This series, which will span several weeks, is a recounting of “Wisdom from Walburga” from the mind and heart of Mother Maria-Michael, O.S.B., abbess of the Abbey of St. Walburga, in answer to some of the foundational questions and concerns of countless Catholics on the road to Heaven.
Humble, Hidden Life
Following the fall of man, Eden is a hidden place, veiled and removed from the world. Scripture even says that God set an angel to guard the entrance to the garden.
In Jesus, we are invited to return to that original relationship, to holiness, but a hiddenness remains. Both Eden and the Abbey are somewhat hidden, too, as they are removed and set apart from the world for God.
“We’re not here to be known,” Mother Maria-Michael shared. “We’re here to love and to pray, so that’s secondary to us in a sense. Whoever God sends us, we are happy to greet them as Christ. But our first order is to love Christ in everything.”
In their humble, hidden life, however, the nuns of Walburga occupy a privileged place in the Kingdom of Heaven, the Church and the world.
“It’s like the bride next to the king, saying, ‘You know, your people need this. You know, I want to mention this to you.’ You feel that you bring these people to Christ in your prayer. But mostly, we’re there to praise God, tell him we love him and thank him for what he’s done. To thank him for the earth, to thank him that we got up today and can praise him. It’s really a life of prayer, of coming back and forth to say, ‘I love you. Lord, you aren’t forgotten. We want to love you every moment.’ That’s just the joy of our life.”
In a world obsessed with success, performance and activity, the nuns of Walburga embody a countercultural call to humble hiddenness, great gratitude and deep devotion. The Wisdom from Walburga they offer through the testimony of their lives is a testament to the enduring power of humility. Each of us, no matter our vocation, can live a measure of that humility in our own lives.
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