Benedictine Sisters of Clear Creek Spring 2015

+PAX

“Dum medium silentium tenerent Omnia et nox in suo cursu

medium iter haberet, omnipotens Sermo tuus, Domine, de coelis

a regalibus sedibus venit.” (“While all things were in quiet

silence and the night was in the midst of her course, Thy

almighty Word, O Lord, leaped down from heaven from Thy

royal throne.” – Wisdom 18:14-15)

Dear Family and Friends of the Clear Creek Sisters,

This is the season for preparation. Everyone it seems is busy,

busy, busy getting ready for Christmas – shopping, baking,

decorating. So, what is the reason we are so immersed in all this

activity? Are we preparing for the coming of Jesus, the Second

Person of the Blessed Trinity incarnate? Are we recalling with

much anticipation His birth in Bethlehem over two thousand

years ago? Do we welcome Him into our hearts daily in Holy

Communion? Are we prepared for His Second Coming when He

comes in great glory and power to judge the living and the dead

whenever that will be? As a priest said, “It is not when we live

but how we die, that is if we die in the state of grace we will enjoy

unending happiness for all eternity.

At this time of Advent it is good for us to remind ourselves that

this mystery of Christ’s coming is both simple and threefold. It is

simple because it is the one same Son of God that is coming. It is

threefold because the Son of God comes to us in three different

ways and at three separate times. St. Bernard tells us that “in the

first coming He comes in the flesh and in weakness; in the second

He comes in spirit and in power; and in the third, He comes in

glory and in majesty.”

Jesus came the first time as a little Baby, “at midnight, in

Bethlehem, in piercing cold.” The second coming is when He

comes to us in our souls in Sanctifying Grace, in the Holy

Eucharist. He has said that if we love Him, He will come to us ur

Holy Eucharist. He has said that if we love Him, He will come to us and will abide with us. The third coming will be when He comes to judge the living and the dead, judging all things with justice. In the first coming, Jesus comes as a lamb; in the last, as a lion; and in the second, which is now for us, He comes as the most loving of friends, but He comes in silence.

This is opposed to the shopping rush, to the countless “Christmas parties” BEFORE the birth of Our Savior, to the hectic activities inundating so many. While it is true we need to prepare materially for the great feast of Jesus’ birthday, more importantly we need to ready our souls and spirits in order to welcome Him as He deserves. It is possible – and necessary – to do both, i.e., prepare materially and spiritually. The key is to do the former in peace and tranquility.

We contemplatives treasure the gift of solitude and silence especially at this time, of listening in our hearts to God speaking to each of us. We are reminded that: “You must be silent. Then God will be born in you, utter His Word in you and you shall hear it; but be very sure that if you speak, the Word will have to be silent. The way to serve the Word is to keep silent and listen. If you go out, he will most surely come in; as much as you go out for him he will come into you…” (John Tauler, O.P.) God tells us in Psalm 45: “Be still and know that I am God...” We read in St. John of the Cross: ‘...and with delightful tranquility, for the knowledge of God is received in divine silence.” Finally, from Dom Delatte we learn that: “The fundamental purpose of silence is to free the soul, to give it strength and leisure to adhere to God…It sets us little by little, in a serene region, where we are able to speak to God and hear His voice.”

“Contemplative prayer” says St. Teresa of Avila “in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him Who we know loves us.” To assist us and anyone who wishes to take advantage of the opportunity to develop a deep friendship with God, we have Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the Tabernacle every First Friday in our Oratory from 2:30 to 5:30 pm. Following this we depart to the Abbey for Vespers and Benediction. We invite all who are able to come to spend some quiet time, listening to “the still small Voice” of God.

Our gift to you in appreciation for your loyalty and your moral, spiritual, material and financial support we offer our annual Christmas “Novena” (which starts on November 30 through December 25, a copy of the prayer is printed in the enclosed Christmas card) and our Midnight Mass for all your intentions. Please remember us in your prayers, that we grow in holiness and become saints.

A most grace-filled Advent and a very blessed and holy Christmas and New Year! May the Christ Child and His Holy Mother smile on you!

In Conspectu Angelorum,intentions. Please remember us in your prayers, that we grow in holiness and become saints.

A most grace-filled Advent and a very blessed and holy Christmas and New Year! May the Christ Child and His Holy Mother smile on you!

In Conspectu Angelorum,

This does not mean that nuns abandon the needs of the world. Rather, nuns have chosen a means of influence that taps into the divine generosity alone. In their dedication to prayer, to seek the one thing necessary, they are true daughters of the Church. Nuns dedicate themselves to living a contemplative life in Christ and His Mystical Body. It is a life founded on prayer and sacrifice, united to Christ’s work of salvation. Their apostolate is their life of prayer united in a spousal relationship with Christ.

“There is no condition, no life more perfect which can be proposed to the choice and the ambition of men, if the Lord calls them to it. Institutes which are entirely ordered towards contemplation … will always have an honored place in the Mystical Body of Christ.” (Perfectae Caritatis #7)

Pope John Paul II frequently reminded nuns of the real value of their lives in the Church. It is a sublime vocation because it is completely dedicated towards union with God.

In a talk given to the Camaldolese in Rome, Pope Paul VI said:

“Your courageous and heroic act of withdrawal from the world and social community, that act which goes under the name of enclosure, keeps you confined … But your enclosure is not a prison; it does not cut you off from the communion of Holy Church … You have made this close harmony between heaven and earth the sole preoccupation of your life. So then the Church sees in you the highest expression of herself. For what does the Church desire to do in this world but unite souls to God?”

Regarding the contemplative nun’s relationship with her family, despite the pain of separation, the nun soon discovers that her affection for their parents and siblings actually increases. Her love of family is transformed into prayer and gift of herself; thus she is able to secure for them the greatest gift – union with God. This kind of true love of family ordered towards God brings her family closer to her.

Most importantly, we look to Our Blessed Mother Mary as the ideal model for nuns. Mary embodies the essentials of the monastic ideal – withdrawal from the world to belong totally to God. Our Lady did not desire fame or recognition. Instead she lived a hidden life in Nazareth, taking care of Her beloved Son and St. Joseph. She contemplated the Scriptures, “… and His mother kept all these words in her heart.” (Luke 2:51)

We wish to express our deepest gratitude to all who have contributed so much of their time, materials and funds to aid this important step for us. Also our sincerest thanks go to the many ladies who provided such delicious meals for all the hard workers. May God reward each of you with many special graces.

Stabat Mater

Dear Family and Friends of the Clear Creek Sisters,

Epiphany-tide was barely over when we came into Septuagesima season (seventy days before Easter). Septuagesima was followed by Sexagesima (sixty days before Easter), and Quinquagesima (fifty days before Easter). These weeks preceding Ash Wednesday are provided by Holy Mother Church to prepare us for the “Great Fast of Lent.”

Here in Clear Creek Lent was “inaugurated” by Forty Hours – forty hours of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the monstrance on the altar. The devotion of Forty Hours was originated by Cardinal Paleotti, archbishop of Bologna. His object in this solemn Exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament was to offer reparation for the sins of men, to appease His Divine Majesty for the many offences committed by a world who had forgotten about their Creator. This was in the sixteenth century. Later on in the eighteenth century, Prosper Lambertini, archbishop of Bologna, continued this devotion towards the Blessed Sacrament to make reparation for the three days of carnival. These forty hours also recall the forty hours Our Lord spent in the tomb from Good Friday until Easter Sunday.

So here we are in the season of Lent. While it starts on Ash Wednesday, Lent really starts “officially” with the First Sunday of Lent. (The three days before Sunday were added in order to make up forty days of fasting.) St. Paul tells us in the Epistle that “…now is the acceptable time…now is the time of salvation…” Now is the time to redouble our efforts to make spiritual progress. We are invited to devote ourselves to every good work, to prayer, to fasting, to do penance, to give alms, to spend time with Our Lord recalling His Passion.

Dom Gueranger in The Liturgical Year tells us: “Satan has had his eye upon Jesus; he is troubled at beholding such matchless virtue. The wonderful circumstances of His birth; the shepherds called by angels to His crib, and the Magi guided by the star; the Infant’s escape from Herod’s plot, the testimony by John the Baptist: all these things which seem so out of keeping with the thirty years spent in obscurity in Nazareth, are a mystery to the infernal serpent, and fill him with apprehension…”

Then the enemy of God and men try his hardest to find out who this Jesus is. He waits till Jesus has fasted forty days and forty nights and is hungry; then Satan tempts him. Each temptation fails. Each temptation is a lesson for us. We have three enemies to fight against: our soul has three dangers. As St. John the beloved disciple says, we have the fight against the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes and the pride of life.

Dom Gueranger cautions us: “Every one of our sins comes from one of these three sources; every one of our temptations aims at making us accept the concupiscence of the flesh, or the concupiscence of the eyes, or the pride of life.”

Another caution for us is that the evil one attacks us when we are fatigued, hungry, at a low point; but we can learn from Our Lord’s experience. With God’s grace we can resist – and just as the angels ministered to Jesus, so too will we experience the peace after each conquest over the devil.

Here in the monastery we are privileged to have Tenebrae. The name Tenebrae was given to the Matins and Lauds of the last three days of Holy Week, because the Office was celebrated during the night, in darkness. There is in the sanctuary, near the altar, a large triangular candlestick, holding fifteen candles. At the end of each psalm or canticle one of these fifteen candles is extinguished as well as the ones on the altar.

What is the meaning of these ceremonies? Jesus’ glory was obscured by the sufferings and humiliations He endured during His Passion. He, the Light of the world, who only a few days earlier on Palm Sunday was proclaimed King by the citizens of Jerusalem, is now stripped of all glory and honor. He is, as Isaiah says, “the Man of Sorrows.” He is deserted and abandoned; even Peter denies he ever knew Him. This is symbolized by the extinguishing of all the candles at the end of each Tenebrae service. We are all exhorted by Holy Mother Church to imitate Our Lord in resisting the allurements of the evil one presents to us. Some suggestions are to attend daily Mass and receive Holy Communion, go to Confession, make the Stations of the Cross, spend some quiet time in prayer, if possible in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament (exposed or in the Tabernacle), read a spiritual book.

As always, we remember each of you in our daily prayers and especially during our Lenten fast and practices. Have a prayerful, fruitful Lent. May your sacrifices in union with Our Lord’s Passion and Death bring you much joy at His Resurrection.

In Conspectu Angelorum,

Sister Annuntiata, Prioress

"Ecce nunc tempus acceptabile, ecce nuch dies salutis." Behold now is the acceptable time/ behold, now is the day of salvation.

Then the enemy of God and men tries his hardest to find out who this Jesus is. He waits till Jesus has fasted forty days and forty nights and is hungry; then Satan tempts him. Each temptation fails. Each temptation is a lesson for us. We have three enemies to fight against: our soul has three dangers. As St. John the beloved disciple says, we have the fight against the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes and the pride of life.

Another caution for us is that the evil one attacks us when we are fatigued, hungry, at a low point; but we can learn from Our Lord’s experience. With God’s grace we can resist – and just as the angels ministered to Jesus, so too will we experience the peace after each conquest over the devil.

In Conspectu Angelorum,

Sister Annuntiata, Prioress

We are all exhorted by Holy Mother Church to imitate Our Lord in resisting the allurements of the evil one presents to us. Some suggestions are to attend daily Mass and receive Holy Communion, go to Confession, make the Stations of the Cross, spend some quiet time in prayer, if possible in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament (exposed or in the Tabernacle), read a spiritual book.

As always, we remember each of you in our daily prayers and especially during our Lenten fast and practices. Have a prayerful, fruitful Lent. May your sacrifices in union with Our Lord’s Passion and Death bring you much joy at His Resurrection.

"Intret oratio mea in conspectu tuo" + Let my prayer come in before Thee

"Do this in memory of Me"(a friend brought her mosiac from Jordan to be framed by the Clear Creek Monks)

Lectio divina helps bring us to closer union with God

Here in the monastery we are privileged to have Tenebrae. The name Tenebrae was given to the Matins and Lauds of the last three days of Holy Week, because the Office was celebrated during the night, in darkness. There is in the sanctuary, near the altar, a large triangular candlestick, holding fifteen candles. At the end of each psalm or canticle one of these fifteen candles is extinguished as well as the ones on the altar.

What is the meaning of these ceremonies? Jesus’ glory was obscured by the sufferings and humiliations He endured during His Passion. He, the Light of the world, who only a few days earlier on Palm Sunday was proclaimed King by the citizens of Jerusalem, is now stripped of all glory and honor. He is, as Isaiah says, “the Man of Sorrows.” He is deserted and abandoned; even Peter denies he ever knew Him. This is symbolized by the extinguishing of all the candles at the end of each Tenebrae service.

Dom Gueranger cautions us: “Every one of our sins comes from one of these three sources; every one of our temptations aims at making us accept the concupiscence of the flesh, or the concupiscence of the eyes, or the pride of life.”

Queen of Angels Priory5813 West St. Martha's Lane

Hulbert, OK 74441918-772-2170