Vocations... are gifts of God...

"...and each one is as distinct from the other as an eye is from an ear, as a hand from a foot. We are all parts of the one body of Christ but we all have our distinct and separate vocation within that body....

"Benedictine contemplative nuns... live within the monastic cloister.

"Our vocation also is distinct. It is a call to a LIFE OF PRAYER. Naturally, prayer is an integral part of all our lives and of every vocation but prayer is the WHOLE meaning of our lives."

"I do not mean just saying prayers (though that does form a very significant part of each day) but rather I mean that we are called to LIVE prayer. We become Benedictine nuns in order to give our lives to SEEKING GOD, seeking to please Him 'that in all things He may be glorified.'"

* * * * *

"Just as the great cathedrals witness to God and to the faith of those who built them, just as they call us to prayer and to faith, so too the life of Benedictine contemplative nuns witness
to the existence of God
to the presence of God
to the reality of God who draws the human spirit
to believe
to worship,
to praise,
to adore Him absolutely and simply because HE IS GOD
and for no other reason.

"You see,
there is no meaning to our lives
and no meaning to the great cathedrals...
unless God exists
and He is worthy of total worship, honour and praise. "

from the website of the Benedictine nuns of Jamberoo Abbey, New South Wales, Australia.