What does it mean for me to be a lay Cistercian?

What happens when you try to follow the practices of Saint Benedict in his Holy Rule and apply them to Cistercian Spirituality that stresses silence and solitude? Is it even possible? One of the remarkable renewals underway, as it always has in our heritage of Catholic spirituality, is the ancient movement to grow from self to God. Rather than destroying their heritage to reform it, these quiet revolutions were based on various approaches to living in the world, yet seeking God with all their hearts and souls. To name a few, there were Dominican, Franciscan, Jesuit, Carmelite, and Augustinian ways to grow deeper in Christ Jesus. All of them lead their devotees to love God with all their hearts and minds (Matthew 22:34), but all are not the same in HOW they do it. This is a book based on Cistercian spirituality, an 11th-century monastic movement rooted in St. Benedict’s Rule that emphasizes a contemplative life of silence and solitude, alongside the work, prayer, and community of the original Benedictine heritage. Even the Cistercian approach to reality underwent renewal in the 1800’s, with monks who settled at La Trappe Monastery in France after the French Revolution, desiring an even stricter life. These monks are called Trappists today, and it is from these Monasteries of Men and women that Lay Cistercians emerged as we know them today.

Not only are there men and women who choose the monastic way of silence and solitude to grow from self to God, but there has also arisen a group of Lay Cistercians who seek to follow the counsels of St. Benedict within the Cistercian tradition. It might seem like an oxymoron to say you can be contemplative in the midst of original Sin, but it is being done, although not in the same way. The monastery provides a focused venue for practicing the growth from self to God, whereas Lay Cistercians live in the chaotic world. Both setting have their own challenges and unique temptations. Original Sin is Sin and spares neither consecrated monks, nuns, Lay Cistercians, nor any other human being from its influence. This book is a workbook for you to discuss and learn about the five pillars of Cistercian spirituality in your life experiences. Take and eat what you need to grow from self to God. “You are not me; I am not you; God is not you, and most importantly, you are not God.” Seek God in your daily routine, and you will find Him. It is not for everyone, but it is for anyone hungry. Taste and see how good the Lord is. Psalms 34:8

In my daily Lectio Divina, using Philippians 2:5, I have had the following thoughts about my growing from self to God. First, I will NEVER reach the purpose of life, to love God with ALL my heart, with ALL my mind, and with ALL my soul. That ALL is the stumbling block. I start each day with good intentions, but the effects of Original Sin inexorably creep into my thinking, seducing my good intentions and causing me to struggle to become totally committed to Christ. What I have learned is that it is impossible to sustain a high level of love with God for any length of time. It must be that my spiritual attention span is weak. The fault is not God’s but mine. I am not designed for total, unconditional love, although that is what I seek each day, yes, each day. Before reflecting on the five practices, I would like to share five qualities of Cistercian spirituality that I have learned, based on instruction from the monks at Holy Spirit Monastery and my own contemplative practices, drawing on the Cistercian heritage. Remember, I only speak from my heart. Lesson One: As a steward of nature, I can appreciate the depth of God’s love for me by looking at nature. This thought struck me while I attended a workshop on Celtic mysticism and spirituality by Carl McColeman (www.carlmccoleman.net), a recognized authority on mysticism and contemplative practice and a fellow Lay Cistercian from Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Monastery (Trappist) in Conyers, Georgia. www.trappist.net/lay-cistercians Here is what I learned, seemingly for the first time: God speaks to us through nature. Irish, Scottish, and Welsh spirituality in the 5^th and 6^th centuries saw God through nature. We have all seen pictures of St. Patrick holding a shamrock with the explanation that this reminded him of the Trinity. For me, the startling lesson was not that three leaves of the shamrock like the Trinity, although that is certainly true. For me, the astounding flash of light was that Patrick saw the Gospels and spirituality as a mystery he could find every day by just looking around him. His routine was his world, and due to his spiritual moving from self to God, he was able to glimpse God in nature, not that God is nature. That should come as no surprise to me, but I did not realize that the secrets of the universe are for all to behold and are in plain sight. Seeing, I did not see.

Jesus taught people in his time through parables (see Matthew 13) and nature. Who could forget the example of the barren fig tree (Matthew 16)?  If you wish to move from self to God, learn to see God through nature, each and every day.

2. Lesson Two: Seek simplicity. All reality moves towards an Omega Point, says Jesuit Paleontologist Teilhard de Chardin.  http://www.teilhardforbeginners.com/

Jesus said, “The Father and I are One.” (John 10:30)  The greater the nature, the simpler it becomes, not more complex. One is the most complex of numbers. If God is one in his nature, there is no two. The Trinity is a paradox: one nature yet three distinct persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When we die, our spirits rest in the Oneness of God until the Last Judgement of all creation. All the measurements we used in our lifetime, i.e., distance, time, physical and mental energy, do not apply in the One. There is only the Now…Forever, but that Now is all there is. We, humans, don’t live in that universe. We live in our own, dependent on our five senses to allow our minds to seek meaning. So, the big question becomes, how does an all-knowing, all-loving, and pure energy God tell humans about His desire to have us as adopted sons and daughters, much less live there? God revealed his covenant to Moses in the Old Testament. No one can look on the face of God and live. It would fry all your neurons. So, in the New Testament, He sent His Son to SHOW US what God has in store for those who love Him, and how to pack for the journey to Now. Some get it, some do not, but all have the opportunity to love…Forever. Part of the problem in sustaining that love (Deuteronomy 6 and Matthew 22:34) is original Sin. By yourself, it is impossible. With Christ’s energy, and the collective heritage of the Body of Christ (on earth, in heaven, in purgatory), we have the food for the journey (Eucharist), Christ’s own energy, and Forgiveness, Christ’s making all things new for us so we can try and try again to love with all our hearts.  As one who aspires to be a Lay Cistercian, I must use the five practices to help me focus on Christ and take up my cross daily.  This includes trying to have in me the Cistercian charisms, obedience to God’s will, humility, silence, solitude, stability, and growing through community, encountering God in Divine Office and Lectio divina with meditation. There are challenges unique to living the Cistercian way of life, with temptations and the struggle to seek God. Lay Cistercians also have unique challenges because they do not live in a monastic community with a schedule. God’s grace is sufficient for monks, nuns, and Lay Cistercians. “That in all things, God be glorified.”  –St. Benedict

Lesson Three: Be practical. How to overcome daily temptations to choose the false self by using self-discipline. Brother Michael, OCSO, our Junior instructor, painted a picture that greatly influenced me. Once you know what it is that you seek, you are faced with daily choices between what God wills and what you will. You must be practical with your spirituality, especially if you follow the contemplative approach. No one can think of God twenty-four hours a day. I can only do so for snatches of time ranging from five minutes to two hours. Five years ago, my spiritual attention span was five minutes at best. It helps to practice being a Lay Cistercian through daily practice. For me, that is what is meaning of taking up your cross daily. You may have different opinions. 

When Scripture says, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me,” (Luke 9:23), what can that possibly mean for my daily living?  I know I can’t think of God continuously all day long. I know that I fail, sometimes miserably, at trying to love God with all my heart, my mind, my strength. (Matthew 22:34) I have come to the surprising conclusion that, having made a commitment to truly abandon the values of this world for those of Christ (See Rule of Benedict, Chapter 4 at the end of this workbook), I will continue to struggle and fail to place God’s will over mine, daily. It is the struggle that is of value. The struggle is that the values of this world (See Galatians 5) keep pushing to be my dominant behaviors. St. Paul said it best when he states: “For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want.” (Galatians  5:17)

As one who aspires to be a Lay Cistercian, I must continue to deny the false self of the world and actively put in its place my true self, one who seeks to do God’s will, guided by the heritage Christ left through the Apostles. Being a Christian, a follower of the Master, is not easy. I fail, many times more than I succeed, but I seek the pearl of great price. In fact, without Christ, it is impossible to find it. A rule of thumb is that if it is easy, you may want to re-examine your spiritual framework and assumptions.

The Prayer the Lord taught us is so very wise and profound. (Matthew 6: 7-13) Jesus prays with us to seek what we need, to deny ourselves, and to follow Him. What we deny is not a diminution of our humanity, but in keeping with freely choosing Jesus’ way, is a truth that comes from practicing that way, which leads to a life that is that of an adopted son or daughter of the Father. It is the deepest and highest form of evolution possible for our species.

The Lord’s Prayer is the perfect answer to the original Sin of Adam and Eve. (Genesis 1-2)

• We pray that, unlike Adam and Eve, God’s will be done here and now,
• We pray that we take advantage of God’s energy in us by both eating the daily spiritual bread of life and seeking mercy and forgiveness from the Father as we ourselves forgive our neighbor.
• We pray not to be tempted by the world’s false values and idolatry
• We pray to be delivered over to the will of the Evil One if we choose Satan over God’s will.

Genesis gives us the perfect questions about what it means to be human.

• Choosing God’s will means not eating of the fruit of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. You are not God.
• Choosing God’s will means having God as the center of your life, rather than making yourself into a god, as Adam and Eve tried to do.
• Choosing God’s will means  that other ideas will be offered so as to seduce you into thinking that your right to free choice is the same as the freedom to choose good or evil

LEARNING POINTS

• You are not me. I am not you. God is not you. You, most certainly, are not God. –Michael F. Conrad, Ed.D.
• Daily, you will be tempted to be God. Daily!
• Reality has three separate components, perhaps universes: physical, mental, and spiritual.
• Original Sin’s effects set up a daily struggle to live in just the physical and mental universes, and the spiritual universe does not exist.
• Church is not the center of all reality; God is.
• Church helps in the struggle to take up your cross and follow Christ. Christ offers help to carry your burden. (Matthew 11:28-30)
• The Cistercian approach to spirituality (silence, solitude, work, prayer, and community) is one way to find the energy to endure the routine of daily living. In my own spiritual journey as a Lay Cistercian, riddled as it is with the imperfections of daily living, I can attest that the more you seek to practice the charisms and make a habit of the spiritual practices that put your heart next to the heart of Christ, the more you will grow in grace and favor with God and man. (See Luke 2:31-32) Imperceptibly! Absolutely! Mercifully!

Lesson Four: Learn to do what is essential from what is not.  This is a great lesson for anyone wishing to grow from self to God. Learning what is essential to your spirituality comes with discernment, and in talking with your spiritual director or one of the Cistercian monks or nuns. As one who aspires to be a Lay Cistercian, what is essential for me is seeking God in my daily life. I have learned from Deuteronomy 6 and Matthew 22:34 what is essential for my spiritual North on my compass. Personally, my purpose is Philippians 2:5, “…have in you the mind of Christ Jesus.” I have chosen to do this using Cistercian spirituality, with its emphasis on silence and solitude, work, prayer, and community, but more on these practices later.

Lesson Five:  Be constant and persistent. To grow from self to God takes deliberate speed. It will not come immediately, but it will come through consistency and persistence. This growth begins now and will end in Heaven. I do not let up for I am in a race for the goal, as St. Paul says in Hebrews 12:1. “: Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,” We do not run the race by ourselves but with those who have finished it (Church Triumphant), those who still run (Church Militant), and those who have fallen short of the goal but still need to finish the race (Church Purgative).

LEARNING POINTS

To grow from self to God is about waiting for God to communicate with you in the silence of your spirit. God will not be rushed, neither should you. Contemplation comes from silencing the heart, placing yourself in the presence of The One, and waiting.

My Five levels of spiritual awareness of the Word:

     1.    Hearing the Word through Scriptures and at Eucharist

     2.    Praying the Word through Eucharist, Mercy, and Forgiveness

     3.    Sharing the Word through Prayer and Work in the community

     4.    Contemplating the Word through Lectio Divina and Eucharist

     5.    Waiting for the heart of God to touch yours. There are no words needed at this level, only the openness to the manifestibility of the Word in all being encountered.

Just as the universe, all living things, all rational beings, and all those who have voluntarily chosen to evolve into that next and highest level of our humanity, are adopted sons or daughters of the Father. I am in the process of assimilating all those experiences that bombard me every day and must choose if they are good or bad for me (not just morally,) but if they help my humanity move to that higher level of existence while I live, so that I can continue that life beyond space and time, as I know it. That takes Faith and energy beyond my human capacity or my ability to use properly. When I place myself in the presence of Christ, He is my energy; He is my gatekeeper between being a citizen of the world and that next level, adoption. Jesus is the way. Jesus is the truth (absolute truth, absolutely) that can sustain my humanity at the ultimate finality of its collective purpose, to be happy with God in heaven, forever.

I seek God every day with the awareness that comes from Jesus through the energy of the Holy Spirit, as I am and who I am, as the culmination of choosing what is good for me or bad for me.

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