Work-week at Klooster Westerhûs

Date: Monday, Nov. 10 to Friday, Nov. 14, 2025

At Klooster Westerhûs, monastic work is a regular part of the daily routine. Of course there is always work to do, indoors or in the garden. But traditionally, monastics have also viewed work as spiritual exercise. Ora et labora, pray and work, is the old Benedictine motto.

Being busy with your hands can be beneficial, a way to make space in your busy mind. Space for yourself, for others, for creation, for God. How are you working? Do you try to get everything done as quickly as possible? Or do you do it with attention and wonder for what seems so ordinary?

Do you enjoy rolling up your sleeves and spending a midweek living and working with us at Klooster Westerhûs? During this week we will tackle a number of small and larger jobs that would otherwise remain, from removing cobwebs from small nooks and crannies to winterizing the garden. We work an hour and a half in the morning and an hour and a half in the afternoon. The work is embedded in the monastic rhythm of celebrations and meditation, time for silence and time for meeting. Of course, a healthy vegetarian meal is on the table in the evening.

give us peace with what is unfinished

and pleasure in what is done

jou ús frede mei wat net ôf is

nocht and wille om wat dien is

words from the evening celebration of Westerhûs Monastery