Statio

In the September 2020 issue of Mundi Medicina, an email newsletter from Holy Cross Monastery, Rev. Matthew Wright writes:

"In monastic terminology, statio can refer to both a place and a practice.  The Latin word literally means "station" or "position"; over time, it came to signify a monastic community's gathering briefly before worship, or the space through which one transitions into worship. . . . It is, essentially, a transition point, a holy pause."

While the word "statio" is new for me, I have been practicing this holy pause for over a decade. At the beginning of each spiritual direction conversation I invite the two of us to have a few minutes of silence together.  If the person has traveled to meet with me, this provides a time to fully arrive and for us to become more present to each other.  Even in this time of virtual conversations, being together in silence allows me to refocus myself to our being together.

The members of the Benedictine monastery who lived in Whitby Abbey in England probably included times of statio as a regular part of their life together.  When I took this photograph of the ruins a few years ago, I was unaware of our common practice.  Yet, wandering through those stones on a foggy day, I frequently paused to look and feel something of the holiness of that place.

Rev. Wright quotes from Wisdom Distilled from the Daily by Joan Chittister:

"The practice of statio is meant to center us and make us conscious of what we're about to do and make us present to the God who is present to us.  Statio is the desire to do consciously what I might otherwise do mechanically.  Statio is the virtue of presence."

The "virtue of presence" is especially important for these days and times.  It is very tempting to escape from the chaos, insecurity, fear and anxiety around and within me.  It is hard to stay present to what is going on within rather than to push it away or deny its power over me.  Yet by putting up that barrier within, I also put up a barrier to be aware of the presence of the Holy One.  I close out the One who I need more than anything else.

As I continue to follow the Rule of Life of the Northumbria Community, remembering to pause and practice statio opens up my ability to be Available and Vulnerable for others as well as myself.