NUNRAW MONKS

NUNRAW MONKS

Abbot Raymond Jaconelli was interviewed by SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER’S columnist MARY McGINTY as part of a series on the Religious Life.

Friday October 19 2007

CISTERCIANS

- now, first of all, whenever you begin to undertake and good work, beg God with moist earnest prayer to bring it to completion.

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A LIFE OF simple prayer and work. That is how the abbot of Nunraw describes the calling to the monastic life. "The main work of the monk is prayer; he doesn't have any external apostolate such as parish work", says Dom Raymond Jaconelli. "It focuses on the prayer life of the Church and of the monk as an individual.

"Prayer is a living, growing relationship with God and is a rich, rewarding experience always opening into new horizons," Dom Jaconelli goes on. "People who don't pray haven't a clue what they are missing. The psalms cover the gamut of human need -of longing and aspiration - and in that way we pray for the needs of the world."

In the heart of the Lammermuir Hills, Nunraw Abbey is a few miles from Haddington, near Edinburgh, but it is far from the cynicism and the material constraints of secular life. Life in Nunraw is unfettered and unencumbered by the false promises of materialism.

Although Christ did not instigate religious orders it was just a matter of time before God's will led to the formation of monastic life. By the 3rd century monks were emerging in Egypt and Syria, with Basil among the monastic 'greats' giving the life the first of its rules in the 4th century.

The Cistercian order was founded in the early 12th century in France, coming to Scotland in 1136 and establishing an abbey at Melrose. The current Nunraw abbey was established in 1946 and its buildings constructed in 1952-69 with the help of many volunteers. Where once it was home to 60 monks, today there are just 15. They live by the Rule of St Benedict with the customs of the Cistercian order.

School groups are regularly welcomed to Nunraw. A student recently asked: "When you have lived your monastic life, what do you have to show for it? Dom Jaconelli replied: "The world is full of achievers in business, politics, and in professional lives but that does not make them great in God's eyes. A lot can be hard-hearted, proud, arrogant, and greedy. It is not what you become in life -as society understands it- but what you achieve in God's eyes."

It is the withdrawal from the outside world that allows the monks to be at its service. In times of disaster while the strick­en await aid the prayers of the monks are with them. "The help that can reach [people] is often limited by funds available, by political barriers, and by transport," the abbot explained. "But the people's need is immediate and only prayer can answer that. It is instant and it goes to the heart of where it is needed. It is a help that is not available through material resources.

"So in that way," he stated, "we see ourselves as living and praying for the world."

An austere life it may be but it is fulfilling. Possessed of a warm and cheerful nature, Dom Jaconelli clearly finds great satisfaction in it. He is full of humour, recalling anecdotes as he talks. His vocation at the age of 18 was an obvious one, which he readily embraced, wanting God to be the main focus of his life. He remembers fondly the life he enjoyed when he joined the monastery. In a large community the heavy fieldwork was shared and provided a rhythm to their lives.

Today the work of the farm is carried out by machinery-with the monks spending hours driving a tractor.

Farming methods," said the abbot, "have been the biggest change in Cistercian life."

The monk does not join to become a priest; rather he is answering the call to monastic life. In time the abbot may call him to the priesthood, seen as enrichment. Fr Jaconelli said that because it came through the abbot he was surer of his priestly voca­tion than if he had looked for it himself.

The 3.15am rise to begin the day's prayer is compensated for by going to bed early. "With the best will in the world once the working day has begun the cattle have to be fed and the dinner has to be cooked," said Fr Jaconelli. "Praying through the night is a long tradition of monastic life-it is one time you are going nowhere and you have nothing to do; you are free for the Lord."

The Benedictine rule of silence applies in its various forms throughout the day. Since the mechanisation of the farm the monks no longer use sign language during periods of complete silence. With the men operating machinery and requiring permission to speak, sign language was no longer appropriate.

Following the rule of St Benedict, hospitality is the apostolate of the Cistercians. As Benedict states in his rule: "Let all guests be received like Christ Himself, for He will say: I was a stranger and you took me in."

A guesthouse is not an extra in the life of a monastery but an integral part of it. For those who stay at Nunraw guesthouse, it may be a short experience but one that leaves a lasting mark. Couples arrive regularly with their children who, in their turn, bring their families.

Atlas Martyrs.

In 1996 the Cistercians suffered a devastating blow when seven monks were taken hostage in Algeria and killed two months later. In the same year a community in Zaire was forced to flee its monastery. Throughout the world in almost 100 com­munities of monks and over 60 of nuns, the order is called to the Cistercian life.

Whether or not they are in perilous situa­tions or in the 'martyrdom of the humdrum,' the Cistercians are witness to the mystery that God is love.

Permission of Ian Dunn, Editor, SCO