Back in the bleak (?) mid-winter

I got home from South Africa in time to start Lent with my West Park Brothers. Lent is usually a busy season in our Guesthouse and it is also a season when Brothers go out on missions.

Br. Joseph Wallace-Williams is on mission in San Antonio, Texas for the week.

From top, left to right: Sylvia Maddox (Assoicate), Fr. Brad Landry, Rector of Saint Pauls Episcopal Church, San Antonio Texas (Aassociate ), Br. Joseph , Nancy Hibbs (widow of Bishop Hibbs, long time Associate and friend of Holy Cross), Gillian Cook (O.P.), and Elizabeth Landry; Br. Joseph leading a parish Quiet Day.

Br. Joseph leading reflections in the chapel of St Paul's Episcopal Montessori School

Brothers Josép and Aidan went to Kent School for a day at the invitation of their Chaplain, The Rev. Kate Kelderman. Kent School was founded as a work of the Order of the Holy Cross (OHC) in 1906. Its driving force and first Principal was Father Frederick Herbert Sill who toiled at the school until his death in 1952. The school became independent from OHC in the fourties.

Br. Josép addressed the students about monastic values and as the good choirmaster that he is couldn't help himself but get them to sing with him.

Br. Josép and Aidan visiting Kent School, in Kent, CT. From left, clockwise: Br. Josép addressed five hundred students and led them in song; the tomb of Fr. Sill, the founder of Kent School; Bros. Aidan and Josép with the Rev. Kate Kelderman, chaplain of Kent School.

This week, the temperature got into the fifties for a day and that was enough for Br. Aidan to visit our gardens to see how they are shaping up as Spring points at the horizon. Well, it's official: the hellebores are coming up! Surely, the snowbells and croci can't be far behind.

From left, clockwise: frequent visitor and garden volunteer Beth Gutwin from Williston, VT;
and hellebore buds peeping from the flower beds.

As usual, this Sunday morning, some of us went to visit Brothers Lary and Rafael at their nursing home. Brother Aidan and Richard used their respective clerical orders to offer communion and pray a blessing. It was a good day to stay warm indoors but beautiful to look at as the snow gleamed in the sunshine.

From left, clockwise, the old cemetery cross; the old oak in the Little Cloister;
Br. Rafael listening to the news from Bros. Aidan and Richard.

Ice floes on the Hudson break the reflections of the pre-dawn light.
The view from my cell on Sunday morning.