Parishioners find peace during monastery retreat

A group of retreatants from St. Mary's Church in Oneonta traded modern life for a taste of Benedictine monasticism during a recent retreat at Mount Saviour Monastery in Elmira.

Run by the pastor, Rev. Joseph Benintende, the retreat centered on a discussion of Rev. Ron Rolheiser's book, "The Holy Longing."

The nine attendees were also invited to take part in the monastic schedule.

Hours of prayer

The monks participate in the full Liturgy of the Hours, which brings them to the monastery's octagonal chapel to pray seven times a day, beginning at 4:15 a.m. and ending at 8:15 p.m.

At the heart of the Liturgy of the Hours is the Book of Psalms, which is chanted and prayed each day along with other readings from Scripture.

Two other cornerstones of the Benedictine life are work and hospitality. Aside from hosting individual retreatants and outside groups who run their own gatherings in the retreat facilities, the monks operate a sheep farm, and create artwork and mittens to support themselves.

'Renewing'

Being at the monastery "was a very peaceful and welcoming time," said Father Benintende. "It was restful. It was renewing."

Although parishioner Marty Meadows had been on quite a few retreats before, praying the Liturgy of the Hours was a relatively new experience. She said that her participation exposed her to a new way of seeing and praying the Psalms.

"It made me pull out books on the Psalms and spend more time with them," she said. "I liked being able to join in and soak in that atmosphere. It's so different from what our everyday life is. It recharges our spiritual batteries, and I need that periodically."

Challenging style

Mrs. Meadows called the Liturgy of the Hours a challenging way to live.

"As much as I enjoy doing it and being there, one side of me says, 'My Lord, all these interruptions during the day!' and I think in our everyday life that would be very hard to do," she said.

For her, breaking out of a normal environment in order to concentrate on God is a positive thing for spiritual growth.

Soaked in prayer

Part of the monks' focus on hospitality, Mrs. Meadows said, is to make visitors feel that they are part of the community for the short time they are there.

"You just soak yourself in this life of prayer," she said. "It doesn't seem forced. Most of us didn't want to miss it. It's what you do.

"It was the sense of peace and oneness and getting into the Church's prayer life other than just Sunday Mass."

Expanded view

Kathleen Shirm saw the retreat as an opportunity to expand her horizons.

"I'm pretty traditional, but definitely interested in the changes within the Church," she explained. "But I also like the way that our Church doesn't change overnight and that there are some things that are stable."

She said she "really fell in love with the Psalms. I read them; but, when you go at 4:45 in the morning and 7 and 10, you begin to understand how prayerful spirituality can be deepened more than when you're just saying a couple prayers. They run through your mind like a song you can't get out of your head."

Brought home

The retreat experience prompted Mrs. Shirm to explore ways of placing daily spirituality into her own busy life as a healthcare provider: breaking out some old Psalm tapes to listen to as she drives in her car, for example, or sitting at her piano to catch the Gregorian chant cadence for the Psalms.

"I just fell in love with the whole prayer tradition. One of the books I got up there is called 'How to be a Monastic and Not Give Up Your Day Job,'" she said. "I definitely want to go back, to bring the grandkids back during lambing season, to get away from the rush and scramble of everyday responsibilities, to pull back from the craziness of normal existence.

"If you don't build things [like retreats] into your life, you're not going to do it."

(2/8/07) [[In-content Ad]]