Emmaus

Afternoons find me working in Emmaus Ministries, organizing their 50 years of photos, paperwork and memorabilia that we want to save for archives. In 2014 the artist, Brother Mickey McGrath of the Oblate of St. Francis deSales community, spent a few days here working on sketches that would turn into paintings for the 2015 Benetvision calendar. A good number of the calendar pages were of the community's ministries.

For Emmaus, he ended up doing five paintings, all of which are lovely. Here's the one chosen for November in that calendar. Although it isn't quite an exact photo of the soup kitchen's daily guests, it certainly picks up the spirit of the place perfectly. Do you see who's looking in the window?

Guest rooms

On the lowest level of our north wing we have 15 guest rooms, 13 singles and 2 doubles. 

In each room, among many other things, there is a little card posted near the doorway. On it is a photo of a sister from the community and a note saying to the guest that this sister is praying for the guest during their time with us.

One of my friends has a granddaughter graduating from high school this spring. Ten years ago she brought her to the Mount for a visit. Last month my friend sent me a photo of a "guest card" that Abbey had made after that visit. She had saved it all this time. 

Here it is---so sweet and lovely--just like her granddaughter. Congratulations, Abbey.

Eclipse experience

Everything we read about, heard about, and hoped for came true last Monday when Erie was in the path of a total solar eclipse. It really, really, really was terrific--once in a lifetime and all the other cliches that accompanied all the hoopla about it!

I even met a woman who had been in South America 30+ years ago and had been in one there--that's twice in a lifetime!

Here are some amatuer, no filters or special additions to a camera, photos that I took right at the "totality" time.  Great fun...wonderful experience...wish you had been here!

Solar Eclipse / Annunciation Benedictine Style

April 8, 2024

A T-shirt memory of today.

 The Annunciation also celebrated today.

 A couple weeks ago we thought we'd lost this year's blossoms, 

but it surprised us and burst out this weekend.

Happy Birthday to Sr. Charles Marie on Solar eclipse day 2024.