The church piano arrival

This week, Joshua Reinke continue his one-month aspirant visit.

On Tuesday, our long-awaited electronic piano for the church arrived. Thank you to all our generous donors. We collected enough to upgrade to an even better piano than we had set our sight on. This one sounds lovely. For the moment, it will live in the side aisle when not in use, but we may decide to store it in the unused church entrance between uses. Br. Ephrem enthusiastically tried the new instrument with Br. Raphael turning the music pages and Br. Jacob snapping the pictures.

The new electric piano. From top left, clockwise: Br. Ephrem trying the new piano: Br. Raphael turning the music pages for Br. Ephrem in the side aisle, just off the chancel: Bros. Ephrem and Raphael enjoying the sound of the piano: the ambulatory (red brick wrap-around) the chancel and belltower of St Augustine's churh in rhe rising sun; the new piano in its current storage space.

We have decided to assign the cleaning of each of the four cars we own to a different monk. Br. Raphael thoroughly cleaned our silver Prius plug-in hybrid car. It is a joy to enter a clean car for a ride. Thank you, Brothers for your cleaning.

Br. Raphael doing an inside cleaning of our Prius plug-in hybrid car (3 pictures). Bottom picture: through and ambulatory arch, the arches of our enclosure porches.

This weekend, Br. Jacob's interfaith group of transmen called G*d Talk met in person at the monastery. They have been meeting monthly on Zoom for two years. This was the first time they were together in the same place. Their ages range from 21 to 73 and besides NYC and locals, guys came from Massachussetts, Maryland, Oklahoma, Colorado and California. Along with one they picked up at our Guesthouse who just happened to be on retreat with us this weekend. All in all there were 11 of them and they greatly appreciated gathering in a safe welcoming place to share on their journeys with G*d.

Peace and every blessing to you.

Icon writing retreat

Br. Daniel is on a family visit and vacation in Michigan, coming home soon.

This week, our new Associate Christine Hales, from Sarasota, FL, led an icon-writing retreat for a dozen guests. Her teaching of painting icons prayerfully is always popular.

This week, the retreatants were writing an icon of St Francis of Assisi with the wolf of Gubbio. The legend of St. Francis and the Wolf of Gubbio tells of a ferocious, man-eating wolf terrorizing an Italian village. Rather than fighting the beast, St. Francis met it, made the sign of the cross, and commanded it to stop harming the townspeople, taming the wolf and negotiating a historic peace.

Icon writers at work in St Augustine's meeting room.

On Friday morning, on the closing day of their retreat, our guests gathered with their completed icons in our church for Br. David Bryan to bless the fruit of their art and prayer.

Icon writers having their icons blessed by Br. David Bryan in our St Augustine's church.

The gardens and the trees have been suffering from the drought and episodes of extreme heat these past few weeks. Br. Francis has also given extra ventilation to our four beehives when necessary.

Monastery visitors. From top left, clockwise: a fawn spotted near the monastic enclosure; our newest Associate Christine Hales sporting her ebony Associate cross; a garden flowers arrangement by Br. Robert James in front of the St Augustine icon (two pictures).

Peace and every good to you.

Happy St Benedict's feast!

This week, Br. Jacob took a four-day vacation in Rochester, NY. Br. Daniel left this weekend for a ten-day family visit and vacation in Michigan.

Mr. Joshua Reinke of NYC arrived last week and will be with us for the month of July. Please keep him in your prayers as he discerns his call to the monastic life in the Order of the Holy Cross.

After an extensive search where we interviewed several chefs for our kitchen and tested their cooking, we have found a great executive chef, Kendell Taylor, and assitant chef, Jordan Pomfrey. Not only do our chefs have to cook very well, they also plan menus, manage a budget, order ingredients and supplies, report to our bookeeper and keep walk-in freezer, fridge and kitchen suite in tidiness and cleanliness. It's a big job and critical to our hospitality ministry.

We hope you'll come and enjoy their cooking soon. We sure do.

Monastery people. From top left clockwise: Assistant Chef, Jordan Pomfrey, Executive Chef, Kendell Taylor with Br. Ephrem; Kendell and Br. Ephrem; Mr. Joshua Reinke in line for dinner in the refectory; Br. John with Associates John Chichester, from Ulster Park, NY, and Liz Haak, from NYC; Bros. Daniel and Jacob reviewing the moves they played in a previous chess game to learn more about alternative options of play.

On Friday, the initial formation team and two junior professed lent a hand in doing a big summer cleaning of the kitchen storage spaces and the kitchen office.

Tidying up the kitchen suite in the Guesthouse. From top left, clockwise: Bros. Bruno and Raphael tidying up the chef's office; Br. Jacob, Postulant Jeff and Aspirant Joshua tidying up the kitchen's storage spaces; Bros. Will and Josép tidying up the house supplies storage space.

But the week started with a delayed Fourth of July cookout on Monday. Br. Josép inaugurated the new gas-fired grill we recently purchased. It is a big improvement from the too small charcoal-fired grill we had before.

Br. Josép's vegan pepperming chocolate mousse was a big hit.

Fourth of July cookout (transferred to Monday, July 6). From top left, clockwise: Br. Josép trying his hand at the new grill: Bros. having a drink while waiting for the grilling to be done; Bros. Francis and Bruno with "clean" plates proving the grilling was successful; Br. Josép's scrumptious vegan chocolate mousses; Bros. in line to help themselves to the food.

On Saturday, we received the Rev. Bowie Snodgrass into the Associates program in the presence of her husband George, son Jacob, daughter Eszter and dad James Snodgrass (himself an Associate of four years already).

The Rev. Bowie Snodgrass, of Short Hills, NJ, and Br. Bernard at the ceremony to receive her as an Associate of Holy Cross. From top left, clockwise: Bowie signing her Associate pledge; Br. Bernard officially receiving Bowie as our latest Associate; Bowie and Br. Bernard exchanging the peace after the ceremony; Br. Bernard blessing Bowie with holy water at the end of the ceremony; Bowie with her family and Br. Bernard in Pilgrim Hall under the portrait of Fr. Huntington, our founder (from left: James Snodgrass, Bowie's dad, Br. Bernard, Bowie, Eszter, Jacob, Bowie's children, and George, Bowie's husband).

This week, the bellrope broke twice leaving us without a bell to signal the offices. Our maintenance contractor, Jamie Morano, twice repaired it. Fingers crossed that the second repair will last.

This weekend, Br. Ephrem was leading a retreat on monastic wisdom to coincide with the feast of St Benedict, on Saturday, which is also the anniversary of his Life Profession of the Benedictine Vow in 2014.

On the blooming front, hostas continue to be big. For St Benedict's feast, we got two beautiful orchids. One is near St Benedict's icon at the entrance of the church. The other is at the foot of the Mother and Child statue in the side aisle.

Hostas and orchids. Bottom left: the bell rope having fallen to the ground and being temporarily unusable.

Our blog readers are regularly in our prayers. Peace and every good.