The nuns of the abbey of Benedictines of Mary, Queen of the Apostles released their most recent album, Lent at Ephesus, which is directed toward the upcoming Lenten season (big suprise!). This is a follow-up to their Billboard topping album Angels and Saints at Ephesus. Go figure, nuns topping the charts? And not the Sister Act kind, but old school a capella sacred music and chant.
Mother Cecilia, prioress of the abbey, describe her motivation for singing and making sacred music to NPR[ref]Hear the full interview at npr.org[/ref] like this:
Sacred music… lifted my spirit to God, and made me think on eternal things, up out of the petty things of life.
Rule of Saint Benedict
Their days follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, in particular:
Ora et labora
Or in English, prayer and work. The sisters spend nearly their entire day in silence – except when their singing. Imagine that. When they aren’t signing, they’re milking their dairy cow and processing the milk for their table. Or they’re working their small farm.
Maybe that’s part of what a new theological economy might look like. What do you think?
