From the Rosary Pilgrim - A Walk Outside at recreation
As we hit the doldrums of winter, a hint of Spring is always refreshing! In this article from the Rosary Pilgrim, published in the June-July 1922 edition, the sisters describe a walk through the monastery grounds during an evening recreation in this article of Life Within the Cloister. This was written when the sisters were still living in the old house, before the monastery building was completed. This article has been edited for length - and even edited down a bit, we will post it in two installments!
Recreation
This point of the Rule has always been considered a very necessary one in the Dominican life, and so we find a recreation hour twice every day, with but a few days excepted.
We read that St. John, the Beloved Disciple, said that the bow always bent will surely break. So, as a little relaxation to souls who spend hours in silent recollectedness, a certain time of the day has been set apart when silence gives way to chatting, laughing and the relating of humorous anecdotes and other pleasant diversions.
Recreation has been opened. Some of the Sisters have gone to wash the dishes and put in order the refectory and kitchen. Shortly everyone is in readiness to accept Reverend Mother’s invitation to take a walk in the garden.
It is a beautiful evening in May, and, as we enter the garden, we inhale the pure fresh mountain air of Summit, fragrant with the perfumes of Spring’s various and beauteous blossoms.
A view from a second floor window of the first monastery. Some of the trees visible are fruit trees – part of the orchard described.
From a crushed stone path running from the cloister gate, known as Our Lady’s Lane, you have the first view of the large luxuriant convent garden. The monastery and lane are built on a terrace, rising rather abruptly about eight feet high from the gradually sloping grounds of the rest of the garden.
On the left from the Cloister fence as far down as you can see, the whole area is carpeted in nature’s rich green. A few hundred feet are open lawn, while the remaining area is shaded by a part of the apple and plum orchard. A row of flowering dogwood divides the apple orchard from the open lawn. All these are bowers of blossoms.
The Sisters are most cordial, genial and cheerful and ready to acquaint you with the different parts of the garden. Perhaps you did not expect to find things so pleasant, so homelike, and joyful. We walk along Our Lady’s Lane, passing by the white and purple lilacs and beneath huge shading maples.
Soon we have arrived at Our Lady’s Oratory. It is of pretty white stucco, a garage which has been converted into a shrine. A large statue of Our Lady of the Rosary stands in the centre on a high white pedestal, decked with the first blossoms of Spring.
The building in the foreground was the carriage house of the original mansion. Although a former garage, the building itself is beautiful, and it is easy to understand why the Sisters used it as a shrine.
The building in the background is also the carriage house, seen this time from the side. Another statue of Our Lady of the Rosary is in the foreground, on a rock mound. Many of the old outdoor statues disintegrated over the years, including this one, which we no longer have.
After a pious visit here we continue our walk. From the left of the lane we strike a narrow path which winds about seventeen artistically arranged flower beds. The tulips, hyacinths and daffodils standing proudly erect seem to vie with one another as to delicacy of tint. The many rose bushes are rich in foliage and their thorny branches are tipped with numerous buds.
It is the Month of Mary, so as we walk among the flowers admiring God’s work, we do not forget to pluck some of the prettiest for her altars within the monastery.
To be continued…
