A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A CARMELITE NUN (PART 3): LAUDS

“Then God said: Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters, to separate one body of water from the other. God made the dome, and it separated the water below the dome from the water above the dome. And so it happened. God called the dome “sky.” Evening came, and morning followed — the second day.”

~ Genesis 1:3-5

My heart is ready, O God;

I will sing, sing your praise.

Awake, my soul;

Awake, lyre and harp.

I will awake the dawn.

~ Psalm 107 (108)

Ringing in the dawn

The day of a Carmelite Nun really begins at 6:00am, when we 

"awake the dawn" with the Angelus. All of creation is emerging from the deepest darkness of night, rising to life again with a stirring of praise for the Heavenly Creator. Nature’s time for awaking shifts with the changing of the seasons, yet, birds begin chirping—singing their praises to God—even before the sun begins to appear (lately our peacock begins his morning serenade to the Heavens at 3:30am!).

“And you every bird in the sky, O bless the Lord.

And you, wild beasts and tame, O bless the Lord.

To him be highest glory and praise forever.”

~ Dan 3:80-81

So even when the Earth is still in darkness—synonymous with the time when God had not yet created the night and the day—creation is praising God. As God created a space for the sky, we are creating a space for prayer and praise. And in this time before dawn--before the day really begins--there lies hope and potential. Since the day hasn’t begun yet, we praise God and pray in hope for the good of all creation. So this is how we spend the first few hours of the day. 

When we ring the Angeles (or during the Easter season, the Regina Coeli) at 6:00am, it's a reminder to all who hear it that Mary gave her "fiat,"so that Christ could come in the flesh, offer Himself as a sacrifice, give Himself as our food, and dwell within us, making us into a new creation, pleasing to God. But it all became manifest through Her “Fiat,” which is, again, a space created (by Her word of obedience, which becomes His Word made Flesh) between the fall of humanity and its redemption. Thus the world was, in a sense, beginning to be recreated in that “fiat,” and in that space between times, awaits her "fiat" with baited breath.

After the Angeles, we have an hour of mental prayer. This is a special time for each sister to unite with God and His Church, praying for their own personal intentions, for the special intentions recommended to the community, for the world, the church, and especially for priests; as this was our Holy Mother, Saint Teresa of Avila’s desire. She said, if her nuns are not praying for the church and for priests, they can be assured they are not living out their vocation. So this is at the heart of our prayer.

At 7:00am mental prayer blends into the community recitation of Lauds, or Morning Prayer, and our own personal intentions flow into the community's and the church's intentions. Lauds consists of a hymn, a psalm, followed by a canticle and another psalm, a scripture reading, a short response, the Benedictus (which speaks of the birth of St. John the Baptist, who proceeded the Lord—again, this eludes to that space created in hope and potential, a great longing for what is to come!), intercessory prayers, and a concluding prayer. For the most part, at this hour, the psalms and canticles are centered around awaking, hoping in God, waiting for God, and praising God. Morning has yet to dawn, and our work (for the most part) has yet to begin. Here is an example:

“In the morning, fill us with your love; 

we shall exult and rejoice all our days.

Give us joy to balance our affliction

for the years when we knew misfortune.

Show forth your work to your servants;

let your glory shine on their children.

Let the favour of God be upon us:

give success to the work of our hands

give success to the work of our hands.”

~ Psalm 89 (90)

Let us spend some time, now, praising God for beginning His great work of creating this world and all within it, and for Mary’s “fiat,” which recreated the world through God’s Word made Flesh. Join us next time for Terce. We wish you a blessed day, and pray for you and your intentions. 

In the peace of Christ,

Your Carmelite Sisters in Eugene