As always, the monks amazed me with the way they carry out complex ritual activity with ease, and simplicity. Enough incense burned today to fill a 5ooo square foot house from basement to third floor with smoke, floor to ceiling. Good thing they don't use fire alarms out there.
What made me nearly cry though was how much longing it creates in ones heart to sit silently before the Sacrament, closed in their simple, but elegant Monstrance. Nothing so crass as those pictured on the Wikipedia page. Still, the devotion going on right now is known as the Forty Hours. Don't get caught up in the always technical explanations given by New Advent, but the basics are there.
I went out to the Abbey again about 7pm, and sat there until almost 10:30. The time seemed to fly. It is amazing how deeply one can enter into prayer before the Sacrament. Time lost meaning, and it was only the changing of monks every hour that told me what time it was. I've learned to be very careful how I share things that come to me in prayer, but last night was special. For the rest of my life I will cherish the words that came to me.
What made me nearly cry though was how much longing it creates in ones heart to sit silently before the Sacrament, closed in their simple, but elegant Monstrance. Nothing so crass as those pictured on the Wikipedia page. Still, the devotion going on right now is known as the Forty Hours. Don't get caught up in the always technical explanations given by New Advent, but the basics are there.
I went out to the Abbey again about 7pm, and sat there until almost 10:30. The time seemed to fly. It is amazing how deeply one can enter into prayer before the Sacrament. Time lost meaning, and it was only the changing of monks every hour that told me what time it was. I've learned to be very careful how I share things that come to me in prayer, but last night was special. For the rest of my life I will cherish the words that came to me.
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