July Fireworks

The month began with the cancelation of our regular class on Chrstina anthropology, due to a medical issue incurred by our teacher, Fr. Douglas Wathier. The postponement of the class allowed us to use the first Monday (July 1st) as our community hermit day. This was quickly followed by our observance of the July 4th holiday. The sisters at Mississippi Abbey invited the monks over for a traditional (for them) cook-out. Several of the monks joined them, while others preferred the quiet of simply staying at home.

A larger celebration occurred on July 16th, the 175th anniversary of the founding of New Melleray Abbey. Our archbishop Thomas Zinkula was the celebrant of a Eucharist at 10:30 a.m. He preached a homily which incorporated stories of our founding in the account left by Br. Kieran Mullaney. All the sisters came and shared in this Eucharist. This was followed by a festive meal in our refectory. The sisters had decorated the refectory and provided a catered meal which we all shared together. As part of the celebration, the sisters presented a skit which developed the theme of living stones. An informal period of sharing memories of the history and interaction of our two communities over the years closed the afternoon. We were touched by and grateful for their kindness.

Both Fr. Brendan and Fr. Stephen were simultaneously absent for a little over a week. Fr. Brendan attended a meeting of the superiors of the Western houses of the U.S. Region at Sonoita Abbey in Arizona. Fr. Stephen was gone to visit two of his elderly sisters who had helped raise him after the early death of his mother. The absence of two priests put some pressure on the remaining clerical roster. They missed the torrential downpour of rain during Sunday Vespers on July 21st. We received two and a half inches of rain within thirty minutes. It was a very local storm: areas a mile away received no rain. It also moved in very quickly and not all windows had been closed before Vespers. So there was an earnest mopping effort which followed. Serious damage was caused in one of the Guest House conference rooms. The drains in the windows wells were not able to handle this amount of water, and it overflowed into the room damaging the walls and rugs. Repairs are underway.