The smell of incense burning and a bowl of candles greets junior Julia Meyers as she walks into the dimly lit vigil, which creates a calming circle on the floor, representing the endless gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Meyers, senior Gabrielle Brown and junior Kristina Erskine accompanied math teacher Kayla Moylan on a mini-retreat to the monastery of Little Sisters of the Lamb in Kansas City, Kansas.
“It’s given me time to reflect on how busy life is all the time and how I need these moments like quiet meditation to refocus on things that matter,” Meyers said.
Each attendee participates in Moylan’s Friday morning prayer group. Moylan invited all the juniors and seniors in the prayer group to join. She also encouraged them to extend the invite to other juniors and seniors as well.
“I thought it would be a great experience,” Meyers said. “I was looking for some way to grow in my faith and kind of go out of my comfort zone and I think the vigil definitely helped me do that.”
In their time at the monastery, the three students joined the sisters for dinner, and from 11:30 p.m. to 2 a.m., they prayed their vigil with the sisters, which consisted of taking the Eucharist, some songs, prayers and adoration.
“It helped me reflect on how I live my life and my priorities in life,” Erskine said.
Brown said that the vigil was so beautiful and that it went through how all the different bible stories she learned in high school are put together.
“Everyone there wasn’t paying attention to the people around them but was just focused on God and God was talking to them in different ways,” Brown said. “I just thought it was beautiful.”
Erskine’s favorite part of the experience was the simplicity of the monastery and the ability to see how people in the religious life lived. There were no mirrors, dishwashers or any unnecessary material possessions.
“It made me see the things I take for granted in life,” Erskine said. “I liked the change of pace and it was good to live and experience something new.”
Moylan enjoyed hearing from the girls what they had taken away from the vigil and how they thought it changed their outlook on life.
“It made me happy that they could experience a prayer experience that was unique and different,” Moylan said. “It also made me happy that they received something from it.”
Meyers enjoyed getting to know each of the Little Sisters a little better and seeing each of their personalities. According to Meyers, the sisters were always joyful, and she hopes to reflect that in her own life.
“Just seeing how fully immersed they were in their faith was really a wow factor for me,” Meyers said.
Moylan is hoping to go on the mini-retreat again next year during Advent. Brown said that she wanted to go again and was even going to suggest to Moylan about having another mini-retreat.
“I think it’s meaningful because I think it good to meet the nuns and sisters and to realize that they aren’t scary, and they are actually real humans,” Moylan said. “They are just like us, so I think it’s important to invite students to come so they can have the same experience.”
