A Glimpse of Monastery Life

Recently, my husband and I spent a couple days at a Bed and Breakfast run by nuns at a Benedictine monastery.  This was a gift from friends and provided some much needed reflective time.  This inn has only four rooms/suites and since we were the only guests, we got lots of attention.

In the morning we had the choice of eating in the inn or going over to the monastery dining room.  We chose the dining room.  Since the sisters eat in silence during breakfast on weekdays, the sister took us to another small dining room where we could talk.  The nice part about it was that she joined us.  In the evening delicious desserts were brought over to us and once again the sister stayed and chatted with us.

The first morning we joined the sisters for morning prayer at 8:30 a.m. in their beautiful chapel.  This was a serene way to begin our day.  We could have also joined them for mass later in the morning, but opted instead to do our own reading in our suite.  In the early afternoon there was a special concert given by 98 junior high students who were traveling north—what a delightful surprise they were.  After the concert we decided to explore the monastery’s nature trails, beginning with the 14 Stations of the Cross which led to their cemetery.  Even though there was a light rain and the uphill sections were a bit steep, we enjoyed our hike through the forest and meadows.

During our conversations with the two sisters who hosted us, we learned a lot about their lives.  They grew up in the area and joined the community as teenagers—that was 58 years ago for one of them.  However, these women have not been separated from the world.  Looking at them, you would not guess that they are nuns since they no longer wear a habit or veil.  Both of these women have advanced degrees; they had to leave the monastery’s rural community to accomplish this.  One worked as an RN then as a chaplain; she lived away from the community for 14 years.  The other nun taught and travelled all over the country either studying or working for the church; she’s had an interesting life.

Currently 43 sisters live at the monastery and another dozen live outside the community.  The majority of them are senior citizens.  Years ago they were totally self-sufficient.  They still have their gardens but now hire cooks.  In the past when a skill was needed in the community, one of them would go out and learn it.  For example, when they stopped wearing habits and veils, they needed to pay attention to their hair so one of the sisters went out and got training in cosmetology.

This Benedictine community is based on prayer, faith, justice, peace, forgiveness, and reconciliation.  They embrace hospitality as one of their core values.  We felt their love and hospitality during our visit and left refreshed and rested.