The Abbey (Part 2) Time

Generally I arrive at the Abbey Retreat House at around 2:30 PM. This gives just about enough time to unpack the car and settle into my room. Then the time of silence, community and prayer begins. Everybody on retreat at the Abbey is encouraged to follow the prayer schedule of the monastery as much as their body allows:

Arrival day:
4:30 PM Vespers
6:15 PM Conference with a monk (only on arrival day)
6:40 PM -- Compline and the beginning of Grand Silence

Next day:

2:25 AM Vigils
6:00 PM Lauds
11:00 AM Sext
1:30 -2:30 PM Conference
4:30 PM Vespers
6:40 PM Compline and Grand Silence

Next day: The same, until the day you depart -- usually after lunch on the day you leave.

The majority of prayers are the psalms, chanted in their entirety. Each week all 150 psalms are prayed. There is alot of bowing and crossing oneself -- and at the end of each psalm we all bow deeply saying "The God who is, and was, and is to come, at the end of the ages." and "Praise the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, both now and forever." Other hymns, readings and responses are woven in -- in other words, there is alot of variety, even in the context of a rhythm and repetition that becomes engrained in the heart. This is not the kind of praying that engages the mind. It is not "study" ... it is active worship, and it results in profound openness of the heart.

The schedule varies only slightly from one day to the next, depending on when Mass is offered. In general, though, the time of deepest prayer for me is between Vigils and Lauds. The world is so silent...and my mind has not yet kicked into gear. It amazes me that I can rest in prayer and meditation during that time and yet (usually) not fall asleep.

Sleep comes readily to me soon after Compline, especially during the darker times of the year. Grand Silence is precisely just that...it is total silence -- it is time for rest.

One comment about all of that: The routine often becomes automatic, regardless of whether I am at the Abbey or at home in Brecksville. It is awesome to realize when I awaken in the middle of the night or early hours of the morning that prayers are being chanted or uttered at those same hours every day of the week, every month of the year. I often can experience a sense of participation by praying in my home at those hours -- and I am grateful to report that this rhythm of prayer prevents the restlessness of heart that I might typically experience when a wakeful night comes along. Rather than moving into frustration or annoyance that "I can't sleep", I trust that the wakefulness is simply a call to prayer. I find myself basking in that moment of wakefulness, saying to the Lord... "here I am, with all of the others who are praying in this hour when so much of the world is sleeping."