Frequently Asked Questions

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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