Two Sundays ago, Prior Joseph gave a Chapter Talk, quoting a passage from Joan Chittister’s book, Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope. One of her points is that suffering or scarring or “damage” is not just inevitable in human life but it is a resource. In fact, such scars remain a valuable resource even if […]
Fifteenth Sunday, Year C, 14 July, 2013
The community Mass will be celebrated at 11:00 AM, Fr. Vincent Collins presiding and preaching.
Solemnity of St. Benedict, 11 July, 2013
The community Mass will be celebrated at 11:00 AM. As we have been doing since 24 June with other Solemnities during weekdays, we are celebrating at the weekday altar to be a more unified congregation with our guests and visitors. Prior Joseph will preside and preach. We will follow the Sunday schedule since it is […]
Homily for the 14th Sunday of the Year, 7 July, 2013
Readings: Isaiah 66:10-14c; Galatians 6:14-18; Luke 10:1-12, 17-20 I’d like to draw your attention to a detail, easily overlooked, in today’s Gospel: specifically the reactions of the Seventy-two returning from their mission. It’s not just that they can’t wait to reconnect with Jesus; it’s what they’ve learned while they were away. Can you identify what’s […]
A Word from the Cistercian Fathers for July
Search the Scriptures: you are not mistaken in thinking that you will find life in them, you who are seeking nothing else in them but Christ, to whom the Scriptures bear witness. Blessed indeed are they who search out his testimonies, seek them with all their hearts. Lord, your testimonies are wonderful, therefore my soul […]
Fourteenth Sunday, Year C, 7 July, 2013
The community Mass will be celebrated at 11:00 AM, Fr. James presiding and preaching. It is also the First Sunday of the month and Eucharistic Adoration will begin at 4:00 PM and continue through Vespers (5:30 PM) concluding with Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament (approximately 5:50 PM). All are welcome to join the monks […]
NB: Adjustment in the Gift Shop Hours this Weekend
Please note that this weekend, 6-7 July, there will be an adjustment in the usual hours for the gift shop. On Saturday, 6 July, the Shop will only be open from 1:30 to 5:00 PM; on Sunday, 7 July, the Shop will only be open from 12:00 noon until 3:30 PM.
Prior Joseph’s Homily for the 12th Sunday of the Year
Readings: Zechariah 12:10-11; 13:1; Galatians 3:26-29; Luke 9:18-24 In recent decades the Social Sciences have been re-examining so-called gender roles that society and culture assigns to girls, boys, men and women and which, not infrequently, dictate–or at least influence–what a person can or cannot do. And whereas some have insisted on a fundamental equality in […]
30 June, 2013: Thirteenth Sunday, Year C
The community Mass will be celebrated at 11:00 AM, Fr. Vincent Collins presiding and preaching.
Historic Cool Spring Property
Jerry Reid, an employee of the Abbey working on the maintenance team, directed me to some interesting facts about the Cool Spring Property. His researches involves the MacDonald family, three brothers descended from Colonel Angus W. McDonald and Leacy Anne Naylor of what was then Romney, Virginia (now West Virginia). Once we start discussing parentage, […]