Nostalgia

I was part of a panel discussion at Our Lady of Divine Providence & St. Thomas Aquinas Chapter, today.  The discussion was on prison ministry.  I think my Talk went well.  I focused on  Pere Marie Jean-Joseph Lataste, OP.  Everyone seemed interested and asked the appropriate questions.

But I missed my Chapter, and my "cloistered brothers."

Afterwards, I stayed to pray Vespers with the friars.  Praying in community with them really made me nostalgic for St. Stephen's Priory in Dover, MA.  I spent my Postulancy and Noviate there, and I haven't prayed with the Divine Office, with the friars, since then.  St. Stephen's Priory was a beautiful place; 78 acres bordering the Charles River. It was a spiritual haven.  The priory and the grounds spread contemplation.  When I sat in St. Cecilia's Garden, I could hear the river pass quietly by.  Walking down  the path doing the Stations, one would come to a canoe.  Paddling down the Charles defined tranquility.  Canoeing is so peaceful, like the Priory.

 That's what I remember about St. Stephen's--the sense of peace.  You recognized God there.

You probably will find this hard to believe.  The closest I've come to this experience, is my present Chapter, Our Lady of Mercy.  My "cloistered brothers" exude contemplative peace.  The fruits of their contemplation, and study, are evident in the witness they portray in their environment.  They are a source of peace and grace.  I pray God continues to bless them.

In the priory where silence reigned,
From the French doors shadows fell.
I felt God's presence in the dusk.
A habit of crosses, the friar wore so well.


The crosses flickered across the white,
As you bent your ear to me.
"Where two or three are gathered..."
We whispered praises in the night.


Father, listen! in the hour you bless.
On the long table, the shadows press.


And I under the Pompeii frieze,
Felt only comfort and peace so true,
With the cross pattern on moonlit white.
And I prayed for you.

This was a recollection of spiritual direction in St. Stephen's Priory.  It was published in The Pillars, Poetry from the 1st Annual OPrize for Poetry, ed. Robert Curtis, OPL, SchoolBoy Publications, 2005.  The title is Spiritual Direction and I wrote it about my director, Fr. Bede Shipps, OP.