As you would suspect, our life revolves
around prayer. And, that as Redemptoristines, we hold in a special place in our
heart our Redemptorist Priests and Brothers and their various apostolic missions.
So, there is no mystery there.
The mystery begins with the Title of
Chapter I of our Constitution and Statutes which sets the theme for our life: We are called by the Father to be,
in the Church and in the world of today, a living memorial of Christ the Redeemer. Const. 5 expands this
thought of being a Living Memorial as …a constant Reminder of all that the
Son accomplished for our salvation during His life on earth. It is in this way that the Redeemer is able
today to accomplish His work of salvation in us and through us.
Constitution
44 describes how: At the heart of our life is
the Liturgy
of the Hours and Eucharist making the day and night holy in a perfect sacrifice
of love and praise. The Sisters life of prayer, praise and intercession reaches out to embrace all the needs and intentions of the entire world into the heart of Father.
The
apostolate of the Redemptorists is sustained by the contemplative life of the
nuns, and the Redemptorist ministry gives incentive to the life of prayer to
the Nuns who are themselves fully missionary. Const 13
But what do the Sisters do all day? Each sister brings her own unique self to our
mission of prayer for the Church and the world. In charity, each offers her gifts to use in
the service for her sisters and in union with Christ the Redeemer.
We live in the shadow of Mount Beacon in
New York. On June 25, we celebrate our 8th anniversary of living
with the Carmelites. We were welcomed
with open arms to the Monastery of the Incarnation after our move from the
property of Mount St. Alphonsus in Esopus. With the Carmelites we share liturgy,
meals, household chores and recreation. We are enriched and nourished as we join
in the celebration of each other’s feasts and special occasions, and share
quiet times of retreat. The park-like
setting of the monastery is perfect for contemplating the peaceful, wondrous
beauty of God’s nature surrounding us.
Nightly, we have a ‘holy hour:’ the news
and Jeopardy! Like many of you, we follow the news and discuss and pray over what
we can do personally and as contemplatives to heal the divisions of our
country, world and church.
An important part of our life is to be able to relax
with one another. It is an essential
part of all life, it fosters growth, and peace of mind and heart which the contemplative life needs
in
order to flourish. Many sisters have
gardens and enjoy puttering among the blooms. Most enjoy walks around the
property or bird/deer watching from their rooms. Scrabble, crossword and jigsaw
puzzles are favorite activities, as is watching the occasional DVD.
All our life is lived
with the mindfulness that we are part of something bigger than what is seen
from the outside. Though hidden from sight, it is in our interaction with one
another and with those we come in contact with that we witness to this new
heaven and new earth by our faith, hope and charity in every aspect of our
human and religious life. In the
monastery we strive to become the
Redeemer’s faithful images of Him who is our Beginning and our End, our Way and
our Life. Const. 6
We recently mailed out our invitation to
join us in prayer, from a distance, for our Novena in honor of Our Mother of
Perpetual Help. We unite ourselves in prayer with the Blessed Virgin for all
the special intentions we receive through return mail. Our Const. 16 encourages us to,
…Like Mary and with Mary, strive to live
in constant communion with Christ, who is the light of our faith, the strength
of our charity and the source of our hope.
So, you see, the mystery mission of our
contemplative life is entirely centered on being a living memory of the love of
the Father manifest in Christ the Redeemer to the world in union with our
brother Redemptorists. It is as simple,
and profound, as that.
