Abbey News
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Corpus Christi
Today we are celebrating that beautiful mystery of our faith, the feast of Corpus Christi. As with all solemnities the celebration began with first vespers yesterday and will conclude with second vespers today. In between we will have a procession of the Blessed Sacrament through the grounds and cloisters followed by exposition on the altar, adoration throughout the afternoon and Benediction after Vespers.
It is a uniquely colorful and Western Catholic feast with roots going back to the 13th century. Further details can be found in the Corpus Christi site of Wikipedia.
From the end of Mass until Vespers the Blessed Sacrament will be exposed on the altar for adoration. The brothers take turns at adoration changing the guard as it were every half hour. No small number of guests from the area join us throughout the day as well.
Schedule Change
This coming Friday, June 19th, we will be celebrating the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In keeping with our usual practice Mass will be at 9:45 AM followed by exposition and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament from after Mass until Vespers and Benediction, as on Corpus Christi.
Home Again
This past Monday I returned home from the Junior Directors meeting held at St. Joseph's Abbey, Spencer, MA right on schedule. By all accounts it was a fruitful meeting, described as one of the best by a veteran Junior Director. The general theme was "Transitions" in the life of novices, juniors and solemnly professed with special emphasis on juniors.
Sister Gail, former Abbess and current Junior Director at Our Lady of Mississippi monastery, made a formal presentation on the topic of Transitions which was followed by a general discussion. This was followed few days later by a panel discussion with Sr. Gail, Sr. Agnes, former Abbess of Mount Saint Mary's Abbey and Fr. Damian, current Abbot of Spencer. During the course of the week several other topics of pastoral interest were discussed at some length.
The next meeting is to be held in 2011 at the brand new monastery of Abbaye Val Notre-Dame in Quebec, Canada.
Retreating With Us
We were happy to welcome two friars of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, Brothers Jeremiah and Paschal, for an in-house retreat with us this past week.
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