Exploring Monastic Spirituality (Video)

Last updated on: December 15, 2018 at 4:04 pm by Carl "Skye" McColman

Exploring Monastic Spirituality (Video) 2018-12-15T16:04:29-04:00 Carl "Skye" McColman

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What is monastic spirituality? Is it just for monks and nuns? Or can it make a difference in the lives of others?

This video shares with you a few insights that I have garnered from about a decade of studying with, praying alongside, and learning from a community of Trappist monks who live near my home in Georgia. The Trappists (Cistercians of the Strict Observance) live an ancient monastic life that is, in the words of their constitution, “wholly ordered to contemplation.”

The character of monastic spirituality (at least in its Trappist form) includes a commitment to simplicity, silence, continual prayer, the dignity of manual labor, hospitality, meditative reading of scripture, and similar related qualities. It is explicitly religious (monks become monks because they seek God), yet also profoundly humble and down-to-earth. Most monks I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know are genuinely friendly and happy men.

Clearly, most people are not called to be monks. But that doesn’t mean that monastic spirituality might not have something to say to us who live outside the walls of a monastic cloister. In fact, the more I’ve studied monastic spirituality, the more convinced I am that monks have a lot to teach us, not only about faith in God and discipleship of Jesus, but indeed about life in general.

For me, studying the wisdom of the cloister has included participation in the Lay Cistercian movement, a community of men and women who turn to monasteries for spiritual direction, prayer, study, and support in living a faithful life — all without actually becoming monks or nuns. Benedictine Oblates, Secular Franciscans, Lay Carmelites, and other faith-based communities like Focolare have similar kinds of goals.

Front Gate, Monastery of the Holy Spirit, Conyers GA

What all these various groups and organizations have in common is a desire to learn from the great traditions of Christian spirituality that have been passed down the ages, but to apply that wisdom to the ordinary circumstances of lay men and women, whether married or single, working or retired, raising a family or enjoying an empty nest.

Among the Lay Cistercians I know are lawyers, doctors, engineers, teachers, counselors, nurse practitioners, retailers, IT professionals, and practitioners of various other career paths. Most, but not all, are Catholic; and ages range from adults in their 30s or 40s on up from there. In fact, not all Lay Cistercians are necessarily laypeople! I know several priests and protestant ministers who are part of this movement.

What we all have in common is a shared appreciation for the unique contribution that monks (and monasteries) make to the treasury of Christian spirituality. I know one monk who likes to say that monasticism is the true counter-culture. By orienting their lives toward contemplation, prayer, silence, hospitality, and trust in God, monks have chosen a way of life that is clearly at odds with the norms of our society.

Anyone interested in Christian mysticism or contemplative spirituality will find monastic spirituality compelling. Not all monks are mystics like St. John of the Cross or Meister Eckhart, of course, but many monks see their lives as given entirely to God, and so they seek to — in the words of the Carmelite writer Brother Lawrence — “practice the presence of God” in all aspects of their lives.

And hopefully, those of us who aren’t monks, but who share their thirst and hunger for God, can learn a thing or two from the wisdom of the monastery.

Anyway… hope you enjoy the video. And if you want to learn more about monastic spirituality for non-monks, check out Befriending Silence: Discovering the Gifts of Cistercian Spirituality.

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