Thursday, January 30, 2014

Away for a few days


This is the interior of the 12th century monastery church of the Benedictine nuns of Our Lady of Rosano, an ancient Benedictine house near Florence. I'm going there for the weekend to have some quiet time.



Some few months ago, I visited some nice American nuns who were making a foundation here. During one of my chats with one of these very friendly sisters, she asked, "what is stopping you from saying the full Divine Office every day?"

The only possible answer to that question is, "Me".


As far as I can figure, these nuns in Rosano, whose community has been there since AD 780, are the only ones in the country who do the full Monastic Office in Latin. It's also the place where Cardinal Ratzinger liked to take his retreats. Everyone says it's very nice. They are also one of the most invisible sets of nuns I've ever seen. They have no internet access, no computer, no email address and no website.

Perfect!

So, I'll be away for the weekend. You may all talk quietly amongst yourselves until the bell rings. Dale, you're in charge. Please take attendance. If there's any noise from you lot, I'll know about it when I get back on Sunday afternoon.



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