The Saron (Sister’s House) at the Ephrata Cloister. Ephrata, Pennsylvania
Ephrata
Every one of my trips has included a stop at a religious shrine in order to explore expressions of faith. I’ve always done my exploring at Catholic shrines, primarily because that’s the setting with which I’m most familiar. But I’ve always been curious about the ways in which other religions help their followers express their faith. Thus, I was glad to find that the Ephrata Cloister was located very close to where I’d be staying.
Ephrata was once a religious community for a group of men and women that were practicing a fundamental version of Lutheranism. Among the tenants practiced by the group was celibacy, which explains why they died out in the early 1800s. Given the long time that the cloister hadn’t been active, I was afraid that the spiritual feelings which once existed there would be long gone. Fortunately, Ephrata manages to maintain much of the “other-world” feeling that its followers tried to create.
We got to the cloister at 4:30 p.m. The bad news was that we only had a half hour to explore the grounds. The good news was that the $7 entrance fee was waived because of our late arrival. Of course, Tom and I are use to speed visiting, so our happiness at the free entry more than offset any disappointment we felt at the little time we had. It must’ve been our lucky day, because the whole experience managed to convey that sense of physical separation that the cloistered tried to achieve in their lives. First, the weather was overcast, with a strong chill in the air. This weather was different than that which we had experienced earlier in the day, when it was cool but sunny. Next, the grounds were almost deserted because of the late hour. There were only five other tourists in the clister, and three of them were part of a tour group being led by one of the site’s guides. Finally, the buildings themselves added to the “other-worldly” feeling. All of the buildings, which were made of wood, were lightly covered with a green algae that gave them a very natural appearance. They looked like they were part of the forest in which they were set.
We went inside the various buildings, like the Saron (Sister’s House), the Bake House, Conrad Beissel’s House, and the Physician’s House. I noted the strange features, like the doorframes being low so that followers would have to bow their heads in an act of humility before entering. But, the item that caught my attention was the lack of religious trappings in the buildings. Outside of some copies of the religious music the followers composed and a few copies of the Bible there were no other indications that this was a religious site. Obviously, many of the religious elements had to be removed once the cloister became a state park. However, the lack of religious paraphernalia didn’t diminish the spirituality of the place. Instead, I found that it enhanced it. I thought that removing any religious icons emphasized the point that the lives of the cloister’s inhabitants were their primary form of spiritual expression.
We wandered the grounds at a relatively leisurely pace (or as leisurely as you can be in a half hour). Each building seemed to reinforce the feeling that these people were dedicated to their way of life, and that their way of life was their spiritual expression. I think the building where we felt it strongest was (in all places) the Bake House. There wasn’t much in there; just an oven, a table, and some baking implements. However, the whole setting seemed rather peaceful. The mood was helped by the fact that the sun parted through the clouds at the moment when we were in the building, illuminating a bowl of (fake) fruit that was positioned on a window ledge. It was a very simple, yet very powerful moment.
There are places I’ve been (York Minster, Yosemite) where it’s pretty apparent that there is a strong naturally occurring spiritual presence which would make them sites that people visit even if there weren’t the human additions to those places. There are also places I’ve been (Knock, Ste. Anne-de-Beaupre) where humans have tried to create that same spiritual presence through their own constructions, but have had limited success. I’ve even been to a place (St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal) where I felt that a spiritual presence existed before a structure was built, only to be enhanced by the structure that was made. However, I’ve never been to one where a human construct by itself engendered a natural spiritual feeling in a previously spiritually barren place. That is the case at Ephrata. A lot of credit has to be given to the State of Pennsylvania for maintain the Cloister in a manner which keeps alive the special feeling of Ephrata. But, I’m pretty sure that the sacrifice and simplicity which marked the stay of the cloister’s followers had consecrated this site in a way that future generations would appreciate. It is for this reason that Ephrata should be an essential stop for anyone visiting Southeast Pennsylvania.
There are guided tours of the cloister which begin at the top of every hour. We didn’t go on one, because of the late hour we arrived. While the reading material available at the site’s museum was sufficient to gain an appreciation of the cloister, our understanding of the place would’ve been enhanced by a tour. The cloister is open from 9 a.m to 5 p.m from Monday through Saturday and Noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. There is a $7.00 charge for adults to enter.
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