|
Vocations in the 21st Century
Tradition Lives on at Cistercian Convent in Wisconsin
BY Annamarie Adkins REGISTER CORRESPONDENT
July 12-25, 2009 Issue |
Posted 7/4/09 at 7:03 PM
PRAIRIE DU SAC, Wis. — Abigail Berg
acknowledged God’s undeniable call to religious life in the first week of her
freshman year at The Catholic University of America.
She stuck it out for two more years
— and went through four majors — until she quit school and tried her vocation
as a Cistercian nun at Valley of Our Lady Monastery, located on 112 acres in
Prairie du Sac, outside of Madison, Wis.
“It’s clear that all my life I felt
a call to investigate religious life; I just had to trust God was speaking to
me out of my deepest desire and start actively seeking a community,” the Osseo,
Minn., native said. “When I came here, I knew it was the right place.”
Now, as a 22-year-old known as
Sister Mary Bede, she has finished one year as a postulant and one year as a
novice; she’s due to make temporary vows in a few months if the community votes
to accept her.
Sister Mary Bede is the third oldest
of the half-dozen 20-something women wanting to join this community of
Cistercians of the original observance — the only one of its kind in the United
States.
The mother prioress, Sister Bernarda
Seferovich, 67, reported that the 20 nuns of the monastery range in age from 21
to 78, with a good distribution of ages in between (the average age is 46). Six
young women entered in 2006; three entered in 2007, and eight are discerning.
When asked what she thought was
attracting young women to this ancient contemplative order, Sister Bernarda
replied, “To begin with, God.” She added, “Then, perhaps, the desire for a life
of prayer, solitude, simplicity, with an ancient liturgy in Latin and Gregorian
chant, and a simple, traditional habit. Also, we follow the directives of our
order and the Church.”
Sister Mary Bede boiled it down to
this: “When you’re looking for a traditional, habit-wearing, Divine
Office-saying order, it narrows down your choices a bit.” She preferred the
Cistercians to some of the newer orders, explaining, “Definitely, it’s a
comfort knowing that the Rule of St. Benedict has sanctified hundreds of
thousands of men and women throughout the ages. It helps to live a life in
faith — that God will work through our superiors and rule to bring about our
sanctification.”
Weathering the Past
Sts. Robert of Molesme, Alberic of
Citeaux and Stephen Harding founded the first Cistercian monastery for men
outside of Dijon, France, in 1098; 127 years later, a monastery was founded for
women who wanted to imitate the life of the monks.
Swiss Cistercian sisters founded the
Valley of Our Lady when they purchased some Wisconsin farmland in 1957, just a
few years before the Second Vatican Council began.
Sister Mary Dolores Damasco, 78, has
been a religious for 39 years and lived through the era of upheaval of the
Church in America. “During that time, women superiors did not attend the
general chapter of our order, so we were not in touch with the information
about all the monasteries,” she said.
At the time, not all monasteries
were holding fast to their roots. “Some of the contemplative nuns did come here
to visit and show us what freedom they had and their changes,” Sister Mary
Dolores said. “But we kept up with our instructions and studies; we felt we
didn’t have to join them in their way of life.”
A priest overseeing the monastery
adhered to the Cistercian ideal and gave conferences on the Rule of St.
Benedict, vows, chant and lectio divina (prayerful
reading of the Bible), she said, and the prioress gave classes on the sacraments,
Latin, documents of the Church, doctrine and liturgy.
Some changes were made at Valley of
Our Lady, according to Sister Bernarda: They adopted the Novus Ordo Mass; followed
a “cleaned up” form of the Divine Office and liturgical calendar; changed their
horarium
(daily schedule) to allow more time for prayer and study; and simplified their
habit. Also, the superior now attends the general and congregational chapters.
When asked what keeps her order so
grounded in its ancient origins and traditions, Sister Mary Dolores responded,
“There is a preservation of identity; progress comes not from something
entirely new, but a returning to the charism of the founders. In tradition, the
past is present but updated.”
Dominican Father Brian Mullady has
seen many traditional orders survive the decades after Vatican II. Theological
consultant for the Institute on Religious Life in Libertyville, Ill. — a
collaborative effort of Catholic bishops, priests, religious and laity to
foster and strengthen vocations to the consecrated life — Father Mullady said:
“Mostly they weathered the changes by adapting the things that needed to be
adapted for young people — there are sisters on the Internet and carrying
BlackBerries — but preserving the habit, the cloister, silence, reading at
table, living in community.”
Building for the Future
Father Mullady is optimistic about
the future of traditional orders such as the Cistercians at Valley of Our Lady.
“The more traditional orders are very open to the future because they are
living the traditional faith, which transcends time and space,” he said.
“Emphasizing the supernatural dimension of faith is the key to preserving the
past and looking ahead to the future.”
Besides welcoming more young women
seeking God every year, Sister Bernarda has one major initiative in mind for
the future of Valley of Our Lady Monastery. “A big one is our hope to relocate
to a place of more quiet and solitude than our present site,” she said. “There,
if God wills and we receive the necessary funds, we plan to build a traditional
Cistercian monastery of lasting materials.”
Sister Bernarda went on to explain,
“Monasteries that have been lived in and prayed in over centuries by successive
generations begin to acquire an increasing ‘patina’ of prayer and a presence of
God that newer, less-lasting buildings can never have.
“To enter and live one’s life in one
of these ancient buildings gives one a sense of having put on an identity that
is greater than any one person could ever be individually.”
Annamarie
Adkins writes
from St. Paul, Minnesota.
INFORMATION Nunocist.org
Filed under
Advertisement
Advertisement
Make a Donation now!
Insightful. Informative. Uncompromisingly faithful. The National Catholic Register is more than a newspaper. It’s a cause. Your support for the Register funds important journalism that helps to build a Culture of Life in our nation, and throughout the world. Help us promote the Church’s New Evangelization by donating to the National Catholic Register right now.
Click here to donate
| 
.
