Some years ago, when my mom and a friend visited us, I played tour guide around Italy. We went to Rome and Venice, and the usual tourist areas. They loved it all. However, as we have friends all over Italy, we also explored the smaller towns and villages. Staying in people’s homes meant that they got to see the real Italy!
One of our trips took us to Ferrara, where we visited the Este Castle and the nearby church. What an unsettling experience that was! I have rarely felt as creeped out as I did at that moment.
Perhaps it was caused by walking over the long-dead and buried members of the aristocratic Este family beneath the floor. I’m not sure I’d like to worship or pray in a place where people are buried beneath the floor. But the guidebook also showed that the church had a working nunnery open to visitors. That piqued my interest.
I enjoy art, but I was weary of ancient churches and buildings filled with old paintings. It baffles me why people travel halfway around the world just to spend most of their time viewing a seemingly endless line of paintings. But to each his own! 😃
Visit to a nunnery
Mom and Patsy were ready for a change, too. We confidently marched next door thinking we could walk right in like we would at a tourist site. At least, that’s how the guidebook made it seem.
There was a sign on the door that said: “Ring for admission.” So I rang. The door creaked open slowly, as if on magic hinges, revealing a tiny, desolate, and lifeless foyer. There was nothing there except an inhospitable-looking door in the back wall, blocking the way.
“Let’s hope the inside is more welcoming than this!” I thought. “Maybe we’ll even find some life there!”
Void of life
We peered around through the sparse light filtering down from the high, deep-set windows. “So much for finding any life here,” I thought. The place was about as inviting as the castle dungeon was! “Let’s get out of here!” Patsy whispered, even though it seemed that there were no one around to overhear us.
Then we heard a monotone voice ask, “What do you want?”
“We were, um, hoping to visit the nunnery,” I stammered nervously. I was the only Italian speaker in our group of three. There was no one else in the room. We scanned the room, trying in vain to locate the muffled, monotonous voice.
The strange window
It was only then that we noticed the strange opening that turned, but never opened.
I later learned that all cloistered monasteries have these turnstiles or small revolving compartments used to deliver food and necessities. They are similar to the revolving turnstile doors at airports, but they are window-sized and made of solid wood panels.
They block the view from both inside and outside, allowing only brief, muffled communication with the outside world. Take a look at one in this interesting article about the Santa Catalina Monastery. You’ll have to scroll down to the middle of the page.
These turns allow the nuns or monks to receive daily necessities, without having direct human contact. This shields them from unnecessary interruptions. One would also imagine that it protects them from “contamination” with the outside world.
Upon learning it was a cloistered convent with no visitors allowed, we fled the tomb-like, eerie atmosphere. It was such a relief to be out in the fresh air and sunshine again, surrounded by real people!
A part of me admires the spirit of devotion and dedication that surely leads to such vows. Yet, I can’t help but compare such a life to Christ’s commands to love others and to go make disciples. How can one fulfill these commands, in isolation from others?
Yet they had one thing that is often sadly lacking in our daily lives. Although that eerie silence did not make me feel rested, it made me realize how much I needed it.
Keeping interruptions out
To me, cloistered life seems to be man’s attempt to do what only the Holy Spirit can do. It’s like human’s trying to enter God’s presence on their own, trying to create God’s holy peace and rest on their own.
Barred windows and turnstiles cannot bring us God’s peace and rest. Nor do we need to enter a monastery. However, if we really want to enter God’s presence, rest, and peace, we do need boundaries in our lives.
We need clear boundaries, schedules, and restrictions to help us avoid unnecessary interruptions. Confines that say, “This far and no further.” We need limits on TV, the internet, entertainment, hobbies, and time-wasting activities. A life filled with too many distractions prevents us from being still in God’s presence.
The gate we need is self-discipline, which is never easy. However, as we work to avoid interruptions, we create space and time for God’s holy presence in our lives.
It’s in this kind of quiet, still atmosphere that we can hear what God has to say. What are you listening to? Are you able to hear His voice?
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
Psalm 46:10
I have been struggling lately with being still. My father needs so much help so I work at my home and yard and his also. I find when I do stop doing things, I drift off to sleep and my prayers drift off as well. I hope the Holy Spirit completes them for me. Thank you for this post. ❤️
Well Amy, that’s certainly understandable. Sounds like you’ve got a pretty full plate. But I love your concluding thought. I never thought about something like that before. But now that I do, I’m pretty sure that the Holy Spirit not only finishes prayer we never get to complete. But that he also continues them – making intercession for us. How encouraging! How amazing! Thank you for such an encouraging word, and may God bless you in your service to your dad. What a blessing to serve him!
Sheila, Thank you for this. Jesus did take time to be alone with the Father, but then He made disciples. Life at the nunnery must be as dark as you experienced. Thank you for sharing this. By the way, I’m one who travels to see painting after painting :). Love visiting every European church, too. :) Have a blessed day. Karen
Yes Karen, we do need to guard our quiet time with the Lord, but without becoming recluses. I’m glad you enjoy the painting – they are beautiful. And don’t get me wrong – I like museums and the old churches too. Guess I’ve just had my fill of them, lol! Anymore, we like just visiting the simple, old villages and things off the beaten tourist track. Our visit to the nunnery was a strange one for sure, and I’m sure not the hightlight of my mom’s stay, lol!
You surely hit this one on the head, even if it was as a result of a rather unpleasant excursion. Rest and quiet before God has to be one of the hardest things in the world for me. Life is so loud and busy, and interruptions are insistent and demanding. Thank you for this picture of choosing quiet–a discipline, not a formula. You amaze me.
Ha, it was a strange excursion for sure! And you’re right. Being still before God is not easy in our busy, hectic world. So much clamors for attention. But how much of God’s voice is it drowning out? We surely can learn at least that much from cloistered living. Slow down, stop, and listen, which can be to put into action! May we continually learn to be still before him!!