📼 Cave in the Snow (A free, 51-minute video from 2002)

Tags: #Nuns #Tibet
https://buddhistuniversity.net/content/av/cave-in-the-snow

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/aiYQ5dyO-DQ

All-around very cool story and well worth the read. 💛

#Nuns & #NativeWomen from the #indigenous #Shinnecook tribe in #NewYork have started a #kelp #farm to help remove #carbon & #nitrogen / #nitrates #pollution from their #ocean waters.

After two years, there are #scallops, #clams, #SeaHorses, and other #MarineLife not seen in years, sheltering the kelp lines.

It's not just an #environmental success story, but of #friendship, #allyship, & support as well. 💪

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/27/shinnecock-tribe-nuns-kelp-farm-long-island-bay

#Seaweed #Kindness #Poetry

Vocation

From the Latin vocatio/vacare, meaning “to call,” “summons.” This is an occupation to which a person is especially drawn or for which they’re suited, trained, or qualified. In modern times, it’s used in non-religious contexts; the meaning(s) of the word came out of Christianity.

There was a period where “vocation” almost exclusively referred to the clergy or the cloistered religious. The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), specifically the document Lumen Gentium, re-emphasized that every baptized person has a primary vocation: to become a saint. This was a spiritual game changer!

The idea of vocation is central to the Christian belief that God has made each person with gifts & talents towards a specific purpose & way of life. More specifically, in the Eastern Orthodox & Catholic Churches, this idea of vocation is especially associated with a divine call to service to the Church & humanity through particular vocational life commitments such as marriage to a particular person, consecration as a religious dedication, ordination to priestly ministry (in the Church, of course) & even a holy life as a single person.

The Church generally categorizes “secondary” vocations into 4 distinct states. Each is seen as a way of giving oneself away:

• The Priesthood:
  • This is a sacramental vocation. In the United States cultural context, there has been a massive historical shift. In the mid-20th century, “Irish-Catholic” culture often viewed having a son in the priesthood as the ultimate family honor.
• Consecrated Life:
  • This includes monks, nuns, brothers, & sisters. They live according to the Evangelical Councils:
    • Poverty: Owning nothing individually.
    • Chastity: Celibacy for the sake of the “Kingdom of Heaven.”
    • Obedience: Following the will of their superior.
• Married Life:
  • In Catholicism, marriage is a sacrament. The “call” here is for the sanctification of the spouse & the procreation/education of the kids. This was often seen as a “secondary” vocation to the priesthood. But modern theology (especially the “Theology of the Body” by Pope John Paul II) frames marriage as a primary icon of God’s love for the Church.
• The Committed Single Life:
  • While not a “canonical” state in the same way as the others, the Church increasingly recognizes those who remain single to serve others, the Church, or their professions with a level of flexibility & dedication that married people cannot maintain.

The American Catholic experience of vocation is unique. In the late 19th & early 20th century, Catholic vocations helped build the American infrastructure of healthcare & education. The Sisters of Mercy & Daughters of Charity built more hospitals & schools in the United States than almost any other group.

The Sisters of Mercy founded a hospital (St. Rita’s/Mercy Health) in our founder’s hometown. This particular hospital was built in 1918 to combat the Spanish flu pandemic.

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Quote of the day, 13 February: St. Teresa of Avila

Having decided to accept this foundation [in Villanueva de la Jara], it seemed to me necessary, for many reasons that occurred to me, that I go with the nuns who were to live there. My human nature resisted very much, for I had arrived in Malagón very sick and have always been so. But since I thought the foundation would serve our Lord, I wrote to my superior to order me to do what he thought best. He sent the license for the foundation and the command that I go personally and bring the nuns of my choice.

This latter worried me a great deal… Praying to our Lord very much over this matter, I took two from the monastery of St. Joseph’s in Toledo, one of them for prioress, and two from Malagón, one of them for subprioress. Since we had prayed so much to His Majesty, things turned out very well, which to me was no small matter; for in the foundations that we begin by ourselves alone, the nuns adapt to each other well.

Father Fray Antonio de Jesús and Father Fray Gabriel de la Asunción came for us. Given an assurance of help from the town, we left Malagón on the Saturday before Lent, the thirteenth of February in 1580.

God was pleased to make the weather so good and give me such health that it seemed to me I had never been sick. I was surprised and reflected on how very important it is not to consider our weak state of health or any opposition that occurs when we understand that something serves the Lord, since God is powerful enough to make the weak strong and the sick healthy. And when our Lord does not do this, suffering will be the best thing for our souls; and fixing our eyes on His honor and glory, we should forget ourselves. What is the purpose of life and health save that they be lost for so great a King and Lord?

Believe me, Sisters, you will never go astray in following this path.

Saint Teresa of Avila

The Foundations, 28.17–18

Note: Saint Teresa left Malagón with her nurse, Blessed Anne of St. Bartholomew, to make the foundation in Villanueva de la Jara. Teresa selected four foundresses: from Toledo, María de los Mártires (prioress) and Constanza de la Cruz; from Malagón, Elvira de San Angelo (subprioress) and Ana de San Agustín.

Teresa of Avila, St 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: We gratefully acknowledge photographer José-María Moreno García for making his photo-documentary of the Fifth Centenary visit to Saint Teresa’s foundation at Villanueva de la Jara available under a Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). The complete photo album may be viewed here.

📰 Master Rurui between Continuity and Change (A free, 30-page article from 2020)

Tags: #China #Nuns
https://buddhistuniversity.net/content/articles/building-largest-female-buddhist-monastery-in-china_peronnet-amandine

📰 Gender Conflicts in Contemporary Korean Buddhism (A free, 9-page article from 2023)

Tags: #Korea #Nuns
https://buddhistuniversity.net/content/articles/gender-conflicts-in-contemporary-korean_cho-eun-su