Summer Interns have arrived! We are hosting three young women in June and July and two more are expected in August. The women come from different backgrounds and educations: this year, several interns have come to us from divinity schools around the country. At Redwoods, they participate in a different sort of school, a schola caritas (school of charity), as our founding Cistercian fathers of the 11th century called monastic life.
Through common work in the kitchen, garden or monastery and our rhythm of monastic prayer throughout the day, they participate fully in the community. The natural beauty of our monastery lends itself to contemplation of God’s creation and a deeper communion with the universal Love that sustains all being.
They have also attended several conferences on different aspects of monastic spirituality given by the sisters and monastic visitors to the Abbey especially for them. It is our hope that the interns’ experience with us will be spiritually enriching and give them tools for life in their future careers.
