The Grand Silence, had over
the years, made conversation
difficult for Sister Scholastica,
and she wondered if other nuns
had found that the case in their
lives. The Grand Silence which
took place after the office of
Compline until Mass the following
day, was not an easy thing to
keep in mind when she first
became a novice nun many
years before, but now it was
a matter of fact in her life, and
after Mass she found it difficult
to learn to converse, especially
if she was the Guest Mistress
and had to converse with female
guests who stayed, young girls
who thought they had a vocation
to be a nun, and she knew the first
thing they must learn, is to not talk
as much, not to need to converse,
but to gain that inner silence which
is necessary for a contemplative
nun. Now it was part of her armour,
part of who she was, and words were
used sparingly like coins from a
miser's purse, and she knew some
sisters found it harder than others,
and when she first came she realized
just how hard it was to not talk when
another person came in the room
before Mass, or on the way to the
wash room for water and to see
another sister and not say good
morning or how did you sleep?
She waited in the cloister with the
other nuns, waiting for the bell to
toll for Mass to begin, and they
would enter the church chanting
the Latin entrance melody, the first
chance to use the voice since before
Compline the night before, and she
gazed into the cloister garth at the early
morning mist and birdsong, and knew
the time of silence would not be long.
Sep 9, 2018
Sep 9, 2018 at 3:21 AM UTC
The Grand Silence, had over
the years, made conversation
difficult for Sister Scholastica,
and she wondered if other nuns
had found that the case in their
lives. The Grand Silence which
took place after the office of
Compline until Mass the following
day, was not an easy thing to
keep in mind when she first
became a novice nun many
years before, but now it was
a matter of fact in her life, and
after Mass she found it difficult
to learn to converse, especially
if she was the Guest Mistress
and had to converse with female
guests who stayed, young girls
who thought they had a vocation
to be a nun, and she knew the first
thing they must learn, is to not talk
as much, not to need to converse,
but to gain that inner silence which
is necessary for a contemplative
nun. Now it was part of her armour,
part of who she was, and words were
used sparingly like coins from a
miser's purse, and she knew some
sisters found it harder than others,
and when she first came she realized
just how hard it was to not talk when
another person came in the room
before Mass, or on the way to the
wash room for water and to see
another sister and not say good
morning or how did you sleep?
She waited in the cloister with the
other nuns, waiting for the bell to
toll for Mass to begin, and they
would enter the church chanting
the Latin entrance melody, the first
chance to use the voice since before
Compline the night before, and she
gazed into the cloister garth at the early
morning mist and birdsong, and knew
the time of silence would not be long.
