The John-Henry Westen Show - January 10, 2025


This order of nuns is THRIVING ｜ Sister Wilhelmina


Episode Stats

Length

27 minutes

Words per Minute

169.86877

Word Count

4,742

Sentence Count

327

Misogynist Sentences

13

Hate Speech Sentences

5


Summary

In this episode, we visit the famous Benedictine Sisters of Mary, Queen of the Apostles, and learn more about what they do, how they live their lives, and what they eat. We also learn about a recent miracle performed by one of their sisters, Sister Misericordia.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 My friends, I had an incredible opportunity while I was in Kansas City for Rome Life Forum.
00:00:06.100 We went to visit the nuns at Gower, these famous Benedictines of Mary, Queen of the Apostles.
00:00:14.180 They're the ones with the super famous Gregorian chant that made it to the top of the music charts.
00:00:21.080 They are a traditional order.
00:00:23.060 They're the ones with the famous Sister Wilhelmina, who was just, her body was exhumed,
00:00:28.460 and it was found to be incorrupt.
00:00:30.480 Right in the middle of the debate over the Latin Mass, out comes this incorrupt body from a black woman
00:00:37.680 who started an order to promote the traditional Mass, which has remained traditional all this time.
00:00:44.040 Her sisters are traditional Benedictines.
00:00:46.960 They do all the old practices.
00:00:48.320 They get up, they pray throughout the day.
00:00:50.660 They're up at five.
00:00:52.120 They start praying.
00:00:53.300 They're praying late at night as well, all throughout the day.
00:00:56.540 They do this, Ora et Labora, the great way of the Benedictines.
00:01:02.100 They are doing amazing work.
00:01:03.860 In fact, it's the first time I have in my mind now a mental picture of just this,
00:01:11.020 because there's so many of them, by the way, but of popes and kings and queens and prelates
00:01:18.260 going to monasteries, to convents, to talk to a mother superior, like happened in the days of old.
00:01:25.720 I never thought about that until we got there, witnessed them, and then was able to speak for a few minutes to Mother Cecilia.
00:01:34.680 The joy, the absolute joy of these ladies was, it was overwhelming.
00:01:42.600 I now get it.
00:01:44.060 We're doing a life thunder for them.
00:01:46.380 We are helping them to continue their vital work, which is honestly the lifeblood of the church.
00:01:54.240 You're going to want to stay tuned for this episode, and check out our life thunder,
00:01:57.760 so you too can support the great work of the Benedictines of Mary.
00:02:10.540 Hey, my friends.
00:02:11.380 We are here at a convent with some sisters.
00:02:15.660 We're going to tell you about that in a second.
00:02:17.240 This is the one, though, that was responsible for a recent miracle,
00:02:21.560 so you're going to definitely want to stay tuned to this episode.
00:02:23.780 Sister, so good to be with you.
00:02:27.860 Sister Misericordia.
00:02:29.520 Let's begin, as we always do, at the side of the cross.
00:02:31.580 If you would lead us, please.
00:02:32.520 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
00:02:35.540 Amen.
00:02:36.340 So one of the questions many people have about monks and nuns,
00:02:43.440 and that's the proper name for you guys, nuns, right?
00:02:45.140 Nuns.
00:02:45.300 So you're finally, I'm finally saying it to the right people.
00:02:47.900 It's nuns. Look at that.
00:02:49.080 But one of the big questions is, what do they eat?
00:02:53.320 Do they eat?
00:02:54.220 Do they eat their own food only?
00:02:57.020 Do they eat dessert?
00:02:59.740 Are they allowed to drink coffee?
00:03:02.040 What do you guys do?
00:03:03.400 Well, I think our Lord especially had monks and nuns in mind
00:03:06.840 when he created the coffee bean.
00:03:09.620 Oh, excellent.
00:03:11.620 We're up pretty early, and so we are very grateful for a cup of coffee.
00:03:15.480 The chanting of our prayers goes a lot smoother
00:03:17.860 for those of us who need a little caffeine to get started on the day.
00:03:20.920 But yes, we have coffee.
00:03:22.720 We do try to grow a lot of our own food, but we have to supplement.
00:03:26.960 Obviously, we can't grow peanut butter trees or banana trees in Missouri,
00:03:32.120 but we do try to raise as much as we can ourselves.
00:03:36.040 We have cows and chickens and a very, very large garden,
00:03:39.760 which we try to do as much as we can to be self-sufficient as possible.
00:03:45.240 So we eat a very light breakfast in the morning
00:03:48.940 and then a pretty well-rounded, hefty meal later in the day,
00:03:55.420 around 3 o'clock this time of year.
00:03:58.000 In the summertime, when there's more work to be done,
00:04:01.340 St. Benedict encourages his monks and nuns to eat midday
00:04:05.280 and then again for supper.
00:04:07.360 But this time of year, we just have the one meal.
00:04:10.080 For the young sisters just getting started in our life,
00:04:12.800 we have them take snacks so they can start getting used to the fast,
00:04:16.820 the monastic fast is what we call it.
00:04:19.480 So, and that's it?
00:04:21.020 So you had the little breakfast and then the meal at 3 and that's it?
00:04:26.000 And we'll have drinks, you know, during midday.
00:04:28.140 There's coffee and tea and milk for those who would like one.
00:04:31.220 And again, in the evening also, especially this time of year,
00:04:34.980 a hot cup of tea at 6 p.m. is much appreciated.
00:04:38.640 If you wouldn't mind, because that's fascinating.
00:04:42.040 Describe an example of the breakfast, the light breakfast,
00:04:46.600 and then the meal.
00:04:47.580 Only because that sounds pretty, could be pretty rough.
00:04:51.960 But anyway, tell us about that.
00:04:53.640 It is definitely a sacrifice.
00:04:54.680 But our Lord himself says prayer and sacrifice,
00:05:00.040 prayer and fasting is extremely powerful.
00:05:02.240 And it's something that the Benedictines have tried to offer
00:05:06.100 as much as possible.
00:05:08.840 Breakfast is light, but, you know, those each can take what they need,
00:05:13.420 whether it's a bagel and a cup of coffee
00:05:15.500 or a bowl of cereal and a glass of, extra glass of milk.
00:05:19.860 But it's not, it's not too, too much.
00:05:21.420 And then, and then the meal, it's probably about three courses
00:05:27.000 is what St. Benedict speaks about, vegetables,
00:05:29.860 some kind of protein and a starch.
00:05:32.140 And yes, we do have dessert if it's a high feast.
00:05:35.260 Yesterday was the feast of St. Luke.
00:05:38.140 So we had chocolate cake in honor of the evangelist
00:05:41.180 and thanking him for the nativity narrative
00:05:45.660 that only he provided and the annunciation
00:05:48.060 that we never would have known about except for St. Luke.
00:05:50.260 Okay, so that's really cool because you do have dessert,
00:05:55.820 but you actually tie it to that liturgical calendar
00:05:59.460 that you work with anyway.
00:06:01.080 And then feast, the word feast day makes sense
00:06:05.840 because then it's a feast, like an eating feast as well.
00:06:09.280 That's right.
00:06:09.880 We follow the liturgical calendar.
00:06:11.880 The, our prayers are longer
00:06:13.780 and sometimes a little more elaborate, the melodies.
00:06:15.960 But it also, the table of the community
00:06:20.540 is the extension of the Eucharistic table of the mass.
00:06:25.060 And so the liturgy goes, it encompasses the whole day.
00:06:28.660 And so it's not just how we are fed in the liturgy,
00:06:32.280 but also how we are fed at the table
00:06:33.820 as we gather as monastic family.
00:06:35.520 We know that it's a feast if there's chocolate cake.
00:06:38.120 That's beautiful.
00:06:40.060 And the name, that's actually really fascinating.
00:06:43.080 So the actual word feast,
00:06:44.940 it pertains like actually also to the meal,
00:06:49.280 like the regular meal?
00:06:50.820 Yeah, I mean, certainly we'll have something
00:06:53.080 a little nicer on a feast day,
00:06:54.740 certainly Christmas and Easter,
00:06:55.900 but also the lesser feasts, you know,
00:06:57.980 the apostles for us especially
00:06:59.720 and our patronal feast of the different sisters
00:07:02.880 and then just the big saints of the church,
00:07:05.620 whether it's St. Therese or St. Peter
00:07:07.780 or one of our patronal feasts
00:07:11.320 is St. Louis Marie de Montfort.
00:07:13.140 So that's always a big feast day for us.
00:07:15.500 Beautiful.
00:07:16.240 And one of the other questions
00:07:17.320 that a lot of people have is visiting.
00:07:21.020 Nuns are, well, what does that mean behind a cloister?
00:07:24.600 Or what does it mean to not be in the public?
00:07:28.220 I know you are now, but that's exceptional.
00:07:30.120 But what does that usually mean?
00:07:31.920 And then do you get to see your family?
00:07:34.060 Yes.
00:07:34.480 So we've practiced what's called monastic enclosures.
00:07:37.620 So that is, we don't have a cloister.
00:07:39.660 All monks and nuns have some sense of cloister
00:07:41.920 where it's the only for the monks
00:07:43.740 or only for the nuns,
00:07:44.760 the part of the monastery or monastery grounds
00:07:46.920 that's only for the religious,
00:07:48.540 the family members of the community.
00:07:51.080 But there are certain public areas.
00:07:52.440 And you don't mean family members
00:07:53.560 like they're extended.
00:07:54.480 You mean just the other nuns
00:07:56.500 in your family of nuns.
00:07:58.000 The family of nuns, that's right.
00:07:59.480 But of our extended family,
00:08:02.320 we have public areas when our families,
00:08:04.480 our parents, our brothers and sisters
00:08:06.220 or dear friends will come to visit us.
00:08:08.280 We have parlors and areas
00:08:09.920 that are open to the public.
00:08:11.960 And so our families do come
00:08:13.180 and visit us here at the monastery.
00:08:16.320 We don't go see them,
00:08:18.040 but they can come and see us
00:08:19.140 about three times a year.
00:08:20.660 And if they're not able to visit them,
00:08:22.760 they'll do a phone call
00:08:23.680 or even a Skype if they're from overseas.
00:08:25.820 So they can only come three times.
00:08:28.980 So they couldn't like come every day.
00:08:31.120 No, no.
00:08:32.060 No, they can come for mass.
00:08:33.440 They can come and join us for a prayer.
00:08:35.520 But as far as like sitting down
00:08:36.600 and having a parlor visit with their daughter,
00:08:39.220 no, they can't do that every day.
00:08:40.480 Okay.
00:08:40.920 That's one of the sacrifices.
00:08:42.420 Right.
00:08:42.880 So the joining you for prayer is more,
00:08:44.620 they can see you sort of over there,
00:08:47.140 but they're praying with you obviously,
00:08:48.400 but it's in close proximity anyway.
00:08:50.180 So that's really beautiful.
00:08:52.240 So three times a year,
00:08:54.800 and are you allowed to write?
00:08:56.420 Yes, we can write home once a month
00:08:58.200 to different family members.
00:09:00.680 Three letters were permitted each month
00:09:02.340 except during Lent and Advent.
00:09:04.160 Really try to practice extra silence
00:09:06.520 during those months,
00:09:07.800 preparing for the great feasts
00:09:08.920 of the liturgical year.
00:09:10.580 Wow.
00:09:12.020 And the silence bit,
00:09:13.880 are you allowed to talk?
00:09:15.720 Do you have silence on the inside for you?
00:09:17.360 Are you allowed to talk,
00:09:18.100 but just not with the outside world?
00:09:19.000 Yeah, both and.
00:09:21.540 So we don't talk in the monastery
00:09:23.720 to each other during the day,
00:09:26.000 except about the work at hand.
00:09:28.700 And there's a time every day
00:09:31.260 that we call recreation,
00:09:32.860 where it's an hour where we just,
00:09:34.180 we just talk with each other
00:09:35.260 and just visit with each other.
00:09:36.640 And we'll be busy with our hands,
00:09:38.520 but also busy with our mouths,
00:09:40.220 just catching up with our sisters.
00:09:42.320 And then in general,
00:09:44.040 our contact with the world
00:09:45.060 is very limited in our community.
00:09:46.620 We're really trying to preserve
00:09:48.900 and promote that interior union
00:09:51.000 with the Lord,
00:09:51.880 which silence is such an important part.
00:09:54.260 But we especially have wedded
00:09:55.440 the Benedictine way of life
00:09:57.800 to total consecration
00:09:59.140 to the Blessed Virgin Mary
00:10:00.180 as taught by St. Louis Marie de Montfort.
00:10:02.660 So we're Benedictines of Mary,
00:10:04.660 Queen of Apostles,
00:10:05.840 because we especially look to Our Lady
00:10:07.920 as Queen of the Apostles,
00:10:09.560 because we offer our life of
00:10:11.780 or at labora, prayer and work
00:10:13.600 through Our Lady,
00:10:15.360 especially for priests,
00:10:16.960 because we feel that
00:10:17.920 as our special charism
00:10:19.120 is to pray and sacrifice for priests.
00:10:21.360 Beautiful.
00:10:22.120 So you're also a traditional order.
00:10:25.440 So you do the traditional Latin mass
00:10:27.940 and that's been
00:10:30.140 from the creation of your order.
00:10:33.000 That's right.
00:10:33.400 We were blessed to be founded
00:10:35.300 under the aegis
00:10:36.780 of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter,
00:10:38.860 who really got our community
00:10:40.060 off the ground,
00:10:41.220 giving us a place to stay,
00:10:42.840 work to do,
00:10:44.140 chaplain, classes,
00:10:45.760 everything for our formation.
00:10:47.720 And we're forever grateful
00:10:49.300 to the Fraternity of St. Peter
00:10:50.340 for getting us started.
00:10:52.560 But we are very blessed
00:10:54.620 to have the traditional Latin mass every day.
00:10:56.920 And we do the traditional monastic office,
00:11:00.280 the divine office in its fullness.
00:11:03.420 And we're glad to be able to share that
00:11:05.700 with all of our visitors.
00:11:07.180 But that means something more to you
00:11:09.720 than it does to us.
00:11:10.780 What do you mean by the traditional office
00:11:14.280 and what does that entail?
00:11:17.840 So the divine office,
00:11:20.800 sometimes called the Liturgy of the Hours,
00:11:23.340 is the division of the psalms
00:11:25.720 that are sung throughout the day
00:11:27.800 or recited by some religious communities.
00:11:30.340 But the Benedictines have always
00:11:31.860 really treasured the sacred liturgy
00:11:34.300 and offered it as much solemnity as possible.
00:11:37.660 And so all of the Gregorian chants
00:11:39.560 that are as popular today
00:11:41.880 as they were almost 2,000 years ago
00:11:44.400 really stem from the Liturgy of the Temple
00:11:49.340 where a lot of these melodies
00:11:51.600 originally came from
00:11:53.000 and were especially developed
00:11:56.160 by Pope St. Gregory the Great.
00:11:57.540 And it was really the Benedictines
00:11:59.960 that have really written and added
00:12:03.080 and really codified all of the Gregorian chant
00:12:06.400 in its fullness.
00:12:09.320 And it is offered daily
00:12:11.060 throughout the divine office.
00:12:12.860 So the psalms, the way they are sung,
00:12:14.420 the melodies, the hymns,
00:12:16.160 and the many beautiful antiphons
00:12:18.100 that go before and after each psalm.
00:12:20.000 That is the divine office,
00:12:21.680 the traditional divine office.
00:12:23.160 And when you say throughout the day,
00:12:27.740 what do you mean?
00:12:28.660 What are the hours?
00:12:29.900 What are you talking about?
00:12:31.220 So we're up pretty early in the morning.
00:12:33.820 What time is that?
00:12:35.020 5 a.m.
00:12:36.520 To offer our first office,
00:12:38.840 the office of Matins,
00:12:40.600 which takes about an hour.
00:12:42.800 That's more simple melodies
00:12:44.260 just because it's a longer office
00:12:46.620 with different readings
00:12:47.800 from the church fathers
00:12:48.920 and the lives of the saints,
00:12:51.780 perhaps a piece of their life.
00:12:53.980 Then we have the office of Lodz,
00:12:55.900 which is very much mirroring
00:12:58.180 the morning praise,
00:12:59.560 the morning prayers
00:13:00.260 that was offered at the temple.
00:13:02.400 What time is that?
00:13:03.360 So that's about 7 a.m.
00:13:05.420 And then we go right into a smaller office,
00:13:07.520 the office of Prime.
00:13:08.680 And then there are a couple other small offices.
00:13:11.360 They're called the Little Hours.
00:13:12.640 They're kind of like the stepping stones
00:13:14.020 of the day.
00:13:14.700 Prime is noon, is it?
00:13:16.120 No, Prime is about 7.30,
00:13:20.520 but it goes right after Lodz.
00:13:21.620 Oh, right after Lodz.
00:13:22.260 Yeah, then we go to work.
00:13:23.820 But then the work is divided
00:13:25.860 by these different times of prayer
00:13:27.220 throughout the day,
00:13:27.800 which only take about 15 minutes each.
00:13:30.300 We also take a break for Mass.
00:13:32.240 We have a sung Latin Mass every day.
00:13:35.840 And then in the evening,
00:13:37.240 there's the evening office of Vespers,
00:13:39.680 which very much comes from
00:13:41.560 the temple worship
00:13:43.620 that was offered in the evening sacrifice.
00:13:46.720 And then night office,
00:13:48.880 the office of Compline,
00:13:50.160 is the end of the day.
00:13:51.020 And then we're...
00:13:52.320 And what time is Compline?
00:13:54.300 So Compline is about 8 p.m.
00:13:56.720 And we go to bed early
00:13:57.620 so we can get up early.
00:13:58.860 Yes.
00:13:59.420 Okay.
00:14:00.260 So in all,
00:14:02.380 how many prayer times
00:14:03.880 are like, in other words,
00:14:04.840 where you specifically go to prayer every day?
00:14:07.500 So St. Benedict quotes the scriptures
00:14:11.160 and saying,
00:14:12.160 seven times in the day
00:14:12.900 have I praised the Lord
00:14:14.580 and once in the night.
00:14:15.720 So the Benedictines have always offered
00:14:17.660 eight times a prayer throughout the day.
00:14:19.600 Some of the hours are shorter
00:14:20.600 and some are longer,
00:14:21.420 but it's the stepping stones of the day
00:14:23.220 that really fills our day
00:14:24.540 and really forms
00:14:25.780 kind of like the gems around
00:14:28.060 the real treasure of our day,
00:14:30.520 which is the holy sacrifice of the Mass.
00:14:32.440 Wow.
00:14:32.660 And where is the Mass in your day time-wise?
00:14:34.720 In the middle.
00:14:35.480 So it's at 11,
00:14:36.520 11,
00:14:37.160 and then we're done about 12 to 15.
00:14:39.800 Beautiful.
00:14:40.240 Okay.
00:14:40.640 So these nuns are also quite well-known,
00:14:45.560 not so much in their life
00:14:47.740 or in how many times they pray or what they pray,
00:14:49.860 but the sound of their prayer is very well-known.
00:14:52.560 How is that and why is that?
00:14:53.940 Well, the angels sing with us
00:14:55.700 and we sing with them
00:14:57.420 and we're practicing for heaven.
00:14:59.220 And so we know that they're helping us
00:15:01.260 offer it as best we can.
00:15:03.040 We make mistakes,
00:15:04.800 but sometimes we will take the time
00:15:06.600 to record the sisters singing our prayer,
00:15:10.640 our song prayer,
00:15:11.460 because people really love connecting
00:15:14.360 with their community that way
00:15:15.420 and feeling that they are here at the Abbey
00:15:17.620 when they can sing with us,
00:15:19.200 when they can pray with us through our music.
00:15:21.460 Yes.
00:15:21.960 So it's beautiful.
00:15:23.300 We were privileged to be able to sit through
00:15:26.260 or kneel through this prayer of the nuns.
00:15:29.600 This is very rare.
00:15:30.560 I mean, it's so beautiful that it's,
00:15:32.540 you open that to the community.
00:15:35.620 We don't participate in the sense of,
00:15:37.880 you know, you go there and enjoy singing,
00:15:39.120 but we just sit.
00:15:41.180 Watching is stunning
00:15:42.100 because A, most people don't get to see nuns ever anyway,
00:15:45.680 but to see so many and so young
00:15:49.000 and then hear what sounds like heaven.
00:15:53.440 And sometimes I have to just close my eyes
00:15:55.480 some of the times.
00:15:56.240 It's so beautiful that you've got an album
00:15:58.760 that went out that really did reach the top of the charts.
00:16:02.380 And so that's really beautiful.
00:16:03.640 So people can experience it even not here,
00:16:06.140 but I would encourage people to come here
00:16:08.300 just so that they can experience this and see it.
00:16:11.140 That was the first time we have a couple of my kids with us.
00:16:14.840 That's the first time we'd ever seen anything like that.
00:16:17.720 And so that's really beautiful.
00:16:18.920 I'm sure that's something
00:16:19.920 for a lot of the people who come here.
00:16:22.200 Is to be able to share the liturgy
00:16:24.040 and all the treasures of the liturgy.
00:16:25.920 It's not just mass.
00:16:27.260 There's all of these other liturgies
00:16:28.960 that are very ancient and very beautiful.
00:16:31.640 And to have people share that with us,
00:16:34.560 whether they're visiting for the day
00:16:36.380 or, you know, whether they can unite themselves
00:16:39.940 to spiritually to the prayers
00:16:41.680 that we are offering here in this particular church,
00:16:44.460 they can be praying it at home.
00:16:46.020 But the sacred liturgy is not just mass
00:16:50.420 and for people to come to know
00:16:53.680 that the other treasures that the church
00:16:55.140 has in liturgical prayer.
00:16:57.540 One of the things you said is so stunning
00:16:59.920 because you said that the tunes and the prayers,
00:17:04.960 because the prayers are the Psalms,
00:17:06.080 they're ancient,
00:17:06.680 they're from our time before Christ even.
00:17:09.260 But the tunes are coming from
00:17:12.660 even the time before Christ in the temple,
00:17:15.740 because that's, you meant the temple temple,
00:17:17.100 the Jewish temple.
00:17:18.220 So therefore, those tunes and words
00:17:22.780 would have been sung by Our Lady
00:17:25.520 and even her ancestors as well.
00:17:28.660 Yes.
00:17:29.040 So there's a lot of conjecture about Gregorian chant.
00:17:31.200 Where did it come from?
00:17:32.540 And really, that's the only plausible answer
00:17:34.220 that a lot of experts have come to
00:17:35.700 is that it must have come from the Hebraic tradition
00:17:38.620 that the Jewish temple worship were,
00:17:41.300 because there's nothing else like it.
00:17:42.760 And the only thing that they have found
00:17:44.420 that is similar is the ancient Jewish singing,
00:17:48.160 liturgical singing that they've,
00:17:49.900 unfortunately, has been lost in many ways.
00:17:51.520 And so there's a lot of wonder about that.
00:17:56.160 Where does that traditional,
00:17:57.360 those traditional chants come from?
00:17:59.200 Obviously, it was a certain style
00:18:00.660 and the church really developed it
00:18:02.900 and preserved it for posterity.
00:18:05.600 But certainly these were the prayers
00:18:07.620 and these were the hymns
00:18:08.600 that Our Lord and Our Lady
00:18:09.560 and St. Joseph would have offered.
00:18:11.520 The Psalms that we say in the middle of the day
00:18:14.460 are the same Psalms
00:18:17.080 that would have been said for the Jews
00:18:19.160 as they were entering into the temple,
00:18:21.880 as they were going up into the temple
00:18:23.280 for the midday prayer.
00:18:24.660 And so that's why St. Benedict
00:18:25.580 especially wanted to put those Psalms
00:18:27.340 in the middle of the day.
00:18:29.560 Beautiful.
00:18:30.500 That's okay.
00:18:31.260 That's totally stunning.
00:18:33.340 Now, you also had this thing happen
00:18:36.300 and this sort of got
00:18:38.660 the whole wide world's attention
00:18:39.880 because it was something totally stunning.
00:18:42.640 Tell us what transpired.
00:18:43.920 And then I'm sure you guys were inundated.
00:18:47.680 We were Sister Wilhelmina.
00:18:51.100 Everybody wants to know about Sister Wilhelmina.
00:18:53.560 People will ask us,
00:18:54.680 are you Sister Wilhelmina's nuns?
00:18:56.280 And we are very proud and pleased.
00:18:58.140 I think it's one of those things
00:18:59.160 our Lord's timing is always perfect.
00:19:02.000 But so many people in the discovery
00:19:05.540 really just kept saying,
00:19:07.680 we needed this.
00:19:08.760 We needed this.
00:19:09.800 Just a real renewal in our faith
00:19:12.780 that God is present,
00:19:13.860 that He's real,
00:19:14.920 that He's sustaining us,
00:19:16.200 He's sustaining the church.
00:19:17.680 That holiness is possible
00:19:19.940 and even really mandatory for everyone,
00:19:24.100 even the nobodies that live a very hidden life.
00:19:27.820 And Sister Wilhelmina really pointing everyone
00:19:29.380 towards that so they can connect with her right away.
00:19:31.820 She wasn't this famous big shot
00:19:33.780 or very extravagant ascetical practices or anything.
00:19:39.020 She just lived a very simple hidden life.
00:19:42.000 And here the Lord has raised her up
00:19:43.420 and pointed her out to all of the church.
00:19:46.600 And when we discovered that she was incorrupt,
00:19:49.600 you know, it was such a grace for our community.
00:19:51.940 But right away, we realized this grace is not just for us.
00:19:56.360 This treasure is not just,
00:19:58.520 God did not do this miracle just for our community.
00:20:00.980 As grateful as we are,
00:20:02.760 you know, we are her legacy,
00:20:04.360 but that this is for the church.
00:20:06.640 And so what started out as we were just telling a few people
00:20:10.100 because we weren't exactly sure what we were supposed to do.
00:20:14.440 There's no YouTube or handbooks about what to do
00:20:18.400 when you find that your foundress is incorrupt.
00:20:22.120 And just, of course, informing the bishop and everything,
00:20:24.140 but just, you know, cleaning her up and everything.
00:20:26.420 Word got out very quickly,
00:20:27.880 very, very quickly at the end of May.
00:20:30.280 And we have thousands and thousands of people come
00:20:32.680 wanting to touch her,
00:20:34.280 to just be close to her in those initial weeks of the news.
00:20:39.400 And before we put her into a glass shrine.
00:20:42.300 So that was also kind of a big push.
00:20:44.120 A lot of people wanted to come when they could touch her
00:20:46.160 and touch things to her.
00:20:49.760 We couldn't really stop them.
00:20:51.580 They wanted to feel for themselves this miracle.
00:20:55.820 That's just beautiful.
00:20:57.220 Now, there's two striking things.
00:20:59.920 And one, they can't, she's behind glass now,
00:21:02.500 but there is a cloth here.
00:21:05.060 You should explain that a little bit.
00:21:06.080 So people don't have to be totally disappointed
00:21:07.660 when they come.
00:21:08.460 They can still have sort of a relic of hers
00:21:11.920 that they can touch.
00:21:12.720 Yes.
00:21:13.160 So we decided when we put her behind glass,
00:21:16.240 people, so many people were so grateful.
00:21:18.560 They said, thank you for letting us come.
00:21:19.920 Thank you for sharing her with us,
00:21:21.140 letting us touch her.
00:21:22.340 And we decided, well,
00:21:24.080 since all of her habit,
00:21:25.540 which she fought so hard for,
00:21:26.960 she thought it was so important for religious
00:21:29.200 to look like religious.
00:21:31.780 We thought, let's put a new veil on her
00:21:34.640 and take the veil that she was buried in,
00:21:37.260 that was preserved,
00:21:38.880 and we'll leave it outside of the shrine
00:21:41.180 so that people can feel,
00:21:43.040 can still touch her in a way, in that way.
00:21:45.260 And it's especially appropriate
00:21:46.900 because the veil, more than anything else,
00:21:49.640 for a nun,
00:21:51.500 is supposed to represent her bridal location.
00:21:53.720 And Sister Wilhelmina, as a bride of Christ,
00:21:56.720 you know, to leave her veil out
00:21:57.900 where people can touch the veil
00:21:59.740 of this bride of Christ.
00:22:01.780 Beautiful.
00:22:02.500 Now, there's a couple of things
00:22:03.980 that are neat for our time.
00:22:08.000 One of the things is that Sister Wilhelmina
00:22:10.940 was a black lady.
00:22:12.900 She was an African-American woman.
00:22:14.960 And that might strike some people as strange
00:22:18.440 because the church somehow,
00:22:20.620 in a lot of people's minds,
00:22:22.020 is divorced from,
00:22:22.880 oh, they must be all racists or whatever,
00:22:24.460 and they can't be.
00:22:25.520 And yet, here she is,
00:22:26.640 the foundress of the community,
00:22:28.780 not just, oh, one of the lowly nuns
00:22:30.300 who maybe was cleaning something.
00:22:31.600 No, she's the foundress of the community.
00:22:34.880 Do you want to speak to that for a second?
00:22:36.100 Because I think it's still a thing
00:22:38.560 that people think somehow the church is racist.
00:22:43.160 And it's hilarious
00:22:44.260 because if they knew anything about the church,
00:22:47.060 they would know that there's a church in Africa
00:22:49.900 and there's a church in India.
00:22:52.000 Anyway, but nonetheless,
00:22:53.800 there is this perception.
00:22:54.780 But that sort of did something as well
00:22:58.460 because that was a really neat winner.
00:23:00.980 That was the foundress
00:23:01.940 and she was black lady.
00:23:03.000 What?
00:23:03.180 I think that was, again,
00:23:05.980 God's timing is amazing.
00:23:07.500 You know, when there's a lot of unrest
00:23:10.120 and misunderstandings
00:23:11.620 about the color of one's skin
00:23:13.840 that God would raise up,
00:23:15.500 you know, one of his children.
00:23:16.780 And it was something that Sister Wilhelmina
00:23:18.280 felt very strongly about, actually,
00:23:20.400 is that we are all God's children.
00:23:23.400 It didn't matter what color your skin was.
00:23:25.500 You're all God's children.
00:23:27.240 And it was something that actually,
00:23:28.520 she realized she, on her end,
00:23:30.760 had to come to a greater understanding of that
00:23:34.460 because she grew up in really a very racist America,
00:23:38.720 you know, where everything was questioned
00:23:40.820 and thankfully a lot of things overturned,
00:23:43.240 a lot of biases and things.
00:23:44.960 But she entered a community,
00:23:46.560 they were all,
00:23:47.120 that was all African American also.
00:23:49.560 So for her to leave that community
00:23:51.480 and just be open to whatever
00:23:53.500 the Lord's plan was for her life,
00:23:55.580 she realized that was actually very hard for her
00:23:58.260 to make that sacrifice
00:23:59.480 and then to found a community
00:24:00.660 that, you know,
00:24:02.800 that we were all of different races,
00:24:04.580 but none of the same as hers for many years.
00:24:07.980 And, but now we, now we do have another one,
00:24:10.220 but just, she realized this really reinforced
00:24:13.380 the universality of the church.
00:24:15.880 We're all God's children.
00:24:17.960 What a, what a beautiful thing
00:24:19.640 because there is the mother superior
00:24:21.880 in a community is the leader really.
00:24:24.580 And, and so that, that must've been a,
00:24:28.040 yeah, I could see how that would have opened her eyes
00:24:29.820 because that just, just stunning.
00:24:32.080 There was another thing though,
00:24:33.940 that this happens also in the middle
00:24:38.900 of a huge debate in the church.
00:24:41.380 And for me, that was stunning
00:24:43.020 because while the church is in the midst
00:24:47.400 of a really heated debate
00:24:49.420 over the traditional Latin mass
00:24:52.480 and its value,
00:24:54.120 or should it be done away with or whatever.
00:24:58.400 Honestly, when I saw the news,
00:25:01.420 I was like, ooh,
00:25:04.200 God voted in the debate.
00:25:07.840 No, definitely.
00:25:08.960 I think that that's something,
00:25:10.220 again, Sister Wilhelmina
00:25:11.320 just really felt very strongly
00:25:13.000 that there is a place in the church
00:25:14.740 for those who love this sacred
00:25:16.500 and ancient liturgy.
00:25:18.200 And God seems to think so too,
00:25:20.720 that he would point this out to,
00:25:23.220 to, to everyone that yes,
00:25:24.920 there's a place for these people
00:25:26.220 in the church too.
00:25:27.600 And, and that we're all God's children
00:25:29.920 and all of her sacred liturgies
00:25:31.620 that Holy Mother Church has always had
00:25:33.520 are as beautiful as they were.
00:25:36.660 There's a beautiful now
00:25:37.820 as they were always.
00:25:39.540 And so that I think God,
00:25:41.000 I think is saying something there.
00:25:42.880 Indeed.
00:25:43.240 In fact, it's what's really neat too
00:25:45.780 is, you know,
00:25:47.440 you're not all a hundred
00:25:49.820 or, you know,
00:25:52.200 all on your last legs.
00:25:53.320 In fact, there's so many.
00:25:54.980 And then there's all of these
00:25:57.300 young other women
00:25:58.500 who aren't yet part of the community,
00:25:59.760 but they're there,
00:26:00.800 they're behind you over there.
00:26:01.760 And they're sort of,
00:26:02.840 are they waiting to come in
00:26:04.760 or are they discerning
00:26:05.600 or what are they doing?
00:26:06.380 Yes.
00:26:06.680 So those are our aspirants.
00:26:08.180 I mean, definitely,
00:26:09.100 I would say of all the community,
00:26:11.460 only Sister Wilhelmina
00:26:13.080 lived in a time
00:26:14.600 where this mass
00:26:15.720 was offered for everyone.
00:26:18.260 Everyone else in the community
00:26:19.780 is born after 1970.
00:26:22.440 So all of us
00:26:23.520 did not know
00:26:24.140 what it was like before.
00:26:25.720 And I think
00:26:27.100 there's an attraction
00:26:27.980 for young people,
00:26:30.020 especially those
00:26:30.900 who are called
00:26:31.340 to contemplative religious life.
00:26:33.840 The, this liturgy
00:26:35.580 and its beauty
00:26:37.540 and its ancient form
00:26:39.460 is, um,
00:26:40.700 enriches our lives.
00:26:41.860 And we,
00:26:43.380 we can really connect
00:26:45.640 in a way
00:26:46.920 with the church
00:26:48.480 long, long ago
00:26:50.140 and even into the present
00:26:51.600 that it's very timeless
00:26:52.960 and universal
00:26:55.300 and its beauty
00:26:57.600 is, is the same
00:26:58.880 as just like
00:26:59.600 Holy Mother Church,
00:27:00.780 ever ancient
00:27:01.420 and ever new.
00:27:02.460 And that the young people
00:27:05.040 really, really are attracted
00:27:06.720 to, to that traditional liturgy.
00:27:09.520 Beautiful.
00:27:10.240 Sister, thank you
00:27:11.060 so very much
00:27:11.800 for all your time.
00:27:12.600 And I will say to you,
00:27:14.060 please, please,
00:27:15.000 ora pro nobis.
00:27:16.940 You know,
00:27:17.380 our prayers are with you,
00:27:18.720 all of LifeSite News,
00:27:20.820 all the good work
00:27:21.500 that you do
00:27:21.820 for Holy Mother Church,
00:27:23.240 all of your listeners.
00:27:24.720 Keep up the good work.
00:27:26.320 We, we need you.
00:27:28.080 Holy Mother Church
00:27:28.720 needs you.
00:27:29.760 Thank you.
00:27:30.480 Thank you.
00:27:34.260 Aloha, everyone.
00:27:35.240 This is Jason Jones
00:27:36.180 for LifeSite News.
00:27:37.240 We hope you enjoyed
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