The Heart and Work of 17 Cloistered Nuns; Their Love, Wisdom and Advice for All

Next Sunday:  Shirley saw it as a divine moment

for shoppers at the Home Depot, inspired by her

pet canary Rosario. 

A Report by Robert R. Schwarz

            Surrounded by rolling land beautifully shaped  by the Mississippi River bluffs near Dubuque, Iowa,  is an abbey in which live 17 nuns of the Cistercian order. When not praying nor tending to their square mile of land, they make and sell caramel candy to support themselves. Much of their daily lives is directed  by their now retired abbess, Sr. Gail , who nowadays is preoccupied with responding to prayer  requests written or communicated to  her by people  victimized in various ways by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Abbey Chapel

          Sr. Gail is  82 years old, a woman who , when asked , will openly  explain  her religious faith  as it relates to our American culture.   She  can remind you of a grandmother  who likes to promise  cookies to a  child.  I first interviewed this religious sister as a journalist   in 2015, then revisited her with my wife one year later and recently talked with her  for an update on the abbey and her views on the pandemic. ( Her comments on the pandemic appear at the end of this report. ) 

          During  our  conversation I couldn't let  go of  memories  of that day in 2015 when I stopped my car on a nameless  country  road  and asked  my wife Mary Alice to read  a barely visible sign pointing to a side road.  It read Mississippi Abbey.

          That day, we drove for  a mile or two down a narrow and bumpy  road through an uninhabited  woodland .  We passed the abbey's candy "factory"  where, one year the sisters baked 33 tons of  caramels  and chocolate covered mints they shipped it to customers in several countries.  We drove by  a large brick guest  house and three   guest cottages , one in which Mary Alice and I were to sleep and  cook our meals for three nights.

          We saw the abbey's barn with a corral for livestock , and near it a large  vegetable  garden  which supplied salads for the sisters. Dangling on the garden fence was the hand-written sign Angels Tread  Here. Beyond  that we got a  glimpse of the  abbey's 630   farm land acres.

      

Sr. Joan and her uprooted rose

    I stopped the car when we spotted an elderly sister walking down the road while  holding an odd looking cane in one hand and an uprooted flower in her other  hand.  "Oh, look, Robert," my wife said. "Let's stop and talk to her. "   We did and needed  no introductions;  she was amiable and  cheerful, and her face radiated contentment. She  told us her name  was Sister Joan, that she was 75 years old , and that her dog was "Panjie", a seven-year-old rescue dog, part collie and part Shetland Sheep (so she thought).  She added that one of Panjie' s eyes was brown, the other blue.

          Sr. Joan was celebrating her 50 ^th year of  monastic profession .She  was living in an un-shared room , as the other other abbey  sisters  did , under the  Rule of St. Benedict ( 480-543 A.D. ) , which  meant  solitude, silence, prayer, daily work, and a disciplined life of communal living. We  also learned that the abbey was founded in 1964 by 13 Trappistines ( the sisters'  former name )  whose goal was   to continue and extend a tradition of monastic life that had its origins in the early Middle Ages.  The sisters'  daughter house today is in Norway.

          Before we had left home my own church pastor requested  that I ask a certain question  of  a sister.  "Her answer, " he said, "might help Christians who struggle with their faith life." 

    "Tell  me Sister Joan ,"  I said, " How does one form an intimate  relationship with Jesus?"

            Still holding onto  the rose plant she had picked that day and leaning heavily on her cane, Sr. Joan looked at  me  as if  I had simply asked her for the time . "Talk to Him in your heart, " she said. "You can draw close to Jesus anytime of the day, any place, while washing, cleaning, or grocery shopping. . The more you do this, the closer you come to Him. "

            I thanked her and suggested she get  some water for her rose. 

" Come on, Panjie," she said, and walked off.

          The  road ended at the abbey chapel where we got out of the car , and I immediately started taking photographs  of  a beautiful circle of flowers  growing around  gurgling rivulets of water  coming from  a statue  of the Virgin Mary  holding the Christ child.  We entered the chapel where, we had been told, the sisters come to pray seven times each  day and also to observe their daily mass. We sat in a very a small section of  pews  near  the  altar for visitors. This arrangement allowed the sisters  (after entering from a rear door) to remain out of  view of any visitors

Mary Alice and I sat for several minutes meditating  in a silent ambiance  of  the chapel's   sacramentals , its paintings  of Biblical scenes  hanging on the chapel's stone walls, and , of course,  those eye-riveting stained  glass windows. 

On our way out to keep my appointment  with Sr. Gail, I paused to read one of the prayer cards by  the front door. It read:

                                 Loving God,

                                                You have a plan  for each of us, you hold out

                                                to us a  future full of hope.

                                                Give us the wisdom of your Spirit so that we

                                                may discover your plan in the gifts you have

                                                given us, and in the circumstances of     our

                                                daily lives.

                                                Give us the freedom of your Spirit, to seek you

                                                with all of our hearts, and to choose your will

                                                above all of us.

                                                We make this prayer   through Christ our Lord.

                                            Amen

Sr. Gail Tells All

On that June day in 2015 , Sr. Gail and I met in her small office  in an all-purpose  house  near the chapel while my wife checked into our guest lodging. 

"Thank you for coming," she greeted me  warmly and motioned for me  to sit across  from her at a small uncluttered table.   She wore a black scapular and a light-weight black habit  from which  protruded a tuft of her white hair.  

I failed at finding an appropriate greeting for this holy woman .  I said "Good morning , how are you ." 

" I feel great. Thank God," she replied, obviously meaning every word.

          We talked about the changing American culture. Though her main news source was the internet (no daily newspaper at this abbey), Sr. Gail sounded well informed about what was happening  in the  world. It was obvious that she  wanted to be transparent and accurate;  her speech was neither slow nor clipped but crisp, and  when she sensed subtle or ironic humor during our conversation , she would chuckle softly. 

          I tried to draw out Sr. Gail's opinions about the current  Presidential candidates;  she voiced a few strong views but asked not to be quoted.  "The sisters do not discuss politics because it's too  divisive,"  she said.  "We all have our own opinions. "  Lowering her voice,  she added,  " I sure hope we maintain the ethos of a democracy. " 

          What bothers  Sr. Gail the most?  "Probably   the relativism of people," she said.  "You know," she said accusingly, "Everything is okay, if it feels good. but there are things that ARE wrong. " 

          And  religion?  Her reply: "I am a very loyal Catholic but I don't agree with everything that has happened in the church. The stance towards  women is pretty bad. But  I believe Pope Francis is a marvelous Pope. He's  trying very hard to counteract a heavy weight of sexism, a lack of real respect for the  dignity of women  and their abilities to deal intelligently and responsibly  with matters in the church. He is calling a spade a spade,  and he's not popular with a lot of people in Rome because of that.  The pope is trying to instill in people  that  Jesus Christ is a role model, " she explained.  

"We  have a Buzzer at 3:30 a.,m.

that will knock you out of bed" 

Asking  Sr.  Gail to describe a typical day for her 17 cloistered nuns brought a smile to her face. She began: "We have a buzzer at 3:30 a.m. that will knock you out of bed .  "Then there are  vigils  that set the tone for the day. These are the reading of the Psalms and  the Bible  and singing of  hymns. Then after  30 to 90 minutes of quiet prayer and meditation in our  own rooms or the chapel,  we have breakfast.   We go  to the kitchen and help ourselves to cereal or toast.  At 7:15 we have morning prayer, followed by mass. 

     From 8:30  t o 11:30, she went on ,  the sisters work at cooking, cleaning, secretarial duties, making candy, and garden work. This is followed by  30 minutes of doing whatever a sister  needs to do, such as taking a walk or washing  her clothes. Just before lunch, which they call "dinner" because it's their  main meal ( it's all vegetables),  they have a five-minute prayer;  it's their  "little hour ".  Siesta time is 1:00 to l:35 p.m. , then another "little hour"  followed by abbey tasks until 3:45. 

     "Until 5 pm., we do things that are enjoyable, " Sr. Gail continued, "such as studying, writing, or going for a walk."

      I couldn't suppress the question "do you ever go into town to see a movie?"

          " No," she replied, muffling a chuckle. "We go into town only to see a doctor or   shop for things  we can't have delivered or buy online ."

            The sisters gather in the chapel at 5 p.m. for vespers, then head to the kitchen for their "pick up" meal , which might be a sandwich or whatever  a sister can find there.  From this hour until  7:15  is their  "grand silence," meaning no talking,  no business. A night prayer sung in the chapel ends the sisters' day.  " A lot of visitors come to hear this prayer, "  Sr. Gail said. " It's short and melodious. Then , everyone is in bed by 8 p.m.  But we don't have a bell that says you have to have lights out. "

            "And you keep this schedule Monday through Friday?!"  I wanted to know. 

            " No. It's seven days a week," she said rather casually.  

         

Communal Living Is as Challenging as Marriage, She Believes

   "You wrote in your book,   Seasons of Grace,  about the great value your abbey places on communal living," I said . "Do you sisters ever have spats, conflicts, disagreements ?"

            " We do. Our communal living is just as  difficult to maintain and grow as marriage or any other environment where you have more than one person. The difference is we have a vocation  to love. We here are all trying to live like Christ, a life of love."

           I  was beginning to discern  Sr. Gail as a woman with  CEO-like responsibilities. I politely asked ,  " Would you mind telling me what kind of conflicts you have and how you resolve them?"   

            " Sometimes it's talking too much, always coming in late to meetings, making too much noise at  night. Or our liturgy committee might not agree on how  the  Gloria  should be sung on a  feast day.  The key  to resolving  these conflicts  is  to respect one another's opinions, to listen to the other person.  "

           I now had to ask, "and what is your  advice to Mr. and Mrs. Jones on Main Street regarding  conflict resolution ? "

            "We have to bring a deep respect to our communications with each other. I need to respect you as a person , who you are at this moment, not who you were or what you've done. I'm not the one to judge or call the shots. I need to have inner humility ."

            We agreed that having true humility requires a  realistic honest   view of  who you are and who you are not.

          I sensed that Sr. Gail  had run out of time  for me , but  I had one last question that begged for  an answer. " Is there anything today's woman, married or single,  churchgoer or not , can learn from the abbey  sisters?"

                             "Women Should Follow Their Call from God

                             And Follow  Jesus Whatever Way Is Possible"

          I'll do my best to answer that," Sr. Gail quickly replied. " I would hope that the lifestyle of our monastery  encourages women to follow their own call from God to follow Jesus in whatever way is possible in their own life.  Sometimes people in general, and perhaps women in particular , do not believe in their own personal call from God.  But each of us  here has heard God in our hearts and feel close to Him . That is not something we imagine! So, believe in God’s call to you! " 

       Rising from her chair, Sr. Gail paused for a thought, then looked at me and said:  "Bob, keep in mind that we get closer to Jesus by prayer, a prayer that really seeks to know Him.  It's so important  for faithful Christians and  those   distrustful of the Bible to daily  study it , as should parish priests and Protestant pastors. "

       

The garden "Where Angels Tread " 

     I told Sr. Gail that  I was  anxious to walk around the abbey farm land before I returned to the guest house. " Oh," she said,   " We used to do all the farming ourselves but it became a little bit  too much for us. Now we rent the fields .   We had live stock at one time , but it became too much  to handle . But in our garden, we still grow tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, green beans, squash, raspberries and  pumpkins for salads, you know. Oh, and  this year we had a marvelous crop of asparagus. "  

A  Godly Walk Into  Nature 

          We exchanged a few spontaneous words about our  friendship    and then parted  company.  I walked to the field gate, past the abbey garden with the hand-painted sign dangling from barb wire, reading in white paint, Angels Tread Here,  and then opened it to a  mile-wide panorama of wheat, calf-high  corn, alfalfa ,  haystacks here and there and, beyond all that, the abbey's woodlands. Fit for a poem, yes!

                  Talk of mysteries! Think of our life in nature

                     —daily to  be shown matter, to come  in contact

                     with it —rocks, trees, wind on our cheeks ! The

                    solid earth! The  actual  world! The common

                    sense! Contact ! Contact ! Who are we,  where

                    are we?  ( Henry David Thoreau , 1817-1862, from

                    his The Maine Woods, Ktaadn, 1848 )

             I began to absorb nature all around me, indulging  my senses like some pagan. I wanted to run,  just run like an unbridled stallion down the dirt path I was following , a path widened through  the years by tractor wheels.   Instead, this senior citizen walked slowly  down a   path which gently dipped and curved every few hundred feet.  My eyes blinked  from sunlight glistening  off the knee-high corn stalk  leaves  still wet with morning dew . It all made me  frequently gaze upward   at white puffs  of clouds.

      

It's Not All Prayer Time  for These Two Sisters

    I kept walking for perhaps a half-mile, inhaling the various scents of foliage and crops. And now,  breathing deeply, I rested  and focused on the  small  butterflies and  grasshoppers  flitting among the weeds which  hugged  my path.  And  I listened to the constant  orchestration of cricket sounds. For a lingering moment I enjoyed a strong sense of intimacy with all this family of nature. Was I a true member of it, I asked myself ?  Was  there a resonance of some sort going on between all the atoms of all humans ?    A comment from Sr. Gail came to mind: "You can come to know God better  by being grateful, especially for the nature He has created for us."  

   

                      Final Words about the Pandemic  from Sr. Gail

Mary Alice and I said  goodbye  to Sr. Gail three days later and returned to our home in Arlington Heights, Illinois . I  talked   to her again two years later about  the current coronavirus pandemic. She would tell me: "The overall feeling that we have at the abbey is great sadness for the world…for people's  physical or emotional suffering…Our spontaneous prayers in the morning are just filled with prayers for these people.   I very much  would  urge people  to carry in their  hearts and their minds and in  their prayers the needs of people who are suffering and for  scientists and medical personnel  to deal with this  pandemic, which is a great burden to our country and world  We don't realize  how much suffering this is causing . We read about it in the media, but unless you know people who are really hurting a lot, you don't know just how much  they are suffering. So, I would urge people who are  in tune with these suffering  people today to  PRAY, PRAY, PRAY !"         

    Then she reminded me that  the abbey's  liturgies in the chapel are open to the public and that the abbey 's four guest houses are available for individuals and small groups of any religious tradition wishing to make a private retreat.  

comments are welcome at

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