The Monastery Thread

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pianistclare said:
She seems to be holding something…I’m looking fro another image of it to see more closely.

She’s holding a book and a dove, but it also looks like someone hung a cloth there.
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Pope St. Gregory wrote a (very embellished) biography of St. Benedict. In it the author writes that that St. Benedict saw a dove rise and penetrate the heavens at his sister’s death.

catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2015-02-10

I thought the book might be a copy of the Holy Rule of St. Benedict but it is a bit big and is probably the Bible.

-Tim-
 
TimothyH said:
Pope St. Gregory wrote a (very embellished) biography of St. Benedict. In it the author writes that that St. Benedict saw a dove rise and penetrate the heavens at his sister’s death.

catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2015-02-10

I thought the book might be a copy of the Holy Rule of St. Benedict but it is a bit big and is probably the Bible.

-Tim-
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I think many of us are hoping you can repost your beautiful pics from the lost thread… 🙂
 
In October 2010 I went on vocations retreat to the Monastery of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit in Conyer’s Georgia. You can read about my experience at timhollingworth.blogspot.com/2010/10/a-weekend-of-peace.html. These are the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance - Trappists. They are the famous “white monks” who don’t speak unless charity demands.
*"We want you to yell “Fire!” if the building is burning"
  • Brother Michael*Faith for me was something to be understood prior to my visit here. The Bible was something to be reverse engineered - taken apart, analyzed and then put back together like a curious teenager tinkering with his first car. I was very dogmatic at the time and had tried to embrace scholastic theology, philosophy and the search for truth. This search served me well and led me back to Catholicism but that wasn’t enough for God. God wanted me to find the Truth himself.
The vocations retreat changed my life. I can’t explain it. Something happened at that monastery, while speaking with the monks, praying the liturgy, eating in the refectory, kneeling before the tabernacle, walking through the silent garden, approaching the altar for communion. It remains inexplicable, but is enough for me to live on even if God never does anything like it for me again. I realized that dogma and doctrine and understanding are only the foundation. Purity of heart is the proximate goal of monastic life and the monks taught me to long for it every day.
*Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8)*The Monastery of the Holy Spirit was started by monks from the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani in Kentucky, made famous as the home of Brother Louis, also known as Thomas Merton. The abbey church built circa 1946 is the largest poured concrete building in the South and the monks hauled every bit of that concrete up scaffolding, mixed it and dumped it wheelbarrow by wheelbarrow. Keep in mind that the Abbey Church was built in 1946. The art deco influence is apparent.

i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww310/timhollingworth/Monastery-06-18-15/monastery0054.jpg
**Abbey Church from the balcony. Note the most excellent HVAC control system - various rugs over the ventilation grilles in the foreground. Stained glass in the sanctuary is yellow while that in the nave of the Church is blue. The monks run a stained glass window factory and there is a 16 foot round window from them in my parish church. **

[]http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww310/timhollingworth/Monastery-06-18-15/monastery0056.jpg](http://s730.photobucket.com/user/timhollingworth/media/Monastery-06-18-15/monastery0056.jpg.html)
This is the same view but 180° panorama

i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww310/timhollingworth/Monastery-06-18-15/monastery0006.jpg
**Sanctuary detail showing the unique intensely backlit tabernacle with copper backdrop. The curtains are closed only for Mass when the candles to either side are lit. **

i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww310/timhollingworth/Monastery-06-18-15/b09073c9-5c78-49c5-9bcf-78d2572737a5.jpg


**Looking toward the rear of the Church, these are the choir stalls and prayer books. The monks here chant in English. **

i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww310/timhollingworth/Monastery-06-18-15/monastery0067.jpg
Details of the Abbot’s crozier, a symbol of his authority. Triangle for the Trinity, dove for the Holy Spirit and St. Benedict depicted on the other side. Note the mirror on top of the organ on the far left so that the organist can see the abbot.

i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww310/timhollingworth/Monastery-06-18-15/monastery0047.jpg
**Abbot Michael Francis is on the far right, vested, behind the monk with the beard who happens to be the guestmaster. **

i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww310/timhollingworth/Monastery-06-18-15/monastery0025.jpg

…
 
I would like to talk about the monastery itself, which is not correctly understood apart from the idea of enclosure. What does the word enclosure mean?

i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww310/timhollingworth/Monastery-06-18-15/3c72ed04-d2e3-4cea-a807-726a66599c36.jpg

There are three levels of enclosure.


  1. *]Physical: a particular space, clearly defined, into which only members may go and and from which those members leave only for specific purposes.
    *]Juridic: the terms papal enclosure or constitutional enclosure refer to the law. Monks and nuns must choose which type of enclosure is most appropriate for their way of life and the choice is necessary in order to be recognized as a community by the Church. The community is bound to live with juridic framework which defines the type of enclosure.
    *]Spiritual: juridic and physical enclosure support the spiritual enclosure where enclosure becomes a practice or a discipline which aids the monk or nun in their primary goal. That goal is purity of heart.

    Those of us “in the world” can learn from this.

    Our homes are a physical enclosure and we have to ask ourselves what and whom we allow into this sacred space. Magazines, food, television, the internet, the idols of the world of entertainment and sports, and the glut of information. We need food and information is good so that we know what to pray about. The word recreation means re-creation and watching sports can certainly be part of that. None of these things are bad in-and-of themselves until we make idols of them. There is such a thing as legitimate enjoyment and relaxation. The monks I know watch 1 hour of television each week, as a group, and then it is usually a documentary and they discuss it after. Our cars, cell phones and cubicle at work can also be physical enclosures.

    The essence of enclosure however, is guarding one’s heart. The heart therefor, needs to enclosed. This is not and exclusion of all creation but a choice to only allow those things into our heart which foster purity and unity with God and to exclude those things which do not. We let in compassion, a deep reverence for all people, a willingness to listen and a love of silence which turns into recollection of God. We keep out the “isms” such as consumerism, materialism, secularism.
    *"The real cloister or enclosure is the heart of one dedicated to undivided love of God, not the enclosed space of the cloister."
    • unknown nun*Creating a “place apart” for silence and prayer and boundaries in the use of media, TV, movies and newspapers are just some of the practical aspects of enclosure which can be adapted to life outside the monastery.
    Keep in mind that deep within the enclosure is community. Monks and nuns live in community with each other within the context of the enclosure. The sacredness of and a deep reverence for others, a willingness to listen, not always seek our own will, and a conscious awareness of what we allow within the enclosure of our marriage and family life are aspects of how community and enclosure go hand in hand. Our marriages, families and friendships should be both enclosure and community.
    *The workshop where we are to toil faithfully at all these tasks is the enclosure of the monastery and stability in the community.
    • Rule of St. Benedict (78)*
      -Tim-
 
OraLabora said:
Great post Tim!
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Ora,

You mentioned how many monks currently reside at that magnificent monastery whose photos you posted, and I’m assuming that the number might be down from years past. Do you know how many monks resided there at its peak, and how the current monks are managing to maintain such fantastic grounds and buildings now?

Same question to Tim about Holy Spirit, if you know.
 
I think there are around 30 men at Holy Spirit in Conyers but that’s just a guess. Many are elderly and I saw several wheelchairs near the sanctuary during Mass.

There were three monks who had worn only white shirts when I was there five years ago and now they are in full habit. There were also two novices this past week. Choir stalls are less than half full (not counting those on retreat) and there is definitely room for more.

Day to day operations are augmented by employees. There was a housekeeper, kitchen workers and a front desk employee at the guest house and at least one employees in the gift shop.

Keep in mind that they run a stained glass window factory, bonsai garden, three factories and a cemetery that offers environmentally friendly burial and so there is a revenue stream. The gift shop is not inexpensive and does a brisk business.

i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww310/timhollingworth/Monastery-06-18-15/9e40d460-283b-4f74-a937-7479ad30b133.jpg
Monastery Gift Shop

Among the benefactors was the former CEO of Coca-Cola, Roberto Goizueta (deceased) who himself is an amazing story, coming to the USA with $40 and becoming CEO of a worldwide corporation. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Goizueta.

My point is that I think much of the upkeep is simply contracted. All of the outdoor flagstone walkways were being replaced by contractors while I was there last week.

-Tim-
 
christofirst said:
Ora,

You mentioned how many monks currently reside at that magnificent monastery whose photos you posted, and I’m assuming that the number might be down from years past. Do you know how many monks resided there at its peak, and how the current monks are managing to maintain such fantastic grounds and buildings now?

Same question to Tim about Holy Spirit, if you know.
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When I joined as oblate in 2003 there were about 42 monks. There have been a few deaths and departures. A couple of monks are in nursing homes, and one is on loan to the mother abbey in France. The cheese factory is their biggest revenue stream (and government pensions are not negligeable either). Lay employees are used, and oblates help as well (I’ve done stints in the cider factory and have done some IT work and translations).

They used to have dairy cattle for the cheese factory, but now buy it from farms in the region.
 
TimothyH said:
Should have been “the gift shop is expensive.”

It is very, VERY expensive. Bring money. Lots.

-Tim-
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LOL. I know. I bought my favorite mug ever there. It’s just perfect. But it was $20.
I’m going to trek over there this summer and get another for the hubs.
We fight over it. 😉
 
OraLabora said:
Here’s another interesting little chapel, it’s at my abbey, separate from the main buildings. It’s called “St. Benedict’s Tower”, and is modelled on the St. Saturnin chapel at St. Wandrille in France:
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I love it!

Great thread idea. 🙂
 
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