We are going to take a walk through the door of a traditional monastery and see where they are doing the things that we do (or aim toward!) here in Cor Unum.
Those two words . . . “aim toward” . . . are valid to us. We do not have the spiritual luxury of checking into a monastic hotel (read, “cloister”) for the rest of our lives, and that is just why we have made our lives an Abbey! We cannot go in and hear the key turn in the lock behind us, with someone to guide us through time-honored rudiments of spiritual growth, from the cellar to the dome. Some of us might do well in that environment, some not, but it doesn’t really matter. As we have seen, what we lack in Abbots and Abbesses, we more than make up for with our dear friend, the Spirit of Grace and Truth!
Oh yes!, He can and will walk us through the avenues of spiritual growth meant for us. From the cellar to the dome, He will make us an “habitation” fit for the residence of the King, and we do not want to drag out feet, for the King is in the parlor already!
Let’s begin just as a new postulant might and see if we can take a virtual tour of the Abbey together. We may say virtual, because what we cannot see is nevertheless very real, here in Cor Unum.
The door is the important part. Some Abbey doors are famous in beauty, heavy, carved, oaken, arched, ancient, and some are the doors of former farmhouses! All who will stay must enter. There is a door for us, too, a door into Cor Unum. We must step outside of “maybe we will devote ourselves to devotion” and step into, “we are the devoted ones of God, and this day is His, and we are His.” We cross the threshold, and we ourselves turn the key in the lock. By our choice and by good planning, by gracious persistence, and all perseverance, every day that we live, we do not turn aside from each opportunity to worship, to pray, to seek the Lord’s counsel, to hear His Voice, to quiet ourselves in His love. From the first step inside, we are the postulants of Cor Unum Abbey.
"Cloisters Everywhere!"
Abbatial Photo
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