Freeland, Whidbey Island, Washington
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“This is not a new day”
I’m staying at Virginia Theological Seminary - in one of their wonderful guest rooms - for the last part of my sabbatical, and gracious they are!
At 7:30 a.m. this morning I was downstairs in sweats making my breakfast, thinking I would get to the National Cathedral by about 9:30 a.m. in plenty of time to get a good seat.
At that moment most of the Church Periodical Club board marched past me out the door with their coats on headed for Wisconsin Ave.
Oops!
So I changed my plans (rather quickly!) and somehow managed to arrive at the Cathedral at about 8:30 a.m.
There were already about 100 people there, and many more soon arrived. It was a little like ‘old home week’ - friends from all over the Church creating community as we waited in the very cold air for the doors to open at 10:00 a.m.
The rush was worth it: I had a seat about three quarters of the way back in the central part of the nave. The folks on the side were mostly behind pillars (though they did have large flat panel displays to watch).
Your view at home was better!
Yet I wouldn’t have missed this for the world - the atmosphere inside the cathedral was electric: expectant, yet (unlike General Convention before The Announcement) knowing there would be no surprise today.
There was, rather, a confident certainty to the moment.
Even before First Nations’ drums announced the beginning of the rite the pungent smell of sage started to fill the nave - and we knew the long wait was over.
From then on the service was a cascading of emotions: joy, celebration, enthusiasm, peace.
And one, overarching realization came to me: in one, very important way this is not a new day.
Had there been but one or two women in ordained ministry, had there been only one episocopal woman, then we might proclaim the election of Katharine Jefferts Schori as a surprising turning point in our denominational history.
But this is not the case. This wasn’t “out of the blue”, something totally unexpected or inconsistent.
This event - as joyful as it was - was also simply a way-station on our Church’s pilgrimage; one moment in a whole series of moments over the last 30 or so years that reveals again our continued transformation as an Episcopal community into the inclusive Body of Christ.
In that light today was a real cause for celebration, for reaching out and taking the Primatial crosier might have been one small step for a woman but it sure as heck was one giant leap for everyone who holds the name of Jesus dear!
And the people said “Alleluia!”
Pictures from Mount Vernon are here.
After one of those “travel days from hell” (which had me leaving on the 6:55 a.m. Whidbey Shuttle and arriving at 11:45 p.m.!) I have arrived at St. Gregory’s Abbey, Three Rivers, MI for a two week retreat.
I’ve been here now for a little over twelve hours, and in the last seven I’ve been to four services – Terce, Eucharist, Sext, and None. And I skipped two services because I arrived so late: Matins at 4:00 a.m. (1:00 a.m. Pacific Time!) and Lauds at 6:00 a.m. (3:00 a.m. P.T.).
St. Gregory’s is an Episcopal Abbey following the order of St. Benedict. It describes itself this way:
“St. Benedict, who lived in the sixth century, was a man who sought and loved God and made the service of God his one aim. His Rule, famed for its discretion, shows its author to have been endowed with common sense and a serious but affectionate disposition.
Half a century after St. Benedict's death St. Augustine of Canterbury was establishing monasteries in England to evangelize the pagan Anglo-Saxons. Throughout Europe a great company of men and women who followed St. Benedict's Rule helped to rescue western civilization from barbarian chaos and to lay its Christian foundation.
Our holy father [Benedict] mapped out a straight course to God, as pertinent in these days of turmoil as when he composed it in a war-torn century. The secret of his abiding spirit is the love of God and of [humanity]for God's sake, requiring a disciplined life lived by the spacious doctrine "That in all things God may be glorified." Followers of St. Benedict are known not so much by what they attempt to do, but by what, God helping them, they try to be.”
The pattern of daily life in any religious community is clearly defined and St. Gregory’s is no exception. Interestingly their Sunday schedule is more relaxed – it is, after all, a day of rest! Here is their daily schedule:
Weekdays
4:00am Matins
6:00am Lauds
Breakfast (at any time after Matins until 7:30)
8:15am Terce, Mass, Chapter, Work Period
11:30am Sext (and Choir Rehearsal)
12:00pm Lunch
Rest Period
2:00pm None
Work Period
4:30pm Tea
5:00pm Vespers and Meditation
6:00pm Supper
7:45pm Compline
(On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the monks read Compline privately, rather than corporately in the Church. Compline is at 8:00 on ordinary Wednesdays)
Sundays and Holidays
5:30am Matins and Lauds
Breakfast (any time until 7:45)
8:30am Terce, Mass, Chapter (Chapter after Lauds on Sun.)
12:00pm Sext and None
12:30pm Lunch
Rest Period
4:00pm Tea
5:00pm Vespers and Meditation
6:30pm Supper
7:45 Compline
As I get more settled in I will share some of my reflections of life in a monastic community.
Blessings to you all
Nigel
More pictures of St. Gregory's Abbey are here.
A second set of pictures from a snowy day in Michigan is here.
Continue reading Nigel's journal with his entries from Italy
Skip back to Nigel's journal entries from Turkey
Skip back to Nigel's journal entries from the Holy Land.
Skip back to Nigel's journal entries from Greece.
Skip back to Nigel's journal entries from England and Scotland.