Several of you have mentioned being unable to leave comments on the cloistered heart blog. Because that is to be a quiet spot of monastic silence in our hectic lives, it does not have comments.
HOWEVER, even cloistered nuns and monks observing silence have gathering times - recreations, celebrations, and visits in the parlor with family and friends.
This blog exists for the sole purpose of being a place to visit, to leave comments... to be a kind of "parlor." Unique? Surely! ...and thank you for being kind enough not to say things like "yes, and strange!"
This will hopefully give us an opportunity to visit once in awhile without anyone feeling they "should" leave comments.
To leave a message, click on "comments" at the bottom of this post. I know you'll be kind and will keep comments g-rated, with no disputing of Church teaching. Comments violating these guidelines would be removed. What you write will be moderated, so won't show up immediately onscreen.
Thank you! "Blessed be the Lord forever, amen and amen." (Psalm 90:53)
To return to the Cloistered Heart blog after visiting here, click this line.
Hi Nancy, I'll have a cup please..Earl Grey decaf if you have any :)
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you found my blog so that I could find you, because you are so much fun, even while leaving the most awesome and thought-provoking comments all over the place.
Yes! Blessed be the Lord, and may His Sacred Heart be ever adored and loved in this world and the next. His Sweet Heart, our Refuge!
Patricia, I'd be privileged to run out and get some Earl Grey decaf JUST FOR YOU! But it actually happens to be my own favorite tea, so I have some right here... just have to pour it into the computer. Which, given my tendency toward spilling, could actually happen anytime now...
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your very kind words. And I say AMEN AMEN AMEN to your prayer that Our Lord's Sacred Heart be ever adored and loved. His Heart is indeed our ultimate Refuge... amen!
Nancy,
ReplyDeleteI love the fact that The Cloistered Heart is a quiet haven, but this parlor blog is truly inspired; I love it. And I will join you and Patricia for a cup of that Earl Grey. (Perhaps I will bring some scones :)
Karinann, the scones sound lovely. The last time I had such yummies I was in Western Australia, far from my American home. Maybe someone can bring along some jam? (..and I'm sure our Australia friends will share their Vegemite..)
ReplyDeleteI will bring some java and homemade biscotti : )
ReplyDeleteI love the quotes you left on CH...Br. Lawrence is one of my faves. I like
the concept that the people around you cannot interiorly disturb you if you
don't let them. Hard to put into practice but so true.
Looking forward to starting your book...just got it today.
God bless...
Homemade biscotti - oh, YUM. Theresa, Bother Lawrence is one of my faves also. Don't we have the most wonderful role models, who have left marvelous road maps for us to follow on our journey Home?
ReplyDeleteImagine the Feast awaiting us all THERE.
Thank you for allowing us this option to post comments! I've often wanted to tell you how thankful I am for your blog. Your posts often make my day. Yes, this is a good way to keep the peace in your "cloister" but still allow for "visitors"
ReplyDeleteKarinann, if you bring some scones I'll bring the clotted cream. =)
Susan
Susan, YOU have made MY day! Thank you so much. Wow, we really do have a grand feast shaping up, don't we?! I don't think I've ever had clotted cream. It sounds quite rich and wonderful, as is the company in which we are enjoying these grand delicacies.....
DeleteNancy, I have been following your blog ever since it was recommended by one of our brothers in our community. We are an ecumenical vowed community of men and women solitarys/hermits living the rule of St. Benedict as followed by the Camaldolese. I have found your insights to be wise and a good source for the checks and balances so needed in all of our lives. Thank you so much and yes we certainly need a place to recreate and share snippets of our journeys over tea and a sconce. Blessings...
ReplyDeleteSr. Clare Benedicta cos~cam.
Sr. Clare Benedicta, I am SO happy you took the time to stop over in the "parlor." Thank you for doing so, and for your very kind words. I'm deeply encouraged to know you're here. I have such a wonderful sense of a door opening, a door through which we can come in and speak with one another - strengthen and encourage one another as we each live for God in our various ways of life. Thanks be to God!!
DeleteLove your post today on the indwelling of Christ in our hearts and those who do not allow Him to dwell there. Very profound thought...very sad. Such an insightful post...thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Theresa. It was a post that moved me even as I wrote it; I kept having a picture of Jesus sitting in a corner of my heart, waiting for me to sit down and talk with Him. Sobering.
DeleteYour post was a powerful reminder. I love Corinthians 10 too. I always think of the Desert Fathers and how they always have the advice to keep a guard at our soul against any thoughts that were not of God. It is key...that we really have to guard ourselves...and what a job that is today!
ReplyDeleteYes, Theresa, it IS a job today, isn't it? The battle rages all around. Thanks be to God for His enormous grace.
DeleteHi Nancy, I have to say that I am glad you keep using that same grille image because it re-inforces your message so well.
ReplyDeleteFor me personally, coming to your beautiful space, and seeing the familiar structures, gives me a sense of coming apart from the din of the world and entering into a sanctuary, where I know I can find kindred hearts adoring our Lord.
I am very grateful for the chance to visit at your grille!
I also love the quote from St Francis De Sales, and I often rebuke thoughts and even dreams in the manner he recommends.
He is a wonderful guide for the spiritual life :-)
blessings..Trish ( who has along brought her vegemite sandwiches to share!)
Thank you, Trish. As I read what you said about coming back to the same grille image, I thought: "of course!" If Scripture is the "grille" through which we (learn to) view and respond to everything.. well, it is unchanging. It is Scripture that is the grille to which we always return. The Word of God is ever new, ever fresh... but unchanging. It does not sway with every shift in the wind. And I think this will turn into a brand new post if I continue in this vein..!!
DeleteYes, St. Francis de Sales has much wisdom for us, doesn't he? I am so thankful for him.
I'm so glad you're here, so very glad. And even with vegemite sandwiches!:)! NOW we can pour the tea!
Nancy,
ReplyDeleteI love that you return to the basics of the Cloistered Heart. It is a great reminder to those of us trying to live this way to return to the basics especially when we start to feel that pull from the world.
I think I might look for a picture of some grille work to keep on my desk at work and here at home as a concrete reminder.
Enjoyed this parlor visit :)
God bless.
Thank you, Karinann. I find that I need all of the reminders I can get... for the part of the world that lives apart from God clamors for my attention all of the time, it seems.
DeleteNancy, Not only is the reminder and and the basics of the Cloistered Heart so greatly appreciated, it's the company of others who are seeking it though we are not together in a 'building'. Until I began blogging and meeting so many wonderful hearts after the Lord, I felt so alone on the journey. Not all seek it in the same way..It can be a lonely road. Your words are such a blessing. I love the parlor visits. +
ReplyDeleteCaroline, absolutely! The company of others seeking to live totally for God in the midst of the world is an amazing blessing, from our God Who knows we need each other. What you said about not all seeking it in the same way rang bells in me. We can feel so alone. And then, one day.. surprise! We find one another! I, too, love the parlor visits. And I'm so glad you're here. Thanks be to God.
DeleteYour post on the cloistered heart expresses perfectly what I haven't been able to put into words. Well done!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you've opened this parlor for comments. Great idea.
Thank you, Nancy, for all that you are giving us, the images, the thoughts,the profound words. I can just get lost in them all. What a gift you have for opening up your heart, mind and soul and letting us look in and benefit from your wisdom. Yet you are so down to earth, a "real" person with all of the trials and tribulations that we all have to endure. thank you for introducing us to this wonderful secluded place deep within each of our hearts that we may go there anytime and be alone with Our Lord. The peace that is there in that quiet and joyous place is awesome. Please keep up the good work and we will continue to join you here in the Parlor. God bless you.
ReplyDeleteWhat very kind words... thank you so much. God is good to open this place of refuge to us, isn't He? Where even in the midst of everyday life, we can strive to live totally for Him. I am so glad you've come to the parlor; I pray that we may all help one another as we share our hearts for God. God bless you!
DeleteI love the Cloistered Heart, it gives me hope and encouragement as I struggle to serve God alone. As others have said, one can feel so very isolated but reading your words nourishes me more than I can express. Thank you Nancy.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much. I find it a blessing to know, when the world around appears not to think much about God, that there are many who want to live for Him. I am so glad you're here with us.
DeleteDearest Nancy and all cloistered sisters, I have lived this way for a while now. Strangely I do not feel so alone, for although I Love just the Him and me in intimacy together, I have allowed the saints into my cloister. Some deeper in than others Magdalene with her example of infinite requited Love, St Phillip Niri with his humour, St John and The 2 Teresa's with their strength of character, St Mary Magdalene de,Pazzi, Francis de sales, St Aelred of Rievaulx. St Maria Goretti.
ReplyDeleteSt Catherine of Sienna keeps sending me friendship requests too. :O)
It is a blessing to have discovered the cloistered heart. A place where I know I have sisters upon this beautiful earth x Thank you x
How wonderful to hear from you! I am a reader of your lovely blog, magsmuse. I, too, allow the saints into my cloister, and I love how you put that. They are so encouraging as we travel this road.
ReplyDeleteAnd I am smiling as I think of St. Catherine of Siena sending you friendship requests!!!
Oh St francis, I am so sorry to have forgotten to put you so close to the top. I was prompted to think about joining St Francis 3rd order by an Maria Asumpta sister a few weeks back. I could spend all of my days in nature in contemplation in Love. Just pondering all things at present.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea why my mags Gravatar Image will not present herself upon the parlor wall? Maybe she is being shy! I am so glad to be sharing magsmuse with a cloistered heart sister . . . long may we share in Him x mags x
Mags, I hope your picture will show up here one of these days. I know nothing about such things, and only work (learning as I go) according to a bloggers' "kit." :)
DeleteI like the thought of our pictures being on the parlor wall. Now that is nice
to think about.... family photos, hung right there against the wallpaper!!
I can spend a LOT of time in contemplation of nature also. My husband once asked me, after I'd sat for literally hours by the shore just staring into the waves, "how can you DO that!?!!" Ah, but every wave is a new wave, and look at how the sun shines through it just SO. I can "do that" in the woods also, and at a lake, and looking through a suburban window into that one wide tree...
Thanks be to God for His beauty all around. If we just look.
Hello my dear Kindred Heart Friend, Nancy....this "anonymous" is yours truly Joy/Stephanie...I don't want to remain "Anonymous" in the future....but in my inexperience with the computer...blogs and posting, etc ...I could not see how to close my message except with Anonymous.I'm not sure what name/URL is...sorry.... What a wonderful idea this is....I love the Parlor....I am amazed at all of the others who are so alike in heart...and this gathering place is so sweet and intimate that we can come here..express our similarities and learn from each other...I can only wonder how my dear friend can find time for yet one more thing...but I know that when you are doing God's will He makes a way for you...take care of yourself.. we want to meet you in the Parlor for a long, long time..Love, Stephanie on Welcome to the "Parlor"!
ReplyDeleteWhat JOY it IS to find you here today!!! I have no idea about URLs and all of that either. As I said to mags above, I can work only according to a "kit!"
DeleteIsn't the Parlor fun? Such great friends here! I hope you can come back and back and back, bringing the JOY of your words that are always so inspiring and fresh and real, and have blessed ALL of us during these months (big hint: anyone who has read the cloistered heart blog for awhile has already heard several times from Joy).
Thank you for being here with us! Hooray!
Joy if you click on name/url you can then either type in your name and then hit publish, or type in your web address (if you have one) where it says url and then publish, and this is what will be visible on the post. xxx
ReplyDeleteNancy, seconds become minutes become hours become a whole day in contemplation doesn't it, a little breath of retreat, the magic is in the moment becoming timeless and eternal x
x Eyes that see x
Thank you magsmuse..I experimented and it worked...I am so intimidated by this computer..I hope to overcome that as time goes by and I get more practice. Thank you for teaching a fellow cloistered heart something new, not only with your insightful words but also with your knowledge of the computer...
DeleteThank you, Nancy, for allowing us this wonderful parlor to congregate in and share with each other..I can see that it is going to be a blessing to all who enter in...God Bless...Joy
It is indeed a pleasure to gather here. May God bless us all :)!
DeleteThank you from me too Megamuse, I had to be Anonymous for exactly the same reason as Joy.
ReplyDeleteJean, I am so glad to see you here!!
DeleteThank you from me too, Magsmuse. I have been reading and following along, but been unable to "speak". I am filled with JOY to visit with my sisters in the Parlor. COMMUNITY IS SO IMPORTANT and sometimes it is hard to find it in your very own town. This is a blessing and God send, to have a community in this way. I love coming on The Cloistered Heart website everyday (if even only for a minute or two to look at the beautiful, peaceful, restful pictures). ..... and when more time, to visit in the parlor. Don't you love the parlor picture? Nancy, it is so welcoming and inviting....and how God intended our lives to be, with hearts toward Him and eachother, sharing our love,spreading our love. I praise the Lord! I want to share that I've watched 2 Robin families and a House Wren family - from nest building, eggs, babies, and those babies leaving the nest. He works miracles even in their lives. One "newborn" fell from his nest.....I put him back in ...he was kind of on top of the other 3, who were all tucked deep and neatly in the nest. When I checked a couple hours later, mommy Robin had tucked him back in perfectly! I just marveled at God's work in this. ...and then when they "flew the coop" how the parents (both) protected them as they hopped along and began to fly. Wow! God clearly reveals Himself to me in nature - as well as just sitting in my prayer room. Long enough. God bless you all.
ReplyDeleteMary, welcome to the parlor! It's wonderful to have you here, and I thank you for your really kind words.
DeleteWhat a blessing that you've been able to witness (and even help rescue!) these new little birdies. I, too, find that God reveals Himself to me in nature. I can spend hours just looking into a single tree... for the longer I look, the more I see happening in and around it. Thank God for such wonders.
Mary's words and description of the wonder of God's hand in the everyday ordinary things that so often go unnoticed really touched me...It makes me aware of how we all need to pray to be more aware and see the Holy in the ordinary..I am working on this myself...I am trying to learn to see God in everything and everyone..I am especially trying to notice and be thankful for all of the prayers that He answers for me and how His way is even bigger and better than what I had asked for...His goodness cannot be outdone..from the simple request for a parking place up close to a much needed for real miracle...I think that if more of us tried to slow down...relax and enjoy each and every minute that we have been given, we would all be able to see and appreciate the love and affection that He has for all..nothing is coincidence, but all gift from our loving Father..Thank you, Lord
DeleteMary, I love birds! Thank you for sharing your sweet story. I love watching the birds..building their nests one piece of straw or grass etc., at a time, then patiently sitting on the eggs, feeding the babies till it's time to fly away. How could such beauty and sweetness ever be an "accident of nature!" Oh, and the birdsongs...to gently wake us in the morning. Thank you Father!
DeleteHow wonderful! And how perfectly perfect this is. I have wanted to tell you how beautiful The Cloistered Heart is - both as a way of loving God, and as a source of inspiration and encouragement in blog form. Yet, if I'd been able to do so by leaving you a comment, it would no longer be the peaceful refuge it now is.
ReplyDeleteNancy, even when I am not able to read here for long periods of time, I carry the charism of The Cloistered Heart with me. I am so grateful for it as I try to figure out how to be in the world but not of the world - how to answer this call I feel to be set apart somehow, without literally being apart as a Religious.
God bless you! And thank you.
Tess, I am SO glad to have you "here!" I resonate thoroughly with the question of how to answer the call to be set apart without being a Religious. It has been a core question in my life.
DeleteAgain: it's wonderful to know you're walking this path also... thank you so much for visiting our little "parlor"!!
Nancy,
ReplyDeleteI love the thought of a contemplative renewal. People in all corners of the world allowing God to set them apart, their saying yes to His call to them to pray in and for the world. "There is hope. It is He." Just a few words but oh so powerful. May the seeds of this renewal spread and take root and bloom like wild flowers holding the fertile soil of His world and His Church.
Thank you, Karinann. I was struck by Father's words when I read them again ... so simple, so hopeful, so true. And I think as I write this of it being illegal to pick sea oats at the shore, because (I was told) the roots hold the sand together and prevent erosion. Hmm.
DeleteWelcome to the parlor, Colleen! What a privilege it is to have you here. Thanks so much for your kind words, and please come visit at any time!
ReplyDeleteNancy, I Love the little secret fruitful revelations of the cloister's, especially the last post on Love. Which is my beginning and my end. I was privileged enough to be at John Henry Newman's Beatification Mass. The last post spoke to me with absolute great timing for I had just left this in response on another blog.
ReplyDelete"I often imagine God having made me without a voice or words, (the word listen and silent are made from the same letters). How then my Evangelization could be pronounced by Love alone, across all boundaries and borders and all faiths and cultures. I am almost sure it would triumph every-time."
I Love Mother Teresa's snippets of poetry made real, so beautiful. Thank you x
Magsmuse, your words are rich and beautiful... and actually (I know this sounds dramatic but it's true) even "startling" in their timing for me. Just a few minutes before I came to this screen, I had occasion to wonder what it would be like to not be able to think in words. And here you are, having written of that very thing! We would have a language regardless, that of Love. I suspect I will be thinking of this often today, the language of Love Alone. Thank you for sharing this here.
DeleteI had never thought before about listen and silent being made of the same letters. Something else to ponder.
And what a privilege you had, indeed, to be at Cardinal Newman's Beatification Mass!
I think of Heaven (..."Nancy says as she writes a post in response to a comment about a post..."), where there will be no language barriers. The language there will surely be Love Alone.
Kindred Sisters x Yes x To Love tenderly t'is All.
ReplyDeleteNancy, Mother Theresa's humble words never fail to stop me in my tracks and make me think twice about how I'm really living and reflecting the love of Christ. Her simplicity has unfathomable depth. I love her.. Blessings +
ReplyDeleteCaroline, I love Mother Teresa also. "her simplicity has unfahtomable depth..." I like that.
ReplyDeleteNancy..your writings and thoughts are so profound that I find myself at times only able to read a little at a time as I want to savor and digest every little tasty morsel...I will come back during the day and read it over again or continue where I left off...When I sit to read the blog for the day or go back and catch up on one I missed..I am in such a receptive expectant mood and just know that whatever you are sharing or whatever saint you are quoting for the day...I will be richly blessed and will go out and share my "pearl of great price" with others that I may come across who could be touched and helped by your wisdom also...thank you for all of the research and time that you put into helping us grow in our "cloistered hearts". May God bless you as you continue to bless others....
ReplyDeleteJoy, what very generous words. Thank you. I love the research time, because I spend it in the company of the saints! I am just so glad to be able to SHARE the treasures I find!
DeleteNancy, I have just had time to catch up on about two weeks worth of comments here and I am so deeply touched by all the beautiful sharing, and all of the love expressed for Our Lord here. What a blessed and peaceful place. I too often feel so alone on this journey, and it is so good to know their are others out there trying to live for God, and sharing their thoughts and experiences in your parlor. Surely Jesus is right here with us, and so delighted in this place.
ReplyDeleteI also just read your most recent posts at The Cloistered Heart, and like everyone else, I find so much to take away with me. You are such a lovely presence here in the blogosphere, and I truly thank God for the gift of you...and your parlor.
Thank you, Nancy.
Patricia, your words are very kind and I am humbled. Thank you. I, too, am grateful for the "parlor," where we can share our hearts for God WITH ONE ANOTHER ... that is such a great grace. Thanks be to God.
DeleteI really like your post today, simple yet profound. Isn't that so like Br. Lawrence to go and say that? LOL! I am really striving to do this...I fail so often. I continue to pray for the grace to be with Him every moment so I do not forget Him for a second.
ReplyDeleteYour book is such an inspiration. I have much highlighted {which means it is a great book in my language!} I am trying to recall the image of listening at Jesus' feet throughout the day. Thank you!
Yes, it IS like Brother Lawrence to say something simple yet profound, isn't it?!
DeleteThank you so much for your generous comments. They mean a lot to me.
Nancy I love the quote by St Ambrose, but what really took hold of me were the two pictures you posted and they way you positioned them; I found it quite powerful and had a hard time taking my eyes from them.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the visual meditation.
Karinann, I've had the exact same reaction. I can't and won't take any credit for that arrangement, because I was just experimenting with "which picture shall I use and could there be room for both of these.." when they suddenly lined right up like that onscreen. I just sat and stared. I left the computer with reluctance, and the memory inspired my prayer as I went off to sleep and as I woke up this morning. Thanks be to GOD.
DeleteNancy, I just thought I would say hi. I noticed you commenting on some of the blogs I regularly read: Mary's, Caroline's, Patricia's and followed you over here. I loved the quotes on living love and the quote from Brother Lawrence. God Bless You!
ReplyDeleteColleen, thanks so much for stopping by! I just paid a visit to your blog, and enjoyed it very much. I'll be returning there later today, when I have a bit more time (??!?) to read at leisure. So nice to have you in the "parlor" today!
DeleteNancy,
ReplyDeleteThank you for inviting us into the Cloister Garden today. My own "soul garden" really needs some weeding; I find myself very distracted lately. So I am bringing a rose to your garden~ a beautiful flower, but also a bit thorny~ a little like me lately :)
So I am off to weed out those distractions and then water the soil with prayer and abandonment to what God wants rather than what I want. Hmm... may need some fertilizer for that big job:)
A very pretty garden you had for a visit. I love your choice of quotes. This is one of my favorite quotes in the whole Bible, "Live on in Me, as I do in you."
ReplyDeleteGreat post today Nancy! I agree with Karinann...I am very distracted and dry lately, more so than usual. The summer is a time of trial for me due to the extreme heat and lack of routine. I find it hard to sit still. But I need to...filling the emptiness with Him instead of all the little distractions.
ReplyDeleteNancy, Love this post.You ask one of those questions that in the immediate I think I know the answer too, but in reflection, I find weeds after all. I have allowed disappointments and distractions in the last few weeks to plant weeds in my garden..
ReplyDeleteIt's finding beautiful reminders like this that encourage me to just get up and start weeding..no pity party..just get back up and garden. +
Thanks, everyone - it is lovely to join together for "tea in the garden" :) today! At least in cybergardens it isn't HOT! I like the reminder to just get back up and garden. I'm an old pro pity-partier, and I find the habit SO hard to break. Or maybe I should say, I find such weeds really tough to uproot.
ReplyDeleteI just had a mental image, as I wrote that line, of a woman pulling up weeds. She was kneeling to do so.
hmmmmmm.......
We are now taking our discussion to an adjacent "parlor"...! To comment there, go back up to the most recent post, and click on THAT comments line. I am closing this PARTICULAR post to comments after someone had a problem trying to write something here. I'm leaving these comments visible, however, and I invite you to enjoy the richness herein...... forever!! :)
ReplyDeleteSee you in a few minutes?