Seek

The title of this blog post is "Seek." Not in the biblical sense, as in, "Seek and you shall find" but in the nature sense. 

There is a wonderful, free app called Seek, look for a single white leaf on a green background. Just point and take a picture of a flower, tree or plant and voila, it gives you its name, or an educated guess, AND keeps a list of what you've identified. 

Our inner courtyard garden is having one of its best years this summer and the sisters, and I, are enjoying the variety and the lushness of the many plants that have been coming and going since May. Right now my favorite are the 16 night blooming evening primrose plants that are going absolutely wild every night. I swear we had 100 flowers the other night and the nicest thing about them is that at 6:30 a.m. when we are passing them along the chapel window corridor, they are still open wide, so we get a great view each morning. 

Here's what they look like---times16 plants!

This week the three peony bushes lost their flowers: pink, white and dark purple, but the roses are out and  the calla lilies are just beginning. The azalea and rhododendron are gone but the hydrangea are just on the verge of getting their blooms going. 

It's a lovely garden and we remember Sr. Rosemary and Sr. Mary Margaret every time we look out upon it or walk through it on the newly-paved winding pathway. They tended it so faithfully for years of summers. 

The Mount and the Companion

Nothing spectacular to share with you this week.....except that two of our summer publications came out just last week and they are really lovely, in fact, maybe spectacular!

a) Take a look at the Summer edition of our Mount  magazine, by clicking on the new cover on the right side of this page...it has a cover of the waves from Lake Erie crashing onto one of our piers at Glinodo;

b) Also, the latest edition of the Companion,  the newsletter of Emmaus ministries: soup kitchen, food pantry, Kids Cafe and inner-city garden, was just put out. See it here.

Enjoy browsing!

Retreat closing

Now that our 2023 retreat is over, I thought I'd share some scenes from an afternoon walk I took on a peaceful, warm, sunny day here in Erie. Although we did have some of the overcast skies from the Canadian fires, we didn't have the visibility issues and severe fog-like scenes that we saw on the news programs from east coast cities.

Here's a whole field of phlox down on our Glinodo property.

And here's a look at part of our Lake Erie shore line. This day is was rocks and shale, 

some days it has quite a sandy beach.

This is a favorite tree for our guests in the hermitages, in the nearby woods. 

It is right outside hermitage #2 and can lend itself to interesting meditations!

In walking out of our nearby woods, we came upon this lone daisy in the grass. 

Hundreds of daisies are blooming right now, but they are all grouped, except...

And, finally, two trees in the library courtyard have their full summer bloom 

of whatever these are. Absolutely gorgeous.

(click a photo to enlarge)

Retreat 2023

This week we're on retreat for 5 days. For the first time our two 30-minute daily conferences will be offered via Zoom for anyone who is interested. Register here.

Blessings on your week, "retreating" or not!

Holiday #1

 

Our hummingbird feeders have been standing ready for a few weeks now, but the hummers are few and far between so far. Our deer are a little scarce right now, too. That's more understandable as these weeks of late May and early June are the time their fawn are coming. 

This Sunday, Pentecost, we had a full house of friends, family members and guests for a glorious liturgy to end the Easter season. Our monastery choir and handbell choir performed their final pieces of the season, as both take off during the summer weeks. Add to that that our patio furniture came out Friday and you have a true beginning of summer for sure. The weekend also brought 70 degree temperatures, adding warm, sunny days to the mix. I remember many a summer when local radio personalities would give an ongoing report on the three holiday weekends: Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day. In summers when cooler, rainy weather hit one of them, we'd hear about it for weeks. If all three were that way, it was a true disaster. Whew, this year we're 1 for 1 already.

It is still possible

 

After Her Death    Mary Oliver

I am trying to find the lesson
for tomorrow. Matthew something.
Which lectionary? I have not
forgotten the Way, but, a little,
the way to the Way.

The trees keep whispering
peace, peace, and the birds
in the shallows are full of the
bodies of small fish and are
content. They open their wings
so easily, and fly. 

So. It is still possible.

I open the book
which the strange, difficult, beautiful church
has given me. To Matthew. Anywhere.

On the road to Emmaus

A very sad day for us this Sunday, as our 42-year director of Emmaus Ministries, Mary Miller, OSB, died after a short illness. Please see this link to our community website for the obituary and details of this week's rituals: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Two of Mary's nieces were able to be here throughout the weekend and entered into our prayers, meals, etc. An hour or so after Mary's passing her one niece turned to a couple of us and said, "It has been so wonderful to be able to be here with all of you. I am so grateful...this place is magical!"

She whom we love

And lose

Is no longer

Where she was before.

She is now

Wherever we are.

- St. John Chrysostom