monastic life

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Abscondita

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Anyone out there interested in monastic life? If so, lets get started.
 
Hi Leopard,

I am in the beginning stage of forming a monastic order for women. This thread is
to get (name removed by moderator)ut from members that are familar with monastic spirituality. This spirituality
can be practiced by lay persons which some refer to as contemplative prayer.
I am interested in discussing the benefits of monastic life and contemplative prayer.
Also if there are women who may be considering entering a monastey.
Pax,
Abscondita
 
How would your proposed community differ from existing monastic communities?
 
Abscondita said:
Hi Leopard,

I am in the beginning stage of forming a monastic order for women. This thread is
to get (name removed by moderator)ut from members that are familar with monastic spirituality. This spirituality
can be practiced by lay persons which some refer to as contemplative prayer.
I am interested in discussing the benefits of monastic life and contemplative prayer.
Also if there are women who may be considering entering a monastey.
Pax,
Abscondita
Click to expand...
Okay, as a married man I don’t qualify.

But I am curious as to why you are forming a new order rather than joining an existing order.
 
Should this thread be in the Vocations forum? I know there there are several persons considering the monastic life over there.
 
Abscondita said:
Hi Leopard,

I am in the beginning stage of forming a monastic order for women. This thread is
to get (name removed by moderator)ut from members that are familar with monastic spirituality. This spirituality
can be practiced by lay persons which some refer to as contemplative prayer.
I am interested in discussing the benefits of monastic life and contemplative prayer.
Also if there are women who may be considering entering a monastey.
Pax,
Abscondita
Click to expand...
Dear Abscondita,

I am a bit puzzled by this sentence in your post:
…This spirituality can be practiced by lay persons which some refer to as contemplative prayer…
Click to expand...
I understand that lay persons can indeed be gifted with infused contemplative prayer and continue to live in the world, but your sentence seems to equate “monastic spirituality” which involves a withdrawal from the world to live in a monastery, with “contemplative prayer” which can be experienced anywhere.

Perhaps, you are saying that lay persons can experience contemplative prayer without entering a monastery. That is certainly true. We have saints who lived outside a monastery who were great contemplatives, such as St. Thomas More and St. Gianna Molla. We also have saints who lived very active religious lives outside of monasteries who were great contemplatives, such as Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta and the Servant of God, Pope John Paul II.

The monastic spirituality as I understand it, involves the individual (hence the root Mono=one) in a single cell of a Monastery (place where many seek solitude and silence) in order to dedicate themselves to God in a special way. While this may be very conducive to certain individuals, it is not the vocation of all. The vocation to holiness is a universal call. One can be very holy in this world, or in a monastery, by God’s Grace.

I hope you have a good confessor/spiritual director who is helping you to discern your own call to holiness. You may have already read some of the great classics on spirituality which can help you and those you are hoping to share with in a monastery. One of my favorites is St. Catherine of Siena who was fond of referring to her soul as her “cell” in which she communed with God. She was a lay Dominican tertiary. *The Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena * can inspire any woman, lay or religious, who is seeking greater union with God.

A website you might also find helpful is HERE

Prayerfully,
MaryJoseph
 
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