Our class based look at Religious Ordesr yesterday began to take a downward spiral as far as I was concerned. Someone asked about Opus Dei. Now anyone who has ever read Dan Brown's The da Vinci Code will know that Opus Dei came in for a lot of flak! They came across as a secret society who have rather kinky ideas. They are not an Order but are attached to the Catholic Church. One must remember that fiction is fiction and though they do have some extreme ideas, they do a lot of good work apparently. But people wouldn't leave it alone, like dogs with bones. I was thinking 'can't we move on from here?' I wanted to know about the Carthusians but we never got to them. Instead our tutor gave people the choice and most wanted to know about the best Monasteries you could stay in. At that point I began to get bored! The ones chosen were mainly in France, Italy and Spain with website not in English. I'm hardly likely to go there. He chose only two in England.
Luckily, I have seen a DVD entitled Into Great Silence (about the Carthusians) which is almost three hours long and almost in total silence! Fascinating world. The ones we were going to look at lived in Smithfiled, London see here
Well, I did at least win a small book (The Still Small Voice) When we went to visit the Carmelite Nuns last week the Sister gave our tutor four books. Yesterday there was nine of us! So he asked some questions about them and the first to answer got a book and that's how I got mine.
That's the 'Orders' class at an end. I've really enjoyed it, especially going to various places and meeting people of different Orders, learning about their lives and what brought them there. I guess being 'called by God' can mean different things to different people and selecting the Order that suits you is important. Whilst some feel drawn to work with others in education, nursing or with the poor, others are drawn to silence and prayer. Most of the people we spoke to knew which Order they wanted to be with, only a few looked at others first and for some, like a brother of the Dominicans (while he was seeking), was told by someone else after quoting his favourite Bible Books 'Ah you're a Dominican!'
Nice to know there's a place for us all.
Luckily, I have seen a DVD entitled Into Great Silence (about the Carthusians) which is almost three hours long and almost in total silence! Fascinating world. The ones we were going to look at lived in Smithfiled, London see here
Well, I did at least win a small book (The Still Small Voice) When we went to visit the Carmelite Nuns last week the Sister gave our tutor four books. Yesterday there was nine of us! So he asked some questions about them and the first to answer got a book and that's how I got mine.
That's the 'Orders' class at an end. I've really enjoyed it, especially going to various places and meeting people of different Orders, learning about their lives and what brought them there. I guess being 'called by God' can mean different things to different people and selecting the Order that suits you is important. Whilst some feel drawn to work with others in education, nursing or with the poor, others are drawn to silence and prayer. Most of the people we spoke to knew which Order they wanted to be with, only a few looked at others first and for some, like a brother of the Dominicans (while he was seeking), was told by someone else after quoting his favourite Bible Books 'Ah you're a Dominican!'
Nice to know there's a place for us all.
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