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DECEMBER 2014
Monday 1st. Mondays, we recite the psalms from Tierce at Mass, instead of singing them. This morning,
we heard more voices with us: people from town, more numerous than usual, for Advent. Brother Glic returned from his visit
to Montréal. He brought an armload of fresh bagels with the trimmings: who would have thought that cream cheese with
smoked salmon in it would be good at breakfast? It is. Maybe this is what makes Montréalers so dynamic.
Tuesday 2nd. At the front door, Brother Léo was carefully reviewing his Christmas card list.
He sends out more than any of us here. Fifty-plus cards to family, neighbours from Memramcook, monastery guests, some of whom
we have not seen here in several years. Simply reading the name of a guest can make him chuckle. It would be hard to calculate
the laughter he has shared or the good he has done at the front door.
Wednesday 3rd. Word
has it that Dom Bede's visit to his homeland, England is going well. Folkestone, Hythe, and before the end of the week,
Coalville. A beautiful season (Advent) and a beautiful land.
Thursday 4th. Brother Michael
moved the new Calvaire sign from the carpenter shop (the tall building overlooking the grotto valley) to the annex adjoining
the east end of the monastery. It was not possible to properly heat the carpenter shop for the work of painting. The new sign
will certainly be more of an eye-catcher than the present one. Father Graham filled in for the Parish Priest at Mass in Acadieville,
land of Bordages, this evening.
Friday 5th. Today we celebrate the memorial of Saint Sabas,
a 5th century monk. Mar Saba, the monastery he founded, still exists in the Wadi en-Nar, between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea.
Father Innocent offered Mass this morning for all monastics.
Saturday 6th. The only other
male resident at the residence where P. Maurice and Brother Henry live passed away yesterday. Jean-Baptiste had recently turned
98. He had supported his limits with remarkable élan.
Sunday 7th. Brother Henry
and Father Maurice joined us for Mass and lunch. During lunch, Father Clovis walked in with a brand new blanket, smiling,
walking around, holding the blanket high, smiling, giving rise to the question, what's this all supposed to be about?
The answer: a gift from someone for Brother Léo, and hand-made at that.
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Monday
8th. At Mass for the Immaculate Conception, the incense produced a world of smoke, leading some to wonder if we should
not adjust our practice so as to spare people's lungs. Father Maurice celebrates 40 years of profession today (first vows).
Brother Henry, his co-resident in Dieppe celebrated 30 years in solemn vows 2 years ago. Henry's first vows were back
in 1960. Father Léon Robichaud is here for a retreat. At 79, he is about to return to Ecuador for pastoral work after
50 years away. A great moment for him.
Tuesday 9th. Father Adrien headed up to Miramichi
for a field of vision test, which they were not able to do. Dom Bede is presumably making his way back to Canada. He is due
to arrive at the monastery tomorrow, which will be nice. Unfortunately the weather calls for freezing rain in Moncton, a snowstorm
here...
Wednesday 10th. With snow, then rain and very high winds, it was not possible to
go get Bede from Moncton. As Brother Glic noted, the lake at the south end was partially an aquamarine color beneath the ice
by late afternoon. Due to rain and a partial melt, the walkway to the grotto was flooded. We lost our power shortly before
Vespers, then had prayers and supper by candlelight. Because the emergency lighting in the corridors does not work as it once
did, Father Roger put out more candles there. Simone was cooking by candlelight, which she says she likes! In the guesthouse,
leaks developed around the pipes leading in from the geothermal installation. Joline, who works in the guesthouse, bailed
us out. The geothermal team were quick arriving and worked into the early night to set things right. The electricity came
back on not long after supper.
Thursday 11th. The geothermal team were back to put finishing
touches on their work. After lunch, Father Innocent went to Moncton with Father Adrien to get Dom Bede. Because of road damage
due to rain, they had to head toward the coast then to Moncton, rather than simply taking Route 126 as usual. The sky grew
lighter, a bit of sun appeared early afternoon, then fog. Although a video was scheduled for tonight, the television would
not work properly, likely due to the power outage.
Friday 12th. Having entered some time
during the night, Olga the cow reappeared off-limits in the dairy barn milk house/office area! This afternoon she had a far
away look in her eyes. Perhaps farm life is too limiting for her. In Chapter this morning, Dom Bede told us about his visits
to the monasteries of Tre Fontane and Mount Saint Bernard. This afternoon, Father Innocent drove Father Adrien to Richibucto
to see his denturist. As night descended it began to rain yet again.
Saturday 13th. Some
Trappist Preserves have arrived for the store, 168 bottles. These are made with care in Spencer, Massachusetts. A fair bit
of sugar but also loaded with great taste. They've added new flavors from time to time (now 30).
Sunday
14th. At lunch we had a fish new to Canada, basa fish. It is a type of catfish, native to Indochina. You would never
guess it was catfish from the taste or appearance. Brother Stephan headed to the lakeside hermitage after lunch for a few
days' retreat. With Brother Henry in the residence in Dieppe, we no longer have any hermits living day to day in either
of the two hermitages.
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| Delivery of the compressors for the geo-thermal |
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Monday
15th. Dom Bede seems to have sent out most of his cards to other monasteries, quite a few. We receive a basketful from
monasteries around the world, evoking unseen faces. Melva, who cooked for us for several years, was here today to begin preparations
for our employees' supper on January 2nd. She will be our caterer. Father Graham took the Kia to Moncton to see about
some repairs. The road was open again, but with a short detour to the east. Not far from our austere landscape there are rolling
hills. And a farm.
Tuesday 16th. Melva and her gang visited Father Maurice and Brother
Henry in Dieppe. She brought him his favourite Calvaire soup, bottled: tomato with macaroni. The first poinsettia of the year
appeared, in front of the altar. That's the first Christmas decoration this year.
Wednesday
17th. Brother Stephan returned from the hermitage. He was happy with his retreat. In the hermitage this time of year
it is necessary to get the wood stove working at just the right time and intensity. Unusually mild weather meant the hermitage
could get too warm, for a change. Father Roger and Brother Glic went to Rogersville for a Christmas tree, wreaths, and food
and drink for our holidays.
Thursday 18th. Brother Stephan gave us a singing class as soon
as Lauds ended. We stayed in our usual places in Church for this. For the second time this winter, no one was able to join
the community for Mass due to snow. Father Adrien was able to get away nonetheless to his dentist in Saint Louis: in that
direction it was warmer; more rain, less snow. He worked in an A&W lunch and a visit to his sister Léocadie at
the residence. She was surprised and overjoyed to see him. This evening we rolled the film Holiday Inn yet again. A film with
heart, not to mention singing and dancing.
Friday 19th. In chapter, Dom Bede spoke to us
about chapter 42 of the Rule of Saint Benedict on silence after Compline, the last common prayer of the day. It says a monk
should cultivate silence at all times, but especially at night. How can you learn to love silence? someone asked. Two answers
were given: by seeking God; through prayer. The afternoon brought temperatures mild enough to open the windows a bit in the
barn. Last night's snow fell in such a way as to provide effects seen more often in paintings than in real life: heavily
snow-laden but not over-burdened trees, and trees ‘painted' with swathes of snow powder.
Saturday
20th. Some of Brother Léo's family were by for lunch. They are an unusually happy family and said the meal
was good. The Memramcook of yesterday is an endless source of funny anecdotes. After lunch, Father Clovis played his accordion
for them.
Sunday 21st. Dom Bede went to Dieppe after Mass to see Brother Henry and Father
Maurice. Father Graham assisted at Mass in Rogersville in order to help with confessions there. Father Doris, the curé,
celebrates Mass with brio and honesty. It seems a happy mix to have a Quebecer around as pastor. At lunch we listened to Willie
Nelson sing holiday songs. A man given to his art, Willie draws pathos even from ‘Jingle Bells'.
Tuesday
23 - The geothermal people delivered two compressors weighing a ton each and a hot-water tank for the new system. Getting
them into the basement in the guest-house necessitated rigging up a plank slide and a kind of winch. But they got there! After
Lauds we had a singing practice for the Christmas offices.
Wednesday 24 - Christmas Eve.
The Calvaire banner our cook Simone created and gave us as a Christmas present joined the Christmas decorations in our refectory.
It features our bell tower, by night on one side and by day on the other. Between Vespers and the Night Mass of Christmas,
at 7 pm, we had our fraternal meal to inaugurate the feast. Since Father Graham's parents and our friend John Bourque
were the only guests, the Abbot invited them to join us in the refectory. The Abbot presided the First Mass of Christmas and
Father Roger preached.
Thursday 25 - Christmas Day. The Abbot presided the solemn Day Mass
and preached. Father Graham left in the afternoon to go to Val Notre-Dame for the priestly ordination of Br. Martin. It was
an extraordinarily dark, mild, windy and extremely wet day. But, at sunset, the sun came out and produced a short but relatively
fine evening.
Friday 26 - Today we saw the unconquered sun in the East at dawn. Something
we had not seen for a very long time. Father Clovis, the nuns' chaplain suddenly decided he had to go away for a few days.
Saturday 27 - The Abbot said Mass for the nuns, cycling over there on a beautiful morning and
getting away before the Abbess could catch him.
Sunday 28 - Had it not been the Sunday of
the Holy Family, it would have been the Feast of the Holy Innocents and, therefore, Father Innocent's feast day. The Abbot
reflected in his homily that it would have been good to celebrate these innocent martyrs when so much of the Church is being
persecuted every day and innocent families are being subjected to displacement. Brother Stephan's sister, Agnes, was supposed
to be arriving mid-afternoon, but failed to get out of Newark Airport. Not the first one of our acquaintance to have such
an experience at Newark Airport. The Abbot has several times had to spend a day there. Father Innocent said Mass for the nuns.
Monday
29 - The Abbot, presiding the Mass this week, recalled Saint Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, who paid with
his life for resisting the State takeover of the Church. Since Father Clovis and FatherGraham are away Father Innocent is
saying Mass for the nuns, so that leaves only the Abbot and Father Roger at the altar.
Wednesday
31 - There was a certain amount of buzzing around in view of preparing for the nuns coming to lunch tomorrow and the
annual Christmas meal with our employees the day after. The Abbot was hoping to visit Moncton to help our brothers there usher
in the new year but was unable to lay hands on suitable transport.
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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