Pilgrimage into the Vowed Life

Before I entered Mount St. Scholastica as a postulant, I went on a pilgrimage to Wales. As I stand on the threshold of making my first profession, I am preparing to make another pilgrimage of sorts—a pilgrimage into the vowed Benedictine life.

In the book Living Between Worlds: Place and Journey in Celtic Spirituality, Philip Sheldrake notes, “The true object of pilgrimage had always been a loving attention to God; there was a deep suspicion of pilgrims who did not already carry with them the God whom they sought.” My primary object in making vows as a Benedictine is to grow in awareness and love of the God who has always been with me. I’m grateful to have the support of the community in this, our common quest.

The vows are tools derived from the wisdom of St. Benedict, and I will gladly make use of them. However, whether we make formal vows or not, everyone who rises to a new day is invited to enter into the mystery of loving Christ, who often becomes present to us in surprising ways. Along with St. Brendan, we can pray:

Help me to journey beyond the familiar

and into the unknown.

Give me the faith to leave old ways

and break fresh ground with you.

Christ of the mysteries, I trust you

to be stronger than each storm within me.

I will trust in the darkness and know

that my times, even now, are in your hand.

Tune my spirit to the music of heaven,

and somehow, make my obedience count for you.