Nuns Having Fun, Part Two: Picnic!

     Oh, how I loved picnic days in the monastery!
     The obvious date for a picnic is, of course, July 4, and the nuns of the Monastery of the Infant Jesus do celebrate Independence Day in that manner; however, they are in Lufkin, which in July is unbearably hot and much too humid for the comfort of people who wear full religious habits. What is the solution? To have a second picnic day on October 12, Columbus Day! That way, one can enjoy all the outdoor activities that couldn't be enjoyed in July! Perfectly sound reasoning.
     On both picnic days, the festivities begin with a ceremonial flag raising. On every other day of the year, the "canonically youngest," that is, the sister who entered the monastery most recently regardless of her age, raises the flag by herself and takes it down before sunset. She is also responsible for dashing out at any threat of rain to bring the flag safely indoors. On picnic day, all the sisters congregate round the flag pole just after breakfast, wearing their light work aprons over their habits. A large box filled with broad-brimmed hats is brought out; each sister dons her choice of "bonnet" for the day, takes a song book from another box, and joins the others in a semi-circle around the pole. At this point, Angie the cloister cat comes slinking over to see what's going on; she reclines at the feet of the prioress and watches, tail flicking, as I, with the aid of another novice, raise both the U. S. and Texas flags while all the sisters sing the national anthem. Other patriotic songs follow (hence the songbooks -- we sing multiple verses of each song); then we all disperse, chattering away, as the rule of silence does not apply on picnic days. Most of us make a bee-line for the refectory where, laid out on the long serving tables, are all sorts of goodies, sweet and salty (including, of course, the infamous popcorn), to be consumed at will throughout the day. There are sodas in the fridge and ice cream bars in the freezer (hence the aprons).
     Snacks obtained, some of us proceed to the community room for games -- not just board games and canasta, but bean bag toss, ring toss, bowling (miniature), and ping pong. Outdoors, there is a badminton net set up, croquet, and of course, we could always shoot baskets since the monastery has a basketball hoop. A few of the sisters like to rollerblade, helmets over their veils, scapulars flying as they charge back and forth down the unfortunately rather short concrete drive. Quite a sight, that.
     The monastery has also been given a golf cart, which comes in very handy for the less mobile elder sisters if they want to be taken for a spin on the paved loop through the walled-in part of the wooded property. There is another part of the property, the larger part of the 72 acres, that is only fenced in and is not nearly as manicured as the smaller, walled-in part. A path was once cleared years ago that winds through the dense woods, but Nature has since obscured it almost completely. Nevertheless, on one picnic day, a few of us decided to take the golf cart as far as it would go on that old path, which wasn't far at all, so we abandoned the cart and walked the rest of the way -- not an easy thing when wearing an ankle-length habit. Fallen branches and even a couple of small felled trees threatened to rip the hems of our tunics; low-hanging branches could at any moment catch on our veils and strip them right off our heads. I, a City Mouse, saw several species of mushroom in what I thought were fantastically improbable colors and in equally fantastic sizes. "Are there snakes?" one of the other City Mice asked of one the professed. "Oh, yes," was the nonchalant reply, whereupon a non-stop stream of silent Hail Marys ensued.
     Meals on picnic days are eaten anywhere one likes, indoor or out; conversation abounds, and sodas are plentiful (you may have surmised by now that sodas are a seldom-enjoyed treat). In the late afternoon, there is usually a movie. Someone donated one of those gargantuan flat-screen TVs -- he already had one, then won one another in a raffle, so he gave his old one to the monastery. Movies are donated on a regular basis (the sisters also possess both a DVD player and VCR), all of them Catholic or generally spiritual in nature. Naturally, The Sound of Music is a favorite. Narnia was also a big hit.
     The only things that remain inviolate even on picnic days are Mass and the Divine Office, both of which occur at their usual times. Contemplative nuns and monks are bound by pain of sin to pray the entire Divine Office every single day of their lives; it is their most important work, the primary reason they are in the cloister in the first place. I will say, speaking for myself, since I did not live the life of a contemplative for very long, I found it difficult to concentrate on the Office amidst the festivities and gaiety of picnic day. As much fun as it was to talk and play all day, I was grateful that such days were few and far between. Conversely, their infrequency also made me appreciate them even more. We in the secular world sometimes take our leisure time for granted, especially the leisure time we spend with our family and loved ones. I began to see more clearly that life without prayer is fallow, and prayer itself is fallow without the charity that is cultivated through relationships, be they familial, social, or the spiritual friendship of those who are called to the cloister.