’s were before the Sanhedrin, even when we feel that we are being accused unjustly. It is a great benefit for us to see criticism as a gift, because then no matter what, whether we are being flattered or persecuted, we can be grateful that God is giving us the opportunity to evaluate our intentions. He desires for us to stand before Him with a clear conscience, regardless of what anyone else thinks, so He allows us to be tested in this way in order that our motives may be purified. After asking ourselves whether or not an accusation about us is true, we can move forward with that self-knowledge and act accordingly, grateful for the gift of self-knowledge we have received through the experience. Through this process we will purified in our intention to do everything, no matter how small, for the glory and honor of the Father.
Reflection on Ascension
Sunday:
It is hard to imagine how difficult it must have been for the apostles to go from living in community with Jesus to trying to function without Him after His Ascension. But we know that He did not leave them orphans. They had to learn, as we do now, how to recognize His presence within themselves and in each other. I imagine they had the grace to live in the way Brother Lawrence describes in his book The Practice of the Presence of God, where God is everywhere and in everyone and everything, we have only to ask for the eyes to see Him. Do we act and speak as if Christ were dwelling in the other? This is the great challenge and adventure of the Christian life, to always be on the lookout for God, joyfully anticipating finding Him in each person we meet, and yes, within our very selves.
A reflection on the triumph of Love by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB
I was thinking about the incredible words we sing during the Divine Office on the Feast of St. Andrew: “Seeing the cross [of his own martyrdom], Andrew cried out with joy, ‘O precious cross! Truly I have always loved you, and I have desired to embrace you.’”
This is a disciple who ran away in the garden of Gethsemane—he
didn’t stand by Jesus on the cross—so the greatest gift that could be given to
him was another chance to stand by the cross. What did he do with it? He
embraced it. He longed for that moment to tell Christ, “I love you, and I want
to be with you, wherever that leads.” This is the power of the triumph of the
cross. Love is the triumph of the
cross. When we love enough that we no longer fear the crosses in our lives but
we embrace them and we long for them because they unite us with him who has
loved us beyond all love, that is the triumph of the cross. So today we
celebrate that we no longer fear the cross; it is truly the exaltation. Of
course we cannot do this of ourselves. St. Andrew, St. Peter, none of them,
could have embraced the cross on their own, but with divine strength they could
embrace and kiss it. And their suffering turned into gratitude. Yes, when we
can thank God for the crosses in our life, God has triumphed. When we can see
that it is Love that has given us once again the chance to prove our love, we
will rejoice and say, “Amen!” and run toward it, because we have a chance to
prove our love. Let us pray today that the cross may triumph in our own lives, because
it will not happen on our own. It is completely divine strength.
May this Easter season bring you much joy in the
resurrection of Our Lord, who suffered his cross for the love of us, that we might
have a sense of the depths of his love and desire to return our love for his.
On May 3, 2017, we welcomed Sr. Anna as a novice in our community as she was given the habit of our Order. Below is an excerpt from the reflection given to the Sr Anna and the Community on the vigil of her clothing.
In the scriptures for tomorrow’s feast, we hear, “Jesus said to Thomas, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know me and have seen me. Philip said to him, ‘Master, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long and you still do not know me Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.’” It is that seeking of God that is so powerful throughout our entire life. But one must truly seek God especially in the novitiate because that’s a very telling time. It’s a time when choices are made. It’s a building of a foundation for a life dedicated to God in which we sing the praises of God day by day and through signing those praises, we seek the face of God. We must seek him.
We seek him steadfastly. And when you wear the habit, you’re wearing your ‘yes’ to the life. Every morning, we put on our habit, we are saying yes to the monastic life. We are saying we will do this again. And what do we do? We go out and sing the praises of God. So you know where your strength comes from. It comes from singing the praises of God. No matter what we do, what is going on, we sing the praises of God. We seek His face the very first thing in the morning.
You are taking the steps of a life embedded and dedicated to God. In this life, we leave everything behind and are embraced by the face we seek.
Reflection by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB on the Mass readings for March 2, 2017.
In the scriptures for today we hear about life and what it means to have life. In Deuteronomy we are told to
“Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him. For that will mean life for you, a long life for you to live on the land that the LORD swore he would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” (Deut. 30: 19-20)
Then in Luke,
“Then [Jesus] said to all, ‘If anyone wishes to come after me he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” (Luke 9:23-24)
Christ is the center in all of this – the choosing of Him over all things. You often hear people say when speaking of following a religious vocation, “I don’t want to do that. I have a life!” What do they gain? What do they get out of that life? But when we say, “I am going to give up everything. I am going to give my life for Him”, then we get eternal life. We give up a drop to gain eternity!
In Chapter Five of the Holy Rule, on obedience, St. Benedict says, “The first step of humility is unhesitating obedience which comes naturally to those who cherish Christ above all else. The Lord says of men like this, ‘no sooner did he hear did he obey me.” Again he says, “Such people as these immediately put aside their own concerns, abandon their own will and lay down whatever they have in hand, leaving it unfinished.” That is so hard but what a wonderful practice!
Do we do this? When we hear the bell for the Divine Office do we set aside what we are doing, leaving it unfinished, in order to hasten to the Work of God? Or when someone comes to use while we are working to ask something of us – do we set aside what we are doing in order to give them our full attention? And, in turn, we should be sensitive to timing when we ask something of another. That is charity. If a sister is working in the kitchen – oven door open, food overflowing, steam everywhere – it probably isn’t a good time to ask a favor of her.
In charity, let us be attentive to the moment and be ready to stop what we are doing, in order to be fully present to one another. Truly, that is laying down one’s life.
On September 8, 2016, as we celebrated the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we also welcomed yet another novice into our community, Sr. Hillary Kunz. Below is an excerpt from the reflection Mother Maria-Michael gave to our community the evening before Sr. Hillary’s clothing.
Tomorrow we celebrate the birth of the Blessed Mother. She plays an extraordinary part in God’s plan of redemption. We celebrate her birth into time, into life, the life of the world which God created and said, “It is very good.” In her life too, prophecies will be fulfilled, “the sword shall pierce your own heart.” And also, “He has looked on his servant in her lowliness, henceforth all ages will call me blessed.” And there are many more. All of these are held in the child Mary, fresh from her Mother’s womb. Little did anyone realize the moment she was born, the impact this little girl would have on the world, would have on humanity.
Tomorrow there will be another birth… Hillary you will be born anew because you are leaving behind the world you knew well, that you were comfortable with. And yet you have been called out of the world in order, like Mary, as it says in the liturgy, “Let us celebrate with devotion the birth of Mary, the ever Virgin Mother of God whose splendid life has illumined the Church.” We are called in our lives to illumine the Church. We are called to be lanterns, we are called to be God’s light in the world. It cannot happen unless we are born anew. And so tomorrow, Hillary will be stripped, in a sense, of her own clothing and will be given the habit of our community. She is going to profess her desire to be a part of this community, to be one lamp with us all and that will require being born again.
Hillary, you are going to be learning everything anew from a whole different perspective. It’s one in which you are seriously stepping into this life. You are stepping in to be grounded. You are stepping in to listen more clearly to the Word of God. Because that Word is already in you and it now will take form in the life totally dedicated to Christ. A novice begins to see things anew, more seriously the things you have sensed God is calling you to, you now grasp. The things you have lived you now embrace because you’re looking at a life that is stable until you pass into eternity. That is what you are being called to. And we rejoice with you.
In the month of November, we remember the souls in purgatory and we remember the words of St. Benedict exhorting us to pray with “tears of compunction”, which are necessary in order to have that purity of heart required in this life. This purity of heart not only aids our own souls but those of others – and for the souls of the departed. Our prayers and tears of compunction help those souls that are still in need of some purification. One of the most powerful things we can do for another soul – especially for one who is close to death – is to ask for their forgiveness. This reconciliation will lift an immense weight and allow peace to permeate the soul, both theirs and ours.
I read recently that after reading the Gospel the priest or deacon whispers quietly, after kissing the book, “Through the words of the Gospel, may our sins be wiped away.” How powerful. The Gospel should call us to repentance, call us to examine how we are living. The Good Thief understood this:
“One of the criminals on the cross began to shout insults at Jesus, ‘Aren’t you the Christ? Then save yourself and us!’ But the other criminal stopped him and said, ‘You should fear God. You are getting the same punishment he is. We are punished justly, getting what we deserve for what we did. But this man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ Jesus said to him, ‘I tell you the truth. Today, you will be with me in paradise.’”
What a promise. Why did he receive this promise? Because he accepted his crucifixion because he knew it was just. He acknowledged his sinfulness before God; therefore, he was forgiven and received a treasure beyond expectation.
What would our treasure be if we all had the attitude of the Good Thief? When a difficult or trying situation is handed to us, do we willingly accept it as reparation for our sins and those of others, or do we run and hide? St. Paul says that “love covers a multitude of sin” because love is accepting, love doesn’t flee, love bears all things for the sake of Him who loves us. God sent His only Son to die out of love for us. How much more should we give ourselves out of love for God and for our brothers and sisters? The most important thing we can do – for our souls and for those of others – is to safeguard love.
“Between the Two Thieves” Ioannis Moskos Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons
Our community welcomed our second new novice of the year on April 17, 2016, the Feast of the Good Shepherd. Sr. Brandi-Lynn McWhorter was clothed in the Benedictine habit during our Lauds prayer service. Below is a reflection given by Mother Maria-Michael for the occasion of her clothing.
In the prayer for the blessing of the Habit we hear, “O God, in Your fidelity You promise us eternal goods and You always fulfill your promises, we ask you to bless this religious habit by which your handmaid who will wear it desires to express her readiness to serve you with undivided devotion.”
The key is desire. When a novice receives the habit, she is questioned, “What do you ask?” In asking this, the abbess is also asking, what is your desire in prostrating yourself before the altar of the Lord? What is your desire as you hold out your hands to receive what isn’t yours? Every morning when we arise and put on the habit – we have to remember that it was through desire that we answered those questions.
The novice is also asked, “Are you willing to seek God in this community and test [and I mean test!] your vocation to the monastic life?” This is the time of testing – much will be expected of you. In Chapter 58 of the Rule of St Benedict, on the reception of brothers into the monastery, it says, “Let a senior who has the ability to win over souls be appointed to watch over him merrily and carefully, to discover whether he truly seeks God and is eager for the Work of God, for obedience and for obtaining humility.” The rigor and austerity that we use in our journey to God should be laid before him. It isn’t an easy life. The only way to live it is to live it fully – with desire.
A novice is taken through the valley of Humility. It is rich, beautiful and mortifying. It is a tough place to be but it is the richest. There will be the cliffs of Obedience. There are going to be cliff-hangers but those are ones that will climb to the heights. There are the silent streams that flow strong and to drink one must be silent. We take times of silence to drink deeply of Christ. That relationship is the only thing that ties us strongly to the monastic life. Know the voice of the Good Shepherd. Know it well. You must be able to discern the voice of the Good Shepherd because so often when we pray and ask God to speak to us, He speaks through our superiors. We have to be able to recognize His voice speaking to us through our Abbess.
“My sheep hear my voice; I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My father who has given them to me, is greater than all and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”
