Sr Anna's Solemn Profession

Sr Anna and M.Rebecca

Sr. Anna made her solemn profession on August 19th, the feast of Blessed Guerric of Igny.  She made her promise of obedience on August 18th at Chapter.  Dom Mark Scott presided at Mass and Fr. Bill Joensen was concelebrant.  Mother Rebecca and Dom Mark read the Solemn prayer of monastic consecration.  After Mass the community, several of our brothers from New Melleray, family and friends, including Sr. Ginny, a lifelong friend of Sr. Anna's processed to the refectory for a festive meal together.
To view more photos see The Solemn Profession of Sr Anna on our website.

Stormy Weather!

Last week we had our share of Midwest heat,humidity and storms.  On Wednesday morning when most of the sisters were working at candy a fierce storm blew in.  A torrential rain was falling accompanied  by lots of lightning and thunder.  There was also a big bang that was much louder than the thunder.  We found that lightening struck the white pine tree outside of the front of the abbey.  The tree literally exploded splitting the tree and sending branches scattered all over the lawn.  We found out later that the lightening burned the roots allowing water to flow into the garage and causing damage to the electrical system.  We were out of water for a few hours and the phone and computers were out for a few days.
Thursday night we had another storm that dumped 3 inches of rain in a few houses causing flooding in the cloister and senior wing.
On Saturday evening we had a tornado warning.  In fact, 2 tornadoes touched down south of us.  The high winds caused a tree to fall on the utility lines causing a power outage at the cabin.
Today it is blissfully sunny and dry and warm.  A relief from all that happened last week!

The magnolia tree behind the white pine tree protected the roof from the force of the fall.

The brand new roof was not damaged!

What it looks like now.

   

Golden Jubilee of Ordination!

Fr. Dick and Mother Rebecca

One of our chaplains, Fr. Dick Ament celebrates his 50th year of Ordination this year.  Since we couldn't join him at the official celebration at St. Lawrence in Otter Creek, Iowa we decided to have a celebration of our own.  After Mass last Thursday we had a special brunch and visited with Fr. Dick.  He shared with us on his past ministries and about the celebration last Sunday at St. Lawrence.  At present Fr. Dick is an active retiree helping out at various churches in the area and our community a few day a week.  Congratulations Fr. Dick!

Return of the chickens

We have a new batch of chickens!  There are brown ones, black ones, white ones and yellow.  Presently they are living in the farm manager's office.  They are very small and have to live with a constant temperature until they are bigger and can move into the goat barn.  They grow pretty quickly so we are looking forward to eating there eggs soon!

Liturgy Classes

We have spent this past week having classes with Sr. Genevieve Glen,OSB from St. Walburga's  Abbey in Northern Colorado.  Sr. Genevieve is a trained liturgist and a wonderful teacher.  She talked about time, the Eucharist, the Divine Office and monastic life in the context of the Paschal Mystery.  It was all very rich input.