Abbot's Archives
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May 21th: Meet Us In Chama!
This Friday afternoon, May 21st, a variety of our handmade products will be for sale at the Chama Valley Farmers Market, near the village of Chama, New Mexico. Our Brothers Andre and Isidore will be at the Market from 3:00 to 5:00 pm this Friday, with our soaps,...
April 20th: From Our Weaving Workshop
We still have 2 rugs left to present for purchase from the Monastery Workshop. Each rug is made with prayer and care by one of our monks. The wool, both warp and weft, is 100% Navajo-Churro and hand-dyed. The rugs for sale are one-of-a-kind and nearly identical in...
September 8th: A Thousand Years Young
Beginning Sunday, September 8th, the Abbey of Montserrat in Spain is celebrating one thousand years of existence. The jubilee year will include numerous events, though I'm not sure of what they all are. The multitudes of pilgrims who come here every day attest to the...
September 6th: Abbot President Ignasi Fossas
On the morning of Thursday, September 5th, Father Ignasi Fossas, OSB, a monk of Montserrat Abbey in Catalonia, was elected Abbot President of the Subiaco Cassinese Congregation. His time of office will be eight years. The General Chapter of our Congregation, currently...
September 4th: Montserrat Morning
The General Chapter of the Subiaco Cassinese Congregation continues at the Benedictine Abbey of Montserrat in Spain. Abbot Christian and seventy other abbots and delegates continue to work on revisions of the Constitutions of our Congregation, to better reflect...
September 3rd: Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat
Abbot Christian and seventy other Benedictine abbots and elected monk-delegates from around the world are currently assembled at the Abbey of Montserrat in Spain for the General Chapter of our Subiaco Cassinese Congregation. The General Chapter began on August 30th...
Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Scripture readings: Isaiah 35:4-7; Letter of James 2:1-5; Gospel According to Saint Mark 7:31-37 In the Gospel today, Jesus cures a deaf man who also has a speech impediment. Freedom from bondage of various kinds is an important sign of the Messianic age which Jesus...
Twenty-Second Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year B
Scripture Readings: Book of Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8; Letter of Saint James 1:17-18, 21-22, 27; Gospel According to Saint Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-22 Jesus and his followers are chided today for not observing the Jewish ritual customs of cleanliness and etiquette. Jesus...
August 24th: Rose of Sharon
For many years now, several Rose of Sharon bushes have been blooming each August outside our monastery church, as today's photo shows. The technical name of the flower is Hibiscus syriacus. Despite the popular name, the flower is not a rose, but as its technical name...
August 22nd: A Matter of Choice
Mr. Squirrel outside the Abbot’s office seems to be looking toward the rising sun with some trepidation, realizing that the days are growing shorter and winter will be here before he knows it. It’s important to have a supply of food on hand for the colder months, of...
Twenty-first Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year B
Scripture Readings: Joshua 24:1-2, 15-17, 18; Ephesians 5:21-32; Gospel of John 6:60-69 Life is filled with choices, to say the least. It’s part of life in the present, but the matter of facing choices each day stretches back over millennia. In the Gospel today,...
August 20th: Green Valley
As promised, here is a photo of our Chama Canyon Wilderness, taken recently from the front of our church, looking toward the Chama River to the west. Generous rains of late have provided us with much green pastureland and around the Monastery in general. The rainy or...
August 18th: Summer Breeze
Guests on retreat here are often amazed at the temperature fluctuations between day and night time in our high desert setting. At this time of year, daytime temperatures can climb to the mid-90s, and by morning, down to the high 50s. Thankfully, humidity is very low...
August 16th: The Sounds of Silence
For those who may be calling us or trying to leave a voice message, the phones here are down until some time next week, due to repairs underway by the satellite provider we use. It is possible to "leave a message," but in fact the message is not being recorded nor...
August 13th: Summer Rose
Our cloister garden always has roses blooming during the Summer months, and the one in today's photo is in full bloom just hours before the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary celebrated this Thursday, August 15th. One of Mary's most popular titles...
Twentieth Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year B
Scripture Readings: Book of Proverbs 9:1-6; Ephesians 5:15-20; Gospel According to Saint John 6:51-58 This Sunday we hear in the Gospel the concluding section of the Bread of Life discourse. Christ’s proclamation that the new bread from heaven is his own flesh results...
August 9th: Abundant Rains
Of late we have been blessed with rainfall, turning our Chama Canyon and cloister garden, pictured in today's photo, into almost-Irish lush green. It won't last forever, but certainly is being enjoyed for the time being. Another forest fire in Chama Canyon has been...
Nineteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year B
First Book of Kings 19:4-8; Letter to the Ephesians 4:30-5:2; Gospel According to Saint John 6:41-51 Today’s Gospel passage continues the discourse on the Bread of Life from last Sunday. Who is the Bread of Life? Jesus himself, of course. The fact that Jesus claimed...
August 5th: New Pews Now in Place
We are very happy to have eight new pews in the guest section of our monastery church. The pews were produced by the same company in Mexico, EVOS, in San Miguel de Allende, that made our choir stalls for the monks ten years ago. The guest pews match well the design,...
August 1st: Monastery of La Soledad
Last month, from July 13th to the 17th, Abbot Christian was able to be at the Monastery of Our Lady of Solitude (Nuestra Senora de la Soledad), in the State of Guanajuato, Mexico, close to the colonial town of San Miguel de Allende. The monastery property was...
Eighteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year B
Scripture Readings: Book of Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15; Ephesians 4:17, 20-24; Gospel According to Saint John 6:24-35 The essence of the Gospel message, the heart of what Jesus is trying to say to us, might be put in the form of a question. Jesus often used questions in his...
Seventeenth Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year B
We are told in the Gospel today that Jesus “went up the mountain.” Which mountain, we do not actually know, but in any case, the crowds followed him on foot. The setting is outside Jerusalem, on the other side of the so-called Sea of Galilee, that is, the enormous...