Gabriel's Oboe

We have an oboist in our community. Which, I discovered, is quite rare. It fact, our little town is so...well, little...that some of our orchestra groups have to hire oboists from Buffalo or Cleveland to play with them.

It is also not the easiest of instruments to play...lots of lung power needed, just the right shape of the lips, lots of patience. It's a double reed woodwind and they say that musicians that play reed instruments get rather paranoid about their reeds: too soft, too stiff, too thin, too old. They're on the endless search for the perfect reeds...which many oboists end up making themselves.

But with all that, in the season of Lent the oboe takes center stage here and we love it. We have duets with the oboe and keyboard, an occasional oboe solo, and often just brief accompaniments with a sung mantra. Its deep, resonant, haunting sound is perfect for this somber and prayerful season of the year.

Here's a 2-minute piece, "Gabriel's Oboe," from The Mission.

I'm sorry to gloat....but I just can't help it: Eat your heart out!

The Plural is Cacti

In our library, greenhouse, hallways and scattered throughout the Mount are quite a number of cactus plants. During most of the year they are moved to the back rows, collecting dust, hidden behind the prettier greens and showier African Violets. They're never chosen for chapel environment when we want to add a little nature to our prayer setting.

But during Lent they are dragged out, cleaned up and brought to center stage...and here they are beautiful! This one is in our new gathering space, right outside the chapel. It is about 40" tall, and when added to the height of the pot it's in, it greets you eye to eye when you walk up to it.


Photo by Susan Freitag, OSB

"The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,
the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly,
and rejoice with joy and singing."
Isaiah 35

Lent is the season for the desert and the season for our cactus plants. Here's a website of stunning flowering cacti. Enjoy!

Kenyan Monastics

In Kipleian, in the Rift Valley region of Kenya, a group of Trappist monks of Our Lady of Victory Abbey are offering refuge to nearby residents. A You Tube video offers an excellent 3-minute news report that includes the abbot describing the events and the refugees they are helping.

There are a number of Benedictine and Trappist monasteries in the East African country of Kenya. Most of them are being affected by the civil unrest there following the December elections. One large community of Benedictine women in the Nairobi suburb of Karen reports that many of their secondary students haven't come to school since the beginning of the unrest--mostly because of fear of traveling from their homes to the school. Many of the workers in the sisters' various ministries have left their homes to move in with relatives who live in a safer place. Karen is named after Karen Blitzen, the author of Out of Africa. Her large farm land is now the home for numerous religious communities.

At the annual meeting of the Conference of Benedictine Prioresses last week the prioresses discussed numerous situations affecting Benedictine women in Africa. Sr. Christine called home to ask that we add the safety of all Kenyans, especially our monastic brothers and sisters, to our daily prayer .

And So Lent Begins

This beautiful reading at Morning Praise yesterday really sets the scene for Lent perfectly.

Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you,
the glory of God shall be your rear guard.


Photo by Susan Freitag, OSB

If you offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
and your gloom be like the noonday.

God will guide you continually,
and satisfy your needs in parched places,
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water, whose waters never fail.
Isaiah 58


If you'd like to hear some lovely hymns, you can listen to our schola sing six of Sr. Mary David's at this site.

Please remember our Sister Mary Philip who died this week at the age of 91. Unique in many ways, one of them was that she entered religious life at age 32, which in the 1940s was highly unusual.

Fat Tuesday and Lean Wednesday

Two of our sisters head out this week to direct retreats on Benedictine spirituality. One is going to Florida for time with a group of lay people who are strong followers of monastic Benedictine values. Her themes will come from the book Wisdom Distilled From the Daily.

The other heads to the midwest, to a women's Benedictine community there. They are quite large and organize two community retreats a year...one in February and one in June. About half the community makes each. Her theme is the Rule of Benedict and nonviolence and peace.

Back in Erie, we're looking forward to Mardi Gras but since Erie is 1,000 miles from New Orleans and, at this moment, sporting 38 degrees and coming off a January of 33" of snow...the celeration takes on a "northern" flavor. My favorite thing about Fat Tuesday is eating fasnetskiachle, a German cinnamon covered donut..ours are made from scratch by one of the gals in our office. Mmm mmmm!

Here's a lovely excerpt from Thomas Moore that might be something to consider for the Lenten season. Surely beats giving up candy...it might not make us thinner, but it will make us more whole and holy!

Silence is not the absence of sound. That would be to imagine it negatively. Silence is a toning down of inner and outer static, noise that occupies not only the ears but also the attention. Silence allows many sounds to reach awareness that otherwise would go unheard--the sounds of birds, water, wind, trees, frogs, insects, and chipmunks, as well as conscience, daydreams, intuitions, inhibitions, and wishes. One cultivates silence not by forcing the ears not to hear, but by turning up the volume on the music of the world and the soul.

Almost Ready

Everyone who follows the liturgical calendar is talking about Easter this year....yes, it's the 2nd earliest date it can possibly be: March 23....and that makes Ash Wednesday, next week, unimaginably early, also. Nonetheless, even though our Liturgy Committee probably was finalizing their plans for Lent on January 3rd, more signs of "Lent-is-just-around-the-corner" are everywhere in the community.

Benetvision has sold thousands of its 2008 Lenten product, 40-Day Journey with Joan Chittister, ed. Beverly Lanzetta, (Augsburg Books).

The schola and handbell choirs have begun Lent and Easter songs (the schizophrenia needed in the world of music preparation!)

Wednesday and Friday meals will be simple: soup and bread/rolls beginning with 20 minutes of table reading. This year's book is Silence, Solitude, Simplicity: a hermit's love affair with a noisy, crowded and complicated world by Benedictine Sr. Jeremy Hall of Minnesota.

Small faith-sharing lectio groups are being formed. They will continue discussing Demetrius Dumm's book from the Advent groups.

Finally, the chapel environment artists are ready to swoop down next Tuesday evening to set up for our first season of Lent in the space.

P.S. And, even in a country where 30% of Catholics attend weekly mass and whatever-your-best-guess-is don't eat meat on Fridays in Lent, I'm sure McDonald's, restaurants of all sorts, and parish fundraising groups are well-stocked with the supplies needed for their fish fillet sandwiches and Friday "Lenten specials." (Every Thursday our local newspaper's insert, Showcase, carries big announcements of the week's Friday Lenten dinners around town. They are tremendously popular.)

That All May Be One

Sadly religion is at the base of many of the world's conflicts today...both among peoples within a country and between peoples of different countries.

This is one of the many thoughts shared by our prioress, Christine Vladimiroff, during her reflections Sunday afternoon at "An Ecumenical Celebration of the Word of God" held in the new chapel at the monastery. For 100 years Christians have joined together during the annual January Week of Prayer for Christian Unity to pray that "we all may be one." Locally, our organization is the Inter-Church Ministries of Erie County.

"It was wonderful to see such a diverse group of Christians in our chapel," said one sister. "And to have all those ministers participating was very touching and inspiring."

Our keyboardists, schola, handbell choir, cantors, and other musicians provided much of the music for the 1-hour service. Following the prayer the 150+ participants enjoyed homemade cookies and drinks in the dining room. There's another thing we all seem to share!