FALL COLORS

Some of the beautiful fall colors seen around the Abbey and on campus at this time of the year.





We have had some beautiful fall weather in recent weeks. Last week it actually got quite warm for a couple days again -- up in the mid eighties, but a cold front soon moved in and so it is again cool but pleasant.

Last weekend we had our fall oblate retreat. About forty oblates attended the retreat given by Brother Thomas Sullivan, O.S.B. All seemed to enjoy the weekend very much and the weather was cooperative.

It seems I have spent a lot of this past week seeing doctors. On Monday I had to see the dermatologist in St. Joseph, on Monday night I did a sleep study at the hospital in Maryville and yesterday I saw my primary care doctor in Maryville. Such is life as you get older it seems.

How about the story of the miners in Chile being rescued from deep in the earth? That was something to watch and certainly it was good to see good news rather the usual bad news on television. We all, I'm sure, join in giving thanks to God for their safety after so days underground.

This weekend the Seminary Board of Regents will be meeting here at Conception. They usually meet on Friday afternoon and evening and again on Saturday morning.

So that's it for this time. Have a wonderful day and don't forget to give some time to God. We have much to be grateful for and we all know we need God's help in living our Christian life. Let us pray for one another.

To go to the Conception Abbey web site, click on the marker at the top of this blog.

It's Been a While

Sorry folks -- I realize it's been a few weeks since I last wrote anything new on this blog. Seems like time goes so fast and I don't always keep up to date on things.

This weekend is a very busy weekend here at Conception. It is "Family Weekend" for the students and many, many guests are coming. The last I heard it was up to 260 or more guests for dinner this evening. The enrollment goes up and that means there are more families coming for this annual family weekend. Fall in general is a busy time for our guest department as many want to come for retreats and many larger groups come at this time of the year.

Last weekend I was in Kansas City and St. Joseph. On Friday afternoon I left for Kansas City to celebrate the Mass and funeral of a good friend, Eleanor Harshner. Her daughter Sandy Darnell wanted me to celebrate the Mass and so I went down on Friday, attended the wake service, spent the night with my brother and his wife and then had the funeral Mass and burial at 10:00 AM at St. Andrew Church. I got acquainted with the family through their son (Eleanor's grandson) Benjamin Darnell, a former student here. He left the seminary and is now married and has a little boy. It was good to see them all again.

Weather is gradually turning cooler. Tonight they are predicting some light and scattered frost as the temperature drops into the 30's. We had a very hot summer but soon we will be wishing we had some of the warm weather back.

The sister of our Subprior, Brother Bernard, died this past week of cancer. She lived in Lincoln, Illinois. Brother Bernard attended the funeral and returned yesterday evening.

This week I wanted to include a picture of the five residents presently living in our Health Care Center. In the front row left to right: Fr. Joachim Schieber (91 years old), Fr. Anthony Shidler (89 years old), Bro. George Strohmeyer (88 years old). All three of these use electric wheel chairs. In the back are Fr. Paschal Thomas (76 years old) and Monsignor Louis McCorkle (90 years old). Monsignor McCorkle is a priest of the Jefferson City diocese and an alumnus of Conception Seminary.

Next weekend (October 8-10) we will be having an oblate retreat. We have two of these a year, one in the spring and one in the fall, and during the summer we have what we call a "Pray and Work" weekend. Brother Thomas Sullivan, OSB, will be conducting this retreat and it is entitled:
"A School of the Lord's Service."

May God continue to bless each of you.

Please don't forget to go to the Conception Abbey website. Click at the top of this blog.