My Visit To The Trappistines In Wrentham, Ma - And An Ode To Choir Sta

[Theresita Nerita]

So I know I'm not really discerning* but I just got back from a Monastic Weekend with the Trappistines at Mount St. Mary's Abbey in Wrentham, MA.

[img]http://abbey.msmabbey.org/images/stories/photos/abbey1.png[/img]

Spoiler alert: I HIGHLY recommend that anyone discerning cloistered contemplative life give this place a visit. If I were called to religious life I would be more than eager to continue discernment with them. And it's a very welcoming environment even if you don't think you're called there. The warmth and love there are palpable, no matter what your stage in discernment.


[b]Accomodations[/b]

The other guests and I stayed in this wonderful country mansion left to the monastery by some old-timey millionaire. It's located right across the street from the enclosure, so you can walk to church (if it's not 3AM!)

The rolling blue hills, the good-smelling grass, the pink sunsets, the red sunrises (I had never actually seen a sunrise face-to-face before ) were all lovely. The place is only about an hour outside of Boston by train, but it feels like the middle of nowhere, mostly because the monastery owns 600 acres, I think. It truly lived up to the ideal of a "peaceful" monastery.

[b]Vibe[/b]

There may be all sorts of stories about how trappists dig a little of their grave each day, etc., but these nuns definitely had a wonderful balance between austerity and common sense. For example, the white veils and some others came out of the enclosure to eat lunch with us one day and to laugh and talk; they had fans cooling the choir, not just the public; they had little rugs for kneeling on (optional) in choir so you didn't have to get bruised knees. I think all these things indicate a healthy view of penance - I believe St. Teresa said "I pray the best when I'm comfortable" or "There's enough opportunities for penance in life without creating them for yourself." Or something like that.

Meanwhile, they still get up every day at 3AM! So... good balance.

Similarly, I felt they managed to keep all the traditions intact without it feeling too letter-of-the-law. They wore full, traditional habits with a sensible, medium-length veil. They sang the entire office in very traditional Gregorian psalm tones, but sang it in English. You get the idea.

I loved all the sisters. The vocation director was very understanding and easy to talk to. The abbess, the novice mistress - everyone was joyful, friendly and kind. I won't mention them by name so as not to give you certain expectations should you choose to visit.

[img]http://abbey.msmabbey.org/images/stories/choir.png[/img]


If you go on a Monastic Experience Weekend you get to sing in the choir with the nuns, even for Vigils at 3AM. (Go to Vigils, even though it's optional and you feel insane getting out of bed at 2:55am! It was my favorite part.)

And choir was where I discovered something magnificent:

[b]CHOIR STALLS[/b]

These things are rad. I had actually had a lifelong curiosity about them. How do the nuns tuck themselves in there? Are those little things you can put under your rump while kneeling comfortable? Where do you keep your music? Why are they facing each other? Etc.

So you can imagine my excitement when I discovered that these things are masterpieces of medieval engineering. They're the Lexus of church seating. They're created so you can sit, stand, kneel, bow, or sit/kneel all with the utmost ease, and always have somewhere to put your elbows or folded hands in prayer.

And yes, those things you put under your rump are incredibly comfortable - they turn kneeling into something you can do for days. I want one.

[b]Upshot[/b]

By the end of the weekend, I had realized (sadly) that I'm not called to religious life. However, I had a major case of vocation envy. It's only gotten worse since I've been home. I've actually found myself thinking, "Would it be weird to go for another retreat in like 2 months?"

So - give these gals a call, I highly recommend it.



*Why did I go if I'm not discerning? Long story short, I wanted to resolve the persistent 1% suspcion that maybe I had a religious vocation. I wanted to give God a chance to surprise me with the gift of a vocation. He didn't, and I'm sort of sad, but just resolving that doubt made this a wonderful and enlightening weekend.

[maximillion]

Love it, thanks so much for sharing!

[Catholicterp7]

I love choir stalls!! :D

[emmaberry]

I think this was the community that was co-featured with the Roswell PCCs in an ABC interview with Diane Sawyer. Thanks for posting!

Edit: Here is the part 1 of the interview:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm_8MUct7VA

Edited August 22, 2012 by emmaberry

[krissylou]

[quote name='emmaberry' timestamp='1345678873' post='2472191']
I think this was the community that was co-featured with the Roswell PCCs in an ABC interview with Diane Sawyer. Thanks for posting!

Edit: Here is the part 1 of the interview:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm_8MUct7VA[/media]
[/quote]

Yes, that's them. The novice director in that video is Abbess now.

FYI, they didn't think much of that segment. (Understatement.)

They said that (1) the Poor Clares in Roswell are a lovely community but they're very different, and they made us all sound the same when we're not. (2) emphasizing physical penances that we have not practiced in decades is in very bad taste.

AND, if that wasn't enough, the video crew was there for a Monastic Experience Weekend. Seven women came to that, and the reporters put all their attention on the ones who did not further pursue vocations there. One person entered the Carmelites and another discerned that religious life is not for her. That's fine. And of course there are PLENTY of these Monastic Experience Weekends where people come to try it out and nobody goes further and that's no problem.

But that's not what happened this time. Of those SEVEN people who came:

1. One discerned that Cistercian spirituality WAS for her but being a cloistered nun was NOT. She joined their lay associates.
2. THREE entered. One discerned out as a novice. Two are still there and are about a year away from solemn profession. (Depending on mutual discernment of the will of God, yadda yadda, you all know that drill.)

(There is also another person who entered right about the same time who hadn't been on that weekend. This is also allowed. She is also about a year away from solemn profession.)

This is, in highly technical and pious vocation speak, a pretty good haul. (Note. I am sure that the nuns, being better people than I am, do not even think in terms of "a good haul.")

Obviously at the time it aired, they didn't know these people would still be there years later. But it was known that there were entrances from that group. To focus on the women who did not discern further and totally ignore that there were many who did, this doesn't make any sense at all.

[krissylou]

I happen to know these things because I have gone to that abbey on retreat a handful of times. Not discernment retreats, just retreat retreats.

Although this means that in the chapel I am always in the pews, which are perfectly fine but like any other pews anywhere, and don't get to experience the amazingness of choir stalls!

[emmaberry]

[quote name='krissylou' timestamp='1345752713' post='2472869']
Yes, that's them. The novice director in that video is Abbess now.

FYI, they didn't think much of that segment. (Understatement.)

They said that (1) the Poor Clares in Roswell are a lovely community but they're very different, and they made us all sound the same when we're not. (2) emphasizing physical penances that we have not practiced in decades is in very bad taste.

AND, if that wasn't enough, the video crew was there for a Monastic Experience Weekend. Seven women came to that, and the reporters put all their attention on the ones who did not further pursue vocations there. One person entered the Carmelites and another discerned that religious life is not for her. That's fine. And of course there are PLENTY of these Monastic Experience Weekends where people come to try it out and nobody goes further and that's no problem.

But that's not what happened this time. Of those SEVEN people who came:

1. One discerned that Cistercian spirituality WAS for her but being a cloistered nun was NOT. She joined their lay associates.
2. THREE entered. One discerned out as a novice. Two are still there and are about a year away from solemn profession. (Depending on mutual discernment of the will of God, yadda yadda, you all know that drill.)

(There is also another person who entered right about the same time who hadn't been on that weekend. This is also allowed. She is also about a year away from solemn profession.)

This is, in highly technical and pious vocation speak, a pretty good haul. (Note. I am sure that the nuns, being better people than I am, do not even think in terms of "a good haul.")

Obviously at the time it aired, they didn't know these people would still be there years later. But it was known that there were entrances from that group. To focus on the women who did not discern further and totally ignore that there were many who did, this doesn't make any sense at all.
[/quote]

I have heard this about the disappointment for both communities in this interview. The Poor Clares felt the same on almost every front. I think the communities did not even know they would be 'co-starring' until they saw the show. Very disappointing for them.

There was a nice post here on VS that was written by Sister Mary Catharine, I think, and it contained pretty much everything stated in your post. ABC really focused on the negative and the girls leaving, and not on all the girls who joined up and desired the life, like you said. That is a real shame. Still, though the video is lacking, I thought someone might want to see this community in a video. I know I pull i up someone just to see my Poor Clares, since visitors cannot enter the enclosure. Heck, I will watch the video muted!

Edited August 23, 2012 by emmaberry