A cloistered life centered around the Eucharist
A cloistered life centered around the Eucharist
The moment I stepped through the entrance of the public chapel of our monastery years back as a teenager exploring a cloistered monastery for the first time, I was captivated. Although the whole chapel was stunning, the centerpiece was a radiant monstrance positioned above the altar, integrated into the grille that divided the nuns’ choir from the public area. I was immediately attracted by the image.
The Eucharist is positioned at the core of our chapel, which, in turn, is situated at the heart of our monastery. Our daily routine is structured around it, encompassing daily Mass and the hours of the Divine Office that stem from this sacrament, along with the daily assignments of sisters designated to watch over the Lord as adorers. The tangible centrality symbolizes a more profound spiritual reality: The Eucharist is fundamental to our calling as cloistered Dominican nuns.
As reflective nuns, our mission is to pursue the presence of God. Numerous Dominican monasteries throughout the United States are blessed with perpetual adoration. In this sacred space, before the monstrance, we behold his concealed visage, presenting to him the pain and challenges, necessities and requests, as well as the joys and gratitude of all humanity. Constantly, we are contacted through phone calls, letters, and messages that ask, “Sisters, could you kindly pray for … ?”
Read more Fall Vocations articles here.
In our monastery, we uphold the tradition of praying what we refer to as the Adoring Rosary. During our designated adoration period, we reflect on the mysteries of Christ’s life through the Rosary prayers while we worship him in his Eucharistic presence. There is an immense tranquility in the serene chapel, gazing at Our Lord as the beads glide through my fingers. The mission of the Dominican order is “to contemplate, and to share with others the fruits of contemplation.” As a cloistered nun, I do not express the fruits of my contemplation through preaching as my brothers, the friars, do — instead, in a profound manner, the Word I contemplate in my heart yields fruit through the Word preached by others.
Daily Mass is the source of spiritual nourishment for every nun. While all Christians are invited to develop a spousal bond with God, the nun is called to exemplify this in an even more profound manner, forsaking earthly marriage to select Christ as her sole spouse, moving beyond the symbol to pursue the essence. We follow the tradition of saying a prayer each day as we put on our veil: “He has placed a seal upon my brow, that I might admit no other lover but him.” It is through the Eucharist that we receive “him whom my soul loves” (Song 3:4). The One who sacrificed himself for me on the cross now approaches me, dwelling within me.
As the re-presentation of Christ’s singular sacrifice on the cross, the Eucharist imparts to us the graces that this sacrifice gained. Like any sacrament, the Eucharist embodies both a symbol and a truth. Just as the elements of bread and wine represent sustenance and nourishment, within the Eucharist we discover absolution for our everyday shortcomings, our lapses in fraternal love, our inattentiveness and laziness, restoring what was diminished in us due to our minor sins. It fosters development in the spiritual journey, enhancing virtues, especially charity.
However, the truth behind these symbols is Christ himself. When we eat regular food, it undergoes a transformation within us. Yet, in this spiritual nourishment, we turn into what we take in, being molded into Christ until we can declare, “yet I live, no longer, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20). This metamorphosis into Christ, this development in love, cherishing God and our neighbors with the affection that he has infused into our hearts, represents the aim and culmination of monastic existence, of the spiritual journey — indeed, of every Christian’s existence.
Thus, as we search for the presence of God in quietude, dedicated solely to him through separation and sanctified to him by our commitments, it is the Eucharist that sustains us on our path toward him, that binds us to him and that assures us of the joy of ultimate communion with him in heaven.
Sister Lucia Marie of the Visitation is a cloistered Dominican nun of the Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary in Summit, New Jersey.
