Working week at Klooster Westerhûs
Date: Monday, November 10 to Friday, November 14, 2025
At Klooster Westerhûs, monastic work is an integral part of the daily rhythm. Naturally, there is always work to be done, whether indoors or in the garden. But since ancient times, monastics have also viewed work as a spiritual practice. Ora et labora, pray and work, goes the old Benedictine motto.
Working with your hands can be deeply restorative, a way to create space in a busy mind. Space for yourself, for others, for creation, and for God. How do you approach your work? Do you try to rush through everything as quickly as possible? Or do you do it with attention and wonder for the things that seem so ordinary?
Would you like to roll up your sleeves and spend a midweek living and working alongside us at Klooster Westerhûs? During this week, we will tackle a number of smaller and larger chores that otherwise get left behind, from clearing cobwebs out of nooks and crannies to preparing the garden for winter. We work for an hour and a half in the morning and an hour and a half in the afternoon. The work is woven into the monastic rhythm of services and meditation, with time for silence and for connection. Naturally, a healthy vegetarian meal awaits us at the table each evening.
grant us peace with what is unfinished
and joy in what has been completed
jou ûs frede mei wat net ôf is
nocht en wille om wat dien is
words from the evening service at Klooster Westerhûs
