This morning on Nation Public Radio, I heard about the sisters of Benedictines of Mary, Queen of the Apostles, for the first time. They are topping the Billboard classical charts with their albums of sacred music. Mother Cecilia, prioress of the abbey and the group's music arranger, was being interviewed on air. She talked about how her exposure to sacred music lifted her spirit to God, and made her think on eternal things, up out of the petty things of life. "Eternal things" ~ I immediately wondered how much time do we spend thinking on eternal things in place of the petty things of life. At the end, Mother Cecilia impressed me by saying, "The CDs are something God has allowed to happen. It's a wonderful thing insofar as it brings souls closer to God, and in the meantime helps us pay our debt, but other than that, life just flows along at the priory just the same way it did before. And that's the way we love it; that's the way we want. No tours, no concerts, you know? Just simple monastic life." Elsewhere I also read that earlier last year when one of the albums topped the charts for weeks, the sisters couldn't care less. Mother Cecilia said, "These CDs are absolutely non-essential to our life of prayer. It we hadn't recorded, or if we don't record again, it really wouldn't have any bearing, any effect on our life." What a wonderful attitude ~ dwelling on what's eternal and being detached from all that's temporal!
I'd also like to add that Mother Cecilia was a gifted French horn player of the Columbus Symphony, Columbus, MO, before she joined the Benedictines of Mary order. When that happened, people thought she was throwing her life away, wasting her talents. I like her thoughts expressed here too: "The funny thing with God is, when you give him everything, he takes that offering seriously, and he does as he promises: He gives a hundredfold." Amen.
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