My Faithful Superiors

A friend shared the following from Servant of God Madeleine Delbrel. It's 'very cloistered heart,' said she. 

I could not agree more.

'We, the ordinary people of the streets, know very well that as long as our own will is alive, we will not be able to love Christ definitively. We know that only obedience can root us into His death. We would envy our religious brothers and sisters if we too could not die to ourselves a little more each day. 

'However, for us the tiny circumstances of life are faithful 'superiors.' They do not leave us alone for a moment, and the yeses we have to say to them follow continuously, one after the other. When we surrender to them without resistance we find ourselves wonderfully liberated from ourselves. We float in Providence like a cork on the ocean waters. 

'From the moment we wake up these circumstances take hold of us. It is the telephone that rings; it is the key that won't work, the bus that doesn't arrive or arrives full, or doesn't wait for us. It is the person sitting next to us who takes up the whole seat, or the vibration of the loose window pane that drives us crazy. It's the daily routine, one chore that leads to another, some job we wouldn't have chosen... It's the people we meet and the conversations they choose to start...

'Life becomes a film in slow motion. It does not make our head spin. It does not take our breath away. Little by little, thread by thread, it eats away at the old man's frame, which cannot be mended and must be made new from the ground up.' 

Servant of God Madeleine Delbrel

Painting: Henri Lebasque

How Shall I Love God?

"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth." (Colossians 3:1-2)

"Don't be afraid to call Our Lord by His Name, Jesus, and to tell Him that you love Him." (St. Josemaria Escriva)

"Love Him totally, Who gave Himself totally for your love." (St. Clare of Assisi)

"The more we love God, the more we will want to love Him." (St. Joaquina)

"Some torment themselves seeking ways of discovering the art of loving God. These poor souls do not know that there is no method of loving Him other than doing what is pleasing to Him." (St. Francis de Sales)

"Because we start with the Person of Christ, the basis of our obedience is not fear, it is love. You cannot love dialectical materialism, but you can love a Person. Between our Lord and us there is the bond of love. These two are inseparable."(Venerable Fulton Sheen)

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength... you shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Mark 12:30-31)

"The love of God consists in this:  that we keep His commandments." (1 John 5:3)

"You will live in My love if you keep My commandments, even as I have kept My Father's commandments, and live in His love"' (Jesus, in John 15:10)

"What is the mark of a love for God?  To keep His commandments for the sake of His glory." (St. Basil)

"Love of God is acquired by resolving to work and suffer for God and to abstain from all that displeases Him when the temptations arise. The better to do this in great things, one must grow accustomed to it in little things." (St. Teresa of Avila)

"I do not have any other means to prove my love to You, but to throw flowers. That is, to let no sacrifice, no look, no word pass, to take advantage of all the littlest things and to do them out of love... Hence, I pluck every flower I find on my way, for Jesus." (St. Therese of Lisieux )

Paintings:   'Faith' by Federic Leighton
                 'Carità' by Schedoni
                 'By Grandmother's Sickbed' by Michael Ancher
                 All in US public domain due to age

Three Obedient Bees

The Feast of the Visitation is this coming Friday, May 31st.  It is a feast I love, for it celebrates an event embodying much of what I want to live as a "cloistered heart."

The Sisters of the Visitation of Holy Mary love this feast as well.  Certainly they do.  They take their name from the scene of the visitation, when our Blessed Mother visited Elizabeth because both had first been Visited (one uniquely) by God.

In 1610, St. Jane de Chantal and two others stepped into a little house in Annecy, France, and thus the Order of the Visitation began.  Just the three of them, gathering to serve God for one reason only:  He had called them.  They did not know the path ahead.  They were not thinking centuries into the future.  They came in simple obedience, to love, to adore, to serve.

These ladies were, said Bishop Francis de Sales,  "like three little bees in a beehive or three innocent doves in a nest."  "Looking upon them with great joy, he said 'you are blessed because the Lord has chosen you.  Your courage is great; God will be your King.'  He then handed over to Madame de Chantal a compendium of the constitution which he had composed for them and said, 'follow this path, my dearest daughter, and see that it is followed by all those whom Heaven has destined to walk in your footsteps.'" (from Every Day with St. Francis de Sales, Francis J.  Klauder SDB ed., Salesiana Publishers, 1985,p.  159)

403 years later, people still walk in the footsteps of these first three women.  I present the following  as "evidence" of this fact.  If you have any interest at all in nuns or in cloistered life (are you smiling yet?), I strongly encourage you to take a look at this 6-minute video.

Amazing, isn't it, what God can do with three obedient bees...? 



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My Vespers

While our Sisters and Brothers in monasteries are chanting Vespers (usually between 4:30 and 6:00 pm), we who live out "in the world" may well be in the busiest time of our day.  The world, at Vespers-time, is right in the middle of "rush hour."  It is when many are leaving work, pouring into roads and trains to make the journey home.  Some of us are preparing an evening meal, knowing that growling tummies will not be soothed if we hide away in prayer corners to sing and chant praise.

So we do what must be done.   Many times we're content to be exactly where we are.  Sometimes, however, the grass can look greener inside the monastic fence, and I will admit that "rush hour," for me, is a time when my own grass can seem seriously withered. This is due in large part (for me) to a kind of physical and mental lagginess that tends to hit in late afternoon, and has for as long as I can remember.  It's the time of day when I'm tired, draggy, and most likely to feel - well, grumbly.  Through the years, I've learned that I am not the only person to feel washed out at that time.  Yet this is when people have to get themselves home from work, food must be prepared (sometimes by the same individuals who have just plowed their way through traffic), and children may need a bit of extra referee-ing.

When the body is exhausted and the mind is reeling from a day's work, even the humdrum tasks of late afternoon can seem immense.  "I remember reading," said our friend Rose some time ago,"that obedience to one's superior is more meritorious than all the self-imposed mortifications, fastings and prayers.  Then I realized my superior is really my vocation as a wife and mother.  Therefore, my duties and responsibilities of motherhood must come first.  And, done with the right intentions (as St. Francis de Sales says, 'for the greater glory of God'), all my actions are lifted up in prayer."

Those in a cloister come to Vespers out of obedience.  They gather to pray when they feel like doing so, and when they do not.  

When my day starts to bend toward evening, it is time for a particular kind of "Vespers."  It's a time when I can offer my duties, my care for those around me, any rush-hour hassles I may face, and even my own dragginess, to God.  

By being made into an offering, these can become my evening prayer.

“When you use the analogy of the grille of God’s will and imagine yourself protected by it, you really do see things in a new light. I think a perfect example of this was when I placed myself there on my 40 minute drives back and forth to work, battling very unpleasant traffic. Suddenly it didn’t matter if everyone seemed to try to push me out of the way - I was alone with God and nothing else was of any concern.” (from our friend Jane) 

God “can say to someone driving that car bumper to bumper, ‘I will lead you into solitude and there I will speak to your heart. (Hosea 2:14).’” (Catherine de Hueck Doherty, Poustinia, Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame IN, 1975, p. 22)

"Some people might think it contradictory to speak of 'contemplative' in the same sentence as 'mother of a very large family.' But it is the contemplative spirit that has helped me survive the chaos that is natural when raising a number of children.... The cloister in my heart is a place of refuge.  It is a place where I can retreat from the world no matter where I am; in the middle of a crowded mall, or in a busy grocery store, or in my own kitchen." - Rose

© 2012 Nancy Shuman.  All Rights Reserved.
thecloisteredheart.org      


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Back to Basics

Someone once asked what the difference was between the "call" of a cloistered heart (to live in the will of God) and that of any other Christian.  I responded that there is no difference whatsoever.  The cloistered heart analogy is just one way of envisioning it.

We are all 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: here is 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.  And yes, this is very basic stuff.  But oh, how easy it is to lose sight of the 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?"  It threads through our culture, often 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)

Yes, it's all very basic.  Next time, I hope to share more about how the analogy of "grillwork" helps me practice seeing (and obeying) God's most basic call.

© 2012 Nancy Shuman.  All Rights Reserved.
thecloisteredheart.org   

The Lighted Path

Our friend Joy went on retreat recently, and brought back the following rays of light...

"In the monastery, there were lit pathways and grounds with the safety and security of the tall brick wall surrounding us.  I can just see in my mind these lit pathways all around the enclosure within God's will, and how we are called to walk these paths that would otherwise be too dark, uneven and dangerous in places. 

"But by depending on the glow that comes from the ever so gentle light that washes over our way and guides us safely though the obstacles that lie on our path to the finish, we are thankful and even happy that this obedience is there for us.  It is easy to see when we have the light guiding us along, but if we veer off on our own and without this light, we are on our own to face whatever difficulties lie in the unseen.  

"Because of our free will and self love, we think we know best and we become a little adventurous - breaking free of the loving way that God has prepared for us.  Hopefully we soon realize our mistake and see our fault and run back to the loving safety of the light that has never gone out.  It has ever remained where it was, calling us back to the easier path, the way that is lit with God's love."  

"A lamp to my feet is Your word, a light to my path."  (Psalm 119:105)

"If we walk in light, as He is in the light,we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of His Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin."  (1 John 1:7)

"Let us walk in the light of the Lord!"  (Isaiah 2:5)

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

  

(Georges de la Tours painting public domain)  

By the Light of Obedience

If our enclosure is within the will of God, obedience is what keeps the paths lit.  After all, without obedience to God there is no such thing as “enclosure in God’s will.”  Enclosure in the will of God without obedience TO the will of God would be impossible; it would be a contradiction. 

Cloistered nuns and monks vow obedience to the will of God as stated in their rules and constitutions, and as discerned by their superiors.  They do not do this blindly, but with their eyes fixed upon Jesus.  It is out of love for Him that they choose to obey. "The novice promises not just to obey orders but to ‘live IN obedience.’  The phrase has a splendid ring to it, as though she were throwing up imposing castle walls around her whole life…” (Mother Mary Francis PCC, A Right to be Merry) 

We who wish to live for God in the midst of the world are called to obedience.  Our Rule is Scripture.  Our “constitutions,” if we are Catholic, are found in the teachings of the Magisterium of the Church.  Our superiors are the Pope and bishops teaching in union with him.  God has given us free will; we can choose to obey or not obey Him.  Out of love for God and by His grace, we are free to make the loving choice:  to obey all that He asks of us.  We can then look upon obedience not as a burden, but as a precious opportunity to express our love for God.

Hesitant and questioning though I may be, I am invited to embark upon the road of obedience, trusting that the ways and the whys will become “illuminated” as I move along. I am invited to watch self-love crumble beneath each obedient footstep. 

This is no small gift, for as the darkness of self-love scatters, I shall have more room in my life for the illuminating love of God.

For prayer and reflection:

"A lamp to my feet is Your word, a light to my path."  (Psalm 119:105)

“The love of God consists in this: that we keep His commandments - and His commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3)

“God loves your tiniest act of obedience more than all other homages you might think of offering Him.” (St. John of the Cross)

“He who obeys the commandments he has from Me is the man who loves Me; and he who loves me will be loved by My Father.  I too will love him, and reveal Myself to him…. Anyone who loves Me will be true to My word, and My Father will love him; we will come to him and make our dwelling place with him.” (John 14:21 & 23)

(Georges de la Tour painting public domain) 

Text © 2012 Nancy Shuman.  All Rights Reserved.
thecloisteredheart.org