Benedictine Sisters of St. Mary Monastery, Rock Island, Illinois
October 2009
Benedictine Sisters monastery grounds at St. Mary Monastery, Rock Island, Ill Steps
Discerning your path in life

How to Know if You Have a Monastic Heart

What distinguishes monastic religious life from apostolic religious life includes some straightforward lifestyle differences. In a nutshell, we pray, live, and often work together. We live in a monastery together. We enjoy leisure together. More difficult to articulate is something we often refer to as the "monastic heart." While you may be born with some monastic instincts, others take a lifetime to develop. Read what several of our Sisters say about it here, and see if anything resonates for you.

  When Stefanie MacDonald was living and teaching in Chicago, the constant noise and congestion of the place got old fast. She couldn't wait to get home to Dubuque, Iowa, to hear ... nothing. She couldn't wait to rest her senses.
 
Looking back on it, Stefanie says she must have been born with a monastic heart. Her clues? Craving quiet, especially the quiet and peace of nature and the Eucharistic Chapel at her church, was one. Also, she loved to read slowly and deeply, and ponder what she read. Unknowingly, she was already following parts - keeping silence and reading contemplatively - of Benedict's Rule.
 
"I didn't put it together until I took a survey on the Vision Web page," the 39-year-old Benedictine novice says. "The results suggested monastic life. And when I visited the monastery, I realized I was home."
 
"Home" is St. Mary Monastery in Rock Island, Ill. Surrounded by woods and lake, the grounds offer paths and benches for quiet reflection. The chapel and Eucharistic chapel offer peaceful haven. And the daily practice of Lectio Divina* - Holy Reading - promotes the deep listening that is foundational to Benedictine Life.
 
  "Lectio Divina allows us to listen to the Word of God in Scripture," Formation Director Sr. Mary Core says. "The first word of the Rule is 'Listen.' Listen with the ear of the heart. We listen to the voice of God in Scripture, in others, in ourselves."
 
Sr. Cabrini Rael says the monastic heart cannot grow without listening.
 
"You have to be quiet - not only with your mouth but inside yourself - to listen," she says. "You won't hear a thing of importance otherwise."
 
While Sr. Mary says a need for quiet and love of contemplative reading are signs of a monastic heart, we develop these gifts at different rates and different times in our lives. Key monastic characteristics grow throughout our lives, both in and outside the monastery.
 
"One of the most important gifts is learning to look for fulfillment exclusively in relationship with God," she says. "Right relationship with God helps us build right relationship with one another. And it helps us see that we will never gain fulfillment in acquiring 'stuff,' or new things.
 
"You can have a monastic head, but until you allow it to take root in your heart it will remain simply information," Sr. Mary says. "It becomes a lived experience as it enters the heart. We begin to live the notions of simplicity, respect for others, peace and presence. We begin to live the truth that we are all children - gifts - of God. We begin to say to ourselves, That is enough."
 
*Lectio Divina is a method of reading Scripture that incorporates time and space to hear God's voice. It's a simple practice that involves reading a short Bible passage four times slowly and without trying to puzzle out the meaning in any scholarly fashion. Rather, it is a time for simple reflection - are there any phrases that stand out for you? Any thoughts that simply occur? - allowing God to speak to you through God's Word.

     

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Benedictine vocation director Sr. Bobbi Bussan, OSBTo give you a chance to learn about Benedictine Sisters and our way of life, we welcome you for a visit. Call (309) 283-2300 or e-mail Sr. Bobbi to set up a good  time. Or join us and other single Catholic women for a Benedictine Experience Weekend October 2-4. No matter when you come, there is no cost to you. We look forward to a morning, evening, weekend or week with you! And visit our Web site at www.smmsisters.org.