Young girls from St. Matthew Parish in Spotsylvania walk toward the moving truck at the new monastery in Linden to unload boxes. (HENRIETTA GOMES | CATHOLIC HERALD)
As seven cloistered Dominican nuns in full habit drove to a newly finished monastery in Linden, the angelic voices of about 25 young girls singing “Ave Maria” greeted them as they entered their new home.
Walking quietly through the front doors, the sisters smiled and nodded to acknowledge the girls, who ranged in age from 10 to 14, and who looked with awe at the nuns.
Perhaps only seen behind iron grilles or portrayed in movies, the cloistered nuns were a sight to behold as a sense of their intimate union with God radiated from their faces.
Just hours before the nuns arrived, the smell of fresh paint wafted through the halls of the monastery. The young girls and a few moms from St. Matthew Parish in Spotsylvania joined their pastor, Father John Riley, to move boxes, clean the rooms and stock the pantry.
It was the only time the girls or anyone who is not a cloistered nun could walk through the walls of a monastery aside from public areas designated for guests.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience to clean for them,” said Emily Brown, 14, who took a break from transferring chairs from a moving truck to the refectory.
“It’s so amazing how they live,” said Brown, whose smile revealed her green braces. She learned a lot about life in a cloister.
Noting their sacrifice and love of God, the teen said the experience has made her think about a possible vocation to the religious life. “It’s definitely made me wonder about it,” said Brown.
That was perhaps one of the motivations behind Father Riley’s decision to bring the daughters and moms to the monastery to help move the sisters’ belongings.
To run a parish, you need a “good business man, but a priest’s job is to be a father of a parish and bring people closer to Christ,” said Father Riley. Focusing on vocations, he said, “is a pleasure and privilege.”
By bringing the girls, he wanted the nuns to see the “future” of the Church.
While the girls were busy moving and cleaning, the nuns drove down from a monastery in West Springfield, Mass., where they lived while waiting in anticipation of their new home. The monastery took seven years to build. Prior, the sisters lived in a house-turned monastery in Washington, D.C.
“These sisters are giving their lives to God and it’s nice to be able to help,” said Elise Ivory, 10, who joined the group in praying the rosary while they cleaned.
Dominican Father Gabriel O’Donnell, who worked closely to help the nuns move, was grateful that the young girls came to help. “It’s obvious that there’s an enthusiasm for the Faith. It’s an opportunity for them to see the religious life in way that they don’t normally get to,” he said. Their presence, Father O’Donnell said, “is a wonderful sign of hope and encouragement for the future.”
As the sounds of the tilling in the garden of the courtyard came in through the windows, Susanna Wise, 12, explained that Father Riley takes them on “nun runs” to visit religious communities in the diocese for the girls to learn about the religious life. Although they would not converse with the sisters, coming to the monastery to help clean and move-in the sisters made perfect sense to her.
An out-of-breathe 11-year-old ran to the moving truck to see what she could carry back inside. Genevieve Rich was all smiles as her pigtails swayed from side to side. The youngster brought her older sister, Christy, who serves as the assistant to the director of religious education at St. Louis Parish in Alexandria. For Rich it was amazing to “see what is behind these walls,” she said looking up to the brick and mortar on the west side of the monastery.
A cool breeze blew in through the windows as Julia Hill put up temporary signs around the monastery “so the nuns don’t get lost.”
Moved by the arrival of the sisters, Danya Ivory, who brought her daughter, said, “This is something I will never experience again.” Wiping the tears that rolled down her face, she said, “I just got to see the proof that these sisters are bringing the world closer to Christ.” Calling the nuns “warriors” she said, “It was a real blessing to see their faces.”
Henrietta Gomes can be reached at hgomes@catholicherald.com.
What is a cloistered nun?
“Cloistered nuns dwell at the heart of the Church by means of constant prayer, the oblation of self, and the offering of the sacrifice of praise.” — “Verbi Sponsa,” (“Instruction on the Contemplative Life and on the Enclosure of Nuns”), No. 7
“In the monastery everything is directed to the search for the face of God, everything is reduced to the essential, because the only thing that matters is what leads to Him.” “Verbi Sponsa,” No. 5
The DOminican contemplative life
The sisters attend daily Mass and adoration, chant the liturgy of the hours, read Scripture, pray constantly, and withdraw from the world by enclosure and silence.