People usually have many questions, not to mention strange
preconceptions, about our life and lifestyle!
The following are among the most frequently heard queries and
comments:

1. "You must be very special people to live this life!"
2. Do you pray all the time?
3. Aren't you just opting out of the difficulties of life?
4. Wouldn't you be better off outside, doing something for the world?
5. Do you really know what's going on in the world? How do you stay
    in touch?
6. Surely contemporary women find this life very outdated and
    oppressive?
7. Why do you get up so early?
8. How would I know if I had a vocation?

1. "You must be very special people to live this life!"
If by that is meant that we are superhuman, either physically or
spiritually, then - no, we're not. We are quite ordinary people, really!

Monastic life is one way,among many ways, of living out our
baptismal consecration, the basic Christian commitment.
Each baptized person is called to a particular Christian
lifestyle, and receives a particular grace from God to live in
that way.

Certainly, the ability to live monastic life is dependant on
God's grace; but that grace is not given because of anything
special which we are in ourselves, or anything we have done, it
is simply a free and mysterious divine gift to whomever God
chooses.

As well as faith and a desire to seek God in solitude and
silence, the human qualities needed for monastic life include
an ability to live in community, flexibility, psychological
balance, common sense, and a sense of humour!

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2. "Do you pray all the time?"
Our life is described as "wholly ordered to contemplation".
Several hours every day are specifically allotted to liturgical
worship (the Eucharist and the Office) and to lectio divina, a
quiet, reflective reading of the Word of God in Scripture,
leading to silent prayer and awareness of God.

As regards the rest of the time - what is meant by "praying all
the time"?

Christian prayer can be regarded as a getting-in-touch-with
the prayer which the Spirit of God is constantly making
in our hearts. Since our baptism God's Spirit dwells within us,
"enabling us to cry out Abba, Father!" (Rom 8:15). Prayer is
already happening within us: our job is to quieten down, to let
go of everything else, to become conscious of that prayer of
the Spirit in the depths of our heart, and to enter into it.

The monastic lifestyle aims at facilitating this. Separation from
the world, absence of chatter, simple manual work, silence - all
these are aids towards awareness of God, and of the prayer of
the Spirit within us, not in a forced way, but gently, without strain.

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3. "Aren't you just opting out of the difficulties of life,
running away from the real world and rejecting it?"
Dissatisfaction with the values and lifestyle of contemporary
society may prompt the search which eventually leads someone
to a monastery. But this is not a rejection of all that is good in
the world, which is created and sustained by God; and in particular
it is not a rejection of people.

The opening words of Gaudium et Spes apply in particular to
monastics: "The joy and hope, the grief and anguish of the people
of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted in any way,
are the joy and hope, the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ
as well. Nothing that is genuinely human fails to find an echo in
their hearts. ...Christians cherish a deep solidarity with the human
race and its history."

Paradoxically, it is by going aside, by withdrawing from the hurly-burly
of our frantic contemporary culture, that we deepen our awareness of
all that is genuinely human and grow in our cherishing of the human race. It is particularly in prayer that this cherishing comes to life and finds expression.

As for running away from problems, among the biggest difficulties
that anybody has to face are the dark places of the heart: one's
own selfishness, immaturity, anger, fear, inability to forgive,
sinfulness. And in monastic life, we are forced to face these
difficulties head on! The atmosphere of silence, solitude, and
reflection provide a climate in which one's own problems quickly
surface and must be dealt with. Anybody who comes to a
monastery to get away from the difficulties of life quickly
discovers that she has run to the wrong place.

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4. "But wouldn't you be better off out doing something for
the world? Isn't it wasteful and selfish to lock yourselves away in your peaceful monastery?"
This can be a real stumbling-block for many sincere Christians. Aren't we wasting our lives in this monastery, when there's a world out there in such great need? Instead of holding monastic and contemplative orders in such high esteem, why doesn't the Church tell us to get out there and use our energy and goodwill in the service of the needy?

In the first place, monastic life points to the supremacy of "being" over "doing". What we are is more important than what we do. And somewhere in the life of the Church, there must be a place where this is made manifest. Preaching the Gospel, working for peace and justice, liberating the oppressed, healing the sick... yes! But there is also a need in the Body of Christ, whose members do not all have the same function, for some whose lifestyle points out that, ultimately, action is not everything. There is another dimension. Monastic life points to the supremacy of the transcendent.

In the heart of every Christian there exists a two-fold pull - one, a pull towards active service of Christ in the poor and the needy, the other, a pull towards the desert, solitude, seeking God in a contemplative life. Those engaged in active ministry sometimes wish that they could follow the pull towards the desert... but deep down they know that it's not for them, at least not permanently. Likewise, those in monastic life sometimes wish that we could do something to alleviate the suffering and anguish of the world... but we know, deep-down, that the best thing we can do is to stay here, in faith. It would not be right or good for the Church if the majority of Christians opted for a permanent monastic lifestyle. But the Church needs some to follow that call to the desert, and supports and encourages those who do so.

The Church also esteems monastic life because of the value of prayer. All Christians are called to a vital and personal relationship with God, which is prayer, but the structured lifestyle and absence of active apostolate frees monastics for prayer in a special way. Every day we pray in the name of the whole Church, offering to God a sacrifice of praise, and interceding for the needs of the world. We also provide, in our guest-house, a place where people can spend some days in quietness and prayer, being renewed in spirit. And all guests are welcome to join in our liturgical worship.

As regards the mission of the Church and the needs of the world, we are not indifferent - far from it! We bear all its concerns in our hearts. But we believe that our life itself - our whole life, not just our prayer - is a hidden source of apostolic fruitfulness for the Church.

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5. "Do you really know what's going on in the world? How do
you stay in touch?"
In broad terms, yes, we know what's going on in the world, though we might not be aware of all the minute details of current affairs.

We may listen to the news on the radio - some sisters do so every day, some occasionally, others rarely.

Our order is international, and events in other countries sometimes directly affect our Cistercian brothers and sisters. We take a lively interest in their situations.

Running a dairy farm and eucharist bread and greeting card industries means that we know all about the difficulties involved in agriculture and running a small business.

Above all we are made conscious of the problems of today's world through the requests for prayer which we receive daily from many anxious people. Marriage problems, unemployment, drug and alcohol addiction, the difficulties of parents raising a family, monetary problems, sickness, distress and anguish of every kind... we hear all about it.

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6. "Surely contemporary women find this life very outdated
and oppressive?"
It is true that the women who present themselves as candidates for monastic life today have many different attitudes from women who entered forty or even twenty years ago. They certainly have a lively awareness of contemporary women's issues.

But the core values of monastic life - seeking God, prayer worship, solitude, obedience, humility, simplicity, work, hospitality - remain permanently valid. They are not in themselves oppressive, though
at times the expression of some of those values has been interpreted
in a way which was (or which seems to us to have been) oppressive. Sacrifice and self-renunciation are required of all who follow Christ -
the daily taking up of the cross. But ultimately Gospel values
liberate, they do not oppress.

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7. Why do you get up so early?
We get up while it is still dark in order to pray at night.

Following the example of Christ, we pray during the hours of
darkness for and with a world in pain and anguish - which often
seems worse at night.

We continue our vigilant prayer until daybreak which is a daily
reminder of Christ's victory over sin and death through the
triumph of the resurrection.

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8. How would I know if I had a vocation?
A persistent attraction to monastic life, a kind of nagging feeling
that won't go away, a sense that something is missing to which
the monastery has the answer, a desire to give oneself exclusively
to God… all of these may be signs that God is calling a person to monastic life. It is usual for her to be quite uncertain, apprehensive
and even dismayed at the prospect! Complete certainty and
immediate clarity about the issue are rare.

A visit to the monastery, a retreat in the guest-house, talking it
over with one of the sisters will help in the discernment process.
The candidate also spends a period of time (flexible in length,
according to individual circumstances) living with the community
before any final decision is made.

If you feel that God might be calling you to Cistercian life, why
not contact us?

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