Abbey News

Sunday, March 28, 2010

The Great Week. . .
. . .or Holy Week, as it is more commonly called, began with first Vespers of Palm Sunday yesterday. Today's fulsome liturgy will include the traditional blessing of palms, the Palm Sunday procession and the reading of the Lord's Passion at Mass. It also begins a week of retreat for us to help us prepare for the celebration of the Sacred Triduum and Easter. Each day will be a hermit day affording us a bit more silence, solitude and simpler schedule.

First Anniversary
Wednesday of this week, March 31st, marks the first birthday of the opening of our new expanded bread store complete with cashiers to assist our patrons. The results of the new arrangements are in and show that it has been a highly successful year thanks in great measure to our devoted team of cashiers. We couldn't have succeeded so well without them. Nor without our faithful patrons who help support the abbey and its charities with their purchases. Many thanks to one and all! By the way, HOLIDAY BREAD IS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK AFTER ALL. HAPPY EASTER!!

To mark the occasion we now offer Br. Theodore's delicious chocolate chip cookies, a long-time favorite with our retreatants who have them available at Bethlehem House now and again.

And since we are no longer able to obtain the Venezuelan coffee we have been carrying we plan to offer our own brand of Genesee Abbey coffee beginning this very week. The coffee will be roasted and brewed for us by a local coffee roasting company, a product that we feel will be even more popular than the Venezuelan coffee.

Lest those of you unable to visit our on-site store be deprived it will be available on our on-line store as well.

Favorite Places
No doubt many of us have our favorite places. For Dr. Bill Cook, Distinguished Teaching Professor of Medieval and Renaissance Europe and Church History at SUNY Geneseo, NY across the Valley from us, the Abbey is one of his. You can find out why in a lively and informative article in The Livingston County News for March 27th.

To you have I committed my cause. It is this attitude of trust in God which must sustain us in our own hour of sorrow and persecution. A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you. (John 15:20).

Anyone who resolves to live according to the gospel, to defend truth, and to do good, will not be able to escape the contradiction of the same world that is opposed to Christ. And if God allows it, further sufferings and misunderstandings may be added from other sources, perhaps from good people or friends or even from family or those who are brothers and sisters in ideals.

A true Christian is not scandalized; we know that the cross is an essential part of the heritage and of the following of Christ; we know that just as Christ saved us by his cross, so we enter upon the way of salvation and cooperate in the salvation of the world, by carrying our own cross.

Divine Intimacy
Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, OCD