A Day in the Life of a Carmelite Nun (Part 2) -- MATINS

“In the beginning, when God crated the heavens and the earth — and the earth was without form or shape, with darkness over the abyss and a mighty wind sweeping over the waters—

Then God said: Let there be light, and there was light. God saw that the light was good. God then separated the light from the darkness. God called the light ‘day,’ and the darkness he called ‘night.’ Evening came, and morning followed—the first day.”

~Genesis 1:1-5

The Divine Office is cyclical, in the same way that the seasons or the hours of the day are cyclical. The prayers continue ever forward—each day following the next—in a slow, upward spiral of God’s creation, which is ever journeying back to God. With the liturgical calendar, it seemingly goes around and around in circles; Advent to Christmas, Lent to Easter, back to Ordinary Time, and then, back to Advent. Yet each year and each moment is new and alive, continuously being created.

Traditionally, in monastic life, Matins (or “Office of Readings”) is prayed after midnight: a time in the world, when “darkness (is) over the abyss”—a space between yesterday and today, when all are at rest and the dawning of a new day awaits creation. 

The timing of Matins is very important monastically, too. It occurs during the “grand silence,” which is a strict silence for listening to God and resting in Him. This, too, speaks of the time between days; between creations, in the midst of darkness. But sometime after midnight (varying orders pray at different times), the hebdomadary intones the words: “Lord, open our lips, and we shall praise your name.”

Matins consists of an Invitatory (which is a responsorial psalm), three more psalms, two readings, and a concluding prayer. For feasts and solemnities, there is also a vigil (three more canticles, the Gospel, and the Te Deum) before the concluding prayer. Since the prayers and the first reading come from the Bible, it’s God’s (Inspired) Word coming from our lips at the moment of the creation of a new day. So as in Genesis, God said, ’Let there be light,’ the “light” is God’s Word, coming from our lips to pierce the darkness. It becomes a joint act of creation; the Word in God, and us in the Word.

So, how do we praise His name? As Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity so aptly pointed out, to be a perfect imitation of His Word (or His Son)—in other words, to have His Son living in and speaking through us—makes us “praises of His Glory.” So by speaking His Word, we, ourselves, become literal praises of His Name throughout the whole day of prayer.

Discalced Carmelites pray Matins earlier than the traditional monastic communities, usually around 9:00pm. This is because our Holy Mother, St. Teresa of Avila, the reformer of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns, wanted her “daughters” to get a good nights sleep, in order to be better able to serve God in the day. Yet, she kept it at night, rather than joining it with Lauds in the morning as some orders do, merely because the nighttime is a time when most evil acts are committed. She felt it was necessary to pray at night in order to make reparation for all the sin.

So we rest in God, until next time when we’ll awake with Lauds. We’re keeping you all lovingly in our prayers. God bless you!