Room for reflection
The Tautra monastery in Trøndelag was drawn by the architectural firm Jensen & Skodvin. Building materials from Moelven were used both as supporting structures and to clad indoor and outdoor surfaces. Wood helps give the monastery a feel of character and warmth, and large open surfaces help link the magnificent outdoor scenery with life and activities inside the monastery.
Sheryl Frances Chen has a calling in life. Everything she does is oriented toward the Lord and is guided by the words and acts of Jesus Christ. At the Maria monastery in Nord-Trøndelag, only a glass ceiling separates her from heaven.
The monastery provides room for warmth and reflection. And through the glass in the walls and ceiling, the surrounding nature inspires her innermost thoughts. Only seventy metres from the monastery the waves of the Trondheim fjord stroke gently along the coastline. If Chen closes her eyes, the walls sometimes fade away and she can feel herself becoming part of the nature on the outside.
On soft rubber soles, Chen moves stealthily across the holy grounds. Her warming smile and eyes are as vibrant as the lines in the woodwork. A smile, a good thought, a helping hand – these are the important symbols in the daily life of Chen, and she shares them generously with the other nuns and visitors to the monastery.
Her days start at four o’clock in the morning. At 04.20hrs there is a common prayer service, and the rest of the day is usually filled with reading and working in the kitchen garden. The nuns also cook aroma-filled soaps, which are sold to the general public. She goes to bed at about 20.00hrs.
In her youth, Chen’s focus was on the basic questions of life: where she came from, where she was going and what was the meaning of it all. Today the purpose of her monastic life is to prepare herself for a life with God. She knows that her current residence will be where she will be living the rest of her life.