SJC Chapel Reveries
10/23/2009 12:13 am
This is where, as a child, I discovered how it was to be in communion with the Spirit. Entering this place opened a way for me to be close to a Supreme being. I was in awe of Someone so much bigger than me yet the intimacy of the small place seemed to be an embrace from Him who loved me. Even then, I guess, solitude was something I sought. I found solace in the soft light and the simple beauty of the chapel.I remember now that I would take a few minutes each day to pray like a young girl would. I was so sure that He was always there to listen to me.
The chapel is also where I heard the beautiful singing of the sisters in the late afternoon (Vespers, I think). I would be entranced by the angelic voices wafting from the windows. Those moments would transport me into a state that had me imagining I could be like them.
And then I grew up! And would ultimately decide that the sisters' world wasn't for me.
But seeing the chapel again after more than 30 years, it still held me spellbound. Sitting quietly there brought me back to the days when life was pure and simple. Reminding me how good it was when loving God and pleasing him without question was all that mattered.
(Image from the FB album of Toinette Bernales)
This is where, as a child, I discovered how it was to be in communion with the Spirit. Entering this place opened a way for me to be close to a Supreme being. I was in awe of Someone so much bigger than me yet the intimacy of the small place seemed to be an embrace from Him who loved me. Even then, I guess, solitude was something I sought. I found solace in the soft light and the simple beauty of the chapel.I remember now that I would take a few minutes each day to pray like a young girl would. I was so sure that He was always there to listen to me.
The chapel is also where I heard the beautiful singing of the sisters in the late afternoon (Vespers, I think). I would be entranced by the angelic voices wafting from the windows. Those moments would transport me into a state that had me imagining I could be like them.
And then I grew up! And would ultimately decide that the sisters' world wasn't for me.
But seeing the chapel again after more than 30 years, it still held me spellbound. Sitting quietly there brought me back to the days when life was pure and simple. Reminding me how good it was when loving God and pleasing him without question was all that mattered.
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