Notes, Homilies, and News

On September 28th, the cloistered Carmelite nuns of Las Cruces, New Mexico, celebrated fifteen years of existence in the Diocese of Las Cruces, having come from Chihuahua, Mexico, in 2007. The vibrant community now numbers ten  professed nuns, as well as two...

Sometimes we're told: "You sure sing a lot at Mass" (not to mention our entirely sung Divine Office, the Church's "Liturgy of the Hours"). In fact, we do sing quite a bit, though few of our monks possess completely angelic voices or have had professional training....

The grandeur of God's creation that surrounds us never ceases to amaze. From the rising of the sun to its setting, God's pallet of varying hues on the many shapes in the Chama Canyon are a delight to the eyes. Do we ever get tired of looking at it? Hopefully not. Rain...

The month of September holds three feasts associated with the Blessed Virgin Mary. The first, on September 6th, is the Feast of Our Lady of Solitude (La Soledad in Spanish). Our monks at La Soledad Monastery in the State of Guanajuato, Mexico, keep September 6th as...

Well, actually, of Navajo-Churro wool, which fiber artists consider precious as gold. The burlap bags in today's photo are stuffed with our sheeps' wool, as well as wool offered to us by friends processing their Navajo-Churro sheep for the sale of meat. The wool...

If you get a chance these days, drive to the Monastery! Abundant summer rains have provided a stunning sight of fields of yellow sunflowers all along Forest Service Road 151, leading to the Monastery. Meteorologists are telling us that the drought in the great...

The traditional date of the feast of "Nuestra Senora de la Soledad" (Our Lady of Solitude) is September 6th, just two days before the feast of the Nativity of Our Lady. Our brothers at La Soledad monastery, near San Miguel de Allende, in the State of Guanajuato,...

On Saturday morning, September 3rd, 2022, our Brother Gregorio Carrizal Dolores, OSB, was ordained a priest by Archbishop Jorge Carlos Patron Wong, of the Archdiocese of Jalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. Our monastery of Santa Maria y Todos Los Santos, to which Father...

A dear friend of ours died last week at her monastery in Mexico. Benedictine Sister Josephine was the Prioress for many years, until her death, at "Monasterio San Benito," Rio Bamba, Mexico City, near the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Over the past many decades,...

This week Abbot Christian and Brother Leander are in Mexico, attending the ordination to the priesthood of our Brother Gregorio of the  Monastery of Santa Maria y Todos Los Santos near Jalapa, Verzcruz, Mexico.. The Monastery of Santa Maria y Todos Los Santos (Saint...

For some weeks now, we have had a fledgling robin residing in our cloister garden. While that is not particularly unusual in itself, what is unusual in this case is that the bird can't fly! It simply hops along the lawn of our garden or hides amid the flowers. No...

Our monastic community recently watched an excellent two hour documentary on the life and work of the late George Nakashima, architect and furniture maker. He was the architect of our monastery church and Guesthouse, as well as designer of our refectory tables. The...