{"id":4564,"date":"2010-11-22T01:05:53","date_gmt":"2010-11-22T07:05:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/?p=4564"},"modified":"2010-11-22T01:05:53","modified_gmt":"2010-11-22T07:05:53","slug":"at-the-abbey-of-gethsemani","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2010\/11\/22\/at-the-abbey-of-gethsemani\/","title":{"rendered":"At The Abbey of Gethsemani"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Thomas
Abbey of Gethsemani (Lori Erickson photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cCistercian architecture explains many things about our rule and our life. A church [in this tradition] is born of prayer and is a prayer.\u00a0 Its simplicity and its energy tell us what our prayer should be. It simply says what Saint Benedict already told us: that we must pray to God \u2018with all humility and purity of devotion\u2026not in many words but in purity of heart and in the compunction of tears.\u2019 The churches of our Fathers express their humility and their silence\u2026They did not waste words with God or with men and in their buildings they did not waste anything either.\u201d<\/p>\n

So writes Thomas Merton in The Sign of Jonas<\/a>,\u00a0in a passage describing his home at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky.\u00a0 The passage explains very well why the abbey\u2019s sanctuary is exceedingly spare and simple, with a single small icon for adornment.\u00a0 Even its stained glass windows are subtle in color and reserved in style.<\/p>\n

What the church has, however, is sense of soaring interior space and a powerful sense of prayerful silence.\u00a0 That\u2019s not surprising, of course, given the fact that those who worship here are intimately acquainted with silence.\u00a0 It\u2019s as if that silence has seeped into the bones of this building, permeating its very molecules.<\/p>\n

When I first saw the abbey church I must admit to feeling a twinge of disappointment. \u00a0My personal preference is for a bit more color and decoration.\u00a0 But as I sat there, because it was so spare and simple, I began to notice subtle things.\u00a0 As the minutes passed, I saw how the pattern of sunlight on the wall ever so slowly shifted.\u00a0 And the silence around me came to seem almost like a living thing, brilliant and muted at the same time.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven when I cannot think straight, God straightens me out as soon as I get a minute alone in church,\u201d writes Merton in The Sign of Jonas<\/a>\"\".\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIt is good to go and pray even when you feel washed out.\u00a0 The mere effort makes you feel better. You are giving something of your silly self away, and that always nourishes you.\u201d<\/p>\n

You are giving something of your silly self away<\/em>\u2014marvelous line, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 And certainly this church, this haven of silence and sunlight, is a good place to let it go.<\/p>\n

\"Thomas
At the Abbey of Gethsemani (Lori Erickson photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cCistercian architecture explains many things about our rule and our life. A church [in this tradition] is born of prayer and is a prayer.\u00a0 Its simplicity and its energy tell us what our prayer should be. It simply says what Saint Benedict already told us: that we must pray to God \u2018with all humility and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2582,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[142],"tags":[170,651,843],"class_list":["post-4564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spiritual-writers","tag-abbey-of-gethsemani","tag-sign-of-jonas","tag-thomas-merton"],"yoast_head":"\nAt The Abbey of Gethsemani<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cCistercian architecture explains many things about our rule and our life. 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