My alarm wakes me up bzzzzz. Bzzzzzzz. I wake up, stretch, look out the window and I see the snow falling outside in the forest behind the monastery. It is still dark but the parking lot lights illuminate my part of the monastery grounds. It is now 5:00 o'clock in the morning. It is warm in my room but ever so cold outside.
After washing up, I work my way down to the chapel. I try to be there early so that I can meditate before our common prayers start. The chapel clock chimes at 5: 45 this morning. As our prior intones the Angelus, that begins our common morning prayer. We recite the office antiphonally. Our morning office includes recitation of the Office of Readings, which consist of praying psalms, reflection of a scriptural reading and a reflecting of the writing of one of the fathers or other holy writings rooted in the Church tradition. Following Office of Readings we usually spend half an hour meditation. When we finish meditation we move on praying Morning Prayer.
After we end our one hour of prayer in the morning, we proceed to the refectory to have breakfast. Our prayer finishes at 6: 45. Since we have to leave the house at 7:15 to go to school, breakfast for us students is usually quick. Normally we eat cereal, pancakes, waffles or rolls. Breakfast is light but it gets us started for the day.
At 7:15 we begin our commute to school. Most of us students study at Seton Hall University-Immaculate Conception Seminary. Other students study at Rockland Community College which is close to Tagaste Monastery. Those of us who commute to Seton Hall University spend about an hour driving. Those who attend Rockland Community College spend roughly 15 minutes driving.
We usually arrive at school at 8:20. Classes start at 8:30. Usually, we take 5 to 6 classes per semester. For that reason, we take two classes a day. The duration of our first class is two hours, from 8: 30 to 10:30 including a 15 minute break. The second class starts at 10:35 and ends at 12:45. We usually have the two classes in the same classroom. Lunch is served at the seminary at 12:00 o'clock. It is common that classes work up an appetite for us. After classes we head to the seminary refectory for our lunch, which is usually served buffet style.
Lunch is our opportunity not only to eat, but also sit down and relax with some of our classmates. During these times, friendships are made with other students with whom we study. Such friendships encourage us in our lives as Augustinian Recollects. They enrich us and give us opportunities to practice charity with those who are not part of our Recollect family.
After the long commute back home to Suffern, we usually have the remainder of the afternoon to relax, study, pray, exercise or if need be, to go to the store. Afternoon times at the monastery are usually pretty quiet-conducive to the aforementioned activities.
Just as in the morning, our afternoon/early evening is also a time to gather for community prayer. Our meditation is usually a half hour and is done on one's own in the half hour before evening prayers. The common Evening Prayer is celebrated at 5: 15 pm followed by Mass.
From evening prayers, we gather again in the refectory for dinner. During dinner, a short reading is proclaimed as the community takes its dinner in silence. However, when the prior says: "Let us praise the Lord" we respond "and give Him thanks"; this signifies that we may engage in conversation with each other during dinner. When the bell is rung by the prior, it means that dinner is finished and clean-up begins. Each of us is assigned a job. Some of us wash dishes, others put away the food. At any rate, the cleaning is done together, and no one person is ever stuck doing the same job. There is a rotation for clean-up jobs.
When clean-up is complete, we gather for about a half hour of community time. This gives us an opportunity to watch television, play games or read the daily news. Community time is very important because of the fact that it gives us an opportunity to interact with each other informally and continue to strengthen the bonds of brotherhood.
After community time, we return to the chapel to pray Night Prayer. It is a brief office in our schedule, but an important one. The reason why it is important is because it is our time to reflect on the day, ask pardon for our wrongs that day and also to ask God to watch over us in the coming night. It is actually a very beautiful office celebrated in many monasteries, including our own.
Upon completion of night prayer, the remainder of the night is used to do school work, meet with our formators or even watch a program on television, if we are caught up on our school work. The night time is perhaps the most productive time for us students, since that is when we can focus our energies on doing our school work.
Our day comes to a close with lights out at 10 pm. The silence of the night begins to cloak our monastery, especially as friars begin to turn in for the night and get some rest for the next day. As I turn in for the night, I see that the snowfall from the morning has been cleared away by the snowplow during the day. I look skyward and see that it is a full moon tonight. Now I can thank God for the day spent in praise of his name and directed toward giving testimony of him in the world.
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