Every 21 November, the Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, is the annual day that the Catholic Church commemorates the
hidden life of cloistered and contemplative religious throughout the
world.
This liturgical feast of Our Lady is very dear to Christians in
the East who have celebrated it since the sixth century.
Tradition
tells us that as a young girl Mary presented herself completely to God
in the Temple at Jerusalem. She is seen as a true living temple in
which God the Father placed his Son, our Saviour.
This feast is a fitting day on which to remember all those who have
been consecrated to God and who spend their life in the silence and
prayer of contemplative monasteries.
They may well be separated from the
busy world, with all its interests and pleasures, but they remain very
near to us with their prayers. They pray for us but we are normally
unaware of the graces we receive through their lives of quiet dedication
to the Lord.
On this Pro Orantibus Day – which means ‘For those who pray’ –
we remember not only the 26 communities of contemplative sisters and
six communities of male contemplatives in Ireland, and the many
communities of committed contemplatives around the world.
While it may
not be readily apparent to us in this country, contemplatives also exist
where life is disrupted by warfare or where religious freedom is
curtailed by open or subtle persecution.
Ireland went through such
trials in the 17th century. Others suffer in this way today.
Although they are hidden from society, people of faith have trust in
the prayers of nuns and monks and friars. It is sufficient to visit any
contemplative monastery to become aware of the constant stream of people
who come with prayer intentions, trusting in the intercession of those
who have completely dedicated their lives to God in continuous prayer
and penance.
The busy world often passes by our contemplative monasteries,
heedlessly unaware of their existence or of the spiritual influence they
exert on society.
Parishes, especially those who have such communities
near at hand, could draw attention to their presence by placing a
notice in their parish bulletins and on their online and digital
platforms.
Catechists could mention this way of life, to which some
young girls or boys might be called, and even take a school class to
visit them and spend an hour with some of the enclosed women or men
whose life always fascinates young people.
Although not a very common
vocation in life, the Lord does call some, and will continue to do so,
to this type of dedicated life on behalf of the Church. An Intercession
added to the Prayer of the Faithful for vocations to the contemplative
life would be opportune on 21 November or on the nearest Sunday.
The Church is well aware of the importance of the contemplative
life. The Second Vatican Council (1962 – 1965) acknowledged the
important role of contemplative communities in the Church. It said they
were “a fount of heavenly blessings” and that they “lend lustre to
God’s people with abundant fruits of holiness, sway them by their
example and enlarge the Church by their hidden apostolic fruitfulness” (Perfectae Caritatis, 7).
All popes in recent times have expressed their appreciation for this
way of life. In the Jubilee Year 2000, Blessed John Paul II asked
Benediction Congregations to “be eloquent signs of the validity of
monastic life for our contemporaries.
This is the first form of
consecrated life that appeared in the Church, and that down the
centuries continues to remain a gift for everyone”.
Perhaps the most striking witness to the whole world on the value of a
hidden life of prayer was given by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who
earlier this year, on account of advanced age and diminished physical
strength, retired from the Petrine ministry on 11 February and chose “to
devote himself even more to prayer and meditation” in a secluded
monastery in the Vatican gardens. This is an important reminder to us
all of the apostolic value of a life completely dedicated to God.
Contemplative communities are power houses of prayer, drawing down
many graces on our troubled world.
In their own silent but effective
way they contribute enormously to the work of re-evangelisation of our
secularised world.
+Philip Boyce