Happy New Year!

This week was a succesion of  transferred second class feasts following Christmas: St Stephen, deacon and martyr; St John, apostle and evangelist; and the Holy Innocents. On on Saturday, we observed the feast of the Holy Name of Jesus Christ on the eve of the second Christmastide sunday. So we have had a lot of beautiful chanting and a double dose of good preaching (you can catch up on the latter on our Sermons Blog).

On Friday afternoon, Br. Aidan and I took our postulant, Daniel Beckham, and our visiting aspirant, Ephrem Arcement to Poughkeepsie to pay a visit to the tomb of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and take a stroll on the grounds of Vassar College. I always like visiting Teilhard de Chardin's tomb and I remember the first time I visited his tomb with my Dad and Mom in 2006. My Dad was a fan as is Ephrem.

Quiet moments. From top left, clockwise: Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's tomb in Hyde Park; Br. Aidan, Daniel Beckham and Ephrem Arcement visiting Teilhard's tomb; Associate Zachary Roesemann and his husband Clark Anderson from NYC, reading in Pilgrim Hall by the Christmas tree; colored light from the St Benedict window on Jonathan Kendall's Epiphany sculpture in the bell tower.

We have had a lot of guests enjoying the quiet and serene atmosphere of our Guesthouse and partaking of our Christmastide liturgies. This Sunday, the Guesthouse is closing until Thursday, January 13 to enable the monastic community to take its yearly Long Retreat. Long Retreat is eight days of 24/7 silence and rest from work duties to pray, meditate, and take holy leisure (to more intentionally than usual focus on being with God, being for God). 

As my work duties have quietened somewhat over the end of Advent and Christmastide, I have taken more walks with Brothers. It is good to be outside together enjoying God's creation and each other's companionship.

Rivers. From top left, clockwise: a tugboat and barge race on the Hudson; Ephrem Arcement enjoying a water fall on Black Creek in the John Burroughs Sanctuary; parked tugboat and barge lights trhough the morning fog on the Hudson on New Year's Day.

The Monastery Column will be back by January 24. In the meantime, would you hold us monks in prayer as we dwell in Long Retreat? The readeres of this blog are in ours.

May you have a healthy and serene 2022. Happy New Year!