Mount Saviour Monastery

December 2022 News:
The chapel bells remained silent into the second week of December as COVID and an assortment of other ills made their way through our community. Community prayer shifted to prayer in private. Five more brothers tested positive on the 2nd in addition to the three from last month. Possible reopening was pushed back from the 4th to the 10th to the 12th to the 15th as brothers continued to test positive. The season of Advent is always a time of waiting. This year we added reopening to our waiting list!

The last two brothers with COVID tested negative on the 14th. We reopened on the 15th, all of us wearing masks throughout the day for several more days. Inside Christmas decorations and outdoor lights were hastily put up and suddenly the house took on a much more festive atmosphere.
 

  Because of the COVID situation, the final load of sheep taken to auction by Brother Bruno did not happen until the 20th. Two days later, the rams and ewes were brought in from the fields and separated until around Thanksgiving time next year.

Our first guest to join us after we reopened was unexpected. A call on our answering machine informed us that a pilgrim was making his way to us on foot from a considerable distance away. Fortunately, having just reopened, we had room for him when he arrived and housed him for two nights. Chris was gradually making his way on foot to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico. Please say a prayer for his safe travels.

Because of the deep freeze and winds, guests were sparse for the Christmas Eve blessing of the crèche. With the storm continuing on Christmas Day, many guests with reservations wisely decided to stay at home instead. One family from Canada patiently waited several hours for the border to open due to the blizzard in Buffalo and arrived in time for Christmas supper in the evening.

We received the sad news on Christmas Day of the death of a dear friend of ours, Father Dominic Hanh Nguyen. He was the Conventual Prior of the monastery of Thien Tam in Texas. Then on the 31st, retired Pope Benedict XVI died at the age of 95. Please pray for them and for all those we lost in 2022.
 

  Note: We did not publish a Chronicle in 2022. Happy New Year