Convent Tuesday, November 13, 2012

"A person who has not done one half his day's work by 10 o'clock runs a good chance of leaving the other half undone." Emily Bronte

Given the fact that their day begins at 5:30am, it is certain that the nuns of All Saints are in agreement with Miss Bronte's thoughts on the value of early morning labor.  Each of the sisters here is assigned a task, or several tasks, to complete each day. For most of the sisters the task involves one area of the house- for example, the kitchen, office or shipping. Thus, one gets used to seeing a particular sister in her own particular domain throughout the day.

Sister H is one of my favorite nuns at the convent. She has been a religious for many, many years, entering the Order in her twenties and staying within the same Order for the last 40 years or so. She is extremely gentle and soft-spoken, truly one of the kindest individuals I have ever had the pleasure to know. Her capacity for caring is huge, and she often surprises me by inquiring after someone who I may have mentioned in passing weeks or months before.

Sister H's domain is the laundry room, which is located in the bowels of the convent. 

Surrounded by noise and heat, H works in this room every day, processing an endless succession of black and white habits; washing, drying and ironing each piece. No surprise that the finished laundry exiting this room looks and smells heavenly, as the attention paid to each piece surpasses the attention I pay to my own children.

At the end of a long dark hallway filled with pipes and steam, the laundry room is not a place one would normally expect to find spiritual fulfillment.


H believes, as her fellow religious do, that any task performed, no matter how small, should be performed for the glory of God. She applies herself to what most people find to be an endlessly boring chore with a sense of fulfillment I rarely derive from any area of my life.









Through her patience and the tangible sense of contentment exhibited by every gesture, Sister H has taught me that true grace is not found through the greatest acts, but rather in the seemingly menial chores that fill our every day lives. You never know where you'll find a small, blue thing.