FRIDAY:
We are at the retreat house, which is across the street from the Abbey. I am in Room 7, on the first floor at the end of a long hallway. It has a bed, a desk, and two chairs – one at the desk and the other is an armchair. There is a small mirror on the back of the door. A plain wooden cross is on the wall near the bed. Over the bed there is a rod for hanging clothes. You can’t hang anything too long as it would be in your face.
I arrived a little after 6 pm. There was a lot of traffic, especially in the Braintree area. I parked in the Abbey parking lot and got out and walked around but didn’t see anyone, so I called Nancy on her cell phone. She told me to get back in the car and drive across the street to a small house which is where the retreats are held. Many other people did the same as I did.
A monk named Brother Daniel brought our dinner at 6:30 pm, which consisted of a large tray of baked tortellini with vegetables, salad, garlic bread, and fruit. The dining room has four round tables. We had a choice of water, juice, tea, or coffee to drink. There are 18 of us, 17 women and 1 man. The two leaders are Nancy, who is a minister at All Saints Church in Worcester, and Emily, a poet and writing instructor at UMass Medical School.
After we cleared our tables and loaded the dishwasher we met in the library. Nancy and Emily took turns speaking and we briefly introduced ourselves. The gathering ended a little after 9, and I went to my room, read for a while then went to sleep.
SATURDAY:
I woke up around 6 am and went into the kitchen where someone had already made coffee. We have a refrigerator filled with milk, juice, and seltzer, and there are boxes of cereal, bread, and fruit for our breakfast. I took my coffee outside to a small garden with a bench and sat there a while. Went back in for more coffee then chatted with another woman.
At 7:30 some of us met for morning prayer. It was a kind of body prayer where we stretched and Nancy led a meditation. Then we had free time till 9. People were encouraged to do whatever they wanted during our unscheduled time. Many people went outside, some stayed in their rooms, and some hung out and talked. I showered, then had my breakfast – cereal and fruit. Then Joanna (the woman I talked to earlier) and I walked down the street for a little ways, seeing what was around. At 9 we all met in the library and talked about writing, being observant, being a good listener and being listened to. We broke into small groups of 4 for sharing. We had a break after that and I went to the Abbey’s bookstore with Joanna and Gail then we walked the labyrinth. It was behind the monastery. The paths were marked by large stones. I had only walked one other labyrinth, at ANTS, and it was an indoor canvas one. I liked this one better.
At 12:45 one of the monks brought us lunch of pizza and salad. Really good, homemade pizza. After lunch we had free time till mid-afternoon, so 5 of us went to Nantasket Beach. First we went to a drugstore in Hingham Center for sunscreen (my idea). The beach was nice, not too crowded. $3 for parking – not too bad for admission for five people! We walked along the beach for a while. It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny. We got back to the retreat house for our 3 pm gathering. Emily talked then we went outside to observe something then write about it. I chose the bed of ivy near the walkway. I left that group before the next exercise because I wanted to go to chapel at 5. The schedule said the monks were doing lectio divina (sacred reading) at that time, but only 1 monk and one other person showed up and there was no assistance or direction, so I left. I met up with two other people from my group so we sat outside and talked for a while. At 6 pm a bell rang for vespers. The three of went into the chapel for that. One of the monks came over and showed us in the prayer book where the chants and readings were, so we could follow along. All seven of the monks were there plus some other people. It was almost all chanting of psalms and also a scripture reading from Hebrews. When that was over we walked back to the retreat house where our dinner had just arrived – chicken cordon bleu, asparagus, brown rice, and salad. It was very good. Nancy had brought ice cream for our dessert.
We gathered in the library again at 8 and Emily talked about writing as a means of healing and shared some of the writing she did after the death of her 19-year-old son five years ago. He had a congenital heart defect and was waiting for a valve replacement when he died. It was pretty emotional, although she said that writing did help her with her grief. Then Nancy led a prayer and we left in silence, which is supposed to continue till we gather at 9 Sunday morning.
SUNDAY:
I woke up a little after 6 then walked down the long hallway to the kitchen. Someone had made coffee but it was kind of lukewarm. I warmed it up in the microwave and was drinking it when Paul, the only man in our group came in and said he was going to the chapel for the 6:30 am vigil. He asked me if I wanted to join him. There was no time for me to shower so I drank my coffee, ran a brush though my hair and we left. I had my black sweatpants on and a sweater, so I think I looked ok. The service was quiet and contemplative. Six monks were there, one man I didn’t know, Paul, and me. Then another woman from our group joined us. There was a lot of chanting. The cantor would sing then one side would respond then the other. There was a reading from Isaiah and later a Gospel reading from Mark, also a non-scripture reading by St John Chrysostom. It lasted about 40 min then we walked back to the retreat house.
We met as a group at 7:30 in the library where Nancy led us in centering prayer. We did a brief body scan then meditated on psalm 46 – Be still and know that I am God. People left the group when they wanted but we were invited to stay as long as we liked. After that I showered and went to the dining room where I had my cereal – Total raisin bran, the same as Saturday. Other people were eating too, but everyone was quiet. After eating I stripped and re-made my bed. They leave clean linens in the room so you can change the sheets before you leave and the room will be ready for the next guest.
We met in the library at 9. Emily talked and asked us to let an image from the retreat come to mind. She read a passage from the book Gift from the Sea called "Leaving the Island", substituting the word "abbey". Then we had 10 min to write, then shared with our small groups what we had written. Mine was about the faithfulness of the monks in their worship and in their unhurried ways. At 10 we had a break. It was raining but Joanna and I got umbrellas (they had several in a stand by the front door) and walked across the street to see the abbey’s waterfall. It looked like a stone doorway with water dripping from the top, more like a shower than a waterfall. You couldn’t tell it was a waterfall until you were practically on top of it.
