After listening to Gregorian chant for several decades, for unclear reasons I felt drawn to visit the place where monks who sang this chant resided. It is located in rural peaceful area outside Tulsa Oklahoma – a place where I had never visited. Why now and for what reason was unknown but it seemed a forgone conclusion that I would go.
Unknowingly I had come during a time when two monks would take their vows which was relatively rare event – last happening 6 years ago. As I watched the ceremony of these two young men offering their life to God, the meaning of surrender and sacrifice seeped in me. The two lay prostrate in their humble dark robes, unadorned as prayers and chants continued. They were leaving behind jobs, careers, money, family, freedom to speak or eat and drink when they wanted for service of God in a place hidden from world where there would be no accolades, applause or acknowledgments of their service. This hard life which was not at all a hardship to them but a willing and joyful offering of their life’s energy and soul to Divine.
The experience was beyond beautiful, beyond expectations or imagination. Through the rituals, prayers, chants, and the purity of their own hearts, the monks created plane of existence within the services outside of normal experiences. The sound in the sacred space created by their intentions, focus and prayers made the heart physically tremble and mind awash in oceanic like waves of vibrations. Rise up, rise up – I heard/experienced. I felt that pure breath of these humble monks were like wings that could lift not only me but also the entire world up to God.
Humanity celebrates heroes of all kinds. We seldom acknowledge or are even aware of the contribution of those who willingly give up all the fruits of material existence in service of God for the purification of themselves and uplifting of humanity.
Surrender, sacrifice and service - this is the life of the monk from any tradition. But all humans in the context of their own lives can offer surrender, sacrifice and service in their daily lives. Indeed as the monks teach us in silence and without outward instruction- it is the path to the Divine.
Track Alleluia from Ecce Fiat The Annunciation.
Artists: Monks of Clearcreek Abbey
Read more about the abbey and monks https://clearcreekmonks.org
To purchase CDs of the chants https://clearcreekmonks.org/product-category/gregorian-chant-cds/monks-of-clear-creek/
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