A Day at the Monastery

Our correspondent today is Katie Marini:

Today was by far, one of the highlights of the trip thus far. We started of the day by getting a knock at our door at seven o’clock in the morning, leaving us 45 minutes to get ready and grab a quick bite to eat. After breakfast, we made our way from Dublin to the Holy Cross Monastery, home to the Benedictine monks in Rostrevor. Our monk, Thierry, introduced himself to the group and led us to the chapel, where mass was held. Mass was very different from what we are used to back in the states. For example, the mass was comprised of many different songs chanted in Latin. After mass, we were assigned to our rooms, where we were able to get settled, and make our way downstairs to officially begin our silent retreat.

Fr. Thierry suggested we think about who we are as people and listen to ourselves as well as others. Believe it or not, we all learned that though we may not recognize it, God is always talking to us through others. When we had free time, Thierry gave us a printed copy of his homily, which dealt with listening before getting the chance to speak. This is one of the key concepts at the monastery, not speaking unless absolutely necessary. During my free time, I walked around the beautiful grounds of the monastery. This gave me the opportunity to think about who I am as a person. One thing that has also troubled me is the fact that when praying, I feel as though God never talks back. People always hear about those you have directly heard the voice of God, or have received some sort of spiritual revelation throughout their lifetime. I, on the other hand, have never experienced anything of the sort. However, after having free time to reflect and think things over, I came to a very important realization. I learned that God does talk to me. In fact, he talks to me every day, every second of my life. My life, on the other hand, is so hectic. Therefore, I never take the time to listen to all that God has to say.

When first going on the retreat, I was very apprehensive to the whole idea of being silent for twenty hours. However, after completing the retreat, I had a different perspective on the meaning of silence. Silence is so much more than just not talking. It is about personal reflection and taking the time to learn more about oneself. Before the retreat, I was ashamed to admit that my family and friends knew more about me than I knew about myself. However, the Benedictine monks exposed me to the fact that so much can be said and learned without speaking a single word.

After taking some time for personal reflection, we made our way to lunch (which consisted of salad, ham, fries, and apple pie), which was by far the most difficult part of the day. It was so hard to sit with everyone in the group without conversing or striking a quick smile. It was even more difficult when I decided to taste the mustard (which was not your typical mustard… it was EXTREMELY spicy English mustard). The mustard was so spicy, it actually made me cry because it went up my noise and burned my mouth as it made its way down my throat. Ironically, everyone found it quite humorous, almost to the point where it was very difficult to keep a straight face at the table. However, we all made it through and continued on with our silent retreat. After lunch, we were given about an hour down time, where people were given the choice to either take a quick nap or do some more personal reflection. I personally chose to take a quick nap, which was a terrible mistake because it made me even more tired. After having some down time, we had another prayer service where we stated some intentions and sang more psalms. The voices of the monks are sounds that will always stick with me. The pitch and harmony of the voices made the sound so peaceful and serene. After the prayer service, we were told to hold twenty minutes of silence while in the chapel. At first, I was not too ecstatic about sitting in church doing nothing, especially after I had just prayed during the prayer service. However, I came to realize that I had so much to say and so much to pray for. For me, silence was burdensome and awkward. Yet as the retreat progressed, silence became more of a gift than a burden. It was so nice to have that silence in my life, not having to worry about school, college applications, athletics, or any other aspects of my life. I just sat there, thanking God for all that I have, instead of being bitter about the things that I do not have. To me, this is a key part of prayer and life in general; simply, being thankful for all that one has.

After prayer, we made our way to dinner, which was surprisingly easier for everyone to handle, unlike lunch. Everyone sat and peacefully enjoyed their dinner, which consisted of quiche, coleslaw, salad, and cake (along with some yogurt). We then made our way to the final prayer service, which again consisted of the singing of psalms and coming together as a community. One would think that going to prayer services four times a day would be unappealing or burdensome; however, most of us looked forward to the prayer services because it was something different. After a long day at the monastery, we made our way to bed at around 10:00. This was such a relief for everyone in the group because most of us had forgotten that it was possible to go to bed that early and get that much sleep…who would have thought? As stated before, today was one of the many highlights of the trip because I learned so much about myself, as well as the others traveling with me. To me, it is so amazing to know that one can strengthen and mold relationships without even talking. For the first time in my life, I truly understood the meaning behind the statement, “Silence is golden.”


And remember, as stated by Fr. Thierry, “God does not love you more when you are good. God does not love you less when you are bad. God just simply loves you.”



Click here to see pictures from our retreat