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JANUARY 2010
Various people have written articles or letters of support
to Times and Transcript since PETA launched its attack.
Here are some links:
From Robert Pichette and M.L. Leblanc:
http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/opinion/article/909986
From Sean Tobin: http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/rss/article/906712
 Friday 1 January – May God bless our new year. Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Mother of God. After Lauds the Abbot wished us a happy New Year and we exchanged greetings with each other. Saturday 2 – Our aspirant, Michael Perry (an Anglicisation of the name Poirier), from Ontario, completed
a week’s stay in the guest-house. He promised to come back for another week in the summer to maintain
his contact and to come for an observership in a year. Sunday 3 – Feast of the Epiphany
or of the manifestation of the Light of Christ to the world. Yesterday afternoon saw the start of a heavy
snowstorm which is still going on this afternoon. A happy New Year 2010 to all our friends who read this
chronicle.
Monday 4 – The weekend storm left us a thick blanket of snow which looks like sticking around awhile
since the temperature is going down. This is winter!This evening we were hosts to our employees and their spouses for a creative
and appetising dinner by the caterers “Chez Freda”. The whole community took part and enjoyed
the evening.
Wednesday 6 – A lively community dialogue.
Friday 8 – Dom Bede’s 67th birthday.
Having discussed the matter with the community
at the Wednesday meeting, the Abbot announced that he had accepted to function for a year as Father Immediate of the Abbey
of Koningshoeven at Tilburg in the Netherlands. This will mean another absence of several weeks later in
the year. A monk of Tilburg, Dom Cherubin Lenssen, was the superior of Calvary Abbey for 15 years, from
1937 to 1953.The Abbot of Tilburg, Dom Bernardus, declared himself very happy that Dom Bede had accepted. The
have always had a Father Immediate from outside the Dutch Region and prefer an English-speaker.
Sunday 10 – Feast of the Lord’s Baptism. At the concelebrated Mass the Abbot
presided and Father Maurice gave the homily.
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| Tre Fontane, Rome. |
Monday 11 – This afternoon the Abbot left to go to Rome to help with the canonical
visitation of the Abbey of Tre Fontane. The Abbot will also be visiting the monastery of Aiguebelle in
France and his native England.
Tuesday 12 – Feast
of Saint Margaret Bourgeois. Her sisters of the Notre-Dame Congregation did a lot for our region, especially
among the Acadians. Their Saint-Louis-de-Kent convent formed a lot of teachers.
Wednesday 13 – Since Christmas we have not had a lot of guests, but this week nearly all the rooms in
the guest-house are taken and there are a lot of people at the Mass.
Thursday 14 – After several days of colder weather, the temperature went up to 0ºC and it was a
very nice day.
Friday 15 – Brother Gilles drove
me to the optometrist’s to have my glasses adjusted now that I have got over my cataract operation.
Sunday 17 – Second Sunday in Ordinary Time. The gospel was of the marriage feast
at Cana. This reminds us of the full time nuptial engagement we have made with Jesus. Father
Innocent presided our concelebrated Mass.
Monday 18 – Br. Leo
celebrated his 83rd birthday; he is still on good form.Our retired worker, Elmer Aucoin, had to be admitted to
hospital at Miramichi, then transferred to St. John, with serious heart problems. He still came in once
a week to do the cleaning in the basement. The prior, Br. Stephan, asked me to replace him for the time
being.Fr. Graham gave a first conference on the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ.The premier came to Rogersville
to announce the expansion of the Assumption Secondary School.
Tuesday 19
– The entrance drive and front yard is covered in ice. It needs a lot of care to avoid accidents.
Friday 22 – Fr. Graham gave us a second talk on the Church, Mystical Body of
Christ.Brother Stephan went to a meeting about defending us against the harassment from PETA! Fr. Keith Kennific of Charlottetown
is with us.
Sunday 24 – 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time.
A second priest from Charlottetown arrived.
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| Aiguebelle in France |
Monday 25 – Solemnity of
our Holy Founders, Ss Robert, Alberic and Stephen Harding. The Abbot presided the Mass at our monastery
of Tre Fontane in Rome. We
are seeing a very generous response worldwide to the situation of the people Haiti laid low by the earthquake. Tuesday 26 – Last night the temperature went up and it was very windy. Wednesday 27
– Father Graham gave his third conference. Thursday 28 – Father Maurice went with Father Graham
as driver to see two doctors in Moncton. Friday 29 – Brother Stephan went to pick the Abbot up
in Moncton on his return from Europe. The Abbot was happy to hear that Gerry Byrne M.P. thinks that PETA
could be listed as a terrorist organization vis-à-vis Canadian law. Saturday 30 –
After Lauds, the Abbot gave us news of his trip. He spoke principally about the four former monks of Bonnecombe,
the monastery that founded Our Lady of Calvary. The Abbot was able to visit them in Aiguebelle in the south
of France. This brings back special memories to the most senior among us. The Abbot
also spoke of his visit to the monastery of Tre Fontane in Rome. Sunday 31 – 4th
Sunday in Ordinary Time. Father Arthur Bourgeois spent the night here.
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