Solemn Profession
I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people.
– Psalm 116:18
When a Nun gives her whole self to Christ in the monastery, when she makes her vows, she is offered along with the sacrifice of Christ, to the Father. So in a very real sense, the daily offering of the Mass is a renewal of our self-offering at monastic profession.
Are you now alarmed by the immensity of what the holy vows require of you? You need not be alarmed. What you have promised is indeed beyond your own weak human power. But it is not beyond the power of the Almighty – this power will become yours if you entrust yourself to Him, if He accepts your pledge of truth. He does so on the day of your holy profession and will do it anew today .
It is the loving heart of your Saviour that invites you to follow. It demands your obedience because the human will is blind and weak. It cannot find the way until it surrenders itself entirely to the divine will. He demands poverty because hands must be empty of earth’s goods to receive the goods of heaven. He demands chastity because only the heart detached from all earthly love is free for the love of God. The arms of the Crucified are spread out to draw you to His heart. He wants your life in order to give you His.
-St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)
With my own voice I will call out to the Lord, and he and will answer me from His holy mountain. I lie down and and I fall asleep, and I will wake up, for the Lord sustains me.
– Psalm 3:5-6
The one who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Then he said, “Write these words down, for they are trustworthy and true.”
– Revelation 21:5