Mount Saviour Monastery

June 2022 News:
On the first of the month, we noticed and could hear our trees being eaten by what used to be known as gypsy moths, now known as spongy moths. Two pictures of the large oak tree on the road to St. Gertrude's were taken on June 3rd and again on June 27th. Many trees in our area are similarly affected. On the same day, the first batch of 130 tomato plants were transplanted into our garden. Fortunately, they don't seem to be part of the moth's diet!  

Brother Francis made some improvements to our cloister garth this month. Along with a good deal of tidying up, he replaced a pump that recycles water from a natural spring-fed pool. It now provides birds with and ever-ready bird bath and the rest of us in the cloister with the soothing sound of trickling water.

  Brother Francis also joined 26 other junior monks for 10 days at Belmont Abbey in North Carolina for the Junior Summer Institute. His stay had to be extended two days when his return flight was cancelled due to weather conditions at Newark Airport. He survived the Southern heat but returned to us a little browner than when he left.

Brother John of the Cross, A Cistercian Vietnamese monk we are hosting, returned from his second year of seminary classes on the 19th. He has ensconced himself in our vegetable garden where his green thumb is a great help to the community. He will return to seminary in the fall.

Many farmers in our area have been busy haying their fields while the weather cooperates. Brother Bruno began cutting hay on the 28th. His first day was cut short due to one of the large tractor tires going flat. We hope it will not be one of 'those' years.