Quiet and activity

This week, we were all at home. On Tuesday, we celebrated the funeral of Brother Laurence Harms. Many of his friends including several from Liberia and Ghana were in attendance. His ashes are now in our columbarium in Saint-Michael's chapel (the crypt). We miss him.

Laurence's funeral. Two archival pictures of him. His ashes reposing in the church prior to his funeral mass (3 pictures).

While Advent is a generally quieter period of the year, cleaning duties continue. On the outside, our contractors Jamie and Lewis Morano used a cherry-picker to clean up our gutters removing leaves in a freezing cold.

Quiet and Activity 1. From top left, clockwise: the Morano brothers cleaning the gutters behind the main guestouse building (2 pictures);  a floral arrangement under the Mother and Child statue in our church; first hint of Christmas - a 10 ft high tree that we will leave undecorated until Christmas Eve; three candles lit up on the Advent wreath.

On the inside, the formation team undertook a deep cleaning of our enclosure common room. Br. Bernard whose job it is to clean it weekly was very grateful.

Quiet and Activity 2. two pictures of the formation team cleaning the enclosure common room; Mother Mary giving an approving look on these ancillary duties (The Annunciation, detail in a painting by Martino di Barolomeo (Active 1389-1434). Tempera on gold pane​l. From The Fitzwilliam Museum University of Cambridge)

We wish a blessed third week of Advent.