The fountain in the middle of our cloister garden is modeled on one at the Benedictine monastery of Silos in Spain, dating from the Middle Ages. Our cloister fountain is only 30 years old, and primarily serves as a decorative element in the garden, as well as home to a couple dozen koi (goldfish).
In the monastic tradition, a fountain in the center of a cloister also acts as a reminder that Christ, the center of all Christian life, can be compared to a never-failing stream of “living water,” that is, God’s grace as “refreshment,” so to speak, for the journey of “going to God” day in and day out.
At the altar in church we daily receive the Bread of Life, that is, the Body and Blood of the Lord, and in the Sacrament of Baptism we received the water of cleaning of sin and incorporation into the Body of Christ, the Church.
We extended our greetings, prayers and hopes for a blessed week ahead. Summer seems well underway. May it be a time of refreshment, relaxation and even joy!
Abbot Christian and the monks
