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March 21, 2005 
VOL.
43, NO. 6Oakland,
CA
When they kneel at the cross, share their heartfelt
prayers, or hear the words of Scripture, it is the children that come
first to mind for women behind the walls of the Federal Correctional Institution
in Dublin.
“In a way we haven’t left our children, even if we are locked
up,” one of the inmates said during a monthly contemplative prayer
session led by Mercy Sister Marguerite Buchanan. “No matter where
we are, we love them.”
Seated in a circle inside a common room of the prison, more than 30 Latinas
in regulation sweats or khaki reflected on a passage from Isaiah that
ends with these words: “Can a mother forget her infant, be without
tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never
forget you. See, upon the palms of my hand I have written your name.”
The passage, read in English and Spanish, spoke to the heart of what preoccupied
these women, who ranged from youthful to gray-haired. They listened with
prayerful concentration, and shared their thoughts: “I thank God
that he’s always with my family.” “Though I’m
away from my kids, he always tells me inside my heart not to worry.”
“Even if your loved ones have forgotten you, you have someone who
is always with you.”
The session began with the women quietly chanting a prayer of St. Teresa
of Avila, “May nothing disturb you, nothing frighten you…”
It was followed by the reading, repeated three times, so the women could
listen for a word or phrase that spoke to them, share their thoughts and
finally offer their prayers to God.
This practice, Sister Buchanan said, is lectio divina, a complement to
centering prayer, which is a traditional practice of sitting silently
in the presence of God.
She and Mercy Sister Suzanne Toolan were trained in those disciplines
while they were working at Mercy Center in Burlingame a decade ago, and
a few years later they received an invitation to teach centering prayer
to inmates at San Quentin.
“We saw the impact on prisoners,” Sister Buchanan said. “They
became much more peaceful.” About four years ago the Sisters began
their program in Dublin, where they combine three contemplative practices
– Taizé prayer around the cross, centering prayer, and lectio
divina. They also work with women in the San Mateo County jail in Redwood
City and are staff members of Catherine Center, a halfway house for women
recently released from prison.
Deacon Ruben Gomez, who works closely with the women in Dublin, said most
of the Latinas there come from Mexico and the Caribbean. Their average
sentence, he said, is from eight to 10 years, and most are “small
timers” in the drug trade, who are caught trying to smuggle drugs
into the U.S. or across state borders.
Many of the women became involved through a boyfriend or husband, he said,
and they know that their loved ones caught up in the drug trade at home
are in constant danger.
Sister Buchanan and Sister Toolan visit the Dublin prison with volunteers.
Since they began four years ago, Sister Buchanan said, the prisoners have
“deepened quite a bit” in their meditation and are more able
to sit in stillness and silence.
“Each time I come here,” one woman said to the group, “I
feel alive. I experience the miracle of enduring everything. I feel I
am a different person from coming here.”
“It is God’s grace,” Sister Buchanan said.
After the readings and sharing of lectio divina, a cross is placed on
the floor, in front of a table set with candles. “Now we bring our
burdens, anxieties and fears to the cross of Jesus,” Sister Buchanan
said, as Taizé chants began to play softly in the background.
“When you feel it’s time, you can come forward and place your
forehead on the cross.”
Many of the women had wept as they shared their thoughts on the readings,
and they brought their tears to the cross, where they lingered in prayer.
When the cross had been lifted from the floor, the women sat in the quiet
of centering prayer. “We sit in God’s presence in silence,”
Sister Buchanan said. “We open up our heart to the God within us
and listen to God.”
The room was still with only the sound of occasional quiet weeping, which
died away as the minutes passed, and finally Sister Buchanan announced
the end of silent meditation and called for prayers of petition. The women
prayed for their children and family members, for orphans and the homeless
and even for the guards and judges who hold power over their lives.
“I want to thank God for this special group,” Sister Buchanan
said, “and that it may have an effect on the whole prison to get
closer to God.” The women closed their session with an exchange
of the kiss of peace, embracing one another and exchanging words of encouragement
before they returned to the routines of prison life.
The cross is the heart of Taizé prayer. To the accompaniment of quiet chants, the cross is lowered to the floor, where worshippers come one at a time to pray around the symbol of Christ's love and compassion.
MERCY SISTERS PHOTO
Sister Marguerite Buchanan
Sister Suzanne Toolan
