Silence: a Sacred Space

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me."

For the Poor Clare silence is a sacred space within, the place where she is fed unceasingly with the Word of God. Enabling her to hear Christ knocking, silence then becomes the space of the wedding feast of the Lamb. Silence makes of her a true icon of Mary, the listening one who is full of grace, full of God's Word.

God has no need of our words, for His is the Eternal Word through whom all things were made. God seeks man's silence, a space within man's heart where His creating Word may echo anew. "Behold, I make all things new!" Silence enables a Poor Clare to share in the mystery of Mary as the glory of the Word fills her.

"And then there was silence in heaven." The pattern of praise and silence makes each day a harmonious one, as she moves from praise into silence and back to praise her God again.