“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, rejoice!” (Phil 4:4). Here at St. Scholastica Priory, we have a new reason to rejoice: our postulant Kate—now Sr. Martha—has just been clothed as a novice!

It’s not every day that you see someone embarking on a monastic life. It is a hidden life, to be sure, without out much recognition or fanfare (for which we are very grateful), and perhaps much of the modern world doesn’t even know that monastic communities exist! So for a new member to be added to our number is a work of God indeed.

May every blessing and grace be upon our Sr. Martha as she begins her journey in the Benedictine way. And may God lead us, “all together, to everlasting life” (Rule of St. Benedict, Ch. 72)!

This Thursday on February 22nd we celebrate a feast which the Church calls “The Chair of Peter”. While there is indeed a physical ancient chair in the Vatican that represents the authority of the pope, the chair itself is not exactly what we celebrate every year!

This day is one which calls to mind the beauty and authority of the Catholic magisterium. This celebration reminds us that God has given the successors of St. Peter the wisdom to guide the faithful safely into the kingdom of heaven. We can rejoice in being cared for by God by means of the Church, and can trust in her care.

What’s more, here at St. Scholastica Priory we will be celebrating an additional event—the clothing of a novice! It is a glorious day for her to put her trust in the Chair of Peter as manifested here in the monastery. We too will redouble our faith in the Rock upon which Christ has built his Church!

Quick quiz: Who was the first Benedictine nun, seen by her twin brother in a vision to have ascended into heaven in the form of a dove? Yep, you guessed it: St. Scholastica! It’s no surprise, then, that we Benedictine women have taken her to be our community patron.

So what does it mean to have a patron saint? Well, it’s true we have several statues and images of her in our monastery and her name is on our sign posted by the roadside, but these are just the externals. A patron saint is one who lived a life worthy of emulation, someone whom we wish to take as an example of virtue and profound dedication to God.

Since we know fairly few details of her life, what we do know takes on even greater import for us. St. Gregory the Great describes her as one who “loved much, and therefore was able to do much” (Dialogues, Book 2). She was a great lover, through whom God was able to do great things. Need we say more?

In science class, we were taught that light is a form of energy. And energy, of course, has power. Well, we know that light enables growth in plants, people, and indeed all forms of life. In fact, we even have a light lamp here in the monastery to replace those oh-so glorious rays that we soak up all summer long.

“God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all” (1 Jn 1:5). We experience the power of physical light here on earth every day. How much more powerful is the spiritual light of God himself! Living in his presence, experiencing his love and emitting that love to whomever we meet is to live in divine light. Just as the sun gives life with its rays, Jesus Christ who is “the life” (Jn 14:6) radiates through the members of his body to all who are open to his love. “The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light” (Is 9:2).

God is light itself. “And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Rv 21:23). And this glory gives life for all eternity! 

 

We’ve settled into Ordinary Time here at the Priory, with all it’s quiet rythyms and routines. Routines, you say? Sounds boring!

Well, from the outside looking in, it may seem boring indeed. We keep the same schedule every day, with minor variations, and that’s arranged intentionally. We rejoice in the days that lack excitement or fanfare!

What stems from this uneventful life is a better spiritual one, fixed on the source and summit of our vocation—Jesus Christ. With him as our focus, the word excitement takes on an entirely new meaning. It isn’t a worldly excitement, but rather the wonder of the supernatural life, right at our fingertips.

 

What’s better than having a new novice in the Novitiate? Having two new novices, of course!

This Saturday we had the honor of clothing Elena, now Sr. Mechtilde, in the characteristic black Benedictine habit and white novice veil. And those of you who are familiar with the famous German monastery of Helfta will call to mind the two great saints who resided there in the 13th century: St. Gertrude and St. Mechtilde! Needless to say, they make a great pair.

So are we the “new Helfta”? That blessed community was graced with many nuns living in intimate union with Christ, which is the vocation of every nun of every time and place. Pray for us, then, that we may glorify God in the same way as our Benedictine patronesses!

Here at St. Scholastica Priory we have some good news—well, great news, actually! One of our postulants is soon to become a novice! Before long, two white veils will be floating through our cloisters.

It’s not a small thing to take a step into a cloistered Novitiate. At times, it may feel like living on the moon, relative to the fast-paced lifestyle that many young people have experienced. And yet, there are few things as rewarding.

Come this Saturday, Elena (soon to be “Sr. Mary Someone”) will come forth from her five-day preparatory retreat equipped to take on the fullness of monastic life as an official member of our Priory. All of heaven rejoices along with this small part of the Church militant in Petersham… Do rejoice with us too!

 

Christmas is definitely about family. Many enjoy these festive days (which we celebrate here until the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord on Jan. 8th) by visiting with relatives, giving gifts, watching films and enjoying meals together. It reflects the joy that flows out of simply being together.

Here in the monastery we have the same kind of joy. God has put us together—much like the way he designs a biological family—as different people with the same things at heart. A shared love of Christ makes life flow with greater virtue than if we had just landed in the same house haphazardly. Greater virtue, that is—but not always the fullness of virtue!

Needless to say, we’re working on it. And we take the Holy Family as our model, working to bring Jesus more fully into one another’s lives in small but significant ways.

Ahhh… The creches are in place, the dinner rolls are baked, the hymns are rehearsed, the church is adorned with the beauty of Christmas decor. Today, the anticipation of Advent has given way to a whole new joy—the joy of a heavenly child.

A visitor once described the monastery as “the eye of the storm”, a place where people can take refuge from the hurricanes of daily life. Well, we have had our own flurry of activity here too, that’s for sure! “It always gets worse before it gets better,” we’ve heard it said. The monastery turns upside down for a few days until the preparations are complete, and our dog Chaeli sheepishly makes off with all sorts of things while the sisters aren’t looking!

But now, an other-worldly peace descends as the long-awaited day of Christmas. Somehow the amazement and relief of the Incarnation becomes all the more tangible when contrasted with the more chaotic prelude… So now we rest in Jesus, just as he rests, nestled in the arms of his mother.

Merry Christmas, from all of us at the Priory!