My other monastery...

I'm traveling again. This time it's a liturgy meeting at St. John's Abbey in Collegeville, MN. The meeting begins on Monday but I flew out a few days early to work on a separate liturgy project with a sister at St. Benedict's Monastery - 4 miles from St. John's. Here's the blessing - I get to work with one of my favorite people in one of my favorite places in the world.

I got to know these sisters ten years ago when I studied at St. John's. I would come over every Sunday for the Eucharist. There was something here I needed and though it took some time to unpack, I soon figured out that I needed to be with these good women as much as possible. So, I got "involved" - the liturgist trained me to be a lector and the ushers trained me to do hospitality. Though I lived four miles away and prayed morning and evening with monks, St. Ben's became my "parish" - the place where my spirit was strengthened and my soul refreshed.

Yesterday, I spent the summer feast of Saint Benedict in my other monastery. I was witness to a perpetual monastic profession and a first monastic profession all in one day! Sister Trish received the ring and Novice Karen became Sister Karen. What joy filled this house! The altar and ambo were covered in multi-colored cloth dyed and woven by a sister-artisan. The flowers were cut from the massive garden here - tall, triumphant lilies. And the music...dear GOD, the music! I only wept once - pretty good for me. Something in the music here usually gets to me. The memories of being nurtured and sustained in this place flood back when the schola sings. Without these sturdy, gracious, faithful women, I would have lost my nerve and left my studies in favor of the new life I'd found in Bristow, Virginia. Sharing in their life sustained my desire for community as I ticked off the weeks, months and years until graduation.

I have often thought about the mystery of stability - why a monastic belongs in a particular community. Only GOD can explain the purpose of each vocation - how a soul is planted in just the right monastic soil. I am, and will always be, a Benedictine Sister of Virginia. Yet, there is a part of me that will always feel "at home" here at St. Ben's.

Blessings, love to you all and happy feast!

- Sister Vicki

A plug for YAM...

"YAM" stands for Young Adult Ministry. I suspect there is such a group in every diocese. The group here in Richmond is particularly vibrant. Last night I had the privilege of being the kick-off speaker in a series called, "Summer Theologica." Young adults gather every Tuesday in the month of July at different parishes throughout the diocese. Four topics, four different speakers mean lots of variety and "something for everyone." What most excites me is that "Summer Theologica" is entirely planned and promoted by the young adults, themselves. OK...that means under 40 in these parts. (Speakers get a break on the age thing.) The good news is that there are three more Tuesdays remaining. For information about the topics, speakers and locations, you can visit the YAM page on the diocesan website. It's a wonderful thing when people of faith gather to share the joys and challenges of living the Gospel in the world. After one evening with the YAM contingent, I am certain the future of our Church is in loving hands.

Blessings and love to you all...
- Sister Vicki

Where it all began...

I fell in love with cooking in the late 60’s. From time to time, I’d find myself at Mamie’s house – my maternal grandmother. I don’t know where my sibs were, or why I was occasionally left in her care, but I remember days spent there alone. I adored Mamie and having her all to my self was grand. First, Mamie would make us a “lady lunch” – usually a sandwich I’d eat cut in four with the crusts cut off. She’d let me play in her closet and in the attic. I was more into antiquities than “dress-up”, but it was great knowing that I could play with anything of hers. In the afternoon I’d sit in Mamie’s lap in her easy chair and we’d watch her “story” – aka “As the World Turns.” Then, and this was my favorite moment, we’d watch Julia Child cook.

I was fascinated by her – the voice, the laughter in her kitchen and thrilled when she’d do something my grandmother didn’t approve of. Mamie thought Julia was a mess. I thought Julia was better than any other TV star in my repertoire – Mr. Rodgers, Big Bird, even "Samantha Stevens" who could cook with a twitch of her nose! Such began a love affair with TV chefs that went on through the 70’s.

After a 25 year hiatus from culinary television, the prioress’ decision to send me to Richmond meant manyblessings including access to the Food Network. Now, "The Barefoot Contessa” and Giada are my tutors - so many chefs now…so many concepts. Now, a Benedictine sister can have a no-budget “show” on YouTube. Yet, there will be no chef who claims my heart as Julia did. Julia cooked with wild abandon. She invaded the Paris food scene full of wonder and without guile. And, I suspect, she loved to eat her own food as much as she enjoyed a quintessential Parisian meal. Now, when I cook something really wonderful, I imagine her raising a glass and saying in that wonderful, warbling way, “Bon appétit!”

Blessings and love to you all...

- Sister Vicki

Woman at a different well...

Last Saturday evening, I attended at Vigil Mass in Alexander City, AL. The next morning I attending a non-denominational Christian worship service at the Church of the Living Waters – an outdoor prayer space on the shore of Lake Martin. I am what many call, “a cradle Catholic.” It is the only faith I’ve known. Sometimes, I think it might even be in my genetic code somewhere. I’ve often wondered about the gift of faith in Christ. It comes with so many graces. Because I have faith I can find Him wherever He is – in my sisters, in the WORD, in simple loaf of bread, in a wooden cathedral by a lake. The service was very beautiful – good Baptist hymns, excellent preaching, awesome hospitality. It was a moment of grace in a very special weekend. Christ is true to His word: “Wherever two or three of you are gathered in my name, there also shall I be.”

Blessings and love to you all…
- Sister Vicki

In search of a new name...

The no-budget cooking show on YouTube needs a new name. Both "Nun Better" and "Nun Like It" seem to be taken. I need some help. If you can think of a new name for our show, I'd be so grateful if you'd send me an e-mail. I'll gather the submissions and let the sisters decide. vocations@osbva.org Thanks for thinking on it and for sharing your ideas. I'm still in Alabama. Be back in the office on Tuesday, 6/30. I'll let you all know the new name as soon as we've picked the winner.

Blessings and love to you all...

- Sister Vicki

Sister got some air...

Friends,

I neglected to tell you that I'd be "off the grid" for a few days. I left Bristow on Thursday morning at 4 AM, with Robin who will enter our monastery in September. One of the great graces of this ministry is getting to meet the family of our candidates and be the "first face" of Bristow. I am with Robin's family in Dadeville, Alabama. It took us 13.5 hours door-door, but the journey went smoothly. Robin's family has a house on Lake Martin - a huge, man-made body of fresh water. Yesterday, (and I have witnesses,) I got on a BIG innertube tied to the back of a Jet Ski. It only went 23 MPH, but it felt like 40. I got tossed twice. I LOVED it! I am sore today from hanging on for dear life. But it was worth it. I bounced, I bumped and I soared through the air - hence, the new expression I learned. I definitley "got some air!" I'll be back in the office on Tuesday, 6/30. I promise to come home in one piece.

Blessings and love,

- Sister Vicki

"We can work it out..."

I love Scripture – good thing since lectio divina is integral to the monastic life. I usually do lectio with the readings in the Lectionary – the Word proclaimed around the world at the daily Eucharist. This morning, the universal Church heard the story of the parting of Abram and his nephew, Lot. The two, prospering in their respective herds, found the resources of the land insufficient for their needs. “…their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together.” Abram, being the elder, could have literally told Lot where to go. Instead, Abram gave Lot the choice. “If you prefer the left, I will go to the right; if you prefer the right, I will go to the left." Not surprisingly, Lot surveys the land and selects for himself the choicest territory. The two part with a mutual blessing.

Now, how many people would give up first choice, as Abram did? I am not pessimistic about our human nature, but Abram’s selfless choice seems rather heroic. Most people spend a good deal of time thinking about what’s best for them. In giving Lot the “long straw,” Abram is setting a powerful example. Imagine a world in which the good of the other were the operative principle. Saint Benedict believed it was essential in the spiritual journey. “No one is to pursue what she judges better for herself, but instead, what she judges better for someone else (RB 72).” How the world might look if this verse became a global reality. Imagine…Israel and Palestine…India and Pakistan…North and South Korea. Abraham, progenitor of Jews, Christians and Muslims, has, in a few short verses, shown us the way.



Blessings and love to you all...
- Sister Vicki