JULY AND HOT WEATHER IS HERE

Greetings to every one who reads this blog.  It has been a while since I last wrote on this.  The summer flies by it seems just like the rest of the year.  A lot of projects have been going around here since the students left in May.  The student refectory serving area has been moved and they are still working to change that area down there.  You can now enter the east door to the refectories and go immediately into a hallway leading to either serving line or to the Basilica.  New windows have been installed in the entire building in St. Michael Hall.  New windows have also been installed on the residence floors of St. Joseph Hall.  And of course the roofers are still working to repair the roofs on some of the buildings that dates back to the hail storm we had last August.  They are presently working on the roof in St. Maur Hall and will then proceed to the Basilica and the monastery roofs.  Scaffolding is a big item on these jobs and it takes some time to put scaffolding all the way up to the top of the towers.  For safety reasons scaffolding is necessary.

 St. Maur Hall, July 1, 2012

Basilica Towers, July 1, 2012

A lot of work has also been done in the JFK Recreation Center this summer as the swimming pool was filled in with sand and covered with cement and a new heating and air conditioning system is being installed.

A big item and matter of concern the last two or three weeks has been the unusual high temperatures and lack of rain.  Farmers are all very concerned about the drought and rightfully so.  The temperatures have been in the upper 90's or higher and with heat indexes up over 100 almost everyday.  It seems that much of the country has been suffering from either heat or fires this summer.  Our hearts go out to all those who have lost homes and also those who are suffering now from electrical outages.  

In June I went to Brunswick to celebrate a Reichert reunion.  It was held on June 9-10 and we had a great turn out of about 170.  That was far from all the relatives but a good turn out for sure.  This was for the most part organized by my cousin Larry McCurry and his wife Kathy who live in Brookfield, MO  It was a wonderful weekend and enjoyed by all.  We are grateful to Larry and Kathy for all the work they did.

Sign at both ends of the town of Brunswick, MO

many of us were born and raised.

Then on June 21 I again went home for a few days of vacation and we were planning to celebrate my only living brother's and his wife's 60th wedding anniversary. Unfortunately my brother had to go into the hospital the day before and was there about five days.  He had a staff infection with high temperatures.  He is again feeling pretty well now and we will probably celebrate the occasion a little later this summer.  The actual date of their marriage was June 21, 1952.  

On June 20 Brother George, a resident in our Health Care Center, celebrated his 90th birthday.  We now have four residents living there who are 90 or over.  

Brother George on his 900th birthday.

That's about it for now.  Keep cool in this hot weather.  God bless and protect all of you. 
The photos included on this blog can be enlarged by clicking on the photo itself.  

Update on a few things at Conception Abbey

I'm sorry that it has been a rather long time since I have written on this blog.  It seems that time goes so fast and I guess the recent weeks have been very busy.  On Sunday, May 6, we blessed and dedicated the new guest house -- St. Gabriel Guesthouse.  We have not started putting guests in the building yet but plan to do so soon. As you know I have taken pictures of the building as construction began and all the through to it's completion.  It turned out very beautiful and should be comfortable place for guests to stay.  Here is one last photo I will put on this blog:

Taken May 12, 2012.  

And one taken on the day of the dedication of the building:

Some of those present for the dedication.

You can see all the pictures taken during construction by clicking on this link--

https://plus.google.com/photos/111035822686820527328/albums/5656741789992506177

The students graduated and left for home on Sunday, May 13.  Then on Monday evening we began our retreat, after a chapter meeting in the afternoon.  At the chapter meeting we accepted Brother Placid Dale and Brother Maximilian Burkhart for solemn perpetual vows.  They will profess these vows in August.  

During our retreat on Wednesday evening we had the ordination to the diaconate of Brother Victor Schinstock and Brother Paul Sheller.  Both are continuing their education and look forward to being ordained to the priesthood in a year.  Ordaining the two deacons was Bishop Edward Rice, auxiliary bishop of St. Louis.  Bishop Finn, bishop of our own diocese, was busy at a confirmation and Bishop Boland, the retired bishop of our diocese was scheduled to do it, but lost his voice.

 Ordination of  Brother Paul to diaconate

 Brother Victor and Brother Paul preparing the altar for the celebratioon of the 

Eucharist after their ordination.

Brother Victor, Abbot Gregory, Bishop Rice and Brother Paul

 Ordination to priesthood of Brother Guerric

 Father Guerric kneels before the bishop 

as Bishop Finn prays over him

After the ordination Mass Bishop Finn

and Father Guerric

Now things should settle down a bit for the summer, although we do have a lot of projects in line to be done this summer.  Roofers are still replacing roofs that were damaged by the bad hail storm last August.  New windows need to be put in both St. Michael Hall and St. Joseph Hall.  And other projects are in line to be done this summer.

I did want to point out to all readers of this blog that you can find many photos of recent events on our web site.  Simply click   here and then at the top of the page, click on "picture gallery."


God bless you all.

POST-EASTER NEWS

After Easter Sunday the students were gone all that week.  It was quiet and enjoyed by all of us I think.  Every day during the Easter Octave and the Christmas Octave we have a little community get together each afternoon at 3:00 PM with snacks and drinks.  Another reason I guess while I find it hard to lose weight.

St. Gabriel Guest House, is completed except for some minor details that appear here and there.  A lot of work has been done on the landscaping and the roads and parking lots.  The dedication of the building will be on Sunday, May 6.  However, they do not think we will be able to start using it until about June 1, since much of the furniture has not yet arrived.  Difficult to use the rooms when there are no beds in place yet.  Here are a couple pictures of the building:

 St. Gabriel Guest House.  

 New roads and parking area and new lights.

Northeast side of the building and  patio

This past Wednesday, April 25, I participated in the observance of National Crime Victims' Rights Week, observed April 22-28 this year.    This was held at Mozingo Park and Lake near Maryville, MO and was sponsored by the Maryville Treatment Center, a part of the Missouri Prison system.  President Reagan designated this special week when he was president.  This was the fourteen such observance held at Maryville and the ninth one in which I have taken part.  To see more about this go to this Maryville Daily Forum website:
 http://www.maryvilledailyforum.com/photos/x787573363/Abbey-victims-remembered-at-tree-planting?page=0

Here is a picture taken at the event.  Planting a 

tree in the park.  

A former classmate of mine from back in the early 1950's has been here helping Father Albert with a class for about the last month.  Jim Koch was here at Conception for college, but then left the seminary, got married and raised a family.  He now lives in Austin, Texas.  Originally he was from Hannibal, MO.

Classmates from the early 1950's.  Fr. Kenneth,

Jim Koch and Charles Mattson.  We had just

been out to enjoy a meal together.

Weather has been rather different all this year.  Just two days ago on Wednesday it got up to 91 degrees.  Today it is windy and much, much cooler.  It's difficult to know what to wear when you go outside. 

Finally, I invite you to look at other photos of the St. Gabriel Guest House.  I will take more at the dedication and try to eventually get some more of the inside of the building.

https://picasaweb.google.com/111035822686820527328/GuestHouse

HOLY WEEK AND OTHER NEWS

Today on Sunday, April 1, we began that great week known as Holy Week.  On Holy Thursday evening we begin the Sacred Triduum which concludes on Easter Sunday evening with vespers.  Today I was at Parnell, MO for two Masses, one yesterday evening on Saturday and one this morning.  On Thursday I will leave for Brookfield, MO where I will celebrate the Holy Triduum, beginning withthe Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper on Thursday.  It is always a joy to celebrate this week when God shows His love for us in such a special way.  

A week or so ago Bishop-elect Edward Weisenburger was here for a retreat in preparation for his ordination as a bishop on May 1.  He went to all four years of college here at Conception.  He will be the new bishop of Salina, Kansas.  

The weather has been just out of this world.  We had a day or two of rain this last week, but the temperatures have been almost like summer.  It is not unusual for the temperature to reach the mid-80's in the afternoon.  It certainly has been an unusual year weather wise here in the midwest.  

Three of our monks who are away studying theology at St. Meinrad Archabbey and Seminary in Indiana, are home for this week.  Brother Guerric who is a deacon and will be ordained a priest in May, Brother Victor who will be ordained a deacon in May and also Brother Macario who is completing his 2nd year of theology.  Brother Paul who is studying at St. Vincent Seminary in Pennsylvania is not able to be home for this week.  He also will be ordained a deacon in May.  

We have been having a lot of retreatants here, especially on weekends.  This weekend was RCIA weekend so many candidates who are entering the Church this year at Easter were here with their sponsors and those who have been preparing them.  

I wanted to include a picture or two as the St. Gabriel Guest House is just about completed.  They are now in the process of pouring sidewalks, doing some landscaping and then some extended parking lots.  While we are dedicating the building in May, I don't think we are planning to start using it until June.  It will take some time to get all the furniture in the rooms etc.  

Taken March 31, 2012.  Brothers Victor and Macario

standing in front

For more photos of the building the St. Gabriel Guest House

click on this link.

https://plus.google.com/photos/111035822686820527328/albums/5656741789992506177

And to all readers of this blog have a Blessed Holy Week and Easter -- ALLELUIA

Spring is on the way -- but did we have winter?

Now that we are approaching the half-way point of March, and we have switched over to daylight savings time just last night, we can look forward to spring.  Already we have had some very nice spring like weather even though today it is rainy and cloudy and foggy.  Of course it seems like winter just slipped by this year.  We had very little snow, just two or three small ones that hardly even covered the ground.  And in general temperatures were not that cold this winter.  But, I think most of us are grateful for that.

Work on the roofs around here has continued most of the winter and will continue well into the summer.  The roofs on the Health Care Center, part of St. Raphael Hall, the garage and maintenance building have all been replaced.  Now they are starting on St. Michael Hall which was also damaged during the hail storm last August.

The students have been gone since last Thursday.  We do not give a spring break but always give the students off all of Easter Week.  Since that is still a few weeks off we gave them a long off campus weekend this weekend.  They should be arriving back tonight.  

 March 10, 2012, 3rd floor

 March 10, 2012, 3rd floor hall

 St. Gabriel Guest House. 261 days of construction.

 Bridge between Health Care Center and Monastery is being renovated

Another photo of bridge renovation.

And so for this time may God continue to bless you and especially during this Lenten season.
To see more pictures of the St. Gabriel Guest House click on this link.

https://plus.google.com/photos/111035822686820527328/albums/5656741789992506177