Benedictine. Contemplative. Mercy.
Benedictine
Located near Clear Creek Abbey, the life of the community members of the Servants of Divine Mercy is nourished by close proximity to the contemplative, Benedictine life of the monks of Clear Creek Abbey. The community follows a monastic schedule of ora et labora, rising at 3 am to begin praising God in the silent watches of the night. The day of the Servants of Divine Mercy is imbued with the prayer of the Psalms sung in the style of Gregorian Chant, calling down Mercy upon mankind by offering God a sacrifice of Praise throughout the day. When the bell is rung, the Servants of Divine Mercy stop what they are doing and turn their hearts and minds to God, remembering always and in all things that He is the source and summit of our lives.
Saturdays are hermit days for the community, when we enter into a deeper life of personal union and contemplation with Our Lord. Community members come together each day to pray matins at 3am, attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and join together for the major offices of Lauds and Vespers, but on Saturday, the little hours are recited privately by members of the community who may spend the day in quiet contemplation and retreat with Our Lord. After Vespers, we join in a community meal together in silence.
Sundays are days when we return in full to the work of the Benedictines, the Divine Office, but keep our labors to only what is necessary, offering the day to Our Lord in reflection and communion with Him and the members of our community. On Sundays, we take a walk together and enjoy the communion of our fellowship with God and each other.
Contemplative
The lives of the Servants of Divine Mercy are deeply contemplative, spending the first five hours of the day in silent contemplation of our Lord. We begin the day with matins at 3:20 am. We spend the next few hours of the morning hearing how Our Lord is speaking to us through Lectio Divina, silent contemplation and meditation, or taking a walk in nature under the stars. We then leave our monastic home in silence to pray Lauds in the oratory and attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as it is celebrated at Clear Creek Abbey. We pray prime at 8 am and then return in silence to our home where we begin the day’s work.
Mercy
Answering Our Lord’s directive to the people of our time to proclaim His Mercy to all souls, we do this by engaging in the prayers and works that He spoke to Saint Faustina. We meditate on the Diary of Saint Faustina daily and seek to imbue all of our actions with His Mercy. We always and in all ways engage in our daily work with the love of God for mankind, remembering that He has said that His joy is in the conversion of sinners whom He loved so much that He died to save them. We follow the directives that He gave to St. Faustina about the community that He asked her to found, meditating on HIs passion daily, keeping the 3 o’clock hour as we are able, making the Stations of the Cross in the morning and at 3 am, praying the Divine Mercy chaplet daily, and offering all of our works and sufferings for the salvation of souls.
The active members of the community engage in works of Mercy around the area of the monastic community in which we live, teaching and healing, especially being God’s presence to each person, freely giving of the fruits of their lives of contemplation. We engage in various kinds of works of Mercy, according to the talents of the members of the community, but are especially called to assist the dying and catechize children, as Our Lord asked Saint Faustina to do.
This great, supranational community of people is one family, which is being united, first of all, by god in the mystery of His mercy, and secondly, by people’s longing, both, to reflect that mercy in their own hearts and works, and for God’s glory to be reflected in all souls. It is a community of people who in different ways, depending upon their state in life and vocation (priestly, religious, lay), live by the Gospel ideal of trust and mercy, proclaim the incomprehensible mystery of God’s mercy by their life and words, and obtain Divine Mercy for the world with the entreaties.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon meek and humble souls, and upon the souls of little children who are enfolded in the abode which is the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. These souls bear the closest resemblance to Your Son. Their fragrance rises
from the earth and reaches Your very throne. Father of mercy and of all goodness, I beg You by the love You bear these souls and by the delight You take in them: Bless the whole world, that all souls together may sing out the praises of your mercy for endless
ages. Amen.