ST JOSEPH'S ABBEY, SPENCER MA

Our two juniors, Brothers Simeon and Jonah returned home last week from the annual Junior Seminar for the Order's simply professed monks and nuns of the North American region. This year's Seminar was held at St. Benedict's monastery in breathtaking Snowmass, Colorado. The community of Snowmass welcomed the twenty-five juniors wholeheartedly, giving generous witness to monastic hospitality at it's best. The themes of the presentations were: 1) The relationship between Lectio Divina and the Liturgy 2) The monk as "disciple", and 3) The Science of Love. Precious opportunities abounded for bonds to be made and friendships to be established between the juniors. A full schedule of classes, a wide range of extra-curricular activities (hiking, volleyball, mountain biking) and fabulous meals enjoyed together along with rich conversation, provided ample occasions for getting to know one another. The sharing of each person's unique vocational story, formation experi...

The Solemn Profession of Sr. Maria Kim ocso - April 15, 2009 You have seduced me, O Lord, and I let myself be seduced. Jer. 20:7

"Light's glittering morn bedecks the sky, Heaven thunders forth its victor cry: The glad earth shouts its triumph high, And groaning hell makes wild reply. While he the King of glorious might Treads down death's strength in death's despite, And trampling hell by victor's right, Brings forth his sleeping saints to light. Hell's pains are loosed, and tears are fled; Captivity is captive led; The angel crowned with light, has said, 'The Lord is risen from the dead.' " -Latin hymn Fifth century

"In the crucified Christ forgiveness is offered and life is given. For humanity it is no longer a matter of fearing judgement or of meriting salvation, but of welcoming love in trust and humility." -Olivier Clement "It was necessary for us that God should take flesh and die so that we might have new life ... Nothing can equal the miracle of my salvation; a few drops of blood redeem the whole universe." -Gregory Nazianzen

"One who has surrendered to it knows that the way ends on the Cross -- even when it is leading through the jubilation of Gennesaret or the triumphal entry into Jerusalem." -Dag Hammarskjold

She did not cry, 'I cannot, I am not worthy,' nor, 'I have not the strength.' She did not submit with gritted teeth, raging, coerced. Bravest of all humans, consent illumined her. The room filled with its light, the lily glowed in it, and the iridescent wings. Consent, courage unparalleled, opened her utterly. From the poem "Annunciation" by Denise Levertov

"If there are artisans in the monastery, they are to practice their craft with all humility, but only with the abbot's permission." -from the Rule of St. Benedict "Only if the brothers prefer nothing whatever to Christ will the brothers be happy to persevere in a life that is ordinary, obscure, and laborious." -from the Constitutions of the Monks Brother Gabriel (2nd from top) and Father Isaac's (top) dedicated passion to creating fine works of pottery has been a labour of love now for over twenty years. The wood-fired downdraft kiln (bottom) they designed and built a few years ago yields on average, two to three hundred pieces per firing. The photograph taken of the "Klimtarion" 19" vase* has become a popular image these days down at the Abbey Gift Shop where it graces our potters' new business cards. The Abbey Gift Shop, situated to the right of the main entrance road to the monastery, displays and sells a wide variety of Gabriel and...