Siūliome peržiūrėti trumpą vaizdo medžiagą apie Palendrių šv. Benedikto vienuolyną. Dėkojame Daliui Ramanauskui už filmuotą medžiagą ir Eugenijui Barzdžiui už nuotraukas (http://www.eugenijusb.com). Montažas ir interviu filmavimas iš Walter Breitenmoser, Communio Webdesign (http://communio-webdesign.ch).
English translation:
Listen carefully, my son, to your master's precepts, and incline the ear of your heart (Prov. 4:20). Receive willingly and carry out effectively your loving father's advice. St. Benedict’s Rule, Prologue
1st part - daily life
Often people ask us: what do you do all day long? Really, our lives are different from lay people. After all, we are benedictine monks!
We get up at 5 am, gather in the church 7 times a day for prayer. Together we eat lunch and dinner while listening to a reading. There is time for private prayer, spiritual reading which is called lectio divina, and other studies.
Each day for an hour we have community recreation where we laugh and enjoy each other’s company. Sometimes we watch a movie or a documentary about nature or history.
And of course we work according to the benedictine motto: ora et labora, which means: pray and work. The work is quite varied: cleaning, doing the dishes, laundry, tailoring, preparing homilies and conferences, preparing ourselves for the liturgies. There are other tasks as well, for instance: the garden, greenhouses, in the forest, and beekeeping. We make sweets, skin cream, grow and pick herbs for teas. In short, it’s not boring.
We also take in guests. They live and eat with us, and we pray together insomuch as they are able, want to, and thirst to do so. Often they request a spiritual meeting and even to do some work.
Hospitality is an important benedictine trait. So… we encourage you to come and visit us!
We live in a brotherly family. We serve each other in love, for all are on the same road looking to Christ and traveling with Him, going towards eternal life.
Who is the man that thirsts for life and wants to see happy days? St. Benedict’s Rule, Prologue
2nd part - vocation
My childhood was not easy. But, thanks to God, I had and still have a strong faith. God helped me survive many painful things. Later on, when life became easier, I felt my relationship with God remained strong, and even became stronger.
After a little while, I understood that God was calling me to serve Him. The big question was “how?”. Deciding to enter the monastery was not short. Much, much prayer was needed, and silent time with God, and of course to speak with my spiritual director. Finally, I understood that God wanted me to enter the monastery, and a benedictine monastery. And now, I can say that I don’t regret it. Here, I can praise God singing the Psalms, attending the celebration of Holy Mass, serving my brothers. Which, by the way, isn’t always easy, but it’s beautiful.
We try to make the monastery a place where people can meet God, find a place of silence, prayer and love. A calling is learning to live not for oneself, but for God. Speaking about Jesus, John the Baptist said correctly and very well: “He must increase, and I must decrease.”
Here I can live for God, thank Him for everything that He’s given me. I can live out what’s written in Psalm 27: Hear my voice, Lord, when I call; have mercy on me and answer me. “Come,” says my heart, “seek his face”; your face, Lord, do I seek!
Here we strive to be a witness to people that God exists, He is alive. He is truly alive and works in our lives.
For as we advance in the religious life and in faith, our hearts expand and we run the way of God's commandments with unspeakable sweetness of love. St. Benedict’s Rule, Prologue
3rd Part
Religious life is varied. But Benedictine life, monastic life, is a special form of religious life that is very centered on love. Just simply on love, and love of Christ. This life is really life with Christ, so that we can look towards eternal life. As it is said in the Gospel of Matthew, “and each one who leaves home, brother, sister, father, mother, children or land because of Me will receive one hundred fold, and inherit eternal life.”
That is our way of life here: monastic, benedictine life with liturgy. Seven times a day, in the church, in choir singing Psalms, participating in the celebration of Holy Mass together with brothers. Always, eyes turned towards God, towards Christ sot hat we may always say: “Jesus, I trust in you.”
