The Unprofitable Servant: Things You Never Have To Deal With in a Monastery

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Things You Never Have To Deal With in a Monastery

Sometimes I think I may be a little too hard on myself. I keep trying to compare my faithfulness and piety to women who lived in monasteries and convents. I know they were tested, but I wonder sometimes. How does having dirty laundry water thrown on you compare to sleeping with a spouse whose snoring can be heard in the house next door? I love when St. Therese talked about having the courage to get out of bed and face the day. The things that happen to me never happened at Lisieux, like the air conditioning unit fails one night during a storm and turns the operating room into a sauna, compromising the sterility of the instruments and supplies to the point where everything has to be pitched or resterilized. You're up nearly half the night trying to rectify the situation so the next morning's cases can go on. When the cases have to be delayed for an hour (as opposed to canceled altogether) while new supplies are shipped in stat, one of the surgeons badgers you nearly to death to "do something" because he has a date on the golf course at Noon. At that point, the greatest saint in the world has to be tempted to take a blunt object and chuck the pest over the head with it. See, things like that just don't happen in a monastery.

Or how about when you come out to go to work in the morning, and some wiseacre has smashed your side view mirror overnight, neglecting to take responsibility by way of a note or some other means of contacting you with their insurance information? Or some slob has allowed their dog to relieve itself on your sidewalk and left the mess for you to deal with? Think those things ever happen in a monastery?

St. Therese never had to deal with a man who couldn't find the orange juice in the refrigerator if the carton itself reached out and tapped him on the shoulder. St. Teresa of Avila didn't know what it was like to find the seat up, the lights out and the television turned to 96 decibels, day in, day out. And need I bring up the subject of air conditioning again? You-know-who still hasn't installed the window unit in the dining room. I don't even want to go there.

I am making light of every day situations that get to most of us at one point or another and taking a gentle push at the sanctity of women I revere. Who's to say how the greatest of saints would have reacted to the mundane and ordinary trials we face in the world? There is no question they lived the lives they chose with perseverance and resolve to do God's Will always and that their unselfish example helps me try to live mine the same way.

"He that is faithful in little things is faithful in that which is greater" - St. Therese of Lisieux

5 comments:

PatriciaJune 14, 2011 at 8:18 PM
Oh Joyce, I can relate so much to this! I used to drive home during a 90 minute commute from doing my parents' grocery shopping, dealing with a caregiver who was stealing their pain meds, towels, food, you name it. I would be wondering what to fix for dinner, wishing I didn't have to cook, tired and hot, stuck in traffic. Life in a monastery sounded like a vacation!

And, have you ever checked the lifespan of nuns? Old, very old! I think it's the lack of stress.

I've always been frustrated that so few married people are canonized. Hey, this isn't easy! We don't get 6-8 years before making final vows.

And what about all the other stuff - like worrying to death over kids and money and maybe losing a spouse or ending up in a nursing home...

Hey, maybe we're piling up more merit than we think! One thing for sure, Therese and Teresa are having a good laugh along with us, and cheering us on. : )

Thanks for saying what many of us are thinking!
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TLWJune 14, 2011 at 8:41 PM
Thanks Patricia, and for describing your own trials, to which so many of us can certainly relate. YES, I have noticed how long nuns live (God Bless them) and I always tell my mother it's because their Spouse is so self-sufficient and easy to get along with. You make a good point about the extra merit, and yes, how about that? We don't get a trial period of temporary vows vs. perpetual vows. And you're also right about our Carmelite friends. They may be having a good laugh, but they also have our backs.

Peace!
Joyce
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Kathy Felsted UsherJune 14, 2011 at 9:17 PM
I'll make you a deal. I'll send my husband to your place and he'll fix everything in sight, only because it's not OUR place. Then you can send your hubby here and he'll probably finish all my "to do" items! At the old place mine wouldn't fix our porch but built a 25 x 25 ft, cathedral ceiling with fireplace and dual french doors room addition for the neighbor. (not a paid job either). Dealing with husbands and kids will surely win you points!
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meJune 15, 2011 at 1:15 AM
'St. Therese never had to deal with a man who couldn't find the orange juice in the refrigerator if the carton itself reached out and tapped him on the shoulder.'

Hahahahaha! Oh boy, do I ever identify with that statement!
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KellyJune 15, 2011 at 8:02 AM
Oh yes, my motto is that kids and families=built in penances! Maybe our time in purgatory will be shortened?
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Mary, Queen of Peace

Ever glorious and blessed Mary, Queen of Virgins, Mother of Mercy, hope and comfort of dejected and desolate souls, through that sword of sorrow which pierced thy tender heart whilst thine only Son, Christ Jesus, our Lord, suffered death and ignominy on the cross; through that filial tenderness and pure love He had for thee, grieving in thy grief, whilst from His cross He recommended thee to the care and protection of His beloved disciple, St. John, take pity, I beseech thee, on my poverty and necessities; have compassion on my anxieties and cares; assist and comfort me in all my infirmities and miseries, of every kind whatsoever. Thou art the Mother of Mercies, the sweet comforter and only refuge of the needy and the orphan, of the desolate and afflicted. Cast, therefore, an eye of pity on a miserable, forlorn child of Eve, and hear my prayer; for since, in just punishment of my sins, I find myself encompassed by a multitude of evils, and oppressed with much anguish of spirit, wither can I fly for more secure shelter, O amiable Mother of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, than under the wings of thy maternal protection? Attend, therefore, I beseech thee, with an ear of pity and compassion, to my humble and earnest request. I ask it, through the bowels of mercy of thy dear Son; Through that love and condescension wherewith He embraced our nature, when, in compliance with the divine Will, thou gavest thy consent, and whom, after the expiration of nine months thou didst bring forth from the chaste enclosure of thy womb, to visit the world, and bless it with His presence. I ask it, through that anguish of mind wherewith thy beloved Son, our dear Saviour, was overwhelmed on the Mount of Olives, when He besought His eternal Father to remove from Him, if possible, the bitter chalice of His future passion. I ask it, through the threefold repetition of His prayers in the garden, whence afterwards, with dolorous steps and mournful tears, thou didst accompany Him to the doleful theatre of His death and sufferings. I ask it, through the welts and bruises of His virginal flesh, occasioned by the cords and whips wherewith He was bound and scourged, when stripped of His seamless garment, for which His executioners afterwards cast lots. I ask it, through the scoffs and ignominies by which He was insulted; the false accusations and unjust sentence by which He was condemned to death, and which He bore with heavenly patience. I ask it, through His bitter tears and bloody sweat; His silence and resignation; His sadness and grief of heart. I ask it, through the blood which trickled from His royal and Sacred Head, when struck with the sceptre of a reed and pierced with His crown of thorns. I ask it, through the excruciating torments He suffered, when His hands and feet were fastened with gross nails to the tree of the cross. I ask it, through His vehement thirst, and bitter potion of vinegar and gall. I ask it, through His dereliction on the cross when He exclaimed, "My God! my God! why hast Thou forsaken me?" I ask it, through His mercy extended to the good thief, and through His recommending His precious soul and spirit into the hands of His eternal Father before He expired, saying, "It is consummated." I ask it, through the blood mixed with water, which issued from His Sacred Side when pierced with a lance, and whence a flood of grace and mercy has flowed to us. I ask it, through His immaculate life, bitter passion and ignominious death on the cross, at which nature itself was thrown into convulsions, by the bursting of rocks, rending of the veil of the Temple, the earthquake, and the darkness of the sun and moon. I ask it, through His descent into hell, where He confronted the Saints of the old law with His presence, and led the captivity captive. I ask it, through His glorious victory over death, when He arose again to life on the third day, and through the joy which His appearance for forty days after gave thee, His blessed Mother, His Apostles, and the rest of His Disciples; when in thine and their presence He miraculously ascended into heaven. I ask it, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, infused into the hearts of His Disciples, when He descended upon them in the form of fiery tongues, and by which they were inspired with zeal in the conversion of the world, when they went to preach the gospel. I ask it, through the awful appearance of thy Son, at the last dreadful day, when He shall come to judge the living and the dead, and the world, by fire. I ask it, through the compassion He bore thee in His life, and the unspeakable joy thou didst feel at thine assumption into heaven, where thou art eternally absorbed in the sweet contemplation of His divine perfections. O glorious and ever blessed Virgin! comfort the heart of thy supplicant, by obtaining for me, (Mention your prayer intention here...) And as I am persuaded my Divine Saviour doth honour thee as His beloved Mother, to whom He refuses nothing, because thou asketh nothing contrary to His honour, so let me speedily experience the efficacy of thy powerful intercession, according to the tenderness of thy maternal affection, and His filial loving heart, who mercifully granteth the requests and complieth with the desires of those that love and fear Him. Wherefore, O most blessed Virgin, beside the object of my present petition, and whatever else I may stand in need of, obtain for me also of thy dear Son, our Lord and our God, a lively faith, firm hope, perfect charity, true contrition of heart, unfeigned tears of compunction, sincere confession, condign satisfaction, abstinence from sin, love of God and my neighbour, contempt of the world, patience to suffer affronts and ignominies, nay, even, if necessary, an opprobrious death itself, for love of thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Obtain likewise for me, O sacred Mother of God, perseverance in good works, performance of good resolutions, mortification of self-will, a pious conversation through life, and, at my last moments, strong and sincere repentance, accompanied by such a lively and attentive presence of mind, as may enable me to receive the last Sacrament of the Church worthily, and die in thy friendship and favour. Lastly, obtain through thy Son, I beseech thee, for the souls of my parents, brethren, relatives and benefactors, both living and dead, life everlasting, from the only Giver of every good and perfect gift, the Lord God Almighty, to Whom be all power now and forever. Amen.

Prayer of St. Bonaventure

Pierce, O most sweet Lord Jesus, my inmost soul with the most joyous and healthful wound of Thy love, and with true, calm and most holy apostolic charity, that my soul may ever languish and melt with entire love and longing for Thee, may yearn for Thee and for thy courts, may long to be dissolved and to be with Thee.
Grant that my soul may hunger after Thee, the Bread of Angels, the refreshment of holy souls, our daily and super substantial bread, having all sweetness and savor and every delightful taste.
May my heart ever hunger after and feed upon Thee, Whom the angels desire to look upon, and may my inmost soul be filled with the sweetness of Thy savor; may it ever thirst for Thee, the fountain of life, the fountain of wisdom and knowledge, the fountain of eternal light, the torrent of pleasure, the fullness of the house of God;
may it ever compass Thee, seek Thee, find Thee, run to Thee, come up to Thee, meditate on Thee, speak of Thee, and do all for the praise and glory of Thy name, with humility and discretion, with love and delight, with ease and affection, with perseverance to the end; and be Thou alone ever my hope, my entire confidence, my riches, my delight, my pleasure, my joy, my rest and tranquility, my peace, my sweetness, my food, my refreshment, my refuge, my help, my wisdom, my portion, my possession, my treasure; in Whom may my mind and my heart be ever fixed and firm and rooted immovably. Amen.

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The Unprofitable Servant

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Things You Never Have To Deal With in a Monastery

5 comments:

Mary, Queen of Peace

St Michael the Archangel

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

St. Teresa Benedicta of The Cross