On Not Keeping Ascension Day
by Digitalnun on May 17, 2012
The title of this blog post is misleading. It is not so much that we are not keeping Ascension Day as that we are transferring the feast to Sunday, 20 May — and therein lies my sadness. Not keeping Ascension Day today means that we Catholics are out of step with the majority of other Christians in this country and, even more important in my view, are breaking the liturgical sequence of days, ignoring the number symbolism given by Scripture and Tradition. I am therefore on the horns of a dilemma. I bow to the decision of the bishops and will obediently celebrate the Ascension of the Lord on Sunday, but in my heart of hearts I know that today is the ‘real’ feast. While we sing today’s Divine Office according to the rubrics, the music of Ascensiontide is pulsing through my memory. I am that most unnatural of Benedictines, a liturgical crypto-rebel!
Does that matter? Perhaps not; but I think it does shed light on something we tend to ignore whenever we reform or change anything in the Church. We are creatures of habit; we like the familiar. It is hard to adapt to new ways of thinking and doing, even when they are improvements on what has gone before. That is why whenever anything needs to change, we ought to pray about it, to allow the grace of God into situations we may not recognize as needing grace. When we are ourselves involved in making changes, it is easy to forget how they will affect others, easy to be so convinced of the rightness of our views that we have no time or sympathy for those who think and feel differently.
I do not think I shall be lobbying the bishops to return Ascension Day to its proper date, nor shall I be absenting myself from the liturgy as though I knew better than others. Making a fuss is not my forte. I shall hold my peace and hope — oh how I hope! — that next year we may celebrate the feast when I believe it should be celebrated.
Nothing to Say
by Digitalnun on May 16, 2012
I haven’t blogged for the last few days because I’ve had nothing to say. That is the luxury of blogging, as distinct from preaching or teaching. When the well of inspiration runs dry, one is under no obligation to try to find an alternative source of hydration. One can just go silent (which, as someone will probably want to point out, is an anagram of ‘listen’).
Maybe it is because I am a nun, or maybe just because I am ‘built’ that way, I think the most important thing any Christian blogger can do before sitting down at the keyboard is to pray. We are so busy filling our minds with information, we sometimes forget the need to digest it all and ask the Light of God to shine on the areas we don’t understand or, worse still, think we understand but don’t. Slow prayer, slow blogging: I am a fan of both. Much better to go quiet for a little than to find one has become entrapped in one’s own noise.
The Monastery and the Internet
(The video presentation I did for the Gott im Web Conference is still available here and will be as long as the bandwidth we bought holds out: it has been viewed by more than 250 people so far.)
Good Monk, Bad Monk
by Digitalnun on May 10, 2012
Who, apart from Benedictines, is interested in what St Benedict has to say in the first chapter of his Rule about the different kinds of monks? True, it may provide a little ammunition for those who want to criticize an individual, or even a whole community, but rarely is it seen for what it is, an introduction to monastic living with all its pitfalls. In sketching the characters of good and bad monks, Benedict is setting before us a thumbnail of the whole monastic enterprise.
Yesterday he stressed what to look for in the good monk: obedience to rule and abbot, and a life lived in community or, if truly experienced in the ways of the Spirit, a hermit life, but one still grounded in that obedience to rule and abbot. In other words, the good monk is always under obedience — to a rule that is imperfect, to an individual who is flawed, but both seen by the monk as vehicles of grace. Contrast that with what we read today about the sarabaites and gyrovagues. They are not necessarily bad men, as we might understand the term, but they are choosey about their allegiance, assuming that they know best, keen to try their own experiments in monastic living without first submitting to years of regular discipline. They are fundamentally unstable, always pushing on to find the perfect community, the perfect way of life, and in danger of settling for what is merely comfortable or convenient.
I think RB 1 has something to say to all of us who are sincere in our search for God. I am glad that I had many years as a nun in a big community with a long tradition behind it before I came here. I think it has given our community a certain sureness of touch, a fundamentally humble, questing approach, enabling us to be orthodox in faith and practice but also innovative. That is not, however, something we can take for granted. What Benedict does not say in this chapter is at least as important as what he does. The obedience to rule and abbot that he singles out as the monk’s safeguard is something he will elaborate upon at some length. Ultimately, the monk is responsible for setting a guard about his heart and mind. He wakes every morning to hear the voice of the Lord commanding him and lives by faith, following the guidance of the gospel, but that is a choice he must make anew every morning. Mercifully, we have a vow of conversion to help us.
A Delinquent Dog
by Digitalnun on May 9, 2012
There are some people who regard their dogs as spiritual directors. Even though I am English, I think that is going rather far — not because I do not honour Bro Duncan but because, as readers of this blog are aware, I am a little sceptical about spiritual directors in general, believing that the needful gift is rare. Bro Duncan does very well as a watchdog for the community and fulfils the role of porter admirably, greeting everyone and being especially attentive to the very old and very young, with whom he has a special affinity. (Not surprising given that his own joints are beginning to creak, and standing just 15 inches high at the shoulder, his world view has always been that of a little child). He is a very companionable dog, very gentlemanly and discreet. At least, I thought he was.
Recently he spent a day in kennels getting a haircut and returned home a different dog. He looked better, he smelled better, but his behaviour! For the first time in his life he decided that the visitors’ sofa was exactly what he needed for chilling out (he is not allowed on furniture); instead of pleading with kohl-rimmed eyes for a share of the visitors’ biscuits or dancing on his hind legs with supplicating front paws, he attempted to intercept the movement from plate to mouth; worst of all, he looked very smug about his antics.
It is clear we have a delinquent dog on our hands and are like the parents of teenagers, wondering what will happen next and asking ourselves where have we gone wrong. For once, the Rule of St Benedict is scarcely a help. However, I know we must be patient with our errant brother because there is one lesson that, spiritual director or no, he has always taught us: everyone is his very best friend. I can’t help wondering whether, if we human beings made fewer distinctions and treated everyone as, potentially at least, our very best friend, the world would be a kinder and more pleasant place.
(Note: if you are old enough to enjoy a little silliness, Bro Duncan has his own Twitter account, @BroDuncanPBGV.)
The Monastery and the Internet
by Digitalnun on May 8, 2012
For those of you who would like to see the presentation I made to the Gott im Web Conference at Stift Heiligenkreuz, here it is. It takes just over 18 minutes and is a shortened version of what I had intended to say. Please bear in mind that it is addressed principally to monks and nuns. The question I was asked to talk about was The Monastery and the Internet: hiddenness and openness, cloister and mission.
The above video was viewed 133 times within a few hours of its release so we have upgraded our account to ensure there is less bandwidth choking. If it doesn’t work, please email us. If you would like to support the online work of the community, please consider making a donation via our Charity Choice account.
Digital Technologies and Christian Culture
by Digitalnun on May 4, 2012
I have been thinking about the way in which digital technologies are changing not just the expression but also the content of what we religious types put online. Here at the monastery we are contemplating some major changes to our web sites, use of social media, etc. One of the things that has struck me is how word (and Word) centred our practice is. Our main web site, like those of many Christian organizations, contains pages of text: information, reflection, explanation, the fruit of our thinking about monastic life and trying to express it in words.
Thinking, words, these are the traditional elements of Christian culture, requiring silence, time and the discipline of logic for effect. But the online world thrives on immediacy, brevity, the interplay of image and sound, action and reaction. I think we can truthfully say that we have tried to take the monastery into that world. The challenge we now face is how to engage more deeply, to be true to our Christian heritage yet at the same time interpret anew the truth by which we live. That raises all kinds of questions about authority and trustworthiness. It goes beyond language, touching on psychology and social attitudes that are not of the Church’s making.
There is no shortage of opinion about these matters. Resources of various kinds abound, with excellent work being done by CODEC and @xiannewmedia, for example. But ultimately, what we do online proceeds from our lives offline, from the prayer, lectio divina and common life of the community. I am not sure what we shall produce over the next few months but I have a hunch that it may be very different from anything we have attempted so far — not because the technology on offer makes new things possible, but because the world which has developed that technology requires a new approach.
As always, I’d love to know what you think.
SS Philip and James
by Digitalnun on May 3, 2012
The feast of SS Philip and James is graced with a beautiful piece of of plainchant, Tanto tempore. I do not mean to slight the apostles when I say that great art isn’t always inspired by great people or great events. Philip and James appear at various points in the New Testament but never, I think, in a way that makes one think of them as heroes or larger-than-life characters. They are good men, not great ones — a wonderful encouragement to those of us who know ourselves to be rather run-of-the-mill people, trying to live good Christian lives but frequently failing. Yet at some time in the past an unknown musician took the words of Jesus, ‘Have I been with you so long, Philip’ and turned them into a musical masterpiece we sing each year on this feast. It is a reminder that God can take the most humdrum of materials — us — and transform them beyond our wildest imaginings.
Irritable Nun Syndrome and St Athanasius
by Digitalnun on May 2, 2012
Yesterday I made a joke on Twitter. (I often make jokes and have the pleasure of seeing them descend to earth with all the delicacy of a lead balloon, but bear with me.) Irritable Nun Syndrome is a condition I have sometimes diagnosed in myself when tired or oppressed by the adolescent feeling that others just don’t understand. The lapidary sentence that distills a lifetime of thought and learning being taken a little too literally; the gracious nod in the direction of someone truly great being completely missed; the gentle irony mistaken for something much worse. You know the kind of thing. All terribly humbling, but annoying too.
I was chuntering along these lines when I realised that in St Athanasius I, and all sufferers from Irritable Nun Syndrome, have a wonderful ally. Not because we can compare ourselves in any way to such a great saint but because, as the dauntless champion of the Incarnation with a passionate concern for the integrity of Catholic belief, Athanasius was one of the most awkward men who have ever lived. He bristles, he burns, and he pays the price in exile and obloquy. At heart, I think he was something of a monk.
All monks and nuns are, to some degree, awkward people. We are free, as few other people are free, to follow the logic of our conversion to Christ. That freedom confers a great responsibility on us. There will undoubtedly be times when we wish to shirk it or shrink it to something we feel we can ‘manage’, but as St Benedict reminds us in the opening words of the Rule, we have stripped ourselves of self-will to fight for the true King, Christ our Lord, with the strong and glorious weapons of obedience. Athanasius was throughout his life a man of unwavering fidelity to the obedience he had vowed. May he pray for us all.
May is Mary’s Month
by Digitalnun on May 1, 2012
Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is a mark of both Catholic and Orthodox Christianity, so much so that those innocent of Church history sometimes express surprise that St Benedict never mentions Mary in the Rule, unless we are to understand that she is included among ‘the saints’ to whom he refers in general terms. Indeed, judging by today’s chapter of the Rule, RB 73, he is keener for the monk to take Scripture and the Fathers as models than Mary or any other saint or martyr.
It would be wrong, however, to deduce from this that Benedictines are indifferent to Mary or have no devotion to her. On the contrary, it is because Mary is so close to us, Our Lady as we call her in England, that we do not make much of a razzmatazz about her. We ask her prayers, and are confident that she prays for us as she prays for the whole Church, with a tender sympathy and interest. May is a month peculiarly dedicated to her honour: one in which we rejoice in her as Mother of God who leads us closer to her beloved Son, Jesus Christ.
Some years ago we produced a little booklet of poems as a kind of monastic jeu d’esprit, a May Day gift for Mary. We hope you will enjoy it.
If you like Ladyflower, have a look of some of our other digital books on our main web site, http://www.benedictinenuns.org.uk/Media/Media/books.html
We are Moving!
by Digitalnun on April 30, 2012
As readers are only too well aware, we have been trying to obtain permanent premises for the monastery for a long time. At last, we have positive news to report. God willing, we will soon be blessed with ‘a local habitation and a name’!
A monastery is not quite the same as a ‘normal’ house. We don’t need, indeed don’t want, the latest in creature comforts, but we do need somewhere big enough to admit those who want to join the community, with good facilities for guests who, as Benedict rightly remarks, are never lacking in a monastery. We need a chapel or oratory for prayer, room for a library, space to work. The list is daunting, and it all has to be achieved on a very slender budget.
Together with the Friends of Holy Trinity Monastery, we have devoted a lot of time, money and effort to this quest. Several times we have found what we thought was a suitable property and come close to getting substantial help with a mortgage, but each time our hopes have been dashed. Earlier this year we came to the conclusion that local property prices were always going to be prohibitive so we must look further afield — not as easy as it sounds because of the ecclesiastical permissions needed.
A New Home
We are delighted to tell you that we have found a barn conversion on the edge of the Golden Valley in Herefordshire which promises to be exactly what we need. There will be room for Denise, our first postulant, entering later this summer, and several companions; also room for guests in a very pleasant annexe. We shall be near Belmont Abbey, which means we shall be able to give our novices a good grounding in Benedictine liturgy.
We have also been able to obtain that most necessary thing, a mortgage! It may mean we have to work until we are 150 to pay it off, but at least we have one.
Sadness and Joy
We are sad to be leaving our friends in the diocese of Portsmouth but we are looking forward to contributing to the life of the Church in the diocese of Cardiff. Like prayer, our online engagement is independent of place, and we hope that once we are settled we shall be able to give effect to all the plans for development that have had to be put on hold during the past three years. So, expect some exciting things in the future!
Veilaudio
For the time being, we are hoping to continue to run Veilaudio from Hendred with the help of our wonderful team of volunteers.
Moving date
The date of our move is not yet fixed but is likely to be the end of May.
Thank You
What we most want to say, of course is ‘thank you’: first to God, who has upheld us during the past eight years, especially during the difficult times when everything looked very bleak; to our friends and benefactors who have given time, money and talent to help us in ways too numerous to be counted; to Bishop Crispian, who has always been supportive and has given us his blessing for the move; and Archbishop George Stack who has generously welcomed us to his diocese.
Please pray for us as we do for you. There are likely to be many ‘White Rabbit’ moments during the next few weeks, but we trust that, with God’s help, all will work out. While, of necessity, we think about material things, we shall also keep in mind St Benedict’s injunction nihil amori Christi praeponere, to prefer nothing to the love of Christ. Pray for those who have no homes or sleep rough on our streets.
