And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;

the whole earth is full of his glory.” Isaiah 6:3, NIV

         What a glorious, God-centered time we shall have together, separately. When we wake up in the morning, we are never alone. All over the world, monastics rise to greet the dawn – they awaken the dawn! – and some of them even live in convents! (Psalm 108:2) In the city, in the suburbs, in townhomes, trailers, and tents, married with children, students, wives and widows, Cor Unum Abbey takes its place among the sanctified of the earth and of the ages. With worship and prayers and all the consolations of the Word of God, the day begins.

         Here in Cor Unum Abbey, we are making an adventure of the real monastic experience, which is to say, we bring into our daily lives whatever degree of personal discipline and diligence required that we may say, with the Psalmist, “I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” (Psalm 16:8) We are numbered among those for whom neither business nor pleasure will rob us of friendship with God.

         When you wake up in the morning, when the clapper sounds up and down the dormitory hall in the Abbey . . . or just when your alarm clock goes off . . . try this:

         Say with your first breath, even under your breath . . . “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty; the earth is filled with the glory of the Lord.” (Isaiah 6:3 and Revelation 4:8)

         Say it again, and again. Say it until you pick up your Bible to study or until you go to prayer or worship . . . or until you sit down for coffee with your spouse or your cat.

         Say those words, and mean them. You might choose another phrase proclaiming God’s glory and majesty, but we use those words here in Cor Unum because they are among the proclamations resounding before the throne of God, day and night. Angels crying out and twenty-four elders falling down, casting their crowns before the Lord, while we slept and at the moment we wake up, continually. Join in! Say them tomorrow and every morning. and plan to say them first thing every day as long as you live. Say them over and over again, commanding your soul and your day, and do not give in to those encroaching mental and emotional demands that come early to rob your peace and pervert your attention. First … God! First … worship!

         Before long, you will find that the reality of the holiness and the supremacy of God has made its way deeper into all the rest of the hours of your day. We are the Sisters of Cor Unum Abbey, taking our places among the angels and the saints who see the face of God!

Sunrise at CuaLo

HandyHui, Wikipedia