Mount Saviour Monastery

January 2024 NEWS:
Each year we celebrate Epiphany on the traditional day of January 6th instead of transferring it to a Sunday. Our first real snowfall of the season began that day and we ended up with about 6 inches. Brother Bruno had to put out the first haystack for the sheep to eat as they could no longer get to the grass in the fields which they prefer.
We celebrated the Baptism of the Lord the next day. Our Christmas celebration ends with that feast. The following day we began taking down all of the season's lights and decorations.   After the death of Brother Antonio, Brother Gregory became our new candle maker. On the 13th he became our soap maker as well. The two products are very similar in terms of production. We order our soap materials in bulk, and Brother Gregory does all the processing. We are currently making all natural soap with no fragrances or dyes. When we have sufficient quantities available, we hope to have it for sale through our internet Shop page. https://www.msaviour.org/giftshop.php
Also, on the 13th, a knitters group arrived for the weekend. They left behind a stack of knitted goods for us to sell in the Gift Shop. The next day we were hit with an additional six inches of snow and below zero temperatures. Those conditions make our Livestock Guardian dogs extremely lively and happy, unlike some of the rest of us.
Brother Dominic Savio, a Cistercian monk who lived with us for several years, arrived on the 21st for a visit. Now ordained he celebrated Mass several times during his visit including a Mass of Thanksgiving for which we, too, are thankful. He also gifted us with a statue of the Good Shepherd he carved at his home monastery in Vietnam.
On the 26th we received a brief reprieve from winter. The temperature reached 65 degrees, all the snow melted, a robin and snake were seen on the once again green lawns. But alas, we were back to white and more normal winter conditions before the month was out.