A very quiet corner of the monks’ quarters is called the “cloister garden.” Our rooms (in a monastery, called “cells”) surround the cloister garden, which changes in looks and colors throughout the year as the seasons change. We monks pass over the bricks-on-sand walkway around the cloister garden many times throughout the day, coming and going to church, refectory, chapter room, classrooms, kitchen and library, to name the most frequented places in the monastery.

The design of the cloister garden was inspired by monastic floorplans over the centuries. The water fountain in the middle of the garden is also a time-honored monastic tradition, and the design for our fountain bowl, carved from a single stone, came from an ancient fountain found at the Benedictine abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos in Spain.

As today’s photo shows, Spring is in process here, with the grass greening again and some flowers and trees in bloom, but we have yet to put the variety of potted plants, indoors for the winter, onto the low wall around the cloister garden. We look forward to doing that soon, when it warms up just a little more.

With this comes assurance of our prayers for your needs and intentions and we are grateful for your prayers and support.

Abbot Christian and the monks