![[Translate to Englisch:] Das Kloster St. Johann in Müstair - Leben im Kloster](/fileadmin/_processed_/f/b/csm_GefalteneHaende_SrClara_MaykWendt_1600-500_be3322033e.jpeg "[Translate to Englisch:] Das Kloster St. Johann in Müstair - Leben im Kloster")
Life behind the convent walls
Life in the convent is a life in community, with a balanced alternation of prayer, work and spiritual reading.
The Benedictine spirit is clearly perceptible. St Benedict’s Rule laid the foundation for a religious community in which the brothers and sisters treat each other with respect and humility, inspire and support each other, care for the wellbeing of the community and seek God both together and on their own individual paths.
A life consecrated to God
If you ask the nuns of Müstair why they decided to enter the convent, each one will tell you a different story. What they all have in common, however, is the desire to come closer to God. But the path to the doesn’t consist of just one step. It’s a process of growing in and constant learning. Benedict compares the monastery to a ‘school for the service of the Lord’ (RB, Prologue, Verse 45). He says that ‘the path is bound to be narrow at the outset, but as we progress in this way of life and in faith, we shall run on the path of God’s commandments, our hearts overflowing with the inexpressible delight of love.‘ (RB, Prologue, Verse 49)
Becoming a nun
The path to life in a convent involves a well-considered and consciously made decision. If you are interested in religious life and feel attracted to this way of life, then you are welcome to contact the prioress. This will be followed by a series of meetings and talks, with time spent experiencing the community to get to know each other and a first personal examination of the authenticity of your vocation to the contemplative life.
If you are interested or have any questions, please contact Prioress Aloisia Steiner: +41 81 851 62 38
Clearly structured daily life
Between the Vigil, the morning office, at 5.30 am, and Compline, prayer at 7.30 pm, there are 14 hours of clearly structured monastic life: praying and singing psalms and hymns in praise of God, working, meditating, reading, eating and silence: day after day, year after year, for decades and centuries.
The daily routine of the Benedictine nuns of Müstair is basically the same today as it was 1,500 years ago when St Benedict wrote down his rule. At the centre is faith, the search for and worship of God. The regular daily routine helps with this because it brings peace into the day.
However, anyone who believes that time stands still in the monastery and that modern life stops at the monastery walls is mistaken. Computers and emails have found their way into the 1,250-year-old walls. Appointments and meetings, discussions and mundane tasks are just as much a part of the nuns' everyday life as their prayer of the hours.
At first glance, the close networking of the convent with non-religious institutions seems to jeopardise the peaceful daily routine of the nuns. But Benedict's spirituality is not simply a detached exercise. It is closely bound up with everyday monastic life and is therefore also relevant in today's multimedia, global and accelerated world.
The Benedictine Convent of St John at Müstair is not only a historical jewel, but also a lively centre of research.
The Benedictine Convent of St John at Müstair, an historical jewel
To research
