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Monastic Initiation

02 February 2010

On 2nd February 2010, we welcomed Sister Katherine as our newest member of the novitiate in Glencairn.  Katherine comes from Tullamore, County Offaly where she had been working as a midwife and theatre nurse before discerning her call to monastic life.  She chose the feast of the Presentation of the Lord as her clothing day.

“My dear Katherine: on this the second day of spring, on this feast of Light, you are making a major change in your life.  You lay aside your colours and take on the white novice’s habit.  This is symbolic of your baptism when you were clothed in white and your Godmother held the lighted candle for you.  You were consecrated to the Lord then and became a member of the Body of Christ.  Since that day of your baptism you have grown in wisdom, grace, in stature and maturity, and today you are choosing to deepen your Baptismal grace by following the deep call in your heart, to leave your former way of life of work and play, and receive the Cistercian habit as a sign of your desire to seek God and follow Christ in this monastic community. 

It is a day of transition for you and today’s feast is a feast of tradition: the end of the old law and the beginning of the new in Christ; the waning of the old testament time and the beginning of the new time of the Church of the Gentiles.  Simeon calls the child “a light of revelation for the Gentiles”.  As a result of this the feast has been made a feast of lights.  The warm light of the candles reminds us of the greater light emanating for all times from the person of Jesus.  The whole story is not about sweetness and light.  Salvation will be purchased at a great cost and Simeon seems to see this.

...You like Anna and Simeon, long to see his face, and you trust as they did that He is the fulfillment of all your longings; you recognise too, that prayer, discipline and vigil prepare the eyes of your heart to recognise his presence, and the time in novitiate will sharpen your spiritual senses so that you recognise and delight in the Father’s gracious and loving plan for you.  You hold the Child in the arms of your silent heart, adore Him there, and allow the light and warmth of his presence to touch your inner being and shine on all your relationships and actions, thoughts and prayer.

“Be not merely carrying lamps but be the very lamps yourselves, shining inside and out, for yourselves and for your neighbour.  Be a lamp then in hand and heart and lips.  The lamp in your heart will shine for you; the lamp in your hand or on your lips will shine for your neighbour.  The lamp in the heart is loving faith, the lamp in the hand is the example of good works, the lamp on the lips is edifying speech.  But not just before people must we shine by works and word, but before God by prayer and pure intention.  Our lamp before God is the honesty of our intention to please Him.”  - Blessed Guerric of Igny, Sermon 15.

This is the challenge of the novitiate: to grow to see your life as a lamp - an inner light bringing light and joy to your self; a lamp for others through the example of good works, lectio, reading, service, charity; the lamp on the lips, silence and edifying speech; and the lamp before God, the sincere desire to do his will and please Him, helping to bring about His kingdom in this world.

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