The Chapter Room is a-buzz with mews, meows and feline laughter. Sisters Nikki and Espy and the Resident Novices settle on their comfortable but not too comfortable cushions. On the Zoom screen Worldwide Novices wave and meow to each other. A couple barks are heard from Friends of the Cloister, Peanut and Mojito. There is waving of paws, nods of heads, and feline grins of excitement.
Br. Ricky, Novice Master, is in earnest conversation with four Cloister members at his small podium. With a smile and a nod from Br. Ricky the four trot to their cushions. Br. Ricky turns to the group, purring with satisfaction at the joyful chaos before him. He is excited, too. His Chapter meeting on the Observance of Lent is ready to begin.
Br. Ricky Calls the Chapter to Order
With a hearty mew, Br. Ricky uses the sure-fire way to quiet the mews, meows, and barks. “The Lord be with you!”
“And also with you!” chimes the group cheerfully and sincerely. An expectant silence replaces the din of mews, meows, and barks.
After an opening prayer Br. Ricky explains the purpose of today’s Chapter:
To introduce the 2026 Feline Cloister Lenten Practice
“I invite everyone to join together in this practice. That way we can support one another as we learn and grow. How does this sound?” Nods of consent abound.
“Wonderful!” He offers a loving smile at all gathered in the Chapter Room and on Zoom. “Our Lenten Practice Committee has done stellar work. They’ve created a practice that we can even continue beyond the forty days of Lent!”
These last words bring a reaction.
Br. Ricky, OSB-F, a wise and compassionate Novice Master
Airplane ears
Feline on the defensive
Does this mean that Br. Ricky is really asking for a “continuous Lent” as Benedict suggests in the first verse of the Chapter on the Observance of Lent?
“The life of a monastic ought to be a continuous Lent.” RB 49.1
Several novices shift uneasily on their cushions. Worried glances are exchanged.
Br. Ricky notices all this and offers words of assurance to calm the anxiety. “Novices. not to worry. Our Lent Practice will follow Benedict’s words about the Rule.” He opens his well-worn copy of the Rule of St. Benedict in Mew and reads…
“Therefore we intend to establish a school for God’s service. In drawing up its regulations, we hope to set down nothing harsh, nothing burdensome.” Prologue 45-46
Ears relax to the normal position. Br. Ricky introduces the four members of the 2026 Lenten Practice Committee.
The Lenten Practice Committee for 2026
Sr Nikki, OSB-F
Resident Novice
Sebastian Thomas
Resident Novice
Little Jenny
Peanut – Friend of the Feline Cloister
Pursuing Joy in Lent per St. Benedict
Friend of the Cloister Peanut jumps up from his cushion, runs to the podium, and begins the presentation with a big canine grin. “Thank you, Benedictines and Novices. I’m honored to be a part of this Lenten project. Let me give you some background from the Rule of St. Benedict.”
“Benedict says that we aren’t to be glum in Lent. We are to find something above the assigned measure [of what we do every day] to offer God of our own will with the joy of the Holy Spirit ( I Thess 1:6 in RB 49.60). And whatever we do, we are to look forward to holy Easter with joy and spiritual longing.” (RB 49.7)
“The committee believes that the 2026 Lenten Practice will fill you with this joy. It’s all about living the Fruit of the Spirt found in Paul’s letter to the Galatians.
Doubtful glances are exchanged. Flattened ears quickly appear yet again. A few skeptical, “Fruits?” are softly mewed.
Why? Felines do NOT like fruit!
Noticing the response, Peanut raises a paw. “Please, friends, do not be distressed. The Spirit’s fruits are not REAL fruits. The Fruit of the Spirit are ways of being. These fruits guide what we think and how we act. The Fruit of the Spirit are personal qualities that bring peace to ourselves and to others. They help us to follow Jesus. Let me explain further.”
Scripture Points the Way to Joy
“Paul tells us first who we are NOT to be as followers of Jesus. He calls these desires of the flesh, or, for us, the desires of the fur.” A few feline chuckles are heard at the tongue in check mention of fur. “I’ll read from Galatians.”
“Now the works of the flesh [fur] are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these.” Galatians 5.20-21
Hissing resounds in the room and on Zoom. “Right, friends,” Peanut affirms. “We don’t want to live these desires. Even the way the words sound to our ears rings of the discord, hurt, and pain that living them creates. Now listen to the words describing who we are meant to be when we live according to the Fruit of the Spirit. They are totally different in feeling.”
“By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, generosity,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
Galatians 5:22-23
Purrs and sighs now envelop the room and on Zoom. Several Worldwide Novices give a feline thumbs up.
Worldwide Novice Teddy Bear of Somerset, England, looks thoughtful, with paw on his cheek. “You’re right, Peanut. The Fruit of the Spirit gives me feelings of calm, peacefulness and hope. The words express reaching out to another with an open paw. I think all of us want to live what these words express and stand for.” Nods all around. “How do we learn to practice these?”
Illus. Feline thumbs up
As a vicarage feline, Novice Teddy Bear is eager to live the Fruit of the Spirit
With a big canine grin, Peanut turns the meeting over to Sr. Nikki.
The Challenges of Daily Life That Can Steal Our Joy
Sr. Nikki, OSB-F, trots to the small podium, looks around the room and gives the gathered community a sweet feline smile.
“I have a question for you to set the stage for our Lenten Practice.
Do you ever find yourself acting in a way that later you regret?
Where, when, with whom does this happen?”
She pauses briefly. The members look thoughtful as they cull their memories.
“Here are a few examples.
A feline who frustrates you or gets under your skin
A recurring hot-button in a relationship
A situation that you want to be different
Problems with technology
A dreaded task
Too many tasks
“Lots of things can turn us from who we really want to be. We struggle to change our reactions, to calm down, to be more generous-hearted. But this, most of the time for me anyway, doesn’t work.”
Living the Fruit of the Spirit
Sr. Nikki continues. “In his Letter to the Galatians, Paul offers as a way forward. We learn to live the Fruit of the Spirit.
LOVE – JOY – PEACE – PATIENCE – KINDNESS –
GENEROSITY – FAITHFULNESS – GENTLENESS – SELF-CONTROL
Novice Georgette, an affectionate feline, already practices the
Fuirt of Love
Worldwide Novice Georgette of Wynot, Nebraska meows, “Wow! That’s a big list and a tall order. I’m not sure I’m up to doing this.”
Sr. Nikki nods in understanding. “It IS a tall order. But remember what Benedict says.” She quickly paws through her copy of The Rule of St. Benedict in Mew and reads an important passage.
“What is not possible to us by nature, let us ask the Holy One to supply by the help of grace.” Prologue 41
“We always begin by asking God to help us. Then we learn to live the Fruit one or two at a time with specific people or in specific situations. The important truth to remember is this:
When we choose to practice a Fruit of the Spirit, we open a door.
God’s grace flows through us, supporting us in our intention.
Quiet purrs and soft barks are heard. It is not all up to us. God will help us.
“Novices Sebastian Thomas and Little Jenny will now share two examples of our Lenten Practice.”
Example #1 – Technology and Other Hiss-Causing Challenges
Resident Novice Sebastian Thomas tentatively moves to the podium. Knowing that he’s a feline who tries hard and worries a lot, attendees give him encouraging smiles. He accepts their thoughtful gesture with a grateful nod.
“You all know that I was a tech expert before I came to the Feline Cloister. In spite of this I am baffled by problems with my printer. Every time a hardware problem happens, I grumble and hiss, struggle and get super frustrated. It’s tough to get your paws into the innards to pull out a piece of paper. But even that doesn’t always get the printer to work.
Resident Novice
Sebastian Thomas
“Solving printer problems takes lots of time and many LONG calls with the Hewlett Packer’s tech felines. As you can well imagine, my reaction sidelines my ability to solve the problem. Emotions skyrocket as my other work falls by the wayside.
Following our Lenten Practice, I took the first step – identify an area in my life that could use a Fruit of the Spirit – Printer Problems!
“Next, I asked God to help me find a Fruit of the Spirit to transform how I approach this challenge. Here are the Fruit of the Spirit once more.
LOVE – JOY – PEACE – PATEINCE – KINDNESS –
GENEROSITY – FAITHFULNESS – GENTLENESS – SELF-CONTROL
!!I was guided to two.
GENTLENESS: With the problem, with my approach, with myself and my lack of knowledge, and with the ‘loss of time’
JOY: Because I get to fix a tool that belongs to the Cloister. I learn something new that will make the situation easier the next time. Most important, I can use the difficult moment to connect with God.
“Using difficult situations to intentionally connect with God is NEVER LOST TIME!! My purpose is to seek God. So, when an issue happens, I do my best to approach it with Gentleness and Joy.
And I also put a sign on the Printer.
“Please be patient with me.”
Your faithful Printer
Worldwide Novice Dodie has challenges living with two dogs and three humans
Worldwide Novice Dodie of Eugene, Oregon claps her paws. “What a great idea, Sebastian Thomas. Very creative. Little signs can be helpful reminders.
“What makes me chuckle is that the printer will remind you to be gentle when the printer is actually causing the problem!” More chuckles are heard in the room and from the Zoom screen.
Novice Sebastian Thomas adds the next step in the Lenten Practice. “When my faithful printer gives me an error message I recall the two Fruit that I had chosen to practice – Gentleness and Joy. Then I do my best to BE both.
What happens? I approach the problem with calmness and acceptance. Things go a lot better when I’m not acting from anger and frustration.”
“Amen to that!” meows Resident Novice William, as he continues to groom. Br. Ricky makes a note in his little notebook with his tiny green pencil – “Speak with Novice William about his excessive grooming.”
Sebastian Thomas invites the fourth committee member, Resident Novice Little Jenny, to come to the podium. Because she is a tiny feline, he places a wooden box on the floor behind the podium for her to stand on.
Resident Novice William in an
inveterate groomer
Example # 2 – Interruptions and the Fruit of the Spirit
Resident Novice Little Jenny trots to the podium and hops onto the box. Some members are in awe of Little Jenny because she is a fine scholar on the Rule and on all the early monastic writers.
“I’m delighted to share what I have learned from our Lenten Practice. Here’s how the practice developed for me.
.
“When I am deep in my studies very often a Cloister member comes to me with a question about this or that. Sometimes it is a request for help. This pulls me away from my reading. It happens, too, when I am doing a job for the Cloister like cleaning the food dishes before our next meal.
“The main reason I get annoyed is my struggle with time. There is never enough of it to do what I need to do and want to do! Several nods are seen in the gathered community. “I try not to be annoyed. Even if I think it doesn’t show, which it probably does, I always hiss at myself afterwards. Why can’t I be a better novice?
“As a part of testing the Lenten Practice, I thought about which Fruit of the Spirit would help me be more like Jesus is these situations. I will admit, they ALL seemed to apply. So, I said a prayer for the Holy Spirit to help me and I decided on two.
GENEROSITY: with my time to help another member
LOVE: because I do love my confreres
“I have found just recalling these in my mind changes who I am. My heart opens. Friends, we can trust that God will help us in our practice. God will also help us complete what really needs to be done each day.
“All of us on the committee found that after identifying and practicing the Fruit of the Spirit the very first time, we identified lots of other situations that could use an infusion of the Fruit. We think you will too.”
Feline smiles and purrs resound in the Chapter Room and on Zoom.
The Three Step Lenten Practice
Sr. Nikki returns to the podium as Little Jenny returns to her cushion.
”Paul says, If we live by the Spirit, let us be guided by the Spirit,” Sr. Nikki asks. “What do you say, my friends?”
A chorus of mews sounds forth, paws are clapped and feline thumbs up are sported.
Sr. Nikki continues. “The Lenten Practice is easy as 1-2-3 mews.
The 2026 Lenten Practice from the Feline Cloister
1. IDENTIFY where a Fruit of the Spirit is needed
2. CHOOSE a Fruit of the Spirit.
In a quiet moment, begin by praying to the Holy Spirit to guide you.
“What Fruit is needed here?”
LOVE – JOY – PEACE – PATEINCE – KINDNESS –
GENEROSITY – FAITHFULNESS – GENTLENESS – SELF-CONTROL
Then, in silence, see what Fruit surfaces in your mind. You may wish to paw a note of the situation and the Fruit. Little Jenny records these in a special notebook to help her recall and remember the situation and the Fruit.
3. PRACTICE using the Fruit. The next time the situation appears, recall the Fruit and go for it. Trust that the Holy Spirit will intervene to help you.
Fruit of the Spirit and Thoughts
Br. Ricky returns to the podium. “Thank you, committee, for the fine work! Committee members incline their heads in appreciation of the complement. Paws clap energetically in appreciation for the fine work of the committee.
“There’s one area where the Fruit of the Spirit is really helpful to me. It’s about the negative thoughts that too often spin around in my head like flies.”
Surprised at this revelation from the Novice Master, several gasps are heard. “Yes, I confess that I have these spinning thoughts – about myself, about other felines or humans or about what seems to be going wrong. I can also spend lots of time on imaginary mews with another feline and even with Amma.
“I followed the Lenten Practice and now meet these pests with the Fruit of PEACE and of GENTLENESS.”
Illus. Feline ready to clap paws
Time to Begin the Lenten Practice – Living the Fruit of the Spirit
“Remember that this is a practice,” Br. Ricky explains. “We may forget to live the Fruit of the Spirit. Be gentle with yourself. Trust that the Holy Spirit is helping you.
“And one last idea: Look for the Fruit of the Spirit in others, too.”
All gathered nod in their promise to do the best that they can, every day.
Br. Ricky invites the community to meet in pairs to talk about where and when the Fruit of the Spirit can transform challenges and frustrations.
Reader, the Feline Cloister invites you to explore where the Fruit of the Spirit
can help you live with Joy in Lent…and beyond!
© February, 2026. Br. Ricky and Jane Tomaine
