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DECEMBER 2015

Tuesday 1st. Father Innocent said Mass for Father Maurice. Josh our geothermal technician whipped another heating unit into place in the music room. This space was not achieving a good mini-climate with just the electric heaters. Now it is warm enough for any hootenanny.
Wednesday 2nd. In Chapter, Dom Bede read a series of e-mails from people who loved Father Maurice, and explained how things would work over the next few days. He also read us an e-mail from an American chronicle reader who has near-telepathic insights into Brother Henry's day-to-day life as a monk in the 1960's, which we enjoyed. It seems Brother Henry once sang tunes from ‘the King and I' to ward off hunters as he walked in the woods.
Thursday 3rd. Our friend Brother Charbel arrived by train from the monastery of Rougemont in Québec, to attend Father Maurice's funeral, and to spend the better part of a week with us. It is nice to have him back. The train did not have many passengers on it this time. He said they were relieved to have someone to serve in the dining car.
Friday 4th. In Chapter, Dom Bede read more e-mail messages concerning P. Maurice, plus one fax. One message was from Waegwan Abbey in South Korea. Maurice'd befriended two Waegwan monks who are brothers while on a brief sabbatical in Collegeville, Minnesota, which they also were visiting, in the early 1990's. Snow yesterday prevented some guests from getting here. All the same, the chapel was set up with stacking chairs on loan from the local golden age club, with the monks' usual stalls taken out, leaving along the walls the folding seats which used to have stationary stalls in front of them. The funeral Mass for Father Maurice was at 2 PM, with a good number of priests in attendance, and three more monastic guests arriving today. Afterwards, Brother Léo made his way to the cemetery and the foot of Maurice's grave with his walker, in his slippers, with little difficulty. Looking around the chapel during the celebration, it was easy to remember how much Maurice meant to different people from town, or from further afield.
Saturday 5th. Father Sylvain from the monastery of Val Notre Dame said Mass. Dom Clément who will be driving today brought a few boxes of Monacad to sell in the Mistassini Abbey Store. Monacad is an ointment our monastery originally produced in the 1940's, and which is still produced and sold locally.
Sunday 6th. In refectory at lunch we listened again to some of Gilbert & Sullivan's ‘the Gondoliers'; the heir to the throne having been left to a gondolier to raise, he unfortunately forgot which boy was his own son, and which a king's, giving rise to the song:

Life's one closely complicated tangle:
Death is the only true unraveller!
Wherefore waste our elocution
On impossible solutions?
Life's a pleasant institution,
Let us take it as it comes,
Let us take it as it comes!

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flying buttresses finished!
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hood for truck
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winter just arrived!

 Monday 7th.  Brother Charbel spoke to us in chapter. He seems to fit right in here. At the beginning of Mass for Saint Ambrose, Dom Bede recalled the fact that Ambrose had a hand in Eucharistic Prayer Number One (the Roman Canon), which we prayed.
Tuesday 8th. Brother Léo is thinking of going out to have a look at the new generator shack some time. To mark the feast of the Immaculate Conception, we had quite an array of food, thanks to our cook Simone, and it was nice to be able to share this with Charbel. Tip from the kitchen: when you are making garlic shrimp add some cayenne pepper, but just a little. 
Wednesday 9th. Brother Stephan went to Prince Edward Island to look for a used hood for our dump truck. Dom Bede had an appointment in Miramichi, and picked up a new telephone for Brother Henry while he was there. Just before 6 PM, the train's whistle could be heard: Charbel had departed for Montréal, and his monastery of Rougemont. For those who can sleep on the train, it is a great way to make that journey.  
Thursday 10th. Brother Léo seems to have seen ‘Holiday Inn' enough times for now: he has not asked to see it again this Christmas. We've had the chance over the years to become familiar with every line of the film, whose humor matches Léo's own. 
Friday 11th. Mild December weather has struck. The lake, frozen not long before Father Maurice's funeral, melted a little, giving it a smooth liquid surface which reflects the forest. In Chapter, we began looking at the recent visitation card together.
Saturday 12th. Father Innocent and Dom Bede went in to Dieppe to see Brother Henry, now the only Trappist of Résidence Notre Dame du Sacré Coeur.
Sunday 13th. The little sheet the cooks use to keep track of the number of guests for meals has been mostly a series of zeroes for December, with the occasional two or three or four, along with question marks.  Brother Michael, one of our novices, left after 20 months with
us.

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Crib in the Guest-House

Monday 14th. In Chapter we continue discussing the Visitation card. It is going well; we are finding plenty of subjects to share on as our community evolves. Brother Glic used our fifteen-foot ladder today to spruce up the high end of the chapel wall under the ceiling, which gets sooty. We have been eating some fruit cake made by Father Roger's friend Luisa, who is from Saint Lucia. I wished people I knew who loved fruitcake were here to taste it. They know what they're doing in Saint Lucia.
Tuesday 15th. Dom Bede has placed the icon of the Annunciation in the chapel, next to the altar. A trip to buy a Christmas tree in town was called off today due to snow. It was our first storm day of the year. At the barn, the numerous cats we usually see outside (and inside) disappeared, at least for the day.
Wednesday 16th. A retired professor from out of province has bought a home in Miramichi, and been staying here while he arranges his new home. To rearrange voices in choir, Brother Glic and Father Graham traded sides in chapel. In refectory Brother Glic and Father Roger moved from the north to the south side of our U-shaped table. This was to achieve a more even distribution around the table of the seven monks we are.
Thursday 17th. Brother Henry saw his Parkinson's doctor in Moncton. This doctor is a good one. The rendez-vous lasted over an hour. It seems strange that depending on your doctor, there could be ‘nothing' to say or do for you, or there could be a lot to slowly work at. Henry is moving better than he did a year ago.
Friday 18th. With partial melting then snow, the lake is pure white, but with a dark yellow ring around it. The cats have been quick to re-appear at the barn. They let us know when they want milk though some prefer not to drink out of the dish for some reason, even climbing in to the calves quarters on occasion to try to drink their milk. Father Innocent went in to Moncton, with Dom Bede today, and came back with his permanent resident of Canada card, a great moment all around.
Saturday 19th. There has been a slight redistribution of housecleaning duties. Brother Léo has no official duties, but does freelance cleaning sometimes. We have received some nice poinsettias as gifts, and a line of them are now in the scriptorium awaiting the big day to be moved into chapel.
Sunday 20th. Father Graham helped out with confessions in town and in Acadieville over the weekend. Acadieville, a few minutes away, was windier and they say it often is. Brother Léo's family came by to see him, today; a happy family.

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Monday 21st. Today was Brother Glic's birthday. A theology student from Memorial University in Newfoundland has joined us for a few days' retreat. It is his first visit to a monastery, and his first time in New Brunswick. As part of the ongoing cycle at the chicken barn, 39,000 chicks arrived today, the barns nicely heated to receive them.
Tuesday 22nd. Pottery makes a nice Christmas gift, and pottery sales have been good this week. Our sister Trappistines gave us some Belgian chocolates and biscuits for Christmas, with a special card and message from Mother Alfreda, much appreciated.
Wednesday 23rd. In Chapter, Dom Bede read us a Christmas meditation that Luigi Bonazzi, Canada's Apostolic Nuncio wanted to share with men and women religious, on the line from the Credo ‘He came down from Heaven': "I wish for all of us, that the Lord will give us a heart like his, a heart which opens and expands...that we can bring to all...the balm of mercy." In the barn the milk tank has begun gently overflowing with milk just prior to its being drained into the milk truck. Inside, Father Clovis' accordion could be heard in the guesthouse this evening. He seems to be playing better all the time.
Thursday 24th. Our gifts for the sisters were entrusted to Father Clovis, who was heading over to say Mass this morning. Christmas week here is at once a quiet time and a time for seeing old friends, sadly also for hearing of trouble for some families, like a fatal car accident on our highway. We had a singing class today after Lauds, going over some of the nicest Gregorian pieces we sing, the ones for the two Christmas Masses. Fresh cowls were put out as the old ones were taken away to be washed. In the evening, John, Clovis, along with Boyd and Jeanette Touchie joined us for supper before 7 PM Mass. The meat pies won favorable reviews.
Friday 25th. Brother Henry joined us for Mass and lunch, along with the same guests as yesterday, plus Father Doris from town. Henry said he enjoyed Brother Stephan's organ rendition of ‘Away In A Manger' at Mass. It was a happy Christmas Day. The mild Christmas afternoon allowed Father Graham's parents to get a nice walk in. For supper, one of our employees bought us monks fried chicken, from Decker Boy, perhaps.
Saturday 26th. Squirrels were running across the snow and up and down trees today, also digging down into the snow, for some reason.
Sunday 27th. With Mass scheduling changes in town for the holiday weekend, several parishioners chose to attend Sunday Mass here rather than wander further afield. We saw several familiar faces and several new. With our current line-up and set-up, the sign of peace at Mass arrives to Stephan via Glic's going halfway across chapel to meet him, as others shake their neighbours hand. The chapel is looking nice, with poinsettias against the white wall.

Monday 28th. A good heap of powdery snow from yesterday greeted us outside today. In Chapter, Dom Bede noted that we received fewer Christmas cards this year. He ascribes this to the prevalence of internet. Our own internet was out for a bit this morning. A technician told Bede recently that most people have to reset their router every morning; it's just the way it goes. Robyn our milk tester was in this afternoon gathering a sample from each cow, and logging data on her computer. She is a dedicated and generous soul: milk testers of the past have been known to grumble about their work.
Tuesday 19th. The mail bag has gotten tatty, so Dom Bede put out a substitute sack. It is year-end inventory time for our different industries. This afternoon, the internet failed for several hours, which is unusual. The provider said it was due to weather conditions. Some business which not long ago required filling out a government form by hand now necessitates doing the same online, so Father Roger has had to wait until tomorrow. This morning he was wearing a Trinity College baseball cap. That is where he formerly worked in Toronto. 
Wednesday 30th. Lucien, one of our employees, has replaced the faucets on a few sinks in and around the kitchen.
Thursday 31st. A white Irving van was around back of the monastery today, likely finishing the hook-up of the oil reservoir to fuel the back-up generator. Dom Bede and Father Innocent went in to Dieppe today, to see Brother Henry. Henry told them that he's decided not to attend the special lunch at the sisters on Sunday. Maybe we should bring the sisters to Henry for lunch some time?

Our Lady of Calvary Abbey
11505 Route 126, Rogersville NB, E4Y 2N9
Tel : 506 775 2331
E-mail : CalvaryAbbey@aol.com