Home Again
I've recently returned from retreat at St. Walburga's Abbey in Virginia Dale, Colorado. Blessed be God for this rejuvenating gift! Now we are prepared to invade the city with silence again.
It is hard to appreciate how much noise there is in the city without ever leaving it. Similarly, one strains at an authentic prayer over Psalm verses such as
He fixes the number of the stars
He calls each one by its name.
...without ever seeing more than five stars. What a joy to see the Milky Way through the rare atmosphere of the the Rockies!
So it is important for us to maintain "Silence in the City" by regular recourse to real silence and to real beauty. As Abba Euthymius went regularly into deeper solitude and as Abba Antony visited Alexandria, the weeks of an urban monks life are organized with a rhythm of deeper silence and encounter with the city, so in need of healing.
God's blessings to you in Jesus Christ, whom I love and serve.
1 comment:
I've just discovered your blog this evening. I read through several of your posts and found them to be quite insightful. Thank-you!
I've heard many wonderful things about St. Walburga's, especially from a close friend of mine who is currently discerning a vocation with the sisters and spent several weeks there this past summer. Apparently there are several sisters at St. Walburga from our archdiocese although I don't know any of them personally.
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