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| Water at the damn after the hurricane. |
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| Round bales coming in |
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Tuesday
July 1 - Canada Day. The thermometer hit 36ºC. But the news from Manitoba and Saskatchewan was of downpours and
floods. Brother Stephan continued weeding the corn. The retreat preacher spoke about the dangers of being attached to our
minor traditions, as distinct from the major and original inspirations of our faith. Then, in the second conference, he touched
on the dangers of the human tendency to fundamentalism or fanaticism. He had also touched, earlier, on what Saint Benedict
says about monks making themselves strangers to the world. Worldly thinking can come in when we want to see our monasteries
as successes in the way the business world sees success.
Wednesday 2 -
The big round baler went out and big round bales of hay came in on big flat-bed trailers. The preacher said we can get attached
to our history and remembering and perpetuating our past, whereas the Christian message looks to the present and the future,
building up the Kingdom of God.
Thursday 3 - A monastery should be a place
where people have nothing else to do but pray, unfortunately, the distractions and ways of the world creep in, said the retreat
preacher talking about centring prayer. In the evening the preacher got us to grips with Pope Francis's "no"
to spiritual worldliness. Father Joseph spent the day in Moncton to see Brother Henry and Father Maurice accompanied by Fr.
Graham and the Abbot.
Friday 4 - The retreat preacher spoke about the
need for our monasteries and the whole Catholic Church to become more evangelical. In the second conference of the day Father
Joseph talked about about how certain religious in India had impressed him by their dedication to the life to which they had
been called. This provoked in him the question as to why we are not so dedicated. Hurricane Arthur was announced, so the Abbot
went out to Brother Urbain's lake and unblocked the exit that the beavers had industriously closed up, to allow Arthur
to pass through.
Saturday 5 - The hurricane seemed to arrive rather later
than forecast. Father Joseph's plane was cancelled, so he had to be re-scheduled for tomorrow. The final conference of
the retreat was on the theme that the Catholic Faith and the monastic life are both about a personal relationship with Jesus,
not about a cerebral content of beliefs or practices. We are here to be hosts or friends of the Lord - "hospites Domini"
like Martha, Mary and Lazarus. The Lord says: "I call you friends." The internet was up and down and the power went
off for several hours while the wind bent the trees and the rain lashed down.
Sunday 6
- The storm passed and the lake was higher than it should be. We were also without internet because the power was out on the
other side of the railway track where the tower that generates our signal is situated.
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Monday 7
- People were cleaning up broken branches from Saturday's storm all around and a lot of people in the neighbourhood were
without power. Brother Stephan fixed the leak under the kitchen sink which has been around on and off for a while. Father
Innocent was to be seen vigorously weeding his garden plot. The power outage meant that we did not have any internet connection
for the third day running.
Tuesday 8 - The internet came back up just
before Compline. Just after Compline Léons turned up with the three chairs that have been on order since January.
Wednesday 9 - The internet went off again before midday and did not come
back up again until the following morning. All due to the effects of hurricane Arthur. The Abbot went to see the new parish
priest in Rogersville. In chapter we practiced the antiphons for the Feast of Saint Benedict.
Thursday 10 - Brother Stephan drove the Abbot to his regular appointment in Miramichi, and did some errands.
Friday 11 - Feast of Saint Benedict. The Abbot preached at the solemn Mass
about Benedict being a man of compassion. The new pastor of Rogersville, the Redemptorist, Fr. Doris Laplante came to lunch.
The cook provided an excellent feast, starting with coquilles saint-jacques. Brother Leo went to see Doctor Blanchard at the
clinic, principally about his knee. The doctor diagnosed bursitis which he will fix after an x-ray. Father Adrien went to
see Dr. Riveros in Miramichi to have a regular control of the pressure in his eyes. The doctor discovered that his glasses
were wrong.
Sunday 13 - Brother Henry and Father Maurice came for the
Mass and lunch, as they do once a month. The Abbot went to say Mass for the nuns, whose chaplain is on holiday till the end
of July.
  Monday 14
- The Abbot went to say Mass for the nuns and was able to observe the first stages of work on the demolition of their redundant
chaplaincy.
Tuesday 15 - The Abbot went again to say Mass for the nuns
and found their chaplaincy half gone, with Sister Kathleen sitting on a chair in the middle of the parking lot watching the
demolition. Brother Leo went and had the fluid removed from his knee and felt no better for it. While the nuns demolish, some
entrepreneur is constructing an apartment building in the centre of Rogersville.
Wednesday
16 - On arriving for Mass the Abbot found that absence of the chaplaincy gave a nice open aspect to the nunnery. Father
Roger had to do the cooking because our cook, Linda, had some medical appointments.
Thursday
17 - Brother Leo's knee was a bit better. Father Graham took Father Adrien to Miramichi for a colonoscopy. A tradesman
came to assess the job of re-building the gate-post that was knocked down some time ago. We are also hoping he will repair
the crumbling window-sills in the annex. But this visit resulted in Brother Stephan starting the work himself.
Friday 18 - Brother Stephan was out in Moncton getting machine parts, when news arrived
of the death of his mother.
Saturday 19 - The community Mass was a requiem
offered for the repose of the soul of Barbara Hewitt, Brother Stephan's mother. The Abbot offered the Mass at the nuns'
for the same intention. In the afternoon, the Abbot stood in for the Rogersville pastor, who is away preaching the novena
at Sainte-Anne de Bocage. This involved the Abbot saying a Mass at the little old church in Kent Junction. The farm is baling
hay again. The weather is nearly perfect for it.
Sunday 20 - Father Graham
began his week of saying Mass for the nuns. Here, Father Innocent presided. At the Lac de Frère Urbain the beavers
have got the water running over the road again.
Tuesday 22
- The big bales of hay came in in quantity. The Abbot and Brother Glicerio seem to be winning the victory over the beavers.
Wednesday 23 - Brother Stephan left to drive to his mother's funeral
in Pennsylvania. The tap on the kitchen sink turned into a fountain during breakfast.
Thursday 24 - People were here about refrigeration, repairing of windows, patching up the driveway, servicing
the elevator. There was also plenty of activity around the chicken barns cleaning out after the last flock.
Friday 25 - We had a discussion in chapter on the application of our customary.
Saturday 26 - The outlet to the Lac de Frère Urbain has been provided with a very sophisticated grill
system by Brother Glicerio and the Abbot, to keep the beavers at least from blocking up the box. On the way out there the
Abbot met a young bear in the middle of the road. Brother Stephan came back. The family had given their mother a very dignified
funeral and burial. The family was all together for the first time in forty years. We heard from Dom André Barbeau
that for health reasons he is unable to come for next week's Regional Meeting and is sending Father Sylvain to represent
him. Dom André Laberge, the Abbot of the Benedictine monastery of Saint-Benoît-du-Lac is also unable to come,
due to other engagements. Bishop Yvon Moreau, Bishop of La Pocatière and former Abbot of Oka also wrote to say that
he is unable to join us.
Sunday 27 - Father Roger began a week saying
Mass for the nuns, but we hope that the regular chaplain, Eudist Father Clovis Chiasson, will be back before the end of the
week. Faced with all the grills the beavers did not actually build anything during the night.
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| The Regional Meeting and our community praying with the nuns. |
Monday 28
- Brother Michael penetrating into the old cannery building to look for something was met by a crowd of wasps. This caused
him to drop his glasses, which were subsequently jealously guarded by the wasps. Father Innocent brought an African's
acute perception to the situation and found the glasses. The participants in the Canadian Regional Meeting of the Order of
Cistercians of the Strict Observance, to which we belong, arrived. Father Graham went to the airport to pick up Fr. Sylvain
the Prior of Val Notre-Dame near Joliette in Quebec. Dom Clément, Superior of our monastery at Mistassini in the Lac
Saint-Jean Region arrived by car together with Mother Marie, the Abbess of the monastery of nuns near Saint-Georges, south
of Quebec City, and the Prior of Mistassini, Father Michel. Mother Alfreda, the Abbess of our sisters at Assumption, here
in Rogersville joined the assembly for Vespers and supper.
Tuesday 29.
- The Regional Meeting began its work. The programme was for the members to familiarize themselves with the topics on the
agenda of the General Chapter which is to be held in September, and also to prepare a report on the Canadian Region of the
Order for the General Chapter.
Wednesday 30 - The Regional Meeting and
our community went at midday over to the nuns for a very pleasant barbecue and relaxing time in their beautiful garden, for
which the weather was excellent.
Thursday 31 - The Regional Meeting emerged
at the end of the day happy that it had completed its programme.
Our Lady of Calvary Abbey
11505 Route 126, Rogersville NB, E4Y 2N9
Tel : 506 775 2331
E-mail : CalvaryAbbey@aol.com
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