Abbey News

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Benedictine Feast Day
Last Friday we joined all of our Benedictine Brothers and Sisters celebrating our very own feast: All Saints of the Benedictine Family. We had to work in the morning but afternoon work was optional and we had full feast day fare in the liturgy and refectory. If you are interested in a rather lengthy history of the Cistercian branch of the Benedictine Family see The Cistercian Monastic Order.

Bakery Updates
All that work that went into bringing our bakery into line with the high standards of the American Institute of Bakeries paid off nicely. Not only did we receive a good rating from them as a result of our recent audit we rated the highest: superior. So now after over 50 years of baking Monks' Bread we've grown from sort of a 'mom and pop' operation to a fully accredited professional bakery.

Not that we were perfect, mind you. Within the superior rating there are degrees and we missed a few points from the very top of the top due to a few minor improvements still to be made. But by the next audit, sometime in January, we ought to have them made and come a bit closer to the very top. Or maybe it is a good idea to leave a little room for improvement. Here we see steam cleaning - a major factor in our sanitation program.

This past week we were visited by a local television station, Channel 10, in Rochester. They did a nice news clip on our bakery along with a brief tour of the monastery. To see the video go to WHEC-Channel 10 and on the panel on the upper right click on the first square.

Home & Away
Fr. John arrived home from Hong Kong this past Thursday evening with a good case of jet lag. In chapter this morning he shared some of his adventures with us and the graces he himself received during the retreat. Tomorrow, since he is a member of the board of directors, he will be driving to Erie, PA for the annual meeting of Alliance of International Monasticism. He is due back Thursday.

Early last Monday, after being with us for 10 days or so, Fr. Eugene returned to his aged and ailing mother's home in California to continue caring for her.

Schedule Change
There are several changes in our daily schedule for the week of Thanksgiving including times for daily Mass. If you plan on joining us for Mass during the week see our Liturgical Schedule page.

On Thanksgiving Day our bread store will follow the Sunday schedule. That is, closed all day except for before and after Mass. Namely, open 8:30-9:30 and 11:00-12:00.

Let us form one single body, says St. Paul, which is realized and grows in the one life of Christ (cf Eph. 4:16); yet all the members do not all have the same function, because we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us (Rom. 12:4,6).

Thus, though we all have the Christian vocation, that is apostolic in itself, in practice each of us works it out in a particular way, which is determined by his personal vocation, and by the grace and gifts he has received. In its external form, the apostolate of the laity is not the same as that of religious, nor is that of the fathers or mothers of families the same as that of priests. But in all of them there is, and there must be, a common element: the interior dynamism of charity.

All, without distinction, must possess this and make it grow; the only distinction is that which is imposed, not by vocation, but by each one's personal fervor: I came to cast fire upon the earth, and would that it were already kindled! (Lk. 12:49)

Divine Intimacy
Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D.