The Mirror of Psalmody

Painting: Candlelight Master, Young Boy Singing, digitally 'mirrored'

Praying in My Portable Choir Stall

'O you who fear the Lord, praise Him in the places where you are now.  Change of place does not affect any drawing nearer to God, but wherever you may be, God will come to you.' (Gregory of Nyssa)."

Re-reading the above quote, I ask myself:  "where can God come to me?"

The answer:  wherever I may be.

If I praise Him in the place where I am now, says St. Gregory, God WILL come to me.  I can draw nearer to Him.  Which means that right here, as I sit plunking away at a keyboard, I can draw near to God.  Looking out my window, gazing at a sky of purest blue, I can offer prayer.  I can praise God as much and as "thoroughly" as if I were sitting in a choir stall. 

And when I get up from my chair, I can continue offering my actions and my prayer.  Mine is a "choir stall" that can go with me to kitchen, car, dentist's office, mall.

"Opportunities are offered hourly for us to perform with great love seemingly unimportant works.  Gentleness and patience toward others, overcoming our own moods and inclinations, acknowledging within ourselves our own imperfections, and persevering effort to keep ourselves tranquil and at peace:  this faithfulness is greater than we can imagine." (from In the Midst of the World by Sister Joanne Marie Wenzel VHM, Brooklyn Visitation Monastery, 1985, p. 9)

I think I hear, from another part of my house, opportunity knocking.  Like a monastery bell, it calls out to me.  There are desks to be straightened, letters to sort, there's a kitchen in need of help.  Change of place does not affect my drawing nearer to God.

So I shall pick up my choir stall and go scrub a sink.

Text not in quotes © 2015 Nancy Shuman
thecloisteredheart.org


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

Where Can I Pray?

'Stepping from the corridor, a little farther on, we went into the long choir, whose clear windows look out over the garden; a spacious room fitted with numerous dark stalls on either side, where the sisters sit, or kneel, chanting their offices; matins and lauds, the last devotion at night, then prime, terce, sext, and none; at different early hours of the morning; vespers in the afternoon; and, in the evening, compline. It is in this place — which is not a part of the chapel, but is a room in the convent, simply looking into the chapel — that they hear mass and perform their other religious exercises; their voices
heard, themselves unseen by (those) who come to the chapel.' (A Story of Courage, p. 35-36)

In the cloister of my heart, I can have a 'choir stall.'  Mine is a portable place of prayer, traveling with me to supermarket, airplane, mall.  I can 'sit down' in this prayer-chair regardless of surroundings, seeking God's touch upon my life and on the lives of those around me.

In a very real way, my 'choir stall' can be defined as the place where I am now. 

Upon awakening in the morning, I can enter my choir stall by beginning my day with a prayer.  This is the framework upon which the rest of the day will be woven. 

At some point during the day, I try to set aside a block of time to spend with God. I spend time in prayer with Scripture. It may also be possible for me to go to Mass or Adoration. 'Even if your daily life in the service of mankind is overburdened with work, it has to include time devoted to silence and to prayer…. Learn to pray!'  (Pope St. John Paul II) 

Throughout the morning, afternoon, and evening, I use brief prayers to return me to my choir stall.  I turn my heart to God with inward phrases of prayer, no matter what I am doing or where I happen to be.  'Jesus, I trust in You…' 'Holy Spirit, be my guide….'

As I begin various activities, I can enter the choir stall by offering my actions to God and imploring His aid.  'O you who fear the Lord, praise Him in the places where you are now. Change of place does not affect any drawing nearer to God, but wherever you may be, God will come to you.' (Gregory of Nyssa).

As I retire, I close the day in my choir stall. 'Protect us, Lord, as we stay awake; watch over us as we sleep, that awake, we may keep watch with Christ, and asleep, rest in His peace.'  (From Liturgy of the Hours, Night Prayer).
 

(Above text reposted from our archives)






Photos by N Shuman, Georgetown Visitation, 1992
 
Text not in quotes © 2011 Nancy Shuman.  thecloisteredheart.org     


This post is part of our series 'A Story of Courage.' To continue in chronological order, click this line.

My Life as a Choir Stall

Looking over photos of choir stalls, I've been struck by how different they are from one to another.  Some are carved and ornate. Some are simple and bare. And a few look decidedly uncomfortable. 

Choir stalls are chairs for monastics (nuns or monks) to pray in. They are normally built to fit the purpose, the space, and even the time in which they're designed. Yet one thing remains the same, always. These are places made for praying. These are locations where a soul comes to meet with God.

In some ways, the externals of our individual lives resemble choir stalls. Having been made for communication with God, we do that communicating within the surroundings in which we find ourselves at any given time. Much about these surroundings is assigned to us: our families, the jobs we must do, our health. 

Our surroundings change as years go by. Just as those in a monastery have different stalls assigned to them from time to time (in some monasteries this change occurs yearly), we find the circumstances in which we live shifting. In some seasons we are robust, active, healthy. In others, we may feel decidedly uncomfortable. On some days we come to prayer cradled in spiritual consolation.  On others, our prayer feels stark and dusty and dry.

Fortunately, lives of prayer are portable. When our 'choir stall assignments' shift, our prayer can be molded to fit into the changing circumstances. We can pray in the silence of a Church, and we can pray while we're diapering a newborn. We can be prayerful students, wives, dads, engineers, retirees, nurses, grandparents.

Our surroundings correspond to the life-demands and times in which we find ourselves. Things around us bend and change, yet one thing remains the same - always.

We were created for communion with God. Just like choir stalls, we have been made for praying.

Whatever our circumstances at any given time, our hearts can be places of prayer.

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.' 

Text © N Shuman, thecloisteredheart.org


Painting of woman and child: Édouard de Beaumont
Painting of man:  Albert Anker

What Am I Missing?

Taking a block of time for prayer each day can be a life-changer. Yet keeping the commitment to do so is a struggle for me. I sometimes put it off until I'm ready to fall into bed, and then find myself omitting it entirely.

I wonder what I might have missed on such days. What inspiration, guidance and insights did God have waiting for me? Were there special gifts? Was there a precious jewel that I left, ignored and unwrapped, while I ooohed and aaahed over the world's offerings of glitter and plastic?

We have talked before, here, about prayer with Scripture. We've also used numerous quotes by the writer known as 'A Religious.'  Today we will combine the two, as we sit at the feet at this anonymous Religious and listen.....

'1.  Take your New Testament..... Forget everything around you and be, for the time, alone with Him whose life is described here by the Spirit of Love.  He Himself addresses you from these pages with words of profound wisdom and divine compassion; words that have illuminated the centuries of human history with heavenly truth, and melted millions of human hearts to tears of compunction and love, nay more, words that have bound souls to Him with the strongest bonds that could be forged on earth, and thus bound, enabled them to suffer torments for His love....

'2.  Read some words or a few lines very slowly, read them again, and then wait for a moment and ask Jesus what He wants here to reveal to you about His love.  Read them once more, and talk them over quietly with yourself and with Jesus... Keep on doing this until the words begin to live. Be like the lover of music who plays a short, beautiful melody, and repeats it, again and again, until his soul is transformed by the harmony.  

'3.  Meditation from the New Testament will make us know Our Lord as scarcely anything else can do, for the original Author is God Himself, and it contains the history of the Word make flesh, Jesus Christ... The innermost reason for the fruitfulness of God's Word is that Christ is ever living; He is ever the God Who saves and quickens... Love, become great and burning by contact with God, takes possession of the powers of the soul, renders it strong and generous to do perfectly all the Father's will, to give itself up wholly to the divine good pleasure.  What better or more fruitful prayer than this?  What treasures await the searchers of the Gospels!  Oh, if only we knew the gift of God!" (from Fervorinos From Galilee's Hills, compiled by a Religious, Pelligrini, Australia, 1936, pp. 26-29)

If only we knew, indeed. I can imagine a giant pile of gifts just stacked up, waiting, gifts of joy and strength and wisdom that I've shoved into a corner; gifts in packages gathering dust.

Even now, a new one for today is being wrapped and labeled and offered. Will I toss it aside, ignore it, say I have a lot to do but thank You anyway?  Or will I open it?

I choose.   

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.' 

© Nancy Shuman
thecloisteredheart.org      

Painting: Charles West Cope
 

Revisiting the Choir Stall of My Heart

"I will sing and chant praise…" (Psalm 57:8)

It is morning in the monastery. Sister silently enters the chapel and takes her place in a choir stall, a chair made exclusively to be a place of prayer. 

As the hours move on, Sister will come back and back to the choir stall.  Mid-morning, afternoon, evening, just before bedtime:  here she returns to chant praise, participate in Mass, pray with Scripture, meet hour after hour with God. Sister begins and continues and ends her day here. She answers the bell’s call to prayer when she feels great and when she has a headache. She comes to the choir stall when she feels close to God, when she's distracted, and when her spiritual life seems barren and dry. 

I have learned that, in the cloister of my heart, I, too, have a "choir stall."  Mine is a portable place of prayer, traveling with me to supermarket, airplane, mall.  I can "sit down" in this prayer-chair regardless of surroundings, seeking God's touch upon my life and on the lives of those around me.

There are no bells to call me to the choir stall. I must build reminders into my own life. For me, discipline is quite difficult; therefore, I find the following practices helpful. Actually, I find them personally necessary if I hope to keep my life focused and on track:

Upon awakening in the morning, I can enter my choir stall by beginning my day with a prayer.  This is the framework upon which the rest of the day will be woven. 

At some point during the day, I try to set aside a block of time to spend with God. I spend time in prayer with Scripture. It may also be possible for me to go to Mass or Adoration. "Even if your daily life in the service of mankind is overburdened with work, it has to include time devoted to silence and to prayer…. Learn to pray!"  (Pope John Paul II) 

Throughout the morning, afternoon, and evening, I use brief prayers to return me to my choir stall.  I turn my heart to God with inward phrases of prayer, no matter what I am doing or where I happen to be.  "Jesus, I trust in You…"  "Holy Spirit, be my guide…."

As I begin various activities, I can enter the choir stall by offering my actions to God and imploring His aid.  "O you who fear the Lord, praise Him in the places where you are now. Change of place does not affect any drawing nearer to God, but wherever you may be, God will come to you." (Gregory of Nyssa).

As I retire, I close the day in my choir stall.  "Protect us, Lord, as we stay awake; watch over us as we sleep, that awake, we may keep watch with Christ, and asleep, rest in His peace."  (From Liturgy of the Hours, Night Prayer).

Lord Jesus Christ, I ask You to form in me a habit of prayer.
Draw me to meet with You day after day,
no matter what my circumstances,
in the choir stall of my heart.

Text not in quotes © 2011 Nancy Shuman.  All Rights Reserved.
thecloisteredheart.org     

This post was originally published in 2011. It is being linked with Theology Is A Verb and Reconciled To You for 'It’s Worth Revisiting Wednesday'
 

A View From My Choir Stall

From the monastery tower, a bell rings.  There is a familiar swish of habits, the sliding of soft soles across floors, a quiet rustle of Breviaries opening and pages being turned.  Sisters move to their places without hesitation.  No one wonders where to go today, for once choir stalls have been assigned, they are easily remembered.  A nun prays in the same one numerous times a day, seven days a week.

Looking over photos of choir stalls the last few days, I've been struck by how different they are from one to another.  Some are carved and ornate.  Some are simple and bare.  And a few look decidedly uncomfortable! 

Choir stalls have normally been built to fit the purpose, the spaces, and even the times in which they were designed.  Yet one thing remains the same, always.  These are places made for praying.  These are locations where a soul comes to meet with God.

I've been thinking that, in some ways, the externals of our individual lives resemble choir stalls.  Having been made for communication with God, we do that communicating within the surroundings in which we find ourselves at any given time.  Much about these surroundings is assigned to us (our families, our health). 

Our surroundings change as years go by.  Just as those in a monastery have different stalls assigned to them from time to time (in some monasteries this change occurs yearly), we find the circumstances in which we live shifting.  In some seasons of our lives, we are robust, active, healthy.  In others, we may be decidedly uncomfortable.  Some days we come to prayer cradled in spiritual consolation.  On others, our prayer feels stark and dusty and dry.

Fortunately, lives of prayer are entirely portable.  When our "choir stall assignments" shift, our prayer can be molded to fit into the changing circumstances.  We can pray in the silence of a Church, and we can pray while we're diapering a newborn.  We can be prayerful single persons, wives, dads, grandparents.

Our surroundings correspond to the life-demands and even to the times in which we find ourselves.  Yet one thing remains the same, always.

We were created for communion with God. Just like choir stalls, we have been made for praying.

Whatever our circumstances at any given time, we can be seated in a place of prayer.   

Some of our other reflections on The Choir Stall (click on lines to view):

A Portable Choir Stall

It's a Start

What Gifts did I Miss Today? 

A Litany of Attentions

Opportunity Rings

Text © Nancy Shuman, thecloisteredheart.org

To look into our interior choir stalls, click this line

The Choir Stall. Where Are You?

"I will sing and chant praise…" (Psalm 57:8)

Those who live the monastic life spend hours every day in their "choir stalls."  These are the chairs awaiting them in chapel.  
 
Morning, midday, afternoon, evening, just before bedtime… here the monks or nuns return throughout the day to pray the monastic hours.  During such times they chant praise, participate in Mass, pray with Scripture.  They pray communally in their choir stalls, and they pray individually.  

Life in the monastery is, in effect, life in a choir stall.  Prayer, after all, is the central activity of every monastic day.  

Monks or nuns go faithfully to their choir stalls when they sense Our Lord's presence and when their spiritual lives feel barren and dry.  They come when they have headaches, when they're fatigued, when they'd much rather be strolling out in the garden, and when they've had to interrupt work to keep this appointment with God.  

Choir stalls come in various shapes and styles.  We will look at a few of these differences in our next post, and at what our own interior choir stalls might look like during different seasons of our lives.   

In the meantime, I think of how often I'm found missing from my "choir stall."  My interior one is absolutely portable; I don't even have to leave my chair or stop cooking dinner to keep appointments with God.  

I wonder.  Does God ever look at my empty "choir stall" ... at the prayer opportunities He is presenting, or at my moments of unanswered inspiration.... and ask me:

"but where are you.....?" 

A link to help us answer His call to prayer: The Divine Office.  Pray with the whole Church.



To look at OUR choir stalls, click this line 

Watch Over Us As We Sleep

'As I retire, I close the day in my choir stall.  "Protect us, Lord, as we stay awake; watch over us as we sleep, that awake, we may keep watch with Christ, and asleep, rest in His peace."  (From Liturgy of the Hours, Night Prayer).'

As darkness falls about the monastery, nuns (or monks, as the case may be) gather to chant the Office of Night Prayer.  When I've been on retreat, I have found this to be my favorite prayer of the day.  It is much the same from night to night, it has repetition as in a gentle lullaby, and it ends with a Marian hymn.  At the end of this Office, inhabitants of the monastery retire to their cells in silence.

Many of us cannot bring this exact nighttime ritual into our homes, nor are we called to do so.  But we can end the day with prayer.  Even if we do so in the silence of our hearts as the family settles down around us (or when they don't, and every parent knows the kind of night of which I speak!), we can end our day with an act of thanksgiving to God. 

If I am able, I sometimes supplement Night Prayer by going to the Prie Dieu blog and taking a few minutes to examine my conscience, listen to a nighttime hymn, or sing along with the Salve Regina.

However I may do so, I want to remember to close my day by giving thanks to God.   




'O God, with Whom there is no darkness, keep and defend us and all Your children, we beseech You, throughout the coming night.  Renew our hearts with Your forgiveness and our bodies with untroubled sleep, that we may wake to use more faithfully your gift of life.  Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord.  Amen.'

Opportunity Rings

"As I begin various activities, I can enter the choir stall by offering my actions to God and imploring His aid.  'O you who fear the Lord, praise Him in the places where you are now.  Change of place does not affect any drawing nearer to God, but wherever you may be, God will come to you.' (Gregory of Nyssa)."

Reading the above quote, I ask myself:  "where can God come to me?"

The answer:  wherever I may be.

If I praise Him in the place where I am now, says St. Gregory, God WILL come to me.  I can draw nearer to Him.  Which means that right here, as I sit plunking away at a keyboard, I can draw near to God.  Looking out my window onto a golden autumn day, watching fallen leaves blow across the grass, gazing at a sky of purest blue, I can offer prayer.  I can praise God as much and as "thoroughly" as if I were sitting in a choir stall.  

And when I get up from my chair, I can continue offering my actions and my prayer.  Mine is a "choir stall" that can go with me to kitchen, car, dentist's office, mall. 

"Opportunities are offered hourly for us to perform with great love seemingly unimportant works.  Gentleness and patience toward others, overcoming our own moods and inclinations, acknowledging within ourselves our own imperfections, and persevering effort to keep ourselves tranquil and at peace:  this faithfulness is greater than we can imagine." (from In the Midst of the World by Sister Joanne Marie Wenzel VHM, Brooklyn Visitation Monastery, 1985, p. 9)

I think I hear, from another part of my house, opportunity knocking.  Like a monastery bell, it calls out to me.  There are desks to be straightened, letters to sort, there's a kitchen in need of help.  Change of place does not affect my drawing nearer to God.

So I shall pick up my choir stall and go scrub a sink.  

Painting: Girl Sweeping, William McGregor Paxton,1912  

A Litany of Attentions

I have not forgotten the choir stall.  If I'm to walk through this world "cloistered in heart," I cannot forget it.  My heart must continue to be a place of prayer.

Does this mean I must recite vocal prayers during my family's dinner conversation?  That doesn't sound like a charitable option.  Shall I hold a rosary while diapering the baby?  I can say with absolute authority that Our Lord would rather I hold onto the baby.  Do I buy a wooden choir stall and glue myself into it?  (okay, this is getting ridiculous).   

"Throughout the morning, afternoon, and evening, I use brief prayers to return me to my choir stall.  I turn my heart to God with inward phrases of prayer, no matter what I am doing or where I happen to be.  'Jesus, I trust in You…'  'Holy Spirit, be my guide….'"

This is not so difficult; in fact, it's not difficult at all.  And definitely not ridiculous.  It simply requires practice.

Recently I was re-acquainted with what is surely my favorite definition of prayer.  Certainly it makes me wonder if I'm praying a bit more than I had thought.

"Prayer is, at root, simply paying attention to God," wrote Ralph Martin in The Fulfillment of All Desire (quoted here, in the blog of Msgr. Charles Pope).

Pondering these words, I've made a decision.  As the day moves along, I would like to offer God a "litany of attentions."  These may look something like this....

Being thankful that I have food bubbling on the stove. 

Gratitude for family. 

Joy in the Maker of autumn colors.

Simply paying attention to God.

Offering an unseen sacrifice in prayer for a loved one.

Singing inner praises to God while I'm sitting stuck in traffic.

Inspiration that comes from prayer or art or teaching that I've run across online. 

Simply paying attention to God.  

I love the idea of a "litany" of remembrances throughout the day.  It strikes me as a perfect mode of transportation to carry me to the choir stall.

No matter where I am, no matter what I'm doing, I can simply pay attention to God.

Painting:  Aime Pez Familienidylle, 1839 cropped

What Gifts Did I Miss Today?

'At some point during the day, I try to set aside a block of time to spend with God.  I spend time in prayer with Scripture....'

As I continue to concentrate on times in my 'inner choir stall,' I realize that the 'block of time' prayer can be a life-changer.  Yet this is the part of prayer that's most difficult for me.  I sometimes put it off until I'm ready to fall into bed, and then find myself omitting it entirely.

Sometimes I wonder what I might have missed on such days.  What inspiration, guidance and insights did God have waiting for me?  Were there special gifts?  Was there a precious jewel I left, ignored and unwrapped, while I ooohed and aaahed over the world's offerings of glitter and plastic?

We have talked before, here, about prayer with Scripture.  We've also used numerous quotes by the writer known as "A Religious."  Today we will combine the two, as we sit at the feet at this anonymous Religious and listen.....

"1.  Take your New Testament..... Forget everything around you and be, for the time, alone with Him whose life is described here by the Spirit of Love.  He Himself addresses you from these pages with words of profound wisdom and divine compassion; words that have illuminated the centuries of human history with heavenly truth, and melted millions of human hearts to tears of compunction and love, nay more, words that have bound souls to Him with the strongest bonds that could be forged on earth, and thus bound, enabled them to suffer torments for His love....

"2.  Read some words or a few lines very slowly, read them again, and then wait for a moment and ask Jesus what He wants here to reveal to you about His love.  Read them once more, and talk them over quietly with yourself and with Jesus... Keep on doing this until the words begin to live. Be like the lover of music who plays a short, beautiful melody, and repeats it, again and again, until his soul is transformed by the harmony.  

"3.  Meditation from the New Testament will make us know Our Lord as scarcely anything else can do, for the original Author is God Himself, and it contains the history of the Word make flesh, Jesus Christ... The innermost reason for the fruitfulness of God's Word is that Christ is ever living; He is ever the God Who saves and quickens... Love, become great and burning by contact with God, takes possession of the powers of the soul, renders it strong and generous to do perfectly all the Father's will, to give itself up wholly to the divine good pleasure.  What better or more fruitful prayer than this?  What treasures await the searchers of the Gospels!  Oh, if only we knew the gift of God!" (from Fervorinos From Galilee's Hills, compiled by a Religious, Pelligrini, Australia, 1936, pp. 26-29)

If only we knew, indeed.  I can imagine a giant pile of gifts just stacked up, waiting, gifts of joy and strength and wisdom that I've shoved into a corner; gifts in packages gathering dust.  

Even now, a new one for today is being wrapped and labeled and offered.  Will I toss it aside, ignore it, say I have a lot to do but thank You anyway?  Or will I open it?

I choose.   

Painting:  John William Waterhouse, Saint Cecilia, 1895, detail 

This post is linked to Catholic Bloggers Network Linkup 

It's a Start

'Upon awakening in the morning, I can enter my choir stall by beginning my day with a prayer.  This is the framework upon which the rest of the day will be woven'. 

This doesn't have to be hard.  For me, it consists of remembering God as soon as I awaken; and, quite simply, of greeting Him.

I used to fret about this.  I wondered if I was doing it "right."  I wanted to be reverent, but "warm and loving and real."  What I have come to realize is that the actual words I say are not as important as the fact that I say something, or think something.  After all, God knows my thoughts and He knows my heart.

I enjoyed a recent Post by Msgr. Charles Pope, wherein he said (here) that one of the nicest descriptions he has heard of prayer comes from Ralph Martin, in the book The Fulfillment of All Desire.  Writes Dr. Martin: "Prayer is, at root, simply paying attention to God."  (p. 121).

Oh, I do love this.  

So:  I begin my day by paying attention to God.  For me, personally, this is not usually my time of lengthy mental prayer.  More accurately, I could say that my morning prayer is divided into two basic sections.  The first is when I wake up, uttering a brief spontaneous sentence or two as I begin the day.  The second part of morning prayer is a bit more formal, when I sit down with Scripture or perhaps some holy reading - maybe when I tuck into my pocket a little book of prayer to refer to and live "a section at a time."  Depending upon the duties of the day, however, the more "formal part" might come in the afternoon or evening. 

Because I don't live in a physical monastery, I cannot expect to adhere to the regular by-the-bell prayer times of those who do.  God does not expect this of me, either.  He expects me to live the vocation He has given me.  In that vocation, however, He does ask that I "pay attention to Him."  If I do so first thing in the morning, I am on track for the day ahead.

It's a start.

A Portable Choir Stall

Coming across the following post from nearly two years ago, I realized anew that I truly DO want to live each day in the "choir stall of my heart."  Thinking of things in this way is a help to me.  It forms a kind of "template" with which I can pattern my life of prayer. 

So I've decided.  I'd like to look at each of the following "times in the choir stall" individually, keeping track of how I live (or don't live) each one of them.  I can share my findings here - thus providing some accountability (always a motivation!).  Will anything happen as a result of this?

I promise to let you know.  


It is morning in the monastery.  Sister silently enters the chapel and takes her place in a choir stall, a chair made exclusively to be a place of prayer. 

As the hours move on, Sister will come back and back to the choir stall.  Mid-morning, afternoon, evening, just before bedtime… here she returns to chant praise, participate in Mass, pray with Scripture, meet hour after hour with God.  Sister begins and continues and ends her day here.  She answers the bell’s call to prayer when she feels great and when she has a headache.  She comes to the choir stall when she feels close to God, when she's distracted, and when her spiritual life seems barren and dry. 

I have learned that, in the cloister of my heart, I, too, have a "choir stall."  Mine is a portable place of prayer, traveling with me to supermarket, airplane, mall.   I can "sit down" in this prayer-chair regardless of surroundings, seeking God's touch upon my life and on the lives of those around me.

There are no bells to call me to the choir stall.  I must build reminders into my own life.  For me, discipline is quite difficult; therefore, I find the following practices helpful.  Actually, I find them personally necessary if I hope to keep my life focused and on track:

Upon awakening in the morning, I can enter my choir stall by beginning my day with a prayer.  This is the framework upon which the rest of the day will be woven. 

At some point during the day, I try to set aside a block of time to spend with God.  I spend time in prayer with Scripture. It may also be possible for me to go to Mass or Adoration. "Even if your daily life in the service of mankind is overburdened with work, it has to include time devoted to silence and to prayer…. Learn to pray! "  (Pope John Paul II) 

Throughout the morning, afternoon, and evening, I use brief prayers to return me to my choir stall.  I turn my heart to God with inward phrases of prayer, no matter what I am doing or where I happen to be.  "Jesus, I trust in You…"  "Holy Spirit, be my guide…."

As I begin various activities, I can enter the choir stall by offering my actions to God and imploring His aid.  "O you who fear the Lord, praise Him in the places where you are now.  Change of place does not affect any drawing nearer to God, but wherever you may be, God will come to you." (Gregory of Nyssa).

As I retire, I close the day in my choir stall.  "Protect us, Lord, as we stay awake; watch over us as we sleep, that awake, we may keep watch with Christ, and asleep, rest in His peace."  (From Liturgy of the Hours, Night Prayer).

Lord Jesus Christ, I ask You to form in me - anew - a habit of prayer.  Draw me to meet with You day after day, no matter what my circumstances, in the choir stall of my heart.

Text not in quotes © 2013 Nancy Shuman.  All Rights Reserved.
thecloisteredheart.org     

My Choir Stall

The bell clangs again, it's time for midafternoon prayer.  Once more, residents of the monastery gather in the choir stalls to sing His praise.

Again the swish of habits, the sliding of soft soles across floors, the quiet rustle of Breviaries being opened and pages being turned.  Sisters move to their places without hesitation; there is no wondering where any one goes today, for it's always the same.  Once choir stalls*  are assigned, they are easily remembered.  After all, a nun prays in the same one numerous times a day, seven days a week.

The swell of the organ, a blending of voices, the singing of praise.  Outside, potatoes for dinner may be half dug from the garden, but Sister Gardener left them behind at the summons of the bell.  Perhaps there's a prospect of rain this afternoon, and Sister Gardener might have disliked dropping her shovel to come indoors for this brief Office.  She may be distracted, listening for a rumble of thunder; but here she is, and here she sings.

My life in the world is not like this.  I say again:  my life in the world is not supposed to be like this.  I might hope for a particular time today for prayer, but I don't drop a pan or the baby to rush away to it. 

There is something I can do, however.  I can bring the prayer to me.  My "choir stall" is both permanent and portable.  My designated prayer place is the choir stall of my heart.  So:  while boiling water, shuffling files in an office, diapering the baby, I can praise God.

With a simple three word aspiration, I can praise Him.  I can do so silently (the recommended prayer-style in the workplace!); while in the solitude of my home or car - and especially while rocking a baby - I might even want to sing a hymn.

Wherever I am and whatever I'm doing, I have a choir stall in my heart. 

"Let my soul live to praise You."  (Psalm 119:175) 

"I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall be ever in my mouth."  (Psalm 34:2)
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* a choir stall is a chair in the chapel, where a nun or monk prays

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


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O Lord, open my lips...

"Intentions are wispy things," I wrote a month ago.  They drift by and are soon forgotten, being nothing more than daydreams until they're turned into actions.  Forgive me for repeating what I said then, but I want to remind myself that yes, I had intentions.  I would do well now to look back at them.  After all, it's the time of year when people embark on new beginnings.  So .. have my intentions to "spend more time in the choir (prayer) stall" begun to turn into actions?

Some, yes.  I have found it easier to remember to pray as SOON AS I awaken, before I get out of bed.  I've been doing this by reciting one key line:  "Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will proclaim Your praise..."  I have found these words  to be the perfect ones to propel me into a prayerful day.  I don't stop with that sentence, generally.... I take it forward into a line or two of verbal praise of God, perhaps some general "conversation," maybe a bit of intercession as I feel inspired to do so.  I then find it easier and more natural to keep spontaneous prayer going as the day moves along.

I am reminded, in this, of having an i.v. put into my hand during one of the times I was giving birth.  I was not too keen on the idea.  However, I was told that I'd be given only saline unless I needed medication at some time.  The point was to have an open vein, ready and waiting, because that would make it easier to administer medicine should this suddenly be necessary.

I've thought of that often in the years since; I think of it in connection with prayer.  If I open my heart to conversation with God when the day begins, I find it much easier to stay connected as the moments move along.  It's more natural to ask for "on the spot" help. It's easier to be thankful.  I tend to be aware of God's presence throughout the day.

My new year's prayer for all of us is that the Lord will open our lips.  May our hearts embrace Him lovingly.  May our mouths proclaim His praise........

the morning bell

"Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will proclaim Your praise." (Liturgy of the Hours, morning)

Like a nun or monk in a monastery, I have the intention of spending a good deal of time in my "choir stall...."  returning throughout the day to that inner place of prayer. 

But intentions are wispy things.  They drift by and are soon forgotten, being nothing more than daydreams until they're turned into actions.  I've found that I make the transfer from intention to action best by baby-stepping. So here's my plan.  I am going to try to work on one of the "times Sister goes to the choir stall" at a time, striving to incorporate that into my day before I work more intensely on other choir-stall-appointments. 
 
I had intended to begin with Lectio Divina, writing about what it means (to me) to give a block of time each day to God.  Yet I realize that not only I - but you - are in a season of ever increasing busyness and blessed interruptions, so I've decided to save that until after Christmas (consider this an announcement of "coming attractions!").  I will begin instead with the first light of morning, and do some personal baby-stepping toward remembering to pray as soon as I open my eyes each day.  I'm sorry to say that my lagging, sleepy mind needs reminders.  Often these are bits of paper taped to mirror or alarm clock calling me to PRAY!!!  These are my monastery bells, ringing out the news that I have the privilege of beginning another day with praise. 

Between whatever "baby step reports" or insights there may be in the days just ahead, I look forward also to doing some Advent postings of photos I've set aside for this time of year.  I hope you'll have time during this busy season to continue looking in, for I will be here!

God willing, I'll see you tomorrow.  May God grace us to begin the day in praise. 

Text not in quotes © 2011 Nancy Shuman.  All Rights Reserved.
thecloisteredheart.org     


(photo of light through trees by Linda M)

in the choir stall

"I will sing and chant praise…" (Psalm 57:8)

It is morning in the monastery.  Sister silently enters the chapel and takes her place in a choir stall, a chair made exclusively to be a place of prayer. 

As the hours move on, Sister will come back and back to the choir stall.  Mid-morning, afternoon, evening, just before bedtime… here she returns to chant praise, participate in Mass, pray with Scripture, meet hour after hour with God. Sister begins and continues and ends her day here.  She answers the bell’s call to prayer when she feels great and when she has a headache.  She comes to the choir stall when she feels close to God, when she's distracted, and when her spiritual life seems barren and dry. 

I have learned that, in the cloister of my heart, I, too, have a "choir stall."  Mine is a portable place of prayer, traveling with me to supermarket, airplane, mall.   I can "sit down" in this prayer-chair regardless of surroundings, seeking God's touch upon my life and on the lives of those around me.

There are no bells to call me to the choir stall.  I must build reminders into my own life.  For me, discipline is quite difficult; therefore, I find the following practices helpful.  Actually, I find them personally necessary if I hope to keep my life focused and on track:

Upon awakening in the morning, I can enter my choir stall by beginning my day with a prayer.  This is the framework upon which the rest of the day will be woven. 

At some point during the day, I try to set aside a block of time to spend with God.  I spend time in prayer with Scripture. It may also be possible for me to go to Mass or Adoration. "Even if your daily life in the service of mankind is overburdened with work, it has to include time devoted to silence and to prayer…. Learn to pray! "  (Pope John Paul II) 

Throughout the morning, afternoon, and evening, I use brief prayers to return me to my choir stall.  I turn my heart to God with inward phrases of prayer, no matter what I am doing or where I happen to be.  "Jesus, I trust in You…"  "Holy Spirit, be my guide…."

As I begin various activities, I can enter the choir stall by offering my actions to God and imploring His aid.  "O you who fear the Lord, praise Him in the places where you are now.  Change of place does not affect any drawing nearer to God, but wherever you may be, God will come to you." (Gregory of Nyssa).

As I retire, I close the day in my choir stall.  "Protect us, Lord, as we stay awake; watch over us as we sleep, that awake, we may keep watch with Christ, and asleep, rest in His peace."  (From Liturgy of the Hours, Night Prayer).

Lord Jesus Christ, I ask You to form in me a habit of prayer.  Draw me to meet with You day after day, no matter what my circumstances, in the choir stall of my heart.

Text not in quotes © 2011 Nancy Shuman.  All Rights Reserved.
thecloisteredheart.org