The World in a Single Ray of Light by Sister Maureen O'Larey, OSB

"Benedict...stood by the window praying to the Lord Almighty. All at once, in the middle of the night, he looked up and saw a light spreading from on high and completely repelling the darkness of the night. It shone with such splendor that it surpassed the light of day, even though it was shining in the midst of darkness.

A marvelous thing followed in this contemplation for, as he himself related afterwards, the whole world was brought before his eyes, gathered up, as it were, under a single ray of sun."
                           --from Book II of the Dialogues of St. Gregory the Great.

Benedict lived over 1,500 years ago in a time that was chaotic and turbulent. There were invasions of his country. Nothing was certain. Benedict was given a glimpse of the world as God sees it: "the whole world gathered under a single ray of the sun." God sees the world without bor-ders or distinctions. God em-braces the world as one. I believe this vision had a profound impact on Benedict. Benedict became a man of vision and developed a model of community life that embraces all. In our turbulent world, we can learn from this vision.

The Rule of Benedict describes a community where the young and the old, the rich and the poor, the cleric and the non-cleric are all given equal status. Unlike the surrounding society, there are no social distinctions within a Benedictine community. Each member is given according to one's needs. There is special reverence for the sick. Counsel is sought from all members, the older and experienced members and the youngest. Monastics are to show a pure love to one another. All are to persevere with one another in reconciling and beginning each day anew. All members' hearts are to learn to overflow with the inexpressible delight of God's love, which is relational. While acknowledging diversity, Benedict's model sought a unity that is built upon shared strengths and weaknesses.

Through prayerful discernment, the community here at St. Placid Priory is seeking to live out Benedict's vision in a special way. When we listened to the Holy Spirit in prayer together we heard and formulated the following direction statements:

• In 1998: "We will develop community life that promotes acceptance, respect for diversity, and healthy interpersonal rela-tionships."

• In 2002: We added, "We will promote monastic life and thereby encourage women with a monastic call to join us in our mission—Benedictine community, prayer, nurturing spiritual life, and partnering with African women."

Slowly, with God's guidance, we are seeing these directions unfold in an intercultural way.

We learned of Benedictine Sisters residing in Chipole, Tanzania who desired a college education so that they might staff their primary and secondary schools. Less than 5% of the women in their country receive a secondary education. Collaborating with St. Martin's College which provides tuition scholarships, the Priory has been home for the past five years for Sisters Beatrice and Redemista who will graduate in May. In September 2002, Sisters Anamaria and Redempta came to further their education. Through a program sponsored by AIM, the Alliance for International Monasticism, this summer Sister Lucy will teach a course in spirituality at Chipole and two other Benedictine communities in Tanzania.

Sisters from outside the United States have come to our monastery for rest
and renewal. We have been developing ties with Monastero S. Giuseppe, a Benedictine community in Assisi, Italy, and their daughter house in the Philippines. We have shipped books for the formation of their new members. We are delighted that Sister Carmela, from that community, has been with us on sabbatical since January. Sister Lourdes, from Sri Lanka, was with us for six months while she was enrolled in the International Trauma Treatment Program.

St. Placid Priory is a member of the Federation of St. Benedict, an international federation comprised of Benedictine Sisters from the United States, Taiwan, Japan, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas. At our Federation General Chapter, rooted in the gospel and Benedict's vision, together we worked to "explore creative ways to share our gifts of leadership and human material resources, deepen our monastic life, and foster a global consciousness."

I read recently that when one's heart expands, the world gets smaller. I believe that this is the goal of Benedictine monasticism. I see it happening here at St. Placid Priory. Through all of our connections we find that, although we come from communities throughout our world, we are all monastic Sisters who seek God through a communal life of prayer and work. Our extended community of Oblates, Associates and friends also appreciate the opportunity to have this direct contact of promoting friendships with people around the world.

The Tree of Life pictured above was carved from a single piece of wood and shows African people standing on the shoulders of one another. It is a graphic illustration of the unity and interdependence that Benedict had in mind. Surely this is a model for peace, solidarity, and understanding among peoples of diverse cultures, in our monasteries and in our world.