A Word on Trancendence....

A friend of mine shared with me the video below. It's a simple (and yet beautiful!) clip of a few Dominican friars praying in Washington D.C. the U.S. capital. I had seen this video about a year ago, while still in St. Louis and before actually visiting D.C. myself a few months later.

I was reminded of transcendence in three aspects:

1- The actual beauty of the clip, the solemnity of the instrumentals, the solitary presence of the barren trees in the background, the long black flow of the capuces, the frigid air you can almost feel from simply observing their prayer. The clip has a timelessness, an essence of the depth of prayer and our own solitude, of our own solidarity in prayer, for others, with others.

2-I was reminded of prayer with the Dominicans in St. Louis, of their formation for prayer in the hallway, of their brief chant. I was reminded of snow, of a Thanksgiving reception at their formation house and those same black capuces being present there with the same frigidness as of the clip. I was reminded of a beautiful formality and ritual. A city where a 15-year old Sofia had experienced Gregorian chant with Benedictine monks at a candle-lit All Saints Vigil, where 18-year old Sofia had been blessed to share the anticipation of Christ's arrival in an Easter Vigil with a community of Carmelite sisters shortly before her departure. The video reminded me of a transcendence in my own faith formation in the past and the events in which God had given me obvious consolations and gratitude.

3-I was also reminded that although I appreciated the beauty of the clip, with all of the cinematic aspects that contributed to the sense of transcendence, I recognized a more "raw" transcendence. A raw transcendence in knowing that whatever nostalgia arrived from the clip was truly simply one aspect of the fullness of faith, devotion and truth. I, writing this, am far from the place, culture, climate etc depicted in the video and yet, in the small parish a few blocks away, in the solitude, in the loneliness, lack of structure/formality of religious ceremonies, in the dullness of daily life, in the apparent "disenchantment" I have found a greater honesty with myself. A realization that transcendence is simply an honest desire to relish in God and to be patient enough to allow for it before my own fears/stubbornness/incredibility corrupts that disposition.

Alas, here is the clip, enjoy!

** De Profundis, ("Out of the depths") the title, makes a reference to Psalm 130, and is traditionally sung/prayed when remembering those that have passed away, at least with my experience of prayer with the Dominicans in St. Louis.