We had our first roasted chestnuts at lunch yesterday.
A grove of chestnut trees provides us with this great treat in the fall. And it provides many local people the opportunity to come gather their own. They pay for them in the Abbey Store.
Cooler weather is very pleasant. The fans are pulling in chilly air at times at Vigils.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Fudge production
We are beginning the intense production of fudge for the Christmas sales catalog. As I have the last few years, I will be in the bakery three days a week: Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.
After Vigils (sometime around 6:00) I walk down to the bakery and begin to heat the kettles. I put 2 pounds of butter in each kettle as well as the water and preservative. I check to make sure that other things are set up: the depositor is ready, fudge trays (both 12 ounce and 6 ounce) to the left of the depositor, stacks of trays at the side of the depositor, the tray rack near-by, and so on. I go back up to the house for Mass at 7:00.
After Mass I return to the bakery and begin preparing the first 3 batches of fudge. The other workers arrive by 8:45 and we begin. We pour buckets of fudge into the funnel of the depositor; one worked dispenses fudge into a fudge tray, passes it to another guy who checks the weight, corrects it if necessary, and then puts it on a tray. Other guys are setting up boxes with plastic inserts and instruction cards.
We will make 9 kettles in a morning. When the fudge is set, it will be boxed and stacked, ready to be shrink wrapped. The end of the morning is spent cleaning -- tearing the depositor apart, cleaning all the pieces, and putting it back together.
In the afternoon, monks will return to shrink wrap and store all the fudge; clean the floors; and get ready for the next day of production.
After Vigils (sometime around 6:00) I walk down to the bakery and begin to heat the kettles. I put 2 pounds of butter in each kettle as well as the water and preservative. I check to make sure that other things are set up: the depositor is ready, fudge trays (both 12 ounce and 6 ounce) to the left of the depositor, stacks of trays at the side of the depositor, the tray rack near-by, and so on. I go back up to the house for Mass at 7:00.
After Mass I return to the bakery and begin preparing the first 3 batches of fudge. The other workers arrive by 8:45 and we begin. We pour buckets of fudge into the funnel of the depositor; one worked dispenses fudge into a fudge tray, passes it to another guy who checks the weight, corrects it if necessary, and then puts it on a tray. Other guys are setting up boxes with plastic inserts and instruction cards.
We will make 9 kettles in a morning. When the fudge is set, it will be boxed and stacked, ready to be shrink wrapped. The end of the morning is spent cleaning -- tearing the depositor apart, cleaning all the pieces, and putting it back together.
In the afternoon, monks will return to shrink wrap and store all the fudge; clean the floors; and get ready for the next day of production.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Day in Atlanta
Yes, it's true! Yesterday I was in downtown Atlanta with a cell phone.
Sacred Heart Church was made a minor basilica yesterday. Our abbot was invited to attend the Mass in the morning and he asked me to drive him in. I would then have time to visit the High Museum. So, we left here around 8:00 and reached Sacred Heart about 9:00; I let him out and proceeded up Peachtree NE. The High did not open until 10:00 so I stopped at a Barnes and Noble and browsed a bit. I picked up a couple of books that I might have bought 10 years ago. I looked at them and thought I might eventually ask to get them for our library. I put them back on their shelves.
At the High I was herded directly to the Dali exhibition. I have never been especially attracted to Dali and the visit yesterday did not change that. Dali was clever; he was a gifted painter; he sought celebrity; I left the exhibit hungry to see some Matisse.
I wandered through the rest of the High, enjoying its good collection of American furniture and decorative art. I sought out Howard Finster's corner.
I ate lunch there (half a chicken salad sandwich and a bowl of chili) and then returned to Sacred Heart to pick up Francis Michael. (We had exchanged a couple of phone calls in the course of the morning.)
On the way home we stopped at Our Lady of Perpetual Help cancer home (this is the home for which Flannery O'Connor wrote her introduction on Mary Ann, a child with cancer). One of our long-time employees is there. We had a pleasant visit and then returned home about 3:00.
I returned the keys to the vehicle and the cell phone to the office.
Sacred Heart Church was made a minor basilica yesterday. Our abbot was invited to attend the Mass in the morning and he asked me to drive him in. I would then have time to visit the High Museum. So, we left here around 8:00 and reached Sacred Heart about 9:00; I let him out and proceeded up Peachtree NE. The High did not open until 10:00 so I stopped at a Barnes and Noble and browsed a bit. I picked up a couple of books that I might have bought 10 years ago. I looked at them and thought I might eventually ask to get them for our library. I put them back on their shelves.
At the High I was herded directly to the Dali exhibition. I have never been especially attracted to Dali and the visit yesterday did not change that. Dali was clever; he was a gifted painter; he sought celebrity; I left the exhibit hungry to see some Matisse.
I wandered through the rest of the High, enjoying its good collection of American furniture and decorative art. I sought out Howard Finster's corner.
I ate lunch there (half a chicken salad sandwich and a bowl of chili) and then returned to Sacred Heart to pick up Francis Michael. (We had exchanged a couple of phone calls in the course of the morning.)
On the way home we stopped at Our Lady of Perpetual Help cancer home (this is the home for which Flannery O'Connor wrote her introduction on Mary Ann, a child with cancer). One of our long-time employees is there. We had a pleasant visit and then returned home about 3:00.
I returned the keys to the vehicle and the cell phone to the office.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
St. Benedict
All of us who live according to the Rule of St. Benedict celebrate one of his two feasts today (the other is March 21, which is also the anniversary of our foundation, 66 years ago). Here is an address from 1964 by Pope Paul VI:
Saint Benedict has the reputation of being the messenger of peace, the maker of unity, the master of civilization, and especially the herald of Christianity and the author of monasticism in the West. When darkness seemed to be spreading over Europe after the fall of the Roman empire he brought the light of dawn to shine upon this continent. For with the cross, the book, and the plow, Christian civilization was carried, principally through him and his sons, to the peoples who lived in those lands which stretch from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, and from Ireland to the plains of Poland.
With the cross, that is with the law of Christ, he strength¬ened and developed the institutions of private and social life. Through the "Work of God," that is, through the careful and assiduous conduct of prayer, he taught that divine worship was of the greatest importance in the social order. And so he sealed that spiritual unity of Europe in which the various nations of different ethnic origins and languages felt themselves to be united into the one people of God. And so this unity, learnt from so great a master, which the sons of Saint Benedict so faithfully strove to achieve, became the principal element in that period of history called the middle ages. All men of good will in our times must strive to recover that unity, which, as Saint Augustine says, is "the form of all beauty," and which alas has been lost in the vicissitudes of history.
With the book, that is, with the culture of the mind, this venerable patriarch from whom so many monasteries have drawn their name and their spirit spread his doctrine through the old classics of literature and the liberal arts, preserved and passed on to posterity by them with so much care.
And lastly, with the plow, that is, through agriculture, he changed the waste and desert lands into orchards and delightful gardens; and joining work with prayer in the spirit of those words ora et labora, he restored the dignity of human labor.
Not without reason, then, did Pope Plus XII call Saint Benedict the "Father of Europe," for he inspired the peoples of this continent with the love of order upon which their social life depends. We pray he may look upon Europe, and by his prayer achieve even greater things in years to come.
Saint Benedict has the reputation of being the messenger of peace, the maker of unity, the master of civilization, and especially the herald of Christianity and the author of monasticism in the West. When darkness seemed to be spreading over Europe after the fall of the Roman empire he brought the light of dawn to shine upon this continent. For with the cross, the book, and the plow, Christian civilization was carried, principally through him and his sons, to the peoples who lived in those lands which stretch from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, and from Ireland to the plains of Poland.
With the cross, that is with the law of Christ, he strength¬ened and developed the institutions of private and social life. Through the "Work of God," that is, through the careful and assiduous conduct of prayer, he taught that divine worship was of the greatest importance in the social order. And so he sealed that spiritual unity of Europe in which the various nations of different ethnic origins and languages felt themselves to be united into the one people of God. And so this unity, learnt from so great a master, which the sons of Saint Benedict so faithfully strove to achieve, became the principal element in that period of history called the middle ages. All men of good will in our times must strive to recover that unity, which, as Saint Augustine says, is "the form of all beauty," and which alas has been lost in the vicissitudes of history.
With the book, that is, with the culture of the mind, this venerable patriarch from whom so many monasteries have drawn their name and their spirit spread his doctrine through the old classics of literature and the liberal arts, preserved and passed on to posterity by them with so much care.
And lastly, with the plow, that is, through agriculture, he changed the waste and desert lands into orchards and delightful gardens; and joining work with prayer in the spirit of those words ora et labora, he restored the dignity of human labor.
Not without reason, then, did Pope Plus XII call Saint Benedict the "Father of Europe," for he inspired the peoples of this continent with the love of order upon which their social life depends. We pray he may look upon Europe, and by his prayer achieve even greater things in years to come.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Brother Victor
Brother Victor, aged 91, died last night about 9:30. His last illness was brief; he refused to go to the hospital, preferring to be cared for here; our infirmarians made sure he was comfortable. We took turns sitting with him for the last few days and he died peacefully with his nephew and one of our novices with him.
When I entered 4 years ago, Victor was getting around on a motorized scooter. Each morning he would be in the kitchen, chopping vegetables for our lunch. He had been a cook years before; and our laundry man for a number of years. He entered as a lay brother. (Lay brothers were not ordained, followed a simpler round of offices, and concentrated on manual labor. In the renewal of monastic life following Vatican II, that status was done away with; the former lay brothers here continue to follow a simpler round of offices.) In the last couple of years, Victor remained in the infirmary, becoming ever more deaf. But he always greeted monks with a smile. I would often go up at suppertime when Victor would have his raw vegetables and canned mackerel; we would exchange smiles and greetings.
It is odd how familiar dying has become to me. I am now alert to various changes in breathing. When I sat with Victor on Tuesday evening, he was still fairly alert; he would turn his head and smile; his breathing was fairly even and frequent. By the following morning, his eyes remained closed and his breathing was slower and shallower.
We will receive his body at 5:00 this evening, take turns sitting with him in church, and have his funeral Mass in the morning, laying him in his grave with the 50 others in our cemetery.
When I entered 4 years ago, Victor was getting around on a motorized scooter. Each morning he would be in the kitchen, chopping vegetables for our lunch. He had been a cook years before; and our laundry man for a number of years. He entered as a lay brother. (Lay brothers were not ordained, followed a simpler round of offices, and concentrated on manual labor. In the renewal of monastic life following Vatican II, that status was done away with; the former lay brothers here continue to follow a simpler round of offices.) In the last couple of years, Victor remained in the infirmary, becoming ever more deaf. But he always greeted monks with a smile. I would often go up at suppertime when Victor would have his raw vegetables and canned mackerel; we would exchange smiles and greetings.
It is odd how familiar dying has become to me. I am now alert to various changes in breathing. When I sat with Victor on Tuesday evening, he was still fairly alert; he would turn his head and smile; his breathing was fairly even and frequent. By the following morning, his eyes remained closed and his breathing was slower and shallower.
We will receive his body at 5:00 this evening, take turns sitting with him in church, and have his funeral Mass in the morning, laying him in his grave with the 50 others in our cemetery.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Hot and humid
It continues to be hot and humid here. Yesterday morning I thought it must be in the mid-90s, but when I checked the temperature, it was ONLY 85 degrees. Even the early mornings are not refreshingly cool; the humidity makes even the mornings uncomfortable. On one hand, remembering summer afternoon thunderstorms in Indiana, I wish for rain to cool the air; on the other hand, remembering afternoon thunderstorms in Georgia, I dread a rain that will only increase the humidity.
I still have loads of pictures to post. Blogger now offers me the Image icon, but the process of posting gets bogged down. I am waiting a day or two before I try again.
Work is as usual. I helped with the fruitcake production on Monday morning; I prepared peaches and pecans for the fudge we will make on Thursday; today I will work in the glass shop part of the morning and come back here to the computer to scan some readings for next week's Second Nocturns (the part of Vigils when we hear from the Fathers and Mothers of the Church). This afternoon we will not work -- it is a half-holiday for Peter and Paul.
I still have loads of pictures to post. Blogger now offers me the Image icon, but the process of posting gets bogged down. I am waiting a day or two before I try again.
Work is as usual. I helped with the fruitcake production on Monday morning; I prepared peaches and pecans for the fudge we will make on Thursday; today I will work in the glass shop part of the morning and come back here to the computer to scan some readings for next week's Second Nocturns (the part of Vigils when we hear from the Fathers and Mothers of the Church). This afternoon we will not work -- it is a half-holiday for Peter and Paul.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Stained glass windows
At last I have an image icon on my post, so I can post what I have been waiting to do for nearly a month: pictures from churches in Atlanta where we can see stained glass windows designed and made here at the monastery.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Only words for a while
For 10 days or so I have been waiting to post some photos we took of stained glass in Atlanta area churches. But Blogger is not providing me with the proper links. They claim they are aware of the problem "some" of us are having with the icons on our post window. So, for now, only words.
It is hot. In the mornings, with the big fan pulling in air, the church is fairly cool and comfortable for Vigils (at 4:00 a.m.) and for some of Mass (at 7:00 a.m.), but by Midday at noon it is uncomfortably hot and by Vespers (at 5:20 p.m.) it is almost unbearable. My T-shirt is soaked by the end of Vespers -- and all I have been doing is standing, sitting, and singing.
I am in the midst of organizing the big fudge season, which will begin in mid-August this year. I have been working with Br. James (from our monastery in Lantao -- near Hong Kong) to figure out how many boxes we need to order. I will wait until the end of July to order a third of the ingredients. By the end of July all the fruitcakes should be baked for this year.
The novitiate has been asked to help prepare a display about all our deceased monks. I am working with Br. Chaminade, our archivist (he also works in the glass shop with me) to gather material on the 50 men buried in our cemetery. He has photos of most of them. Along the way, novices will interview some of our older monks to capture anecdotes about those who died before 1970. Those with memories that go back to the early days are declining and we want to gather what we can now. We have a new digital recorder to help us.
That recorder will also be used to record some books for our blind novice. He has access to books and tapes from a variety of sources, but some of the books we use are not readily available. He has some sight to get around. He reads braille and has been helping me learn to read it. I read it with my eyes, not my fingers. I use his Perkins brailler to write: it is a typewriter with six keys, three for each hand.
It is hot. In the mornings, with the big fan pulling in air, the church is fairly cool and comfortable for Vigils (at 4:00 a.m.) and for some of Mass (at 7:00 a.m.), but by Midday at noon it is uncomfortably hot and by Vespers (at 5:20 p.m.) it is almost unbearable. My T-shirt is soaked by the end of Vespers -- and all I have been doing is standing, sitting, and singing.
I am in the midst of organizing the big fudge season, which will begin in mid-August this year. I have been working with Br. James (from our monastery in Lantao -- near Hong Kong) to figure out how many boxes we need to order. I will wait until the end of July to order a third of the ingredients. By the end of July all the fruitcakes should be baked for this year.
The novitiate has been asked to help prepare a display about all our deceased monks. I am working with Br. Chaminade, our archivist (he also works in the glass shop with me) to gather material on the 50 men buried in our cemetery. He has photos of most of them. Along the way, novices will interview some of our older monks to capture anecdotes about those who died before 1970. Those with memories that go back to the early days are declining and we want to gather what we can now. We have a new digital recorder to help us.
That recorder will also be used to record some books for our blind novice. He has access to books and tapes from a variety of sources, but some of the books we use are not readily available. He has some sight to get around. He reads braille and has been helping me learn to read it. I read it with my eyes, not my fingers. I use his Perkins brailler to write: it is a typewriter with six keys, three for each hand.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Re-election of Our Abbot
Yesterday morning the conventual chapter (all solemnly professed monks) met and, according to the procedures laid out in the Cistercian Ritual, re-elected our abbot, Francis Michael Stiteler, for another 6-year term. In the evening, all of us gathered in the Chapter Room for his installation. According to the format, he confessed his faith in the Nicene formula and promised to uphold the gospel and Church teaching. Then each monk in turn knelt before him, placed hands in his hands and promised obedience. The solemnly professed promised obedience to him "and to the Rule of Benedict until death." We who are temporarily professed promised obedience to the Rule "according to the norms of the Constitutions of the Order."
Friday, May 28, 2010
Abbatial election
Our father immediate and another monk arrived from Gethsemani for our abbatial election tomorrow. Our abbot's term of 6 years has been completed, so all the solemnly professed monks (I, in temporary vows, am not included) will meet to elect the abbot. The head of the election is the father immediate of the community -- in this case, the abbot of Gethsemani.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Happy Pentecost
This morning at Vigils, after a series of scriptural readings centered on the Spirit, we heard a Pentecost homily by Dom Christian de Chergé, one of seven Cistercian monks who were killed by Islamicist terrorists in Algeria in 1996. Later in the day I read that a film by Xavier Beauvois about these men had won a grand prix at Cannes. Here is a link to a newspaper account of the win and here is a link to a couple of extracts on YouTube.
Here is the text of the Pentecost homily Christian preached a few years before his death:
People of all languages, races, colors and cultures begin to sing together of the wonderful works of God, so much so that this symphony seems to have rediscovered the harmony of all creation.
Let us, as Christians of today, welcome this symbol of the fiery tongue which is meant to put our tongue at the service of the Word of God and our heart at the service of his Spirit, so that there may be, as St Benedict desired for his disciples, perfect harmony between our heart and what our lips profess, this bond which in God unites the Word and the Spirit.
What is Pentecost? It is the great revelation of the Spirit, after that of the Father in creation and of the Son in the Incarnate Word, and that revelation of the Spirit will unveil for us the Father and the Son, for the Spirit is the one who alone reveals God -- that is exactly why he remains hidden, un-graspable, just like the mystery which he must speak.
If he reveals himself, it can only be by way of symbol, and these symbols are elements in movement: the tongue and the fire, like the dove or the wind or living water.
The tongue of fire which symbolizes the gift and the presence of the Spirit came to rest on each one of the apostles. It is a personal gift, destined for each person, which manifests the vocation of each to be indwelt by the Spirit of God or, still better, to enter into the vocation of the Holy Spirit, which is to be a revealer of God. It is the whole person who becomes a revealer of God (better than a book) and the apostles enter concretely into that call:
- They go forth to transmit Christ, that is to say, the Word of God, to us, to be its interpreters, to be bearers of the Word. The tongue rediscovers its raison d'etre, which is to speak to the Father the words of the Son with the profundity of the Spirit.
- They are identified, by their very being, with him to whom they testify: the Spirit, who enables them to work still greater miracles. In the fire that has been enkindled in their hearts, the imitation of Jesus Christ, made possible by the Spirit, is the revelation of God and of his design for mankind.
When the Spirit had not yet come, the words of Jesus came up against closed hearts.
When the Spirit had not yet come, the brothers and sisters of Jesus, the multitude, came up against hearts that were hardened, or fearful, or trapped in prejudices of race, language, color, nation...
The tongue of fire thus makes a person into a Revelation of the Word and the Love which are in God. But that is only possible if the person is set in motion, like the Spirit, and enters into the very movement of the Spirit. Pentecost is the whole person who must be put in movement: interior movement towards the Word who draws us to the Father, exterior movement towards the multitude, because one's tongue draws one to share with others, and the fire in one's heart must be spread.
Thus the Spirit sets us in movement towards the other, a movement of intellect and a movement of the heart, because we are made to speak the same language, to find ourselves on the same wave length, and the dialogue, the sharing in communion, will never have an end.
The Spirit sets us in movement as he did Mary, setting out in haste for the first Visitation of the Church, welcoming the pledge of the Spirit in Elizabeth, giving rise to the Magnificat!
The Spirit sets us in movement towards each person, a tongue of fire moving ever closer to another tongue of fire, and saying: "In every encounter I must make the effort to join the `little flame' put in each one."
Revelation, the movement of Pentecost, is all that!
Here is the text of the Pentecost homily Christian preached a few years before his death:
People of all languages, races, colors and cultures begin to sing together of the wonderful works of God, so much so that this symphony seems to have rediscovered the harmony of all creation.
Let us, as Christians of today, welcome this symbol of the fiery tongue which is meant to put our tongue at the service of the Word of God and our heart at the service of his Spirit, so that there may be, as St Benedict desired for his disciples, perfect harmony between our heart and what our lips profess, this bond which in God unites the Word and the Spirit.
What is Pentecost? It is the great revelation of the Spirit, after that of the Father in creation and of the Son in the Incarnate Word, and that revelation of the Spirit will unveil for us the Father and the Son, for the Spirit is the one who alone reveals God -- that is exactly why he remains hidden, un-graspable, just like the mystery which he must speak.
If he reveals himself, it can only be by way of symbol, and these symbols are elements in movement: the tongue and the fire, like the dove or the wind or living water.
The tongue of fire which symbolizes the gift and the presence of the Spirit came to rest on each one of the apostles. It is a personal gift, destined for each person, which manifests the vocation of each to be indwelt by the Spirit of God or, still better, to enter into the vocation of the Holy Spirit, which is to be a revealer of God. It is the whole person who becomes a revealer of God (better than a book) and the apostles enter concretely into that call:
- They go forth to transmit Christ, that is to say, the Word of God, to us, to be its interpreters, to be bearers of the Word. The tongue rediscovers its raison d'etre, which is to speak to the Father the words of the Son with the profundity of the Spirit.
- They are identified, by their very being, with him to whom they testify: the Spirit, who enables them to work still greater miracles. In the fire that has been enkindled in their hearts, the imitation of Jesus Christ, made possible by the Spirit, is the revelation of God and of his design for mankind.
When the Spirit had not yet come, the words of Jesus came up against closed hearts.
When the Spirit had not yet come, the brothers and sisters of Jesus, the multitude, came up against hearts that were hardened, or fearful, or trapped in prejudices of race, language, color, nation...
The tongue of fire thus makes a person into a Revelation of the Word and the Love which are in God. But that is only possible if the person is set in motion, like the Spirit, and enters into the very movement of the Spirit. Pentecost is the whole person who must be put in movement: interior movement towards the Word who draws us to the Father, exterior movement towards the multitude, because one's tongue draws one to share with others, and the fire in one's heart must be spread.
Thus the Spirit sets us in movement towards the other, a movement of intellect and a movement of the heart, because we are made to speak the same language, to find ourselves on the same wave length, and the dialogue, the sharing in communion, will never have an end.
The Spirit sets us in movement as he did Mary, setting out in haste for the first Visitation of the Church, welcoming the pledge of the Spirit in Elizabeth, giving rise to the Magnificat!
The Spirit sets us in movement towards each person, a tongue of fire moving ever closer to another tongue of fire, and saying: "In every encounter I must make the effort to join the `little flame' put in each one."
Revelation, the movement of Pentecost, is all that!
Thursday, May 20, 2010
First Day of Summer Fudge
Our business manager gave me figures for replenishing our fudge supplies. I figured out that we can meet the goals by working nine days, one day a week, with 4 guys hand-pouring and weighing 4 posts a morning. This morning was our first day. Our target was 84 12-ounce chocolate (2 pots worth), 84 6-ounce chocolate (1 pot worth), and 94 6-ounce chocolate walnut (1 pot worth).
So, right after Vigils, I set off with my flashlight to walk to the bakery. The scent of magnolia was very strong this morning. In the light we can see enormous white blossoms among the large waxy dark-green leaves. I started the pots warming, put in butter, water and preservative; arranged utensils, trays, carts and stools so that we would be ready to start right on time. Then, in new daylight, I walked back up to church for Mass. I left Mass early so that I could return to the bakery to get the fudge mixed and ready to pour when the 3 novices would appear at 8:45.
All went according to plan. Our summer fudge season is off to an auspicious start.
So, right after Vigils, I set off with my flashlight to walk to the bakery. The scent of magnolia was very strong this morning. In the light we can see enormous white blossoms among the large waxy dark-green leaves. I started the pots warming, put in butter, water and preservative; arranged utensils, trays, carts and stools so that we would be ready to start right on time. Then, in new daylight, I walked back up to church for Mass. I left Mass early so that I could return to the bakery to get the fudge mixed and ready to pour when the 3 novices would appear at 8:45.
All went according to plan. Our summer fudge season is off to an auspicious start.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Local Paper Has Feature on Us
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Ground-breaking
Yesterday's ground-breaking ceremony was really an invigorating event. About 300 people gathered under a tent near the construction site -- which is actually the series of barns where our founders first lived 66 years ago.
We heard from a commissioner of Rockdale County, the mayor of Conyers, the archbishop of Atlanta, the bishop of Savannah (when we were founded, we were part of the Savannah-Atlanta diocese that was later split in two), the chair of the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area (of which we are a part -- the "spiritual gateway"), and various friends and donors, including a well-known football coach from a large state university not too far away. Listening to all the speakers, who were all brief, amusing, and interesting, I got a good picture of how this place fits within a lot of larger places and institutions and how it has touched a number of lives.
Here is a picture of me with the bishop of Savannah:
My friends George and Irene came and left me with 2 books for my beach reading. (My beach is my bed.) I am already well into Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It is amusing so far -- although I continue to refuse to even consider reading Android Karenina. There are some boundaries that are not to be crossed!
We heard from a commissioner of Rockdale County, the mayor of Conyers, the archbishop of Atlanta, the bishop of Savannah (when we were founded, we were part of the Savannah-Atlanta diocese that was later split in two), the chair of the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area (of which we are a part -- the "spiritual gateway"), and various friends and donors, including a well-known football coach from a large state university not too far away. Listening to all the speakers, who were all brief, amusing, and interesting, I got a good picture of how this place fits within a lot of larger places and institutions and how it has touched a number of lives.
Here is a picture of me with the bishop of Savannah:
My friends George and Irene came and left me with 2 books for my beach reading. (My beach is my bed.) I am already well into Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It is amusing so far -- although I continue to refuse to even consider reading Android Karenina. There are some boundaries that are not to be crossed!
Monday, May 10, 2010
Br. Tom
Br. Tom died this morning during Vigils. The toll bell began ringing about 5 a.m. just as I was heating my instant grits. We gathered around his bed to pray some simple prayers and the Salve.
Aged 79, he had spent more than a decade bed-ridden in our infirmary. He had a motorized chair-bed that allowed him to travel to the Retreat House to help out in the kitchen every Friday or Saturday and to come to Mass on Sunday. His nurse and a monk would hold doors open for him. During the day he made rosaries from colored string; these were sold in our store.
Tom was a stubborn, cantankerous old man who loved to tell stories about difficulties with other people that ended in his telling them off. He had a heart of gold that brought many friends. He was such a wonderful mixture of a man. Every night monks would gather around his bed to pray the rosary; it was always preceded by Tom's long list of people and needs to pray for.
He entered the community when he was 15 and worked hard all his life on the farm and in the garage.
His last illness was sudden and did not last long -- about a week of pneumonia which did not respond to antibiotics. He had asked to remain here at home where he received IV fluids and medication.
Many of our friends will miss him greatly. I anticipate a large crowd for his funeral -- which will probably take place this Friday.
Aged 79, he had spent more than a decade bed-ridden in our infirmary. He had a motorized chair-bed that allowed him to travel to the Retreat House to help out in the kitchen every Friday or Saturday and to come to Mass on Sunday. His nurse and a monk would hold doors open for him. During the day he made rosaries from colored string; these were sold in our store.
Tom was a stubborn, cantankerous old man who loved to tell stories about difficulties with other people that ended in his telling them off. He had a heart of gold that brought many friends. He was such a wonderful mixture of a man. Every night monks would gather around his bed to pray the rosary; it was always preceded by Tom's long list of people and needs to pray for.
He entered the community when he was 15 and worked hard all his life on the farm and in the garage.
His last illness was sudden and did not last long -- about a week of pneumonia which did not respond to antibiotics. He had asked to remain here at home where he received IV fluids and medication.
Many of our friends will miss him greatly. I anticipate a large crowd for his funeral -- which will probably take place this Friday.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
My little window for the store
This image is not one we saw on our church tour. It is a photo of one of my creations -- a copy of a Russian icon, done as a stained glass piece. This is one of several I have done. I am experimenting with different painting on the face and on the halo.
Atlanta churches
Yesterday the four members of the stained glass studio traveled through Atlanta and its suburbs to visit eight churches with windows designed and constructed by the monastery. I was impressed at a number of the designs and at the various painting techniques used on some of the windows. We took photos so that we have some record of this work from the past. I will post some of the pictures later.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Le Thoronet
I am reading The Stones of the Abbey by Fernand Pouillon. It is a novel that describes the building of a Cistercian monastery in Provence at the end of the 12th century.
I have seen pictures of the abbey, still largely intact, although uninhabited. It appears golden.
Pouillon describes the quarrying of the stone, the rough hewing of the blocks, and the effect of the changing Provençal sunlight on the rough surface.
If anyone would like to take a Cistercian cicerone on a brief trip to view this monastery in southern France, please get in contact with me.
I have seen pictures of the abbey, still largely intact, although uninhabited. It appears golden.
Pouillon describes the quarrying of the stone, the rough hewing of the blocks, and the effect of the changing Provençal sunlight on the rough surface.
If anyone would like to take a Cistercian cicerone on a brief trip to view this monastery in southern France, please get in contact with me.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Rainy return
We have had rain all day long -- thunder and lightning in the early morning; steady strong rain ever since. I got soaked walking down to the bakery this morning to help make fruitcakes. I weigh each cake to make sure it has sufficient batter; when the first batch was baked, I put on heavy mitts and arranged the hot pans on the table; I used a paint brush to cover the tops with apricot glaze. This was work that will be usual for a Monday morning from now until September.
The two weeks away are a memory. All the juniors (monks and nuns in temporary vows) from the American region met at Gethsemani for a conference. The first week we had sessions with Mother Agnes, the former abbess of our monastery in Wrentham, MA. She read a series of meditative reflections she had written several decades ago. They stimulated a lot of conversation and shared experiences. The second week, Dom Thomas, the former abbot of our monastery in Vina, CA, presented classes that covered issues from The Life of Benedict by Gregory the Great.
In the afternoons we were able to do a lot of different things: tour the monastic work areas, study in the library, hike the local knobs, visit Merton's hermitage, pull weeds, and so on. One evening, we listened to a piano recital (Mozart and Liszt) by one of our juniors; we also watched Wise Blood, the movie based on the novel by Flannery O'Connor. (The monks at Gethsemani are listening to Brad Gooch's recently published biography of Flannery.) It was a pleasant break in routine; I was glad to be home, even if it means I will no longer have a private bathroom with long, wide, fluffy bath towels.
The two weeks away are a memory. All the juniors (monks and nuns in temporary vows) from the American region met at Gethsemani for a conference. The first week we had sessions with Mother Agnes, the former abbess of our monastery in Wrentham, MA. She read a series of meditative reflections she had written several decades ago. They stimulated a lot of conversation and shared experiences. The second week, Dom Thomas, the former abbot of our monastery in Vina, CA, presented classes that covered issues from The Life of Benedict by Gregory the Great.
In the afternoons we were able to do a lot of different things: tour the monastic work areas, study in the library, hike the local knobs, visit Merton's hermitage, pull weeds, and so on. One evening, we listened to a piano recital (Mozart and Liszt) by one of our juniors; we also watched Wise Blood, the movie based on the novel by Flannery O'Connor. (The monks at Gethsemani are listening to Brad Gooch's recently published biography of Flannery.) It was a pleasant break in routine; I was glad to be home, even if it means I will no longer have a private bathroom with long, wide, fluffy bath towels.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Breakfast and Seminar
Since I entered in 2006 I have gone through various periods of breakfast foods. For the first months, I ate granola each day. Then I began eating oatmeal; for the longest stretch, I ate several slices of toast and a piece of fruit; for the last six months, I have been eating a large bagel each morning. During the second nocturn of Vigils this morning, I had a sudden urge to eat grits. When Vigils was over, I headed to the coffee room and ate two bowls of instant grits, with butter. I have no idea where this urge originated. I have yet to discern whether it is the Holy Spirit blowing me open to the new creation or one of the powers and principalities of the Southern world invading my Hoosier soul.
This past week I have been working to get a lot of my liturgical work prepared for the next few weeks. On Monday I will fly to Louisville where I will be met and driven to Gethsemani, our mother house in Kentucky. All the juniors of the region (a little less than 20) are gathering for a 10-day seminar with two of our seniors: Mother Agnes of Wrentham (Massachusetts), who will speak about finding the extraordinary in the ordinary, and Dom Thomas of Vina (California), who will present conferences on Gregory's Life of Benedict.
This past week I have been working to get a lot of my liturgical work prepared for the next few weeks. On Monday I will fly to Louisville where I will be met and driven to Gethsemani, our mother house in Kentucky. All the juniors of the region (a little less than 20) are gathering for a 10-day seminar with two of our seniors: Mother Agnes of Wrentham (Massachusetts), who will speak about finding the extraordinary in the ordinary, and Dom Thomas of Vina (California), who will present conferences on Gregory's Life of Benedict.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Safety Mask
To demonstrate to Mr. Industrial Safety that I can follow appropriate protocols, here is a photo of me and Hugh cementing a window:
A close-up of the brush working the cement under the lead:
A close-up of the brush working the cement under the lead:
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Mercy
Bi'simillahi ihr rahman ihr rahim (In the name of the Benevolent and Merciful). This was a prayer one of my Senegalese co-workers taught me more than 25 years ago. I was told to pray it often. I do.
Today, the second Sunday of Easter, is a Sunday to focus on Divine Mercy. This weekend retreatants have been studying mercy in scripture and in their own experience.
John Paul II, early in his pontificate, wrote an encyclical on God's being "Rich in Mercy." In one of the chapters, he focused on the revelation of mercy in the Hebrew scriptures. The footnotes include a long one (#52) on the semitic roots for the word, including the root rhm shared by words in both Hebrew and Arabic.
Dom Christian de Chergé, the martyred prior of our monastery in Algeria, wrote a long essay on mercy in which he linked John Paul's encyclical with passages in the Qur'an. He and his brothers lived as neighbors, working side by side, with the villagers of Tibhirine. This sharing of experience is one of the principal means of inter-religious dialogue lived today.
After lunch I walked into the woods. I gathered some moss to put around the jade tree I care for. Throughout the woods were branches of white dogwood blossoms and threads of redbud. Brilliant green beetles were flying about.
Today, the second Sunday of Easter, is a Sunday to focus on Divine Mercy. This weekend retreatants have been studying mercy in scripture and in their own experience.
John Paul II, early in his pontificate, wrote an encyclical on God's being "Rich in Mercy." In one of the chapters, he focused on the revelation of mercy in the Hebrew scriptures. The footnotes include a long one (#52) on the semitic roots for the word, including the root rhm shared by words in both Hebrew and Arabic.
Dom Christian de Chergé, the martyred prior of our monastery in Algeria, wrote a long essay on mercy in which he linked John Paul's encyclical with passages in the Qur'an. He and his brothers lived as neighbors, working side by side, with the villagers of Tibhirine. This sharing of experience is one of the principal means of inter-religious dialogue lived today.
After lunch I walked into the woods. I gathered some moss to put around the jade tree I care for. Throughout the woods were branches of white dogwood blossoms and threads of redbud. Brilliant green beetles were flying about.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Working continues
I will just keep on posting pictures. Here are a couple of me soldering the Margaret Mary window and a shot of the window of Jane de Chantal and her kids.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Working
For the past few months we have been taking pictures of our work in the glass shop. Yesterday Chaminade gave me a CD with 250 files. I will share some with you.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Working in glass
Yellow
The cloister walk is dark red tile -- for the most of the year. Currently it is yellow with pollen. Pollen gets tracked into the church and into the refectory. Three nights ago at Vespers, I could feel my throat closing up -- so I started taking a double dose of my antihistamine.
When I cleaned the large window sill in my cell, the paper towel turned yellow. Now that the air conditioning is on in our cells, I can keep my windows closed and most of the pollen out.
However, the dogwood is still pink.
We currently have nine men in the novitiate -- 2 novices, 3 postulants, and 4 observers (2 of whom will be leaving in the next 10 days after their 2-month period with us). As undermaster (assistant to the novice director), I am kept pretty busy assisting them in absorbing monastic practices.
When I cleaned the large window sill in my cell, the paper towel turned yellow. Now that the air conditioning is on in our cells, I can keep my windows closed and most of the pollen out.
However, the dogwood is still pink.
We currently have nine men in the novitiate -- 2 novices, 3 postulants, and 4 observers (2 of whom will be leaving in the next 10 days after their 2-month period with us). As undermaster (assistant to the novice director), I am kept pretty busy assisting them in absorbing monastic practices.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Beginning again
In one day the pink dogwood in the corner of the cloister garden flowered. The ground under the Japanese magnolia is littered with browning white and mauve petals; the tree bursts with green leaves. A mockingbird is twittering all night long. Spring is here for Easter week.
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