Notes, Homilies, and News

The Easter season is now finished and we return to what the Church refers to as "Ordinary Time," primarily meaning, we are not at present in the Church's privileged seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent or Easter. Of course, no time is completely "ordinary," and in fact...

We have now arrived at the final day of Eastertide of 2023, with the Solemnity of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out after the Ascension into Heaven of Christ our Redeemer. Today is considered the "Birthday of the Church." For a fuller explanation of...

The title of this posting, borrowed from Psalm 95(96), expresses well what we in the Northern Hemisphere are experiencing now with Spring in full swing. Our cloister garden is at present bright with the blooming of various colored irises, and not far behind are the...

Our fine flock of some forty hens (and one rooster) are doing fine. They are currently producing around three dozen eggs per day, which monks and guests can enjoy on a daily basis if they so choose. The flock is completely free range and spends the daylight hours each...

We continue to be treated to delightful landscapes in the Chama Canyon wilderness . Current modest rainfall is producing some memorable views. Today's photo includes a rainbow over the cliffs above us. For the attentive eye, there is never a dull moment in God's...

Our weather of late is more like July or August than late May. We've had thunder and lightening with intermittent rain over the past week or so. The moisture is most welcome and our fields are currently quite green, with no irrigation going on. Today's photo was taken...

Forty days after Easter the Church celebrates the Ascension of the Lord, when Christ returned in glory to the heavenly realm, when he lives and reigns with the Father and Holy Spirit forever. In modern times, this Solemnity is usually transferred to the Sunday...

In the midst of desert beauty, we never tire of the sights of Spring, nor of the other three seasons for that matter. Spring certainly carries a distinctive face and scent, which we always welcome in late April or early May. Today's photo is from our cloister garden,...

As we move through May, we are being treated with more flowering trees and blooming forsythia. Today's photo was taken from outside the Abbot's office. In the cloister garden, peonies will soon be ready to grace that space and to decorate the church. Predictably,...

We are now in the Fourth Week of the Easter Season, enjoying the arrival of Spring, as we contemplate the mystery of Christ's Resurrection and the redemption of the human race. Christ is Risen indeed! The weather is very pleasant just now, with daytime temperatures in...

Join Abbot Christian for a quick tour of our garden between our church and some of the workrooms of the monastery, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

True to form, the trees are now flowering in our cloister garden. The bees are flocking to the blossoming trees and we monks enjoy looking at this additional dimension of God's glory in our midst. We continue our celebration of Eastertide, with Alleluias ringing out...

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...