Hikers and improvements

Two weeks ago, Br. Josép led a contemplative hiking retreat. We have lots of beautiful trails to choose from in the Hudson Valley and the Catskills. I bet this is also part of Josép's training for the Celtic Pilgrimage he and I will lead in the United Kingdom next June. The hikers thoroughly enjoyed the retreat and several said they'd be back to do more hiking from the monastery as base-camp.

Contemplative Hiking Retrteat. Br. Josép and a group of motivated hikers enjoying our region.

At the end of that week, Br. Robert James, our Superior, left for a five-week trip. He starts with a family visit in Denver for a few days and then stays with our Brothers at Mount Calvary Monastery in Santa Barbara, CA, for his yearly visitation. At the beginning of this past week, Br. Aidan came back from a two-week visit to Ireland where he firtst led a retreat and then took his own retreat.

Br. Aidan's father, Jack Bonnell, passed away this week. Please keep Jack and Aidan in your prayers.

Br. John moved into his own scriptorium these past two weeks. He had been a writing nomad between our various common spaces. He is enjoying his new space and writing there regularly. He writes poetry and he journals. His poems regularly get published in various places. He is working on a collection of poems to be published in book form eventually.

Last Sunday, I went to NYC to visit St James, Madison Avenue, where I taught an adult forum on personal prayer. It was well attended and received. After the beautiful 11.15 a.m. Eucharist and coffee hour, I got to have lunch with Matthew Leaycraft and The Rev. Ryan Fleenor who both serve a St James. I first met them when they were seminarians at Berkeley Divinity School at Yale ten years ago. It is great to see them serving God's people so well. Matthew was an intern at the monastery in his last year of seminary. And both Matthew and Ryan alternate in bringing groups of St James retreatants to the monastery.

Faces of Holy Cross. From top left, clockwise: Br. John in his new "scriptorium"; best friends Sue Nanka-Bruce from Queens, NY and Ellen Wright, from Brooklyn, NY, in the refectory; Matthew Leaycraft and Ryan Fleenor treating me to another kind of refectory (a nice French Brasserie on Lexington Avenue).

Our eldest monk, Br. Laurence, 92, is increasingly needing care that we are not able to provide at the monastery. He will soon transfer to a nursing home in the nearby village of Highland, where he will join Br. Rafael and Br. Lary. We wanted to mark this transition festively and had a community party on Monday evening. Br. Josép lovingly prepared his secret lasagna recipe (it's got Puerto Rican style sofrito; it's hot, people!). I helped as sous-chef. We got to chat while enjoying some Cabernet Sauvignon in the large Guest House kitchen. What a lovely way to spend a Sabbath day afternoon.

Celebrating Br. Laurence. Members of the community enjoying delicious food and each other's company in the enclosure's West Atrium.

With over 70,00 square feet of buildings to care for (ages 117 to 54 years) there rarely is a week when we don't have some repair, maintenance or development work going on somewhere in our physical plant.

Lately, we have inaugurated an art gallery in the hallway connecting Pilgrim Hall to the Monk's Cell Book and Gift store. Sr, Annie-hannah Mancini, an Episcopalian solitary religious and multimedia artist curated a show of her works to help fund-raise for the effort. Thanks, Annie-hannah!

The gallery features appropriate lighting and picture rails that easily allow new shows to be hung. Currently, the gallery features works by another Episcopalian solitary religious, Sr. Susan John Mangan. Long ago Susan made her Life Profession of the monastic vows in our St Augustine church. Her luminescent seascapes of Maine are a joy to behold.

Last week, we also hosted the brightest cherry-picker we've had on the property yet. JAM Builders had rented a cherry-picker that supports the research to end breast cancer. Jamie Morano and colleagues were doing the annual cleaning-up of our gutters to keep dead leaves from clogging them.

Developments and Maintenance. From top to bottom: Susan John Mangan's paintings in the new art gallery, with Br. Laurence zooming through on his electric scooter; Jamie Morano checking all is allright to operate this very pink cherry-picker; Jamie ascending to our eaves and gutters with his son Jessie.

Another Open Doors, Open Hearts Capital Campaign has come to fruition! Our belltower corridor is fully refurbished. This project was connected to the renovation of our sacristy which was also recently completed. A large part of these connected projects were financed by a private church-focused foundation. We are grateful to all our donors.

For the past week, the belltower corridor had been stripped of its tired plain carpet, revealing a combination of very simple floorboards and concrete. On Friday, a large group of installers descended on the church to install a vinyl flooring that imitates dark grey granite. It will be easy to clean and maintain and will wear out less rapidly due to the pedestrian traffic. Come and check the belltower's new dropped ceiling, the corridor's replastered  and freshly-painted walls and the smart flooring.

This, of course, is only a small part of the more extensive work that needs to happen on the higher levels of the belltower and in the main body of the church. Much of that work will happen through the coming twelve months.

The belltower corridor, before and after the new flooring.

The monastery gets better all the time. You've got to come and check it out often...

Blessings to you.