I can vividly remember the long nights as a new mother, awake and caring for my newborn, whispering in the dark. Sleep was such a fleeting thing and, as I’m sure other mothers will agree, its almost as if you are not ever really asleep. Just ‘resting your eyes’ really. So in tune you are with your baby. Their heart and yours – truly beat in simultaneous rhythm.
I recently learned something so beautifully profound I was eager to share it with you. There is a cloistered community of nuns in the hills of Tehachapi, California who, among the many things they do such as making cheese, breeding dogs, and selling sheep, goats, and cows, they also rise each and every night, at midnight, to pray.
Not just any prayer that comes to mind or for just any person but specifically to pray together for an hour for new mothers who are also awake, caring for their babies.
What a beautiful act of love.
This is the statement from the Sisters on this practice;
“By waking in the middle of the night, we are expressing our readiness to meet [Jesus] when He comes. But, for so many, midnight can also be a time of darkness, loneliness, and fear. Like the selfless mothers whom we hear from, who wake up at this hour because their children are in need, we also wake up to attend to the spiritual needs of souls all over the world, and especially to those most in need of a mother’s caringlove.”
As Catholic Review writer Rita Buettner says,
“Next time you wake up during the night, maybe you can send your own heartfelt prayer into the darkness. God is listening, and he knows who needs it most.” (https://catholicreview.org/praying-through-the-night/)
You can learn more about this community of Sisters here :
Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph
