A Nun's Diary

For everything, there is a season (Eccl. 3:1). Yes, a time to speak and a time to be silent. And so I bring my public diary to an end. I have shared my diary with you since June 2011 but now it is time to continue my diary in a less public way. Why did I share my heart, my thoughts with you? There was only one reason, and that reason was you, each and every one of you who read my journal entry each week. I wrote it so that you, whom ever you may be, would come to love the Cistercian way of life as deeply as I do. That I would open the door of your hearts to love Jesus as much as I do and to grow in the knowledge of his love for you day by day. In times of joy and sadness, of inner freedom and in times of inner turmoil, of times of failure and of success, in times of growth and of diminishment. I can truly say I loved sharing my heart with you. Sharing also the meaning and journey of the Cistercian way so that the eyes of your heart would come to know there are many paths which lead to life – life in Jesus, but the one I cherish most is the Cistercian way. The way of solitude and friendship, of work and prayer, of lectio divina and divine office. My journal will continue but in a more hidden and silent way. I am so grateful that I was asked to share a little of the life I love so much. Yes, there is a time for everything under the sun and sharing my diary was a time I loved very much. A time for me to write and now a time for silence. I love them both, for both lead me to the ONE I love. I continue to carry you in my heart and prayers day by day, until, as St Thomas More said, “We meet merrily in heaven.” An yet again, in the words from the Rule of St Benedict, “And may he bring us all together to life everlasting.”

Sister Gabriella