The
ordinary abbey prayers were on
our schedule: Vigils, Lauds, Mass,
Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, Compline.
We had Benediction on Sunday evening.
Each day at 6:15 am, we had a
silent sitting in the Guest Chapel.
The special Christian rituals
were a Procession
to the Shrine of the Garden of
Gethsemani, The Mandatum (Foot
Washing Rite), and Anointing of
the Sick. The Buddhist rituals
included a Theravada chanting
rite to help address/overcome
greed. Tonglen Practice (prayer
to enlarge compassion), a Zen
healing rite and a final Dedication
of Merit.
The
liturgies create a sense of oneness
and transcendence of differences.
Ritual also celebrates distinctions
and pays honor to origins. We
treasure our roots so we kept
to our own traditions yet participated
with shared gestures of sacred
time and space. The
wreath of flowers we placed at
Merton's grave was a solemn moment.
I literally gasped holding back
tears when I saw 50 monks dressed
in white meet us at the Chapter
door and lead us to our meeting
place. We were welcomed inside
the Cloister as "friends
of Thomas Merton." We had
a skillful musician, Dennis
Skelton, who with a single
recorder or trumper set the tone
for our sustained dialogue with
each other, along with the birds,
wind, and rain. Harmony.—Mary
Margaret Funk
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Saturday:
A Buddhist and Christian
blessing for the conference
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Sunday
at Gethsemani
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Monday:
Liturgy at Gethsemani
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Monday:
Theravada chanting rite
to help address/overcome
greed
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Tuesday:
Meg Funk and William Skudlarek
perform the Ceremony of
the Washing of Feet
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