The pop-culture image of religious sisters is that of cloistered nuns, who stay within the walls of their convent or monastery without going out into the world. But most Catholics know that actually there are two kinds of religious sisters. Besides cloistered nuns, there are religious sisters who go out into the world, teaching or healing or working in other professions.
We think of sisters as one of these two alternatives, either cloistered or in the world, not both. But one religious community breaks down the typical distinction between them with a very unusual mission.
The St. Andrew Community in Scotland spends 7 months out of every year essentially “cloistered,” in a contemplative state of monastic seclusion with their community in prayer with God. Then the other 5 months are spent in apostolic ministry to young people and families, out in the world, doing God’s work and sharing his goodness widely.
It’s very unusual for a religious community to divide up their year in this way, so Aleteia reached out to the sisters of the St. Andrew Community for an interview.
How would you explain the St. Andrew Community and its distinct mission to someone who had never heard of it before?
Our charism is based on the spirituality of St. Andrew the Apostle. Just as he looked for Jesus and spent time with him before going to get his brother, we too divide our time between contemplative and apostolic periods.
We spend 7 months of the year in our monastic period, which is mainly devoted to chanting the Divine Office and Eucharistic adoration, then we spend 5 months of the year in our apostolic period, “going to get our brother” in order to bring him to Jesus.
As St. Andrew brought the small boy to Jesus, our active time is mainly devoted to the evangelization of the youth. We also work with families.
Where does your community operate?
Our community is based in Scotland and we normally work with youth from all over Scotland, England and Ireland.
How many members are in the community?
We have six sisters.
What kind of programs and outreach do you offer?
We offer weekly youth groups and catechism classes. Every year we have retreats for youth as well as doing a big summer youth pilgrimage to Europe.
We also try to do some outreach with the families of the youth, and this can take the form of women’s pilgrimages, Bible studies, etc. We have also run dinner nights, organized food distribution programs and other such apostolates.
Would you briefly describe what a "day in the life" might look like?
In our contemplative time, we mainly spend our day in prayer, Holy Mass being central. We pray the monastic office in Latin and each sister has at least one hour in adoration in order to have Eucharistic adoration as close to perpetual as possible.
As well as that, each sister has a particular work each day, i.e., one sister is in charge of the kitchen, one organizes youth activities, one works on candles or icons, etc.
During our apostolic time the schedule changes. We have daily Mass, pray the Roman office in English and have at least one hour of adoration. Most of our time is spent with the people/youth in evangelizing activities such as retreats, day trips, catechism, family visits, etc.
What is the most important thing you would want people to know about the St. Andrew Community?
One of the most important things we would want people to know is that our community belongs to the Blessed Virgin Mary. We have a deep devotion to her and seek to live out our charism in conformity with our Mother, to Jesus through Mary.
The sisters can be reached at community@standrewx.org if you'd like to get in touch.
