A Nun's Prayer

Nuns have taken a bad rap from many a contemporary for some examples of excess cited from parochial education. But my experience of those who trained me for Spiritual Direction was a marvel of brilliance, intelligence and compassion.

I am particularly indebted to Sr. Carole Riley, Sr. Pelikane, Sr. Molly, and a dear sweet woman who has now gone on to the larger life to be with Jesus.

I've read of the lives of Julian of Norwich, Teresa of Avila, Hildegaard of Bingen and find that their spirituality helped pave the way for current understandings of critical importance for Spiritual Direction in our present day.

I awoke last night to words dancing in my heart of these wonderful women. I thought of my dear grandmother, and then too my wife with whom I am reunited today after months of separation. She has been tending to my son after he suffered a stroke. And then I awoke to a stream of words which I hurriedly wrote down.

Here then is

A Nun's Prayer

She is impeccably dressed

With a countenance that is quiet and collected

She loves to read and greets passers by with a knowing smile

There is laughter in her saddened eyes

And she works tirelessly without haste

She cannot stop praying

But without holy words until chapel

Her life is such that prayer is her only possible alternative left

And we flock to her to seek counsel, comfort, and consolation

Her cup overflows with the goodness of God

Yet more than once she upbraided us

Stopped us dead with a glance

And before we knew it there was laughter

Blended with a sorrowful tear

And we were enfolded by Our Lady’s embrace.

I wanted to tell her of her beauty

But she would hear none of it

In fact she renounced all that

With pure raw courage

And tended instead to the sick and dying

The poor and the homeless

The brokenhearted and sin sick

Black and broken hearts and souls

And she mended us tirelessly

As a woman would her knitting.

She is not always treated well

But she refuses to indulge herself in sadness

And insists instead on long life and happiness

Strictly enforcing the rule upon herself

And seeking so for others

Until the Glory of God’s radiance shines through

O the stories she can tell!

And O how I love to sit at her knee and listen

To her as she brings the scripture to life

And redeems my soul trembling, remembering

That the story is mine

I only wish I could have done more for her and better

But she beat me to that too by doing more and better for everyone else.

With every breath she takes, with every stride she walks

And with every word she speaks

She is Something Beautiful for God!

(Note on September 2, 2012. It is of interest to me that I wrote these words long before we knew that the Religious would be taken to task for their "feminist" views, their "inclusive love of all", their rigorous devotion to the poor and the outcast. Frankly, their have always been Pharisees and Sadducees who would take Jesus and his followers to task for doing such things. Isn't it an irony above all ironies that this time it would be The Church! God help us. What I have written stands. God bless, preserve and build our Sisters Religious!)