Awakening to the night watch

By Michael Patrick O’Brien–

I knew the Utah Trappist monks who lived at the monastery in Huntsville until 2017 quite well. Yet, despite those years of friendship, I understood little about one of their most fascinating monastic practices—the night watch.

This is not surprising. I was (and still am) a night owl. In contrast, the monks went to bed by no later than 8:00 p.m. each night. They then rose at 3:15 a.m. the next morning for their 3:30 prayer service called Vigils.

Father Charles Cummings lived at the Huntsville monastery for over five decades (and just recently passed away, see: Remembering Father Charles Cummings OCSO ). A gifted writer and scholar, he devoted a whole chapter to the night watch in his book Monastic Practices. He explained, “The custom of rising early in order to devote oneself to serious prayer and sacred reading runs counter to the living habits of people around us.” (p. 133).

He was not kidding. During an overnight retreat at the Abbey of the Holy Trinity, I tried to follow the monks’ schedule. I failed quite miserably. I even booked a room right next to the bell tower, so I could not possibly miss them ringing at 3:15 a.m. to wake everyone up. I did hear them, and then rolled right over and went right back to sleep. The spirit is willing but…

The night watch challenged the Utah monks too, including Brother Nicholas Prinster. His nephew Tony recently published a book (The Unlikely Monk) compiling his uncle’s beautiful family eulogies. In one of them, Brother Nick wrote, “People often ask me, ‘What in the world do you do at that hour of the night?’ Well, for the first 10 or 15 years in the monastery, you try to stay awake!”

Fifteen minutes after waking up, the monks were in their dark Quonset hut church chanting psalms. As Father Charles describes it, “The night watch begins with the celebration of Vigils and continues afterwards until the morning prayer of Lauds. The office of Vigils consecrates the hours of the night, creating a spirit of expectancy. In the quiet hours before dawn, the stillness around us pervades our minds and hearts. We wait prayerfully for the coming of the Lord as we watch and long for the coming of dawn.” (p. 138).

After singing at Vigils, the Utah monks had a couple of hours for silent reading, meditation, and prayer. Father Charles usually said the rosary in the dark and silent church, and then went to his room for silent prayer and reflection, alternating sitting, kneeling, and standing to help focus his attention. Brother Nick liked to “stroll outside.” He wrote, “In our mountain valley, and under that spectacle of such a display of stars and the vastness of the universe, it is easy to meditate.”

Father Charles wraps up his book’s discussion of the night watch with this elegant summary, “Monastic life is about staying fully awake for this little while, awake in body and awake in heart. The night watch in our monasteries lasts but an hour or two; it is, nevertheless, rich in symbolism and practical ascetical and spiritual value.” (pp. 144-45).

I have few regrets about the time I spent with the Utah monks when I was a boy and young man. I am sad, however, that I never joined in the monks’ night watch. The “art of waiting” (as Father Charles puts it) is a useful skill both inside and outside of a monastery—“The ability to wait is characteristic of those who have learned to slow down and live in the fullness of the present moment.” (pp. 143-44).

*Mike O’Brien is a writer and attorney living in Salt Lake City, Utah. His book Monastery Mornings (found here), about growing up with the monks at the old Trappist monastery in Huntsville, Utah, will be published by Paraclete Press (more information here) in August 2021.