May 2009 The Road to Daybreak A Spiritual Journey by Henri J M Nouwen

Continue from ...... The Three Monks of Tolstoy This afternoon Maria and Louis Tersteeg, friends of mine from Holland, came to Trosly for an afternoon. It was a joy to see them both. We lunched at La Ferme, prayed for a moment in L'Oratoire, had a short visit with Madame Vanier, enjoyed tea with the people at La Forestiere, went to Mass with the whole community, and had dinner at Le Val Fleuri, one of the largest and oldest foyers of L'Arche. Both Maria and Louis were deeply impressed with what they saw and heard. In many ways L'Arche was an eye-opener for them. When we went back to the station in Compiegne, Louis said, "What I will remember most is the three servers during the Eucharist." Maria fully agreed. Seeing three handicapped men in white albs come close to the altar to help Pere Thomas prepare the gifts somehow summarized for them the meaning of all they had seen that afternoon. "They remind me of the three monks in the Tolstoy story," Louis said. As we talked more, the story came back to life: Three Russian monks lived on a faraway island. Nobody ever went there, but one day their bishop decided to make a pastoral visit. When he arrived he discovered that the monks didn't even know the Lord's Prayer. So he spent all his time and energy teaching them the "Our Father" and then left, satisfied with his pastoral work. But when hie ship had left the island and was back in the open sea, he suddenly noticed the three hermits walking on the water - in fact, they were running after the ship! When they reached it they cried, "Dear Father, we have forgotten the prayer you taught us." The bishop overwhelmed by what he was seeing and hearing, said, "But, dear brothers, how then do you pray?" They answered, "Well, we just say, 'Dear God, there are three of us and there are three of you, have mercy on us'!" The bishop, awestruck by their sancity and simplicity, said, "Go back to your island and be at peace." When Louis saw the three handicapped altar servers, this story came immediately to his mind. Like the three monks of Tolstoy, these men may not be able to remember much, but they can be holy enough to walk on water. And that says much about L'Arche.

- To Be Continued - © Copyright Shalom 2009. All rights reserved.