Yesterday, we celebrated the feast of the Birth of the Virgin Mary. Aside from its intrinsic significance in the liturgical calendar, it is a date with special meaning for our community. Our three founders all made their religious professions on September 8 with the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, before transferring to monastic life. The founders have now been in vows for over fifty years—longer than half of our community has been alive. So we had a special celebration of their fidelity to their vows and of God’s fidelity to our community.
During our celebration, Fr. Edward shared a few memories of his vows and his ordination to the priesthood. Even though I’ve heard some of these stories many times, they are very important to share, especially with the new men in the community. These stories always include and presuppose, in some sense, God’s actions. God acts in concrete circumstances, and His providence has shaped us into a particular community with a unique expression of monastic life. This is true for every monastery. It is only through the memory of God’s actions in the past that each monastery understands His unique mission for us today.