As they no longer havetheir own chaplain, the nuns have come up with their own liturgy. This allows them to receive communion and hear the Gospel every day.
In an interview with katholisch.de, the 58-year-old convent prioress explains how the celebration is organised and what the Abbot of Einsiedeln has to say about it.
Question: Prioress Gassmann, you now often celebrate communion instead of the Eucharist in your monastery in Fahr. How did this come about?
Prioress Gassmann: We have had this celebration at Fahr Abbey for several years now. When our last provost returned to the monastery in Einsiedeln, it was clear that we no longer had our own priest to live with us in the monastery and celebrate mass with us every day.
At that time, the then Abbot of Einsiedeln, Abbot Martin Werlen, who is our superior in terms of canon law, told us that unfortunately he could not send us another confrere for various reasons.
That was in 2006, and since then there has been no daily mass at the abbey. For us religious, however, daily Mass is central, because the Eucharist is the highest form of the liturgy.
We thought about how we could continue as a women's community. Our abbot was prepared to support us in looking for new ways forward.
Question: Was that a disappointment for you?
Prioress Gassmann: No, it was more of an encouragement. Because I thought it was great that the abbot said that he trusted us to find new ways and forms of prayer and to celebrate a liturgy ourselves that would nourish us spiritually. That gave us an enormous boost. For the older sisters, it was a hard diet at first, and they had to get used to it.
Some of them found it difficult because they had been used to celebrating Mass every day for their entire convent life. And then suddenly that came to an end. That was a deep break in monastic spirituality.
Question: How have you celebrated liturgy in your community since then?
Prioress Gassmann: In the beginning, we celebrated the Eucharist four times a week together with a priest.
Today, we only celebrate mass twice a week in the monastery.
On Tuesdays, our abbot Urban Federer usually comes to the monastery himself and on Sundays, a Benedictine monk from Einsiedeln Abbey comes.6
We celebrate communion three days a week, on Thursdays we have a communal meditation on the Scriptures and on Saturdays we have Eucharistic adoration.
Question: How does a communion celebration differ from a mass?
Prioress Gassmann: It was important to us from the outset not to install a pseudo-Mass with this new form. That is why the communion celebration is not in the morning, when the Eucharist is normally celebrated. We have timed it to coincide with the midday service and it begins at 11.00 a.m., just like the Liturgy of the Hours.
This communion celebration is also not an additional liturgy of the word, but is integrated into the midday service and is therefore part of the Liturgy of the Hours. We have derived this idea of midday from the Rule of St Benedict.
There it is pointed out that St Benedict, who was not a priest himself but a lay monk, received Holy Communion with his brothers during the weekdays before the main meal. We had therefore adopted this time. Four sisters were prepared to lead these communion celebrations and they were appointed as communion assistants.
Question: How is such a communion celebration organised?
Prioress Gassmann: The celebration is led by a fellow sister and is simple: we sing the psalms and hymns of the day, then the Gospel is read out and the communion rite follows.
The ciborium with the consecrated hosts is taken from the tabernacle and placed on the altar. We then pray the Lord's Prayer together and listen to a communion meditation. These are touching texts by our deceased co-sister Silja Walter, which fit in with the Gospel.
Communion is then distributed in silence. This form is something new for us as a religious community.6
But we have been authorised to do so. Our abbot from Einsiedeln has said that it fits, so we can celebrate this liturgy in the same way.
Question: Who reads the Gospel during the communion service?
Prioress Gassmann: I usually proclaim the Gospel of the day in my function as prioress. We do this in accordance with the early church and the Rule of St Benedict, which stipulates that the Gospel is read by the abbot during the vigil on Sunday. And because I am the head of the monastery, I have taken on this task.
Question: Do you wear your chaplain's stole during this time?
Prioress Gassmann: No, I only wear my tunic and the matching stole for chaplains, which we make ourselves here in the parament workshop at Fahr Abbey, for special celebrations or public services.
For example, I wear the stole at the Good Friday liturgy, which I have led here at the monastery for years, or at the Ash Wednesday celebration. These are both word services without a priest.
When I preach at a service, for example when I am invited to preach at a parish, I wear my tunic together with the stole. This is because I fulfil a leadership role.
Question: Does that mean you also preach during Eucharistic celebrations?
Prioress Gassmann: Yes, it has long been customary in the diocese of Basel for lay people, including women, to preach during a service.
Question: Are there also critical voices regarding this celebration of communion in your community?
Prioress Gassmann: Yes, there are two or three sisters who would prefer to continue celebrating mass every day.
But due to the shortage of priests, this is no longer possible. We recently held another secret ballot to see whether everyone could go along with this new form. Everyone voted in favour. That made me happy. It's encouraging that we as a women's community can celebrate liturgies of the word ourselves. I am always touched when elderly sisters say that this has given them something.
It is important that the presence of God can be felt in these celebrations and that God can touch us. Just recently, on the feast of St Brother Klaus, we organised a night prayer with texts and songs by Silja Walter and lit candles as a prayer of intercession. I am always amazed at the spiritual vitality of my fellow sisters.
Question: How does a secret ballot work in your convent?
Prioress Gassmann: We have a set of black and white balls. And we then vote with these balls.
Each sister puts one ball in a jar for the vote. Black stands for "no" and white for "yes".
Important decisions are discussed in the chapter, i.e. at the assembly of all sisters with perpetual profession. There are topics where we find a consensus through dialogue. We Benedictine nuns have always practised synodality - listening to one another.
However, there are topics where it is important to hold a secret ballot so that everyone is completely free, for example when it comes to admitting new members or making radical changes to the agenda. The balls are then counted and the result recorded in the minutes. It's important that every sister can go along with our decisions, that's the only way we can grow as a community.
Question: Do you currently have many candidates who would like to join the community?
Prioress Gassmann: No, we don't have any enquiries at the moment. However, I am convinced that monastic, contemplative life in community will continue to exist in the future. Many people are searching and long for a life that goes into depth, for contemplative life in community. It is our task as a monastic community to "prepare the ground" for what is to come, which we do not yet know.
This is an important task, especially for elderly nuns. At turning points in the history of salvation, there were often elderly people, such as Abraham and Sarah or Zechariah and Elizabeth and the aged Simeon and the prophetess Hannah. I am convinced that the monastic way of life has a future.
However, it must be formed in new structures and forms. I am very curious to see what life in Fahr Monastery will look like in five or ten years' time.