ABBEY NEWS
January 17, 2016
Annual Retreat
Last Sunday, January 10th, we completed our annual week of retreat. And a great retreat it was. Even the weather was mercifully mild for this time of the year providing opportunity for brief reflective walks through the winter forests. Fr. Luke Dysinger, OSB, monk of St. Andre’s Abbey, Valyermo, California was our retreat director. His presentations centered around monastic history and spirituality and helped us appreciate and be grateful for our vocation as Benedictine/Cistercians monks. He brought us into the 21st century by his ample use of power point slides for each of his daily presentations.
Here we see the community assembled in chapter for his final presentation on Sunday.
Back To Work
Shortly after the retreat in addition to returning to our regular chores work began in earnest upgrading and expanding the packing area of our specialty bakery. As with most renovation projects work began with moving everything out, wall removal and, most laborious of all, tearing up the tile floor. The primary reason for the renovation is to convert the former tailor shop into a food handling room in keeping with current rather strict standards of baking rules and codes and making it ready for inspections. At the present time the specialty bakery produces a variety of cookies, biscotti and fruit and nut bars.
Daily Divine Office Readings
A number of people join the universal Church praying the Liturgy of the Hours whole or in part and use parts of the monastic arrangements for their psalms and readings. Our Order’s web site recently posted the list of readings we here at Genesee use for the Divine Office. As posted on the site:
To assist those who prepare readings for the Liturgy of the Hours, Fr Justin has sent three PDF files containing the list of Scripture Readings for Vigils, Lauds, and Vespers for every day of the year 2016. These readings reflect the liturgical calendar of the Abbey of the Genesee. The files can be obtained from the Internet under the new heading: “Ressources – Liturgy – Daily Office Readings”.
Lectio Notebook
The Liturgy of the Hours is intended to become the prayer of the whole People of God. In it Christ himself continues his priestly work through the Church. His members participate according to their own place in the Church and the circumstances of their lives: priests devoted to the pastoral ministry because they are called to remain diligent in prayer and the service of the word; religious, by the charism of their consecrated lives; all the faithful as much as possible.
Pastors of souls should see to it that the principal hours, especially Vespers, are celebrated in common in church on Sundays and on the more solemn feasts. The laity, too, are encouraged to recite the divine office, either with the priests, or among themselves, or even individually.
Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1174
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