Monastic blogs – five favourites

As we move through Holy Week, I’ve been remembering my early fascination with monastic communities.

I recall being aware as a child that all over the world there were quiet, mysterious, enclosed spaces where groups of women and of men lived silent lives.

(You have to realise I was named after Therese of Lisieux, and my romantic fantasies about her sickly decline and early death behind the grille of her Carmel were wholly positive. And I did not take into account that monasteries are full of ordinary people like you and me who have difficulties getting on with each other.)

Then my teenage years brought me a less romantic type of nun: the tough, slightly mad individuals from the teaching order at my Catholic grammar school. Suffice to say that cured me of any rosy fantasies about monastic living, and awareness of the existence of the contemplative orders swum to the back of my mind and stayed there for many years.

But now I’ve regained that awareness of those communities of people in quiet spaces of prayer around the world. Many of them live a life that hasn’t altered that much in centuries, at least in its intent, if not always in its practice.

One practice that’s very new is the concept of the monastic blog. Who’d have thought it! But these are such an interesting window into a world that most people will never experience and many think is a complete waste of time.

So today I wanted to share with you my five favourite monastic blogs:

1. Musings of a Discerning Woman by Sr Susan Rose Francois, CSJP, of Seattle. This was the first monastic blog I ever read, and I appreciate the social activism emphasis. And you gotta love someone who calls her sisters “groovy” and posts about Kurt Cobain.
2. A Nun’s Life by Sr Julie Vieira, IHM, in Michigan. What is says on the can: thoughtful and informative writing about the monastic life. Sr Julie is also responsible for the introduction of Nunday in which she posts photographic portraits of nuns from all over the world. It’s an attempt to point out that monastic vocations may be less common, but they still exist.
3. Colophon is a blog by Benedictine nuns in an Oxfordshire community. This is a relatively new monastery, and I’ve only recently discovered the blog. I like the self-deprecating tone, and the brief podcasts. If you’re unfamiliar with the traditions of Holy Week, you may be interested in the podcast attached to this post.
4. I love Nunsuch partly because its writer, Sandy Yost, CSJ, uses the strapline adventures of a techie nun. As well as being a nun, Sandy is Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Detroit Mercy. If that doesn’t blow away your preconceptions about monastic living, I don’t know what will. Her blog is full and rich, as her life appears to be.
5. Finally, A vow of conversation, by Macrina Walker, OCSO, from the Cistercian community of Koningsoord Abbey in the Netherlands. This is probably the most overtly theological and “learned” of the five. Macrina uses the blog as a framework for her theological reading. It is not the sort of writing you can skim, but it really rewards some concentration. I was very moved by the quote from Adalbert de Vogue about Benedictine life with which she begins this post.

So those are my five favourite monastic blogs. I’d be very interested to hear of other recommendations readers might have.

Image by luchilo

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