Hello.  The day that I met Br Ricky at the vet he mewed enthusiastically about Feline Cloister.  Intrigued and curious, I did some checking online, and here I am.

Learning about The Rule of St. Benedict has raised quite a few questions for me, like how I treat other felines with respect when they hiss at me (RB 72.4).  I think my human needs to learn this, too.  He grumbles a lot  about people who he thinks don’t respect him.

My Favorite Verses from the Rule, but they’re hard to do:

If people curse you, do not curse them back but bless them instead.  (RB 4.32) … Do not grumble or speak ill of others   (RB 4.39, 40).

If this subject intrigues you, for a helpful article by Br. Ricky, Novice Master, “R-I-C-K with Ricky: Surviving the Chase,” jump here.

Do you ever feel overwhelmed?  That reality brought me to explore joining the Feline Cloister.

I have spent much of my life feeling overwhelmed with so many things to do and not enough time to do them.  I knew I needed to get my priorities straight, and to straighten out my relationship with God.  St. Benedict offers a way of life that is focused on peace within ourselves and with others.  Moderation is also an important practice in the Rule and this ranges from physical things to how much we take on.

All of these wonderful things that I am learning I will share with my human.  She is also continually stressed out.

My Favorite Verses from the Rule:

Place your hope in God alone (RB 4.41).

Let the porter be given one of the younger monastics if she or he needs help (RB 66.5).

Amma Jane wrote an article entitled “Living from the Spiritual Heart” that gave me some ways to turn from panic.  To see if these ideas could help you, too, jump here.

I’m not sure why I’m here.  It’s not really clear to me yet.  I have a feline friend, Bosco, who mews that I spend too much time thinking about myself.  Things started to change when one day while surfing on the net, I saw this on the screen:

Is there anyone here who yearns for life and desires to see good days?  (Ps 34:13 and Prologue 15)

Something clicked and I answered “Yes” to both.  I didn’t think more about it until later that week.   An eblast from a place called the Feline Cloister began with those very same words!  That got my attention.

Has this ever happened to you?  Out of the blue, messages appear that ask you to respond?

And so I am here, trying to figure things out by listening to the Rule, to Br Ricky, to my confreres and to my own heart.  I also listen to when I stamp down my paw and resist.

My favorite verse from the Rule: Tough to do…

Listen carefully, my child, to my instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart. This is advice from one who loves you; welcome it, and faithfully put it into practice (Prologue 1).

If you focus on yourself a lot, check out an article by Br Randy, OSB-F, “Looking in the Mirror – The Evils of Pride and Vanity.  Jump here.

I’m a scholar.  One day I was in the town library and came upon a book that had fallen on the floor.  The title was The Love of Learning and the Desire for God  by Jean Leclercq, OSB.  The title intrigued me because I love both learning and God.

Reading the book, I discovered that from the beginning, Benedictine life has been shaped by both.  They are intertwined.  Leclercq wrote that “education is not separated from spiritual effort” [18].  Reading and meditating on Holy Scripture has the goal of “the pursuit of the spiritual life led in a community whose essential aim is the search for God.” [213]

I wanted a community like that and found the Feline Cloister.  I am learning how to pray Holy Scripture using a method called lectio divina (holy reading).

My favorite verse from the Rule:

Listen readily to holy reading, and devote yourself often to prayer (RB 4.55, 56).

I found a wonderful article that Amma Jane wrote, “Living the Desire of Your Heart.”  To check this out, click here.

Hello.  I found the Feline Cloister through my cousin, Novice Sebastian Thomas.  I shared with him that I was looking for a place where I could be with like-minded felines who were also looking for God.  The idea of becoming a novice resonated with me, and here I am!

To be honest, it is sometimes hard for me to stay focused.  I like to play with my catnip toys and take naps. I need others to hold me accountable to something bigger than me.  So, I decided to become a feline cenobite.

St Benedict instructs cenobites to  “belong to a monastery (the Feline Cloister), where they serve under a rule and an abbot (or abbess or prioress).  RB 1.2   There are a few other types of monastics, too, but Benedict lauds the cenobites, who he calls “the strong kind.”  RB 1.13   I sure want to be a strong kind!

I am very concerned about my human, too, another reason that I am here.  She is preoccupied with too many things that make her agitated.  She feels she has to do everything and finds it hard to ask us for help.  She grumbles a lot in the kitchen, too.  In the Rule Benedict arranges things so that grumbling is not necessary.  I like that!

My Favorite Verses from the Rule:

An hour before mealtime, the kitchen workers of the week should each receive a drink and some bread over and above the regular portion, so that at mealtime, they may serve the members without grumbling or hardship.  RB 35. 12-13

Amma Jane wrote an article entitled “Playing Games and The Rule of St Benedict.” As a lover of cat toys I liked the focus she placed on building community and how we are to be with one another.  To read the article, jump here.

My path to the Feline Cloister has been a long and varied one.  I grew up a stray on the streets of Newark, New Jersey.  Known for attacking felines, squirrels and even humans I had a bad reputation.

One day sauntering down Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard looking for trouble, I encountered a man in a long black robe.  This stopped me in my tracks.  “What is this?” I thought.  I didn’t move.  The man knelt and scratched me behind the ear.

No human had ever done before. I was transfixed.  “You had better come with me, Michael James,” he said gently.  “How in the world did he know my name?” I mewed in astonishment.

Obediently I followed him up some steps and into a building filled to the brim with a cacophony of  laughter and the rush of feet.  I came to learn that it was St. Benedict’s Prep, a Catholic college preparatory school for girls and boys.  The school was founded and is  run by the Benedictine monks of Newark Abbey.

My life changed.  I enrolled in St. Benedict’s Prep – Feline where I got a super education.  After college I studied law.  I dedicated my practice to helping young felines stay out of trouble and have productive lives.  But through my life there has been a niggling pull on my heart, drawing me back to the kind men in black robes.

When I discovered the Feline Cloister and spoke with Br. Ricky, Novice Master, I knew the next part of my life would be as a feline monastic.

My favorite verse from the Rule:

What, dear sisters and brothers, is more delightful than this voice of the Lord calling to us.  See how the Lord in his love shows us the way of life.  Prologue 19, 20

Please be sure to check out the two websites shown above.  St. Benedict’s Prep is bringing hope and direction to so many girls and boys.