Mount Saviour Monastery

July 20188   News:
Brother Savio was taken by surprise at the beginning of the month. Deciding to trail a skunk, he did not come out smelling like a rose. 'I didn't know they could do that.' Now he does. The malodorous smell, however, was soon replaced with a much more welcome scent. Vietnamese friends from Rochester prepared a wonderful traditional Vietnamese meal for the community on the 1st. On the 4th we celebrated Independence Day with an outdoor Mass. We used the stone altar just north of the main parking lot. Many of those present expressed their hope that outdoor Masses might become more frequent in the future. About 40 people were present at our noon picnic which had to be inside due to wet weather which moved in shortly after Mass. On the 6th Brother Michael left early in the day to be with family on Long Island. The rest of the community helped Br. Isaiah celebrate his names' day with a festive recreation. Brother Bruno took advantage of the hot and dry weather to begin the hay harvest.

On the 9th the first of two men arrived to discern a possible vocation with us and began living in the monastery with the community. Please pray for their time among us. On the 12th installers arrived in our neighborhood laying cable to enable our area to have speedier and more reliable means of communication. On the 22nd Father John Dear presented a talk entitled 'Jesus: the Way, the Truth, and the Life of Nonviolence.' The lounge of St. Joseph's was comfortably full for the event. Comments afterwards were along the following lines: 'Great speaker, challenging, inspiring - would that we could achieve some of the lofty aspirations he addressed.' His talk was very well received and the crowd thankful for his presentation.

On the 23rd a River Birch Tree was planted at St. Gertrude's in memory of Bernard Lambert who was a monk here in the mid 70's. The skies opened with a downpour during the ceremony which conveniently took care of watering the new sapling. The skies opened again with a downpour on the 26th that turned our main road into a river. Monastery Road remained closed until the town could fix the extensive damage. July ended with Elmira receiving more than 12 inches of rain, setting a record rainfall for any month ever. That includes the month of June 1972 when Hurricane Agnes flooded the region and contributed to the 11 inches of rainfall received that month. Did someone mention 'climate change''

COMING EVENTS:
Sunday, August 12: Dedication Day. Mass 10:00 a.m., followed by a brunch and music program to which everyone is welcome.