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AUGUST 2009
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| tassling corn |
Saturday 1 August – The Abbot spoke about the celebrations at Mistassini and
showed us pictures of the activities. After Mistassini, the Abbot and his two companions went to Rougemont,
a house belonging to the Cistercian Order, but not to the Trappist reform. There they were pleased to meet
the superiors of the Cistercian houses in the United States who were holding a meeting at Rougemont.
Sunday 2 – Fr. Maurice can no longer preside the Mass because of his health
problems, but he gave us a fine homily in both languages.
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| beavers blocked the exit to Br. Urbain's lake and the water is flowing over the road |
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| The corn is as high... |
Monday 3 – We took one small step forward in our bilingualism.
We used to say the Angelus before dinner and supper in French, now we say it in French before dinner and in English
at supper time. In the morning we say it silently and individually, presumably in Latin. Tuesday 4 – I went to Miramichi with Br. Gilles to by myself a pair of shoes. I have
one foot that is very painful. I hope that these new seekers will bring me relief. Wednesday 5 – Our raspberry plants did not produce much this summer. So we bought
a little supply of these delights. This evening we had our monthly community dialogue. The main subject discussed
was a possible modification of our timetable. There will have to be further discussion on this topic. The
Abbot went, after Compline, to pick up at Moncton airport his friend, Fr. Anthony Shryane from England. Thursday 6 – A Franciscan made a halt here. Fr. Graham is preparing to bless his first marriage in the
parish church, because the Parish priest is going to be away. Friday 7
– The Abbot took his friend back to the airport. Sunday 9 – 19th Sunday in Ordinary
Time. Fr. Innocent presided at the Mass and gave a homily in both languages. Br. Isaac
is doing his first week as reader at the Divine Office.
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| silking |
Monday
10 – Feast of Saint Lawrence. The Abbot wondered why the Saint Lawrence river was so called,
and discovered that Jacques Cartier discovered its Bay on the Feast of Saint Lawrence, 10 August 1535.
Tuesday 11 – This the week of the Worldwide Acadian Congress,
which is being held in the Acadian Peninsula. Today is dedicated to the religious and priestly life with
a day of reflection and celebration at Néguac. Father Graham and I went to represent the community.
It began at 10.30 with Morning Prayer. Then we listened to several conferences on different personalities
that had made their mark on Catholic Acadia. Then thee was dinner and, in the afternoon, a solemn Mass
presided by the Bishop of Bathurst, Bishop Valery Vienneau. It was an enriching day.
Wednesday 12 – This evening, Father Graham and I gave
a résumé of the previous day’s events.
Thursday
13 – The Trappistines have asked us to use some 40 acres of their fields. Currently we are
bringing in hay from there.
Friday
14 – Father Clovis is absent for the week. Somebody had to supply for him at the sisters’.
Saturday 15 – Feast of the Assumption
of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is the patronal feast of the Acadians, and of our Order and especially of
the Trappistines’ monastery of the Assumption. They invited our whole community to and celebrate
the solemn Mass and have a BBQ dinner.
Sunday
16 – 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Father Graham presided the Mass and his parents
came for it.
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| Alfalfa and clover in flower |
Monday 17 – The fierce heat is still with us and the garden is rich in vegetable produce. For
the time being we are submerged by green beans.
Tuesday 18 – In our Province, this year, the blueberries have been a fiasco.
We barely got a taste.
Wednesday 19 – Feast of Blessed Guerric, and Abbot at the beginning of our Order in the twelfth century.
His writings are still studied and reflected upon. The Abbot spoke in chapter about an appreciation
of St. Bernard given some years ago by Pope Benedict XVI.
Thursday 20 – Feast of our Father Saint Bernard. He had
a big influence on the Church and society of his time, despite a great fidelity to the contemplative life.
Friday 21 – Our new handmade pottery is
selling a bit better now. We have been putting it on sale in the Farmers Markets of Miramichi.
Saturday 22 – We have come to a useful
agreement with a beekeeper from Charlo in the North of the Province of New Brunswick. This involves his
bringing two of his hives here in the spring when the orchard needs pollinating, and Fr. Gilles will keep an eye on them,
as he enjoys working with the bees. The main thing is to remove any extra queens. This
gentleman is also happy to allow us to sell his honey. This will add another commodity to what we have
on sale in our little shop.
Sunday 23 – 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time.We are quietly living through the outer fringes of Hurricane Bill. It is not violent; a
little bit of wind and rain.
Monday
24 – Hurricane Bill did not do any great damage, except cause a power outage from just at the beginning of Vespers
until bedtime.
Tuesday 25
– We finished the reading in the refectory of the History of the Cistercian Order in the Twentieth Century.
A very interesting book with a lot of detail.
Wednesday
26 – A man and his daughter are on retreat; it is very edifying to see how seriously they are going about it.
There are also several young men on retreat and a lot of coming and going in the guest-house. We
had a further discussion in chapter on the question of what time in the day is best for our chapter meetings.
Thursday 27 – The C.M.A. (Congrès Mondial Acadien
– Worldwide Acadian Congress) is drawing to its close. It has been a tremendous success from tourism
point of view.
Friday 28 – After a long period of intense heat, we nearly had frost this morning.
Sunday 30 –
22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time. Most of the guests went away.
Monday 31 – As it turns out our garden will
have produced more than we expected. The green beans, especially, have been very abundant.
Moreover, the racoons did not get at the sweet corn.
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