What is the Grille of the Cloistered Heart?

 

The grille is a powerful symbol. I would go so far as to say that, in the cloistered heart way of life I’m describing, it is the important symbol. It is a place of separation and, just as importantly, it is a place of encounter. It is only through the grille that some cloistered individuals (in a number of communities) connect with the world.

Every human being has been given, by God, a way to connect with the world. A way to see situations correctly; a way to interact with others appropriately.

God invites each one of us to view and respond to every person and every circumstance through His will.

We do not have to guess what that will is. God has revealed it to us. Scripture and the authentic teachings of the Church make up the bars of our grille.

Am I facing a hardship? I can face it through the grille.“God makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him…” (Romans 8:28).   

“We do not fix our gaze on what is seen but on what is unseen…” (2 Corinthians 4:18).  

Some Scriptures That Form "Bars of My Grille":

"Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may judge what is God's will, what is good, pleasing and perfect."  (Romans 12:0)

"Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no fruit, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights." (Habakkuk 3:17-19)

"We know that God makes all things work together for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his decree." (Romans 8:28)

"...we can even boast of our afflictions! We know that affliction makes for endurance, and endurance for tested virtue, and tested virtue for hope. And this hope will not leave us disappointed, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (Romans 5:3-5)

"I consider the sufferings of the present to be as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed in us." (Romans 8:18)

"Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it so much as dawned on man what God has prepared for those who love him." (1 Corinthians 2:9)

"No test has been sent you that does not come to all men. Besides, God keeps his promise. He will not let you be tested beyond your strength.  Along with the test he will give you a way out of it so that you may be able to endure it." (1 Corinthians 10:13)

"We have put our hope in him who will never cease to deliver us." (2 Corinthians 1:10)

**This is an excerpt from the CloisteredHeart.org page, "The Grille".

All I Must Do Is Accept

I have been privileged to spend time in monasteries of nuns on several occasions. As a retreatant, I've been able to live inside the enclosure for a few days at a time...praying with the Sisters, joining them for Mass, taking meals with them, sleeping in a cell.

One of the (many) things that struck me during such experiences was the simplicity of monastic life, and I probably noticed this most during mealtimes.  The monastic meal stands in stark contrast to meals in the world. The food is nourishing but simple, adequate but not overly abundant. Normally, meals are taken in silence.

In one monastery I have visited, breakfast is eaten while one is standing. The nuns file into the "refectory" (dining room) after Mass, pour themselves coffee or juice, take a piece of toast or fruit, and move to their assigned places at table. Each Sister goes quietly about the business of eating. She accepts the food necessary for her to move forward into this day. It is all very efficient, basic, and starkly simple.

Nourishment of the spirit has come first, nourishment of the body follows immediately after. Both are important, but priorities are in their proper order. There is work to be done: spirit and body must be ready to do it.

For me, there is work to be done - no matter what shape that may take. I need the nourishment of spirit and body to meet whatever the day ahead shall bring. I may see, as I look forward with "morning eyes," some of the things awaiting me. Others will be surprises.

God, however, knows what lies ahead. Nothing that happens today will surprise Him. Because He knows, He has already made preparations. He has provided nourishment for me ahead of time.  All I must do is accept it.

It is all very efficient, basic, and starkly simple. All I must do is accept. 

"My God, I give You this day. I offer You, now, all of the good I shall do - and I promise to accept, for love of You, all of the difficulty that I shall meet. Help me to conduct myself during this day in a manner pleasing to You."  

(St. Francis de Sales, Direction of Intention)

Text not in quotes © 2012 Nancy Shuman.  All Rights Reserved.
thecloisteredheart.org      

What is the Enclosure of a Cloistered Heart?

The enclosure of a cloistered heart is within the will of God. As a cloistered nun or monk lives within a specific area known as the cloister (or enclosure), we can make a specific choice to live within the "enclosure" of the will of God. We can actively embrace God's will as revealed in Scripture and the discernment of the Church.

In every monastery, of nuns or of monks, there is an area normally reserved only for residents of the monastic community.  This is called “the cloister” or “enclosure.” 

In the analogy of the cloistered heart, we are invited into an enclosure beyond all of our loftiest mental images.

The fact is: if we’re human beings, we are called to live within the will of God.

In our analogy of "the cloistered heart," I am invited to live within the boundaries of God's will as a nun would live inside her enclosure.  A potential cloistered nun does not set the boundaries of enclosure for herself, saying that she really prefers other areas, thank you very much.  No, she accepts them as they have already been set up...or she goes elsewhere.

I look around, today, at the boundaries of my enclosure. I don't have to map them out for myself; they are clearly defined for me in Scripture and in 2,000 years of authentic Church discernment.

Sometimes we can fear the boundaries of God's will, worrying that they'll sap all joy and pleasure from our lives.  The saints tell us otherwise. 

“Freed from the heavy burden of my own will, I may breathe freely under the light load of love…”  (St. Bernard of Clairvaux)

“Do you want to be free? Then free yourself by your own act; have no will but God’s will.”  (La Trappe in England by a Religious of Holy Cross Abbey, 1937)

I Choose the Wall

Living within the will of God, and making a specific choice to do so, can be a pleasant thing to talk about.  It's nice to write about, good to meditate upon, and the idea fits well in the pages of a "cloistered heart" blog.

It's just a bit different when it comes to the doing of it. Oh, it's not so bad when God's will and mine are precisely the same. But at some point(s), my will and God's are going to conflict.  

What happens then?

I look at the "walls" of God's will - the boundaries in which I am "enclosed" if I genuinely want to live for Him. I think about what the Church teaches on particular subjects. I consider Scripture. Oh my: there are some tough things to live up to in Scripture! Pray for my persecutors? Love my neighbor as myself? Do not judge?!

Sometimes I find myself picking and choosing. I'll live this commandment, but not that other one. I'll go right along with this chapter in the Catechism, but surely I'm not expected to take that one seriously. I mean, who does?

If I intend to live cloistered in heart, then I must be the one. I don't just go grabbing stones out of my enclosure wall. For if I do, it won't be long before that wall - that high, beloved wall built by Our Lord Himself to protect me - comes swiftly tumbling down. And I am left unprotected, unshielded, vulnerable to attacks on my life, my spirit, my immortal soul.  

God's will and mine are going to conflict. At various points, this is going to happen. In order for me to choose God's will for Him and not just for my own self-interest, this HAS to happen.  

For if God's will and mine are always the same, how could I make a truly free choice for His?  

"Don't lose heart, I entreat you; gradually train your will to follow God's will wherever it leads."  (St. Francis de Sales)

All text not in quotes © 2012 Nancy Shuman.  All Rights Reserved.  Unauthorized use of this material without permission from blog owner is strictly prohibited.  thecloisteredheart.org  

*This is an edited repost from the Enclosure page.

Ours is No Modified Habit

Painting: Ferdinand Wagner

Shall We Be Happy?

Revisiting Joy

God's will is always for my good. While I realize that enclosure in God's will is 'confining,' I must also recognize that it is for my ultimate good.

I cannot lose sight of this truth. God's will is not for my destruction. Yes, He wills that sin be destroyed in me, that evil be destroyed - but this is because sin harms me.  God's will shall bring me joy. This does not mean it will bring me pleasure at every moment, but ultimately it will lead me into the fullness of joy.  

No illness, financial collapse, or political circumstance can take Jesus from me. Nothing can remove Him, for He is in my heart. I possess the very satisfaction that all are seeking and that no one can really find without finding Him.

In cloistering my heart, I must remember that cloistered life is meant to be a life of joy as total as one can find on earth.  

This is a slightly edited repost from our archives. It is linked to Reconciled to You and Theology is a Verb for 'It's Worth Revisiting Wednesday.'

© thecloisteredheart.org   

Buried in His Will

'There are no disappointments

 to those whose wills 

are buried in the will of God.'

Father Frederick Faber

Painting: Frank Dicksee, 1909

Beyond Whims and Fancies

'We must have a real living determination to reach holiness. 

I will be a saint means I will despoil myself of all that is not God; 

I will strip my heart of all created things; 

I will live in poverty and detachment; 

I will renounce my will, my inclinations, my whims and fancies, 

and make myself a willing slave to the will of God.'

St. Teresa of Calcutta

Painting: Ferdinand du Puigaudeau, The Wayside Cross at Rochefort-en-Terre

How to be Transformed

And This is Our Enclosure

Click here for more about the 'enclosure' of a Cloistered Heart


Painting: Winslow Homer, Gathering Autumn Leaves

Revisiting The Step

I have tried all day to write this post, and I'm kind of stuck.

Could that be (I wonder) because I, myself, am kind of stuck? We've often said that a person entering physically cloistered life is either in or out. She does not stick her head in and leave her arms and legs dangling outside the enclosure door, perhaps to be brought in at a later date. I find it a helpful image, for I can so easily bring part of my life into the will of God while leaving some of me outside. I might find myself clutching this little worry, that tiny vice, that long held attachment...

Could it be that I've set up camp right on the edge of the doorway? Am I parked on the threshold of living for God - not totally out, but not totally in?

I'm helped by remembering that, in deciding to live "in God's will," I am not simply stepping away from something. I'm not just saying farewell to complacency and sin and compromise so I can become "a better person." No.

I am moving toward something. Or I should say, toward SomeONE. It is for Him that I step through the door into surrender to His will. And all the steps after - all of those stairs and turns and inner doorways that frighten me now with whispers of "but what if this happens," and "what if you lose that" - I will not have to take those steps alone. I will not be by myself as I live within His will.

As I tell God that I want to say a deeper yes to Him, something happens. Christ is the Bridegroom of the soul - and what traditionally happens when the bride arrives at the threshold?

All I have to do is let Him carry me over it in His arms.

"My Jesus, please accept the offering and the sacrifice that I make to You this day, as I once more sincerely offer to You my entire will. Tell me what You want me to do. Your holy grace will help me to do it." (St. Alphonsus Liguori) 

Painting: Vilhelm Hammershoi; 
bottom copy digitally altered using a painting by James Tissot


Text not in quotes © 2015 Nancy Shuman. 
thecloisteredheart.org    

This is a repost from our archives. It is linked to Reconciled to You and Theology is a Verb for 'It's Worth Revisiting Wednesday.'

Inside These Walls

A potential nun does not march into the monastery announcing which boundaries she will or will not accept.

'This wall of the enclosure suits me, but I'm not comfortable with that one...'  No, she does not say it. 

Were she to express such thoughts, she would be told that her vocation is elsewhere. These are the boundaries of this monastery, she would be told. These are the walls within which we remain. 

Boundaries are important in a physical monastery. They are important in a spiritual one as well. In the analogy of the cloistered heart, I am invited to live within the boundaries of God's will as a nun would live inside her enclosure.  I don't have to map these out for myself; they are clearly defined for me in Scripture and in 2,000 years of authentic Church discernment.

Today, let's have a look around the enclosure. Click on any line below to open that topic....

An Enclosure Door For Me

Location, Location, Location
 
O, Blessed Enclosure

Our Refuge For Christ


Public domain photo of Clervaux, via Pixabay

 

This is the Joy of the Lord

"We are at Jesus' disposal. 

If He wants you to be sick in bed,

if He wants you to proclaim His work in the street, 

if He wants you to clean the toilets all day, 

that's all right, everything is all right. 

We must say 'I belong to You. You can do whatever You like.' 

And this is our strength, and this is the joy of the Lord."

St. Teresa of Calcutta

Painting: Frederic Ulrich,Washerwomen Seville

To Walk in His Presence

If I Just Had a Different Enclosure...

'Some people imagine that if they were
in another place,
or married to a different spouse,
or had a different job,
or had more money,
they could do God's work so much better.

The truth is that it makes no difference where they are;
it all depends on whether what they are doing is God's will and done for love of Him.'

Bishop Fulton J Sheen




Painting: Joseph Kleitsch, 1927

Because Sometimes We Need to Get Back to Basics

Revisiting What God Really Said

Reviewing the basics of the cloistered heart analogy, I'm reminded that our 'call' is that of every Christian.  The analogy we use is simply a way of helping us envision it.

Each of us is called to live according to the will of God. Our Creator placed us on this earth and gave us instructions on how to live (Genesis 2:16-17). It was pretty simple, really, and absolutely do-able.  God said, in essence:  I have put before you all you will ever need. A splendid bounty. You don't even have to work for it. All I ask is that you trust Me, trust that I know what's best for you, and just do not eat of that one single solitary tree. 

Ooops.

All these millenia later, we still face the same basic choice. Because of that first ooops, we were not born into Eden - but thanks to Our Savior, we do have an eternal garden of glory awaiting us. And the way I look at it, we also have an opportunity to live, even on earth, in the best location possible. A place from which we can look with anticipation toward our eternal Home. A place in which we can be assured that God is ordering our circumstances (even when we see them as painful or murky) toward nothing but good.

Of course, I'm speaking of the will of God, the boundaries of which are mapped out for us in His Word and through His Church.

Yes, this is very basic stuff.  But oh, how easy it is to lose sight of basics! Which is why I'm grateful for the imagery of enclosure, and of grillwork, because these help me as I try to practice the basics day by day.

In circumstance after circumstance, we are presented with the question: 'Did God really say?'  This threads through our culture, usually as a general assumption that He said no such things. 'In this enlightened, scientific, sophisticated age, do you mean to tell me you think all that stuff in the Bible is really true? You think God really said? Why don't you just open your eyes and judge for yourself!?'

'The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom...'  (Genesis 3:6)

The woman saw. The woman judged for herself. She could see no reason not to eat from that particular tree except for one teeny tiny detail, surely a small matter that could be overlooked.   

God said.  


This is a slightly edited repost from our archives. It is linked to Reconciled to You and Theology is a Verb for 'It's Worth Revisiting Wednesday.' 
 
© 2015 Nancy Shuman
thecloisteredheart.org   

What Do I Do Now?

'God's will is to peacefully do, at each moment, what at that moment ought to be done.'

St. Katherine Drexel

Painting at top by Eduard Grützner Brotzeit,1908
Photo at bottom from Pixabay

Revisiting Boundaries

I am enclosed within the will of God.  It is a sweet thought, isn't it?  I have chosen to live within the boundaries of God's will as these have already been built for me, to protect me.  God has given Scripture and Church teaching to show me the boundaries...  to fence me in, so to speak.  If I remain within this enclosure, I am safe from spiritual harm.

But oh, the world outside God's will can look so appealing.  Those who live out there, "free" of the constraints imposed by the "thou shalts" and the "thou shalt nots"... well, they appear to be pretty happy.  They're choosing their own paths without regard to God, and sometimes making sport of those who try to live according to Church teaching. They're telling bawdy stories, drinking to excess, and engaging in behavior that the Bible and the Church clearly assure us is wrong.  This is the way the world is today, we're often told. Anyone who doesn't keep up is a killjoy.

If I'm not inclined to join in some of these particular out-of-enclosure-frolics, I may have other temptations.  To gossip, perhaps. To be unkind. To speak harshly, be slothful, give in to anger, be self-focused... oh, how the list goes on.  The world outside God's will can at times look awfully appealing.  And after all, I'm not sealed up in a cage.  There's no lock on my enclosure wall....

Day by day, I have a choice to make.  A choice not just to enter "the enclosure of God's will" once and for all - but to remain within it.  Whether or not I actually venture outside my enclosure, I do find myself craning my neck (all too often) to see how green the grass looks on the other side.

I find that the only hopes for me are prayer, reliance upon grace, and determination to accept God's help to avoid what used to be called "near occasions of sin."

Which are much nearer to us than they were a few decades ago. And they are still tailor made to kill true joy. 

"Do not conform yourselves to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may judge what is God's will, what is good, pleasing and perfect."  (Romans 12:2)

This is a slightly edited repost from 2012. It is being linked with Theology Is A Verb and Reconciled To You for 'It’s Worth Revisiting Wednesday'         

Text not in quotes © 2012 - 2015 Nancy Shuman
thecloisteredheart.org  

Painting: Jehan Georges Vibert, Sneaking a Peek 

Only God's Grace

Continuing to look back over old letters, I realize some things don't change all that much. Have I shared the following here before? I cannot remember. It was written in a letter more than twenty years ago, when I was going through a time of physical discomfort and distress.

'I ask for enclosure in the will of God, and flesh fights valiantly against such death. It whines and complains and tries to feel sorry for itself. I recently wrote that I was not 'beating my fists against the grillwork' of God's will as I had in times past; this time I've been coming at the grillwork with chain saws and hammers. But all the while my will is given over to God, to preferring His will over mine and His plans to mine, choosing to stay in the enclosure in spite of all of flesh's clamorings. By an act of my will I have chosen to trust that if I say I want to be in His holy will, then that is where I am indeed. He does not give snakes to those who ask for fish. And so I choose to trust Him, knowing He sees the whole picture and I do not. I have actually become grateful that the choice is tough, because if it were easy it would not be the free choice that in fact it is.  And I know I cannot make this choice. I can never do so.  Only God's grace poured out can enable me to do so... '

No, some things do not change. It remains true - it shall always remain true - that only God's grace can enable me to make the choice for His will, no matter what I may ever face.

Only God's grace.

thecloisteredheart.org 


Painting: Charles West Cope