Why would a young woman embrace enclosure? Our fictional novice Sister Mary Rosaria reflects on the meaning of the cloistered life in this entry in our Vocation Letter series.
Ave + Maria
Dear Dad,
Greetings on this feast of St. Augustine! Today is “Enclosure Day” for us–the day that the boundaries of our monastic enclosure were officially blessed, and our Mother Foundresses rejoiced in being able to again embrace their cloistered life of prayer a mere ten days after arriving to found our monastery here in Marbury, Alabama.
I was reflecting on enclosure, after living in the monastery for over four years now. Many people find it hard to understand why a young woman would choose to give up “everything life has to offer” and commit to spending the rest of her days in this one place, separated by walls and grilles from the rest of the world.
The simplest explanation of enclosure is simply love. We nuns are set apart in this sacred space to belong exclusively to God, making a free response of love to the One Who has called us out of love. Everyone in the entire world is called to give themselves to God in love, but not everyone is called to this particular way of life with its radical separation and witness to God’s primacy in all things. When I entered the monastery, I was certainly motivated by loving God and wanting to do His will, but as I have grown in this vocation, I have experienced more and more the truth of what our Constitutions say: “This hidden life should open their minds to the breadth and height and depth of the love of God who sent his Son so that the whole world might be saved through him.”
The cloister keeps outside the empty preoccupations and distractions of the world, so that inside the monastery—and inside our hearts—we can have the environment of simplicity, order, silence and peace that most readily prepares us to seek God and respond to Him in true freedom. Enclosure is like the physical aspect of silence; our Constitutions even link them together in a particularly Dominican way: “The purpose of all regular observance, especially enclosure and silence, is that the Word of God may dwell abundantly in the monastery.” Even looking back on the four (short!) years I have been here, I can see how the interior noise I brought with me has gradually decreased, and more space opened up for God and His Word that we receive in so many ways here in the monastery.
So to those who think it a special privilege when we “get” to leave the enclosure for legitimate reasons, I would say, no; we embrace our enclosure and consider it a privilege that we are set apart for God and “get” to stay inside our cloister! What God promises to give us in this cloistered contemplative life—Himself—is worth more than anything the world could have to offer.
Please give my love to Mom and the rest of the family! Even embracing enclosure, I still love my family very much and look forward to your visit in just a few weeks!
With love and prayers in Our Lady,
Sister Mary Rosaria
P.S. You can read more about the meaning of enclosure in the Vatican document Verbi Sponsa (1999), and about the current legislation in Chapter Three of Cor Orans (2018) (specifically, sections IV and V).
Join us for the Novena for the Nativity of Our Lady – starting August 30
Each year we look forward to the lovely feast of Our Lady’s Birthday on September 8. We invite you to join us for this Novena which begins August 30. Our Lady gave us the greatest gift — her Son, Jesus Christ. Let us prepare for her birthday with devout prayer in her honor.