Hundreds of welcome guests arrived on the 1st for what we hope will be an extended stay. Last year we lost our bee colonies when gusty winds flipped the tops off their hives. Brother Bruno put out two empty bee boxes and within a few days they were occupied once again. The plan is to stay with the two for now and see how things go.
On the 3rd we learned of the death of Father Richard Beligotti, an oblate and priest of our diocese. Please remember him in prayer. The picture is of him and his twin brother Robert on the occasion of their ordination by Archbishop Fulton Sheen.
The next day deacon candidates for our diocese joined us for a day of recollection and for our midday meal.
The afternoon of the 8th we had volunteers help us to round up and vaccinate the sheep and newborn lambs.
The following day we observed the solemnity of the Ascension as we drew nearer to the end of the Easter Season. Richard, a vocational candidate from Mississippi, arrived for a week’s visit.
On the 13th Father Antony from Kristo Buase Monastery in Ghana arrived for a two week visit. His driver was Br. Pius from St. Mary’s Monastery in Petersham, Ma. Both monasteries are houses belonging to our English Province. Father Anthony very quickly mastered the operation of our two main lawnmowers and substituted for our chaplain during his time away.
On the 18th more deacon candidates arrived for a retreat, this time from the Archdiocese of New York. Brother John of the Cross, a Vietnamese Cistercian monk and long term guest we have been sponsoring, arrived after graduating from seminary in Baltimore. He left us on the 25th to return to his monastery in California.
That same day was our yearly shearing of the sheep day. Fortunately the rain and thunder held off until after we finished six hours of work and gave the sheep a nice rinse after their haircut.
