Irish Catholic Article
May 2008
The Carmelite community in County Wicklow allowed Carol Ryan to live within their cloistered monastery for two days, to photograph their daily lives and try to understand the decision to lead this radical way of life.
THE Carmelite Monastery in Delgany, Co Wicklow, is home to 11 sisters, ranging in age from early fifties to mid eighties.
The Carmelite Nuns are cloistered contemplatives, and 700 women live this way of life worldwide. In Ireland, there are 11 Carmelite monasteries, with 91 sisters. Their daily life is simple; they pray, work, study and recreate within the monastery and its grounds. The focus of their lives is silent prayer and contemplation. Seven times a day the sisters go to their chapel and pray the ‘Prayer of the Church’ which is said all over the world by those living the religious life and forms the structure of their daily lives.
The sisters get up each day at 5.30am and retire to their rooms at 9.30pm. Each day begins with an hour of solitary prayer followed by the Divine Office and then a modest but healthy breakfast. Dinner is eaten at 11.30am. The sisters do not speak to each other during meals but listen to a spiritual talk on CD or on certain days music. The monastery is kept still and quiet, to create an ‘atmosphere of prayer’. Even the two donkeys Amanda and Peppy, kept within the enclosure, seem uncharacteristically reserved! The sisters themselves are extremely warm and open, hospitality being a big part of the Carmelite ethos. Twice daily they meet for recreation and talk. During these periods I found they were interested in my life and values as a young woman and have a great sense of humour. They are interested in hearing news of the political situation in Ireland and abroad and listen to the news headlines once a day. It is mysterious when they ebb back into silence after the animated conversation of recreation. It can only be compared to a door softly closing and you realise they have gone back to the serious business of praying.
The monastery has been furnished comfortably but with minimum fuss and the sisters keep few material possessions. The main building is built around the traditional monastic garden where the sisters often go for times of personal prayer. In previous times the enclosure was more obvious than it is today. The sisters were not seen in their chapel where a curtain concealed them from view, and when people called at the monastery, a pulley mechanism allowed the door to be opened from behind a screen. When family and friends came to visit they spoke to the sisters through a grille. Today, in the area where guests are welcomed a simple table divides the room.
The sisters are keen to share their Carmelite spirituality with the local community. As well as giving a listening ear to people, the church is open daily for Mass and private retreat facilities are provided. More and more people are calling to the monastery and asking the sisters to include them in their prayer.
Like all homes there are the daily household duties which are done by the Sisters themselves. It is interesting to see what the Sisters do with their time when their individuality and talents can come to the fore. Sr Catherine tends to her tomato plants. Sr Cecilia is interested in religious icons, considered windows into heaven and an aid to prayer. Sr Monica has been elected Prioress for 3 years. She decides with the sisters what needs to be done for the good of the community, and handles the daily running of the monastery.
The stories of how these women came to join the order are fascinating, especially older sisters who joined during a stricter era and spoke of the difficulty in adjusting to such a radical way of life, and the reaction of family and friends to their decision. Sr Gwen’s story is particularly interesting. She lived a full, active life during her early twenties before she joined the Carmelites. A qualified PE teacher, she played hockey at the international level, was a talented horsewoman and even worked as a stunt double for Ardmore studies in Bray. While travelling the world with friends she had her first chance encounter with the Carmelites in Australia who told her about the monastery in Delgany a few miles from her home. She turned from this life and a boyfriend of four years to enter the order, a decision she attributes to “a powerful calling of the Holy Spirit”.
Prioress Sr Monica trained as a nurse/midwife and spent three years working with Concern in Bangladesh. She considered returning to Concern until a friend invited her to join her for a silent retreat in the Cistercian Monastery Mellifont. She says about the experience, “there was a strange sense of feeling at home in a monastic environment. It was exciting and at the same time I was very aware that a monastic vocation was unknown territory for me. After 24 years in this Carmelite community, that sense of ‘coming home’ has never left me”.
In a time of affluence and commercialism, where we have never had as much choice, it is remarkable to see people living such a counter cultural lifestyle. Simplicity, community, dedication and rejection of materialism- in many ways their lives are the antithesis of everything our society holds in esteem. What is striking about their life is that in a very busy world simplicity has lead them to such happiness.