Northern Light (Volume 60) (Monastic Wisdom Series)

Cistercian nuns on an island off the central coast of Norway have written Northern Light, a set of moving and often profound reflections on life throughout a year at their recently established monastery facing a fjord. Their multi-national community, including several nuns from the United States, live simple lives of prayer and work, ora et labora, in the tradition of Saint Benedict.The book, which is organized by the months and marked by the liturgical calendar, includes many passages describing their lovely surroundings. For example, Sister Maria Rafael Bartlett writes, “The skies here are constantly changing, from moment to moment: a forbidding grey or a luminous, pastel blue, ragged clouds torn by wind, billowing rounded clouds rising like smoke behind the mountains across the fjord…. On an island, we often experience what seem to be several seasons in a single day” (p. 196). In such writing, these nuns are following the tradition of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, a twelfth-century Cistercian saint—you might think of the Trappists, with their white robes and black scapulars—who wrote that “you shall find a fuller satisfaction in the woods than in books.” He never thought to nature gaze for its own sake—it wouldn’t have occurred to him to do so—rather, he, and these Cistercian nuns, look upon nature as a lens with which to see God.That being said, since these nuns are living out their vocations in Norway, and since most of them are not actually from Norway, the reader can also enjoy their keen observations of what life is like there, not only with respect to the natural surroundings, but also the culture, and social and political life, of Norwegians.The aim of these essays, though, is to draw the reader into a closer relationship with God through their prayerful reflections. Whether spiritual, theological, or scriptural (or all three), these reflections help the reader see God from the vantage of these holy women. For this reason, Northern Light makes for perfect reading at any time of year. I found it especially wonderful Lenten reading, and I am grateful to the sisters for the gift of their writing.Sister Sheryl Frances Chen writes, musing on paintings of the Annunciation: “I hope we can be the women who attune our inner ear to the heartbeat of God, who listen for the whirr of wings on the way to Vigils, who find presence in the most empty spaces, who dance to bring the Holy to birth” (p. 51). Reading their words, I cannot help but think they certainly are such women. I will be re-reading this wonderful book.