PHOTOS: 'Yes, for always': New Abbey of St. Walburga nun vows life to Christ the Bridegroom

In the stillness, in the silence, God continues to speak and to call. Just as Elijah found God in the “still, small voice,” one newly professed nun at the Abbey of St. Walburga encountered her Bridegroom in the quiet. “Reflecting on my whole discernment journey, it has always been the quiet, still moments in which God has given me his word, his love, his will,” Sr. Maria-Placida told the Denver Catholic. Hailing from Calgary, Sr. Maria-Placida first encountered the peaceful voice of her future Bridegroom while on retreat. Though she had never been on a silent retreat before, the 17-year-old future nun made her way to the foothills near Calgary to pray with the Opus Dei women numeraries. “I believe the Lord was preparing my heart by the openness and excitement I felt upon entering into the retreat,” she said, remembering the pivotal retreat in the snowy woods. “The little makeshift chapel in the cabin in the snowy woods was quiet and serene, and as I sat in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, I remember thinking, ‘It’s so lovely to sit here in God’s presence and to just pray.’ Almost immediately, the thought came to me that that very thing was the life of a contemplative nun.” As she sat in quiet union with the Lord, Sr. Maria-Placida said she felt nothing but profound peace, even though the thought was new to her. “I remember there was an indescribable peace in my soul. Never had such an idea occurred to me; that’s where it all began.” From that retreat, Sr. Maria-Placida began discerning her vocation to the contemplative life, attending various retreats, one of which was led in British Columbia by some nuns from the Abbey of St. Walburga. Three months later, she visited the Abbey for nine days. “I truly was in awe of the geographical and architectural beauty, the joyful solemnity of the Divine Office and the welcoming joy and peace of the community. I never felt the need or the desire to visit or discern with any other community!” she shared. A few months later, she returned to the Abbey for two weeks. The following year, she opted to return for a three-month “live-in,” which allowed her an extended time of praying, living and working with the nuns. Following that three-month live-in, Sr. Maria-Placida found herself on another vocation day retreat at a parish in her hometown of Calgary mere months before she was scheduled to enter the Abbey. “In the course of the day, there was a time for silent prayer in the Church. The sun was streaming in through the old stained glass, and all of us young women were spread out in the pews,” she remembered. “It felt like the hush of listening. Once again, I had that indescribable feeling of peace. My soul felt upheld, and I was so sure of God’s love and that I wanted to love him back. This experience was a confirmation of my desire to pursue the contemplative life and of my decision to enter the Abbey.” Years later, Sr. Maria-Placida is the community’s newest solemnly professed member. On July 11, the Feast of St. Benedict, she vowed her life to Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom, and committed herself to prayer and work under the Benedictine Rule. She is named for St. Placid, one of St. Benedict’s first disciples, whose name comes from the Latin placidus, meaning quiet, gentle or still. Though she and others find the name ironic, given her spirited demeanor, the name is a perfect descriptor for her journey toward her Bridegroom. Having met the Lord Jesus in the quiet, Sr. Maria-Placida came to know of his deep love for her and came to be resolved to respond in love. Her vocation is that loving response, in the tradition of the early desert fathers and mothers who went off into the desert to follow Christ more intentionally. With the possibility of a “red” martyrdom off the table at the time, these holy hermits sought to die to themselves to live for Christ. “For our cenobitic life, that is, life lived in community, this means primarily a laying down of one’s life for one’s brothers and sisters in service,” Sr. Maria-Placida shared, quoting Jesus’ own words in John 15: “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” “This has inspired my monastic journey and has become a pillar for me in my life in community and in my spiritual life. “For me, this Solemn Monastic Profession is the expression of the ‘yes, for always’ to a life of self-giving, of laying down my life, in union with our Lord Jesus Christ, since he is the only one who did and does this perfectly,” she continued. “The desire awakened in me (by him!) when I first realized the unfathomable depths of his love for me – that is, to love him with all my heart, soul and strength – is finding its ‘niche’ in this profession, this ‘I do,’ this ‘I will follow you.’” In her vocation of loving service to God and the Church, Sr. Maria-Placida embodies Christ’s own hidden life. For 30 years, Jesus lived in quiet, humble, hidden service in Nazareth, obedient to Mary and St. Joseph. In like manner, Sr. Maria-Placida, the nuns of the Abbey of St. Walburga and countless others around the world live in quiet, humble, hidden service to Jesus Christ, their Bridegroom, and his Church. Withdrawing from a world wounded by division, injustice, hatred and sin, the nuns of Walburga and their counterparts around the world draw near to the Kingdom of Heaven so that “Thy Kingdom come,” as we pray in the Our Father. “We often hear, ‘Only God can save the world.’ I think that’s 100% true. So, here we are turning to him seven times a day, day in and day out, begging him to do so and thanking and praising him for all he is and for all he has done,” she shared. “This is the work of God, the ‘Opus Dei,’ the Divine Office given by the Church to the contemplative. What a gift! And by this gift, all that the contemplative does becomes efficacious.” Through their hidden fidelity to the “still, small voice” of the Lord, Sr. Maria-Placida and the contemplative nuns of the Abbey of St. Walburga bless the universal Church with a countercultural witness, a fountain of grace and an invitation to deeper intimacy with the Lord, who loves us more than we can imagine. For those just beginning their discernment or anyone seeking to draw nearer to the Lord, Sr. Maria-Placida encouraged starting precisely there, in the Lord’s love. “Strive to remember and live by the fact that God loves you,” she said. “A priest once advised me, ‘Go into the presence of the Blessed Sacrament and sit with the fact that God loves you. And let him.’ Isn’t this sometimes so difficult? But once you are able to do this, you’ll find yourself wanting to do his will as the way to love him back. Remembering his great love is a wonderful way to begin.” +++ For more information about the Abbey, the nuns, and retreat opportunities, visit https://walburga.org/.