Abbey News
Sunday, September 21, 2008
From the General Chapter
The most exciting news from the General Chapter for us is that our 2nd daughter house, Novo Mundo in Brazil, having met the necessary requirements, has been elevated to the status of an abbey this past week. It seems likely the blessing of its abbot will take place before Christmas.
During the week a group of capitulants visited Rome where there were front row seats reserved for them during a general audience with the Holy Father. Several were able to greet him personally as we see Mother Marion of Our Lady of the Angels, Crozet, VA. doing here.
In his final remarks to the assembly he greeted the Cistercian Abbots and Abbesses present. This called to mind the remarks he made during his recent visit to Paris when he expressed his deep appreciation for the monastic life and its charism. His lengthy article with his remarks on monasticism, Benedict XVI on the Roots of European Culture, can be found at Zenit.org.
The Chapter is due to end this Tuesday and Fr. John is due back on Thursday the 25th. No doubt he'll be ready and glad to get back judging from this telling line from yesterday's report: The participants are showing signs of fatigue!
On the Home Front
Meanwhile, this past week we had our annual blessing of the bakery and fields followed the next day by our annual commemoration of our deceased brethren on the 19th, the 53rd anniversary of the death of our founding Abbot, Dom Gerard McGinley.
We were high and dry for several hours Thursday night due to three breaks in the Town's 10" water main, one right after another. Troubles began at 2 PM Thursday and continued until around 3 AM Friday when the last and largest break was repaired. The county Health Department issued a precautionary boil water alert for all drinking water due to the possibility of harmful bacteria in the line because of the breaks. We beat that by using bottled water!
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