Mouint Saviour Monastery (March 2017)
Mount Saviour Monastery
March 2017
With the beginning of a new month came the beginning of a new liturgical
season. Some of the changes made this year during Lent included using scheduled
recreation time for more lectio, the 'drawing' of a book of the Bible to
be read by each monk, putting out at Mass each Sunday a basket for alms
for the poor in our area, plus the usual 'giving up' of all desserts including
wine and ice cream which are available to the monks on Sundays outside
the season, and refraining from talking during our after supper clean-up.
Br. Savio was able to spend his one week spring break from the seminary
with us which enabled many of us to receive long overdue haircuts. After
considerable discussion the community decided to implement a
no smoking
policy on the grounds of the monastery as a way to provide a healthier
and more hospitable environment for the monks and guests. On the 14th and
15th winter finally arrived with our biggest snowfall of the season; 12
inches accompanied by high winds that rapidly and radically changed our
landscape. In the third week there occurred a rare instance of three major
solemnities in one week: Sts. Joseph, Benedict and the Feast of the Annunciation
concluded by our annual ecumenical outing to Grace Church in Elmira, altogether
making for an unusually festive Lenten week. The last week of the month
more than half of the brothers suddenly came down with a 'stomach bug'
which was not meant to be part of the self-emptying that we strive for
during Lent. The lambing is still in progress with 62 ewes giving birth
to 111 lambs so far (including 7 sets of triplets. This "unplanned
parenthood" is the work of one 6 month old ram.
COMING EVENTS:
Holy Week:
Thursday, April 13th: Mass of the Last Supper at 5:00 p.m.
Good Friday, April 14th: Celebration of the Lord's Passion at
3:00 p.m.
Easter Sunday: April 16th: Pascal Vigils including Mass will
begin at 4:30 A.M. followed by breakfast for eryone.
There is NO 9:00 a.m. Mass.
Easter Monday: Mass at 9:00 a.m.
Sunday, April 30: Friends of Mount Saviour lecturer, Imam Zaman
Marwat, will give a talk in St. Joseph's Lounge after Mass. All are welcome.
Sunday, May 7: 15th Annual Damasus Winzen Lecture given by Reverend
Martin Shannon in St. Joseph's Lounge after Mass. Details can be found
on our website under Community: Features.