"The monk, like the seer of the Apocalypse, has seen a door opened in heaven... from now on, everything resolves itself into passing through that door, into plunging into the vision which it opens on to the invisible." (Louis Bouyer of the Oratory, The Meaning of the Monastic Life, PJ Kenedy and Sons, NY 1950, p. 68)
"It is the vocation of a monk to seek not the earthly but the heavenly Jerusalem." (Walter Nigg, Warriors of God, NY, Alfred A. Knopf, 1959, p. 201)
"Here we have no lasting city; we are seeking one which is to come." (Hebrews 13:14)
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For Prayer and Reflection:
- Has it ever seemed that a 'door opened into heaven' for me? Have I ever had a sense (even if fleeting) of God's presence, reality, or love?
- Even if I'm not a monk or nun, am I called to seek the heavenly Jerusalem? How am I responding to this call?
"My God, without ceasing, I will tread the threshold of Your house." (St.Ephrem)
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