Archive: by Paz Vital, OSB

We Begin Again Every Day ....by Sr. Paz

St. Benedict tells us in The Rule that we begin again each day. You may wonder what nuns and monks do in the monastery every day? St. Benedict answered this question many centuries ago: We fall and get up, fall and get up, always. This New Year is a gift, a new opportunity, to begin again, anew, to stand up again. With new hopes, new challenges, new opportunities, to begin again fresh.

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Posted at 6:00AM on January 5, 2024 by Paz Vital, OSB • Tagged Benedictine Sisters of Lacey, St. Placid Priory, Scholastica, Benedict, school, monastery, how we live, humility, beginning again. • Comments: 2

A Mysterious Visitor

Last month I had two unusual encounters with an owl. One afternoon, in the monastery dining room, I heard an unusual snapping of branches and flapping of wings. I ran to one of the windows and discovered a baby owl that was learning to fly. It was a Barred Owl that caused commotion among the sisters. We were afraid it would end up on the ground.

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Posted at 6:00AM on December 8, 2023 by Paz Vital, OSB • Tagged Benedictine Sisters of Lacey, St. Placid Priory, owl, baby owl, encounter, Blessing.

Day of the Dead | Feast of All Souls

These last years, with the pandemic and the wars, the people of the whole planet have a strong need to mourn all our losses. Our sense of safety and tranquility has been challenged, and we don’t have a communal way of acknowledging, mourning, and processing all these losses. For this, we can return to the wisdom of the ancients—like the Mexican cultures and Benedictine wisdom—and make them new. St. Benedict exhorts us: “Keep death daily before your eyes.

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Posted at 6:00AM on November 3, 2023 by Paz Vital, OSB • Tagged Benedictine Sisters of Lacey, St. Placid Priory, Day of the Dead, El Día de los Muertos, All Souls Day, customs, traditions, Mexican, liturgy, memories, rituals of loss. • Comments: 1

With Hands and Feet on the Ground ...by Sr. Paz

I had just arrived at St. Placid when I was assigned the task of growing flowers. I didn’t have any idea of how to do it. Things went well and we had plenty of zinnias in the garden and for the chapel that year. But not a single cosmos. I don’t know why. I did exactly the same with both packages of seeds. Anyway, I was told I have a green thumb. I almost believe it.

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Posted at 6:00AM on October 6, 2023 by Paz Vital, OSB • Tagged Benedictine Sisters of Lacey, St. Placid Priory, deer, native plants, gardening, Our Lady Garden. • Comments: 5

Where is home?

Last August, I visited my family in Mexico City. I felt at home sleeping in my former bedroom with pink bedspread and pillows. I think my body remembered that bed because I slept so good there. This year I went to celebrate my mom’s birthday.

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Posted at 6:00AM on September 1, 2023 by Paz Vital, OSB • Tagged Benedictine Sisters of Lacey, St. Placid Priory, Mexico, family, home, community, choices. • Comments: 3

I Take Refuge in God My Love | Me Refugio en Dios, mi Amado

"Sustain me O God as you have promised that I may live, And disappoint me not in my Hope!" For almost ten years these verses have been my refuge, my mantra in difficult times. I know God is always with me. I know it is me who forgets it, and acts as if my life is in my hands or as if I am alone. These words remind me to take refuge in God alone.

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Posted in Benedictine Sisters of Lacey, St. Placid Priory, First Vows, Initial Monastic Profession, Sister Paz Vital, July 11, Celebration, Joy at 6:00AM on August 4, 2023 by Paz Vital, OSB • Tagged Benedictine Sisters of Lacey, St. Placid Priory, First Vows, Initial Monastic Profession, Sister Paz Vital, July 11, Celebration, Joy. • Comments: 1

My Time in Jail--er, Isolation

I had intended to talk about my preparations for my First Monastic Profession in this post, but some fortuitous events changed my topic. This is the story. On Thursday, June 15, I felt a little tickle in my throat after Mass. After that I read on our community bulletin board that one retreatant tested positive for COVID and was in the hospital—for other medical reasons. Anyway, I decided to be very cautious and take a COVID test.

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Posted at 6:00AM on July 7, 2023 by Paz Vital, OSB • Tagged Benedictine Sisters of Lacey, St. Placid Priory, covid19, isolation, loss, grief, monastery, nature, healing. • Comments: 2

Following the Footsteps of St. Benedict

From May 8 to May 18, three Benedictine Novices, Dorothy Herring, Sonja Weber and I, were at the Novice and Director Institute (NADI) retreat at Sacred Heart Monastery in Cullman, Alabama. This retreat was part of our preparation for Initial Monastic Profession. We had a very tight schedule.

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Posted at 6:00AM on June 2, 2023 by Paz Vital, OSB • Tagged Benedictine Sisters of Lacey, NADI, Novice and Director Institute, becoming a Sister, vocation, call from God, answering your call. • Comments: 3

Living at St. Placid | Viviendo en el Priorato San Plácido

I am Paz Vital. My name means peace and my last name means life. I am originally from Mexico City, where I lived most of my life. I moved to the States in 2009. I planned to live with part of my family in California but work took me to Houston, Texas. I was working at the medical center doing basic research.

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Posted at 8:30AM on May 5, 2023 by Paz Vital, OSB • Tagged Benedictine Sisters of Lacey, monastic life, St. Placid Priory, entering a monastery. • Comments: 7