On Spiritual home coming: Your (mid)weekly blessing with Julian of Norwich.

A brief photo meditation on my Benedictine oblate home & a chanted prayer by Julian of Norwich.

My dear fellow pilgrim,

The recording goes with the canticle at the end of the post.

First: Thank you for being here at this cloistered space where happy monks and weary pilgrims mingle, where we ponder the wisdom of great teachers and look to find the sacred in all things. I am neither a monastic nor a religious but a lay person in need for this inner sanctuary of quiet and peace, the sacred space within, patiently waiting for us to return.

This (mid)weekly blessing series is for folks with little time and consists of a brief meditation and a blessing. Today with words by the wise Julian of Norwich - which I will also sing for you - a first! You find the canticle to read or hum or sing along at the end of the post. So come on in, sit here with me.

Gathering hall at Saint Benedict’s Monastery in MN. © A. Furchert 2024.

I spent the last weekend at the Monastery. It has been a while since I have been there. It still sat there like I have never left, patiently waiting for my return.

When I grew up a protestant pastor’s kid I had no idea I had an inner monk in me. It took half of my life to understand that my deep longing was guiding me to this inner sanctuary we all have inside of us, the cloister within, where Divinity seeks to dwell.

And to find this place, real monasteries with their sacred architecture and vibrant communities can be a great help.

Thus, it was not so much that I found the monastery, it is probably more that the monastery found me.

And when this happened I found a home I did not know I was missing.

Another view into the grand gathering hall which creates a quiet space between entrance and church. Come on in. Sit here with me. © A. Furchert 2024.

Together with a good friend we visited for oblate weekend, a gathering of the lay members of the monastery, people like us who came to cherish the Benedictine way and vowed to incorporate it into their daily life at home.

Whenever I enter the gathering space at Saint Benedict’s Monastery, a beautiful hall they built in-front of the church, quiet and peace envelops me and quietens the chatter in my soul.

Sisters welcome us, too, kindly, like we have never left. It is indeed a feeling like homecoming, and to find a community who welcomes you so unconditionally is a gift I often forget having. Only then, when I notice the inner unrest, and the pull, and find myself doing the pilgrimage, am I reminded again: We all need a spiritual home, a place to which we can regularly come home, a space of unconditional love which waits to refresh and replenish us.

Do you have a place like this?

Thank you, dear sisters of Saint Benedict’s, that you always welcome me back like I have never left.

Radical hospitality is one of the main characteristics of monasteries. They welcome the traveler as it would be Christ.

The monastic rhythm: ora et labora, pray and work.

When I lived in Germany I knew monasteries mainly for their beer. They really brew great beer there! But I did not know about the spiritual way they offer to lay people, also, their guesthouses, to welcome the weary pilgrim in, and their spiritual programs, which offers education for mind and soul.

But what I miss the most when I leave the monastery are their daily prayers. Most communities gather at least three times a day to chant the psalms. It is a humble, almost haunting, experience. There is no sermon, just psalms, a reading, a prayer, a pause. 25 minutes max.

Maybe I have suffered through too many and too long sermons that I very much appreciate this humble (and short!) form of worship, which has such a simple but sacred form to open your heart so that transcendence can enter.

A Blessing to hum along

For today’s blessing I brought you a text by Julian of Norwich which the community here sang at prayer as the canticle before the readings. It gives you an idea of the simplicity of chanting and the Divine reading practice which daily prayers entail.

I decided on a whim to take some courage to sing it for you, just as we sing it at the monastery.

One more word before this:

Lectio Divina is a Divine reading practice used in monasteries.

It helps to unlock the meaning of a text, not by reading it with a scholarly eye, but with the inner eye and listening to the text with the ear of your heart.

The daily prayers are based on the same practice. Here words and tune work together to unlock our inner cloister, to turn off the chatter and to offer us a space of contemplation.

This is the canticle before the reading, which centers around the wise words by Julian of Norwich. It is chanted just as the psalms are.

Practice

Read the words to yourself with the eye of your heart.

Read aloud.

Listen with your inner ear.

Repeat.

Or: listen to my recording. Let it wash over you, hum along, sing along.

Do it like a breathing practice.

Inhale. Sing.

Exhale. Pause.

Note what is stirring up in your heart.

Amen.

And may God, Divine mother and father, hold your heart tenderly, Almut

PS: Please leave a heart or a note in the comments section so we know you have been here. I answer every comment :-)

Also: If you have difficulty logging into your account, just send me a note. We will help you to enter our shared cloister space so you can read the comments of your fellow travelers, too.

In case you missed it:

"Cosmic Partnership:" Hildegard of Bingen on living in harmony with all creation.

"Desire for Solitude" (T. Merton):

I got verbally assaulted by a preacher man with the police standing by. Welcome to America!

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