In The Arms of The Lord Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 Praised be Jesus Christ! When I wrote to Mother at Buffalo Carmel Monastery of the Little Flower of Jesus (The Monastery was dedicated to St. Therese as the words of her Canonization were being pronounced on May 17th 1925), I received back a personal letter from her and a booklet of their history, schedule, and pictures called "Love Can Do All". Though the booklet is old, the schedule that it talks about is still just about the same with only a few changes. What was really nice about it was they didn't just have a list of what they do and the times they do it, but they went into detail and there is some pictures of the Sisters doing some of what is on the schedule, and also pictures of the chores they do. When Mother gets your letter you will most likely get a booklet also, and in the letter she'll say to call her if you want to talk more about your vocation or to schedule a visit. I posted the schedule on here some time ago, here it is if your interested: 5:30 am: Rise 6:00 am- Recite Lauds (Divine Office) 6:15 am- Mental Prayer 7:15 am- Recite Terce 7:30 am- Sacrifice of the Mass Breakfast Work Assignments 11:00 Recite Sext and Litany of the Blessed Virgin Examen of Conscience 11:30 am- Dinner and washing of dishes 12:30 pm- Recreation 1:30 pm- Free time 2:00 pm- Recite None Spiritual Reading 3:00 pm- Divine Mercy Chaplet and Work Assignment 4:40 pm- Recite or Sing Vespers 5:00 pm- Mental Prayer 6:00 pm- Supper or Collation 7:00 pm- Recreation 8:00 pm- Compline and Rosary 8:20 pm- Free Time 9:30 pm- Matins 10:30 pm- Retire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeresaBenedicta Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 [quote name='In The Arms of The Lord' post='1948705' date='Aug 14 2009, 11:20 AM']Praised be Jesus Christ! When I wrote to Mother at Buffalo Carmel Monastery of the Little Flower of Jesus (The Monastery was dedicated to St. Therese as the words of her Canonization were being pronounced on May 17th 1925), I received back a personal letter from her and a booklet of their history, schedule, and pictures called "Love Can Do All". Though the booklet is old, the schedule that it talks about is still just about the same with only a few changes. What was really nice about it was they didn't just have a list of what they do and the times they do it, but they went into detail and there is some pictures of the Sisters doing some of what is on the schedule, and also pictures of the chores they do. When Mother gets your letter you will most likely get a booklet also, and in the letter she'll say to call her if you want to talk more about your vocation or to schedule a visit. I posted the schedule on here some time ago, here it is if your interested: 5:30 am: Rise 6:00 am- Recite Lauds (Divine Office) 6:15 am- Mental Prayer 7:15 am- Recite Terce 7:30 am- Sacrifice of the Mass Breakfast Work Assignments 11:00 Recite Sext and Litany of the Blessed Virgin Examen of Conscience 11:30 am- Dinner and washing of dishes 12:30 pm- Recreation 1:30 pm- Free time 2:00 pm- Recite None Spiritual Reading 3:00 pm- Divine Mercy Chaplet and Work Assignment 4:40 pm- Recite or Sing Vespers 5:00 pm- Mental Prayer 6:00 pm- Supper or Collation 7:00 pm- Recreation 8:00 pm- Compline and Rosary 8:20 pm- Free Time 9:30 pm- Matins 10:30 pm- Retire[/quote] God bless you all who can endure (I do not mean this with a negative connotation) such a daily schedule!!!!!! I don't think I could. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InHisLove726 Posted August 14, 2009 Author Share Posted August 14, 2009 [quote name='In The Arms of The Lord' post='1948705' date='Aug 14 2009, 10:20 AM']Praised be Jesus Christ! When I wrote to Mother at Buffalo Carmel Monastery of the Little Flower of Jesus (The Monastery was dedicated to St. Therese as the words of her Canonization were being pronounced on May 17th 1925), I received back a personal letter from her and a booklet of their history, schedule, and pictures called "Love Can Do All". Though the booklet is old, the schedule that it talks about is still just about the same with only a few changes. What was really nice about it was they didn't just have a list of what they do and the times they do it, but they went into detail and there is some pictures of the Sisters doing some of what is on the schedule, and also pictures of the chores they do. When Mother gets your letter you will most likely get a booklet also, and in the letter she'll say to call her if you want to talk more about your vocation or to schedule a visit. I posted the schedule on here some time ago, here it is if your interested: 5:30 am: Rise 6:00 am- Recite Lauds (Divine Office) 6:15 am- Mental Prayer 7:15 am- Recite Terce 7:30 am- Sacrifice of the Mass Breakfast Work Assignments 11:00 Recite Sext and Litany of the Blessed Virgin Examen of Conscience 11:30 am- Dinner and washing of dishes 12:30 pm- Recreation 1:30 pm- Free time 2:00 pm- Recite None Spiritual Reading 3:00 pm- Divine Mercy Chaplet and Work Assignment 4:40 pm- Recite or Sing Vespers 5:00 pm- Mental Prayer 6:00 pm- Supper or Collation 7:00 pm- Recreation 8:00 pm- Compline and Rosary 8:20 pm- Free Time 9:30 pm- Matins 10:30 pm- Retire[/quote] They say the Matins? I thought only the Poor Clares did that. That is a nice schedule, but it would take some getting used to being up 17 hours a day. I know that most places that do that have siesta time so the nuns can rest for an hour. At Buffalo, they only have 30 minutes. That doesn't mean that I won't check it out. I just thought it was interesting. Thank you for posting this. God bless! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
she_who_is_not Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 I tend to like the tighter schedule for nuns. It brings home the concept of "spiritual motherhood" to me. Staying up later or rising in the middle of the night reflects the demands of a natural mother. Just as a natural mother will stay up to tend to the needs of her family or rise to feed or comfort a child in the night, a spiritual mother will accordingly tend to the needs of her spiritual children. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InHisLove726 Posted August 14, 2009 Author Share Posted August 14, 2009 I got a very nice letter from Mother Mary Elizabeth at the Carmel in Clinton Township, MI. I let my mom read it, and she agrees that it's a very positive response. She even smiled after reading it. Mother would like me to keep contact with them and if I want to write using email, she said I could. I just like the personality of the regular letter, but I may consider it, to save them money in stamps. She would like to hear more about my background and what I learned after reading [i]Story of a Soul[/i] last year. She also helped me feel better about my initial apprehension to the cloister by helping me understand that that happens to the best of them, and that she was glad I had started working through my fears and understood that it was a life of pure peace and joy. I'm looking forward to writing her again. She seems like a very nice Prioress. I'm very happy to hear from her again since last year. I hope I've matured since then. God bless! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InHisLove726 Posted August 14, 2009 Author Share Posted August 14, 2009 [quote name='she_who_is_not' post='1948897' date='Aug 14 2009, 03:43 PM']I tend to like the tighter schedule for nuns. It brings home the concept of "spiritual motherhood" to me. Staying up later or rising in the middle of the night reflects the demands of a natural mother. Just as a natural mother will stay up to tend to the needs of her family or rise to feed or comfort a child in the night, a spiritual mother will accordingly tend to the needs of her spiritual children.[/quote] That's a beautiful reflection. That reminds me of what Clare said in [i]Clare and Francis[/i]: [quote]A mother can't go where her children go. She stays home and prays for them.[/quote] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agnes88 Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 [quote name='TeresaBenedicta' post='1948734' date='Aug 14 2009, 11:31 AM']God bless you all who can endure (I do not mean this with a negative connotation) such a daily schedule!!!!!! I don't think I could.[/quote]I was thinking about how amazing the schedule looked! I would love to live days like that! It's great how different we all are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeresaBenedicta Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 [quote name='agnes88' post='1949229' date='Aug 14 2009, 11:21 PM']I was thinking about how amazing the schedule looked! I would love to live days like that! It's great how different we all are. [/quote] I know, right?! I think I would enjoy a schedule such as that for a retreat- a week or a month long retreat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HisChild Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 That's very similar to the schedule I had... although I didn't have 2 recreations. One is probably in common and one not. But I'd love to have a schedule like that again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeniteAdoremus Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 [quote name='InHisLove726' post='1948849' date='Aug 14 2009, 09:37 PM']They say the Matins? I thought only the Poor Clares did that. [/quote] Wait. There are cloistered communities that [i]don't[/i] say Matins? I know that some (some!) apostolic communities don't. (Mine do.) But cloistered? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InHisLove726 Posted August 15, 2009 Author Share Posted August 15, 2009 [quote name='VeniteAdoremus' post='1949419' date='Aug 15 2009, 02:25 AM']Wait. There are cloistered communities that [i]don't[/i] say Matins? I know that some (some!) apostolic communities don't. (Mine do.) But cloistered?[/quote] Basically all the the Carmelite community schedules that I've looked at do not include the Matins. Poor Clares, however, always do. Their tradition is to wake up at 12am or 12:30am and go to the Chapel for Matins. It's a long standing one that is explained by saying that "most sins are committed at nightfall, under the cover of darkness." There is much I like about the Poor Clares, but it's not what I'm called to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeniteAdoremus Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 [quote name='InHisLove726' post='1949461' date='Aug 15 2009, 11:14 AM']Basically all the the Carmelite community schedules that I've looked at do not include the Matins. Poor Clares, however, always do. Their tradition is to wake up at 12am or 12:30am and go to the Chapel for Matins. It's a long standing one that is explained by saying that "most sins are committed at nightfall, under the cover of darkness." There is much I like about the Poor Clares, but it's not what I'm called to. [/quote] Dude. I really didn't know that. I know priests are highly encouraged, bordering on required, to pray the Office of Readings every day (unless they're Jesuits, but hey, they're Jesuits ), and I thought the same extended to religious, particularly cloistered religious. You learn something new every day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilllabettt Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 I'm pretty sure the majority of cloistered communities, including Carmelites, pray "Matins." They may call it "Office of Readings," but its the same thing ... And of course, now, it can be prayed at any hour of the day, so a lot of communities move it from its traditional "night watch" position. Whether or not they pray it in community, I'm pretty darn sure they pray it. Priests are required by canon law to pray it. For religious, I think the obligation comes from their rule or constitution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeniteAdoremus Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 [quote name='Lilllabettt' post='1949636' date='Aug 15 2009, 08:11 PM']I'm pretty sure the majority of cloistered communities, including Carmelites, pray "Matins." They may call it "Office of Readings," but its the same thing ... And of course, now, it can be prayed at any hour of the day, so a lot of communities move it from its traditional "night watch" position. Whether or not they pray it in community, I'm pretty darn sure they pray it. Priests are required by canon law to pray it. For religious, I think the obligation comes from their rule or constitution.[/quote] That's what I thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InHisLove726 Posted August 15, 2009 Author Share Posted August 15, 2009 [quote name='Lilllabettt' post='1949636' date='Aug 15 2009, 01:11 PM']I'm pretty sure the majority of cloistered communities, including Carmelites, pray "Matins." They may call it "Office of Readings," but its the same thing ... And of course, now, it can be prayed at any hour of the day, so a lot of communities move it from its traditional "night watch" position. Whether or not they pray it in community, I'm pretty darn sure they pray it. Priests are required by canon law to pray it. For religious, I think the obligation comes from their rule or constitution.[/quote] I found a sample schedule from a 1991 Constitutions Carmel (Sioux City): [quote]4:45 am Rise, Breakfast 5:30 am Mental Prayer 6:30 am Morning Prayer 7:00 am Mass, Midmorning Prayer 8:00 am Work 12:00 pm Midday Prayer, Dinner 12:45 pm Community Recreation 1:45 pm Midafternoon Prayer 2:00 pm Free Hour 3:00 pm Spiritual Reading & Study 4:15 pm Rosary (optional) 4:35 pm Evening Prayer 5:00 pm Mental Prayer 6:00 pm Supper 6:30 pm Community Recreation 7:30 pm Office of Readings, Night Prayer 8:15 pm Spiritual Reading, Retire[/quote] Maybe only the 1990 Carmels say Matins? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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