As Benedictines, we belong to the great company of
listeners. These are they who listen to
God “with the ear of the heart” (cf. RB Prologue 1). They
are not only Benedictines, of course. On
November 1, the Church at large celebrates the memory of all saints, all those
holy people who are gathered now in God’s presence in heaven. Some of their names we know, many we don’t. Some of them we have known personally, many
we have not. But they are a great glad
crowd who still keep an eye on us, who are called to join them one day. On November 13, we at the Abbey celebrate a
particular group within the great crowd of saints: all Benedictine saints. Of course all holy oblates who have run the
course and dwell now on God’s holy mountain (RB Prologue 23) are among
them! Again, some of them we have known,
lived with, and love; some we have not.
It is comforting to know that each of us has a place reserved for us among
them, with our names spelled out in gold, or so I like to imagine. For all those who have gone before us,
Benedictines or not, saints or saints-still-in-the making, we can be very
grateful. For those still on the way, we
can and should pray.
At the Abbey, after supper every night, we read the names of
all of the deceased Sisters of our own monastery and the other monasteries who
make up what is called the Federation of Benedictine Monasteries of Nuns,
including our motherhouse, the Abbey of St. Walburg in Germany—whose Abbess
many of you knew when she was Sister Hildegard of this house and oblate
director. We read their names on the
anniversary of their deaths, and we pray for them. But the nuns of this house and of the
Federation are not the only names in the book.
We also read the names of all of our oblates who have died on this day,
whom we remember also with joy and gratitude.
If we live as faithful listeners, you and I can hope that our names,
too, will be read out on the anniversary of our death, and that future
generations will remember and pray for us.
This November, let us all remember the listeners who have
gone before us and remember the last words they heard as they stood on the
threshold of death where we will one day stand:
“Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt 25:34).
Let us pray with them; let us pray for them who have not yet
fully completed that crossing; and let
us pray for one another as we walk together on the way, that we may all listen
faithfully as they did and be gathered into the great company of saints in the
world to come. Amen!
Copyright 2021 Abbey of St. Walburga
