We celebrated the Easter Vigil with Oblates and friends under a bright moon-lit sky and with a resounding Exsultet (Rejoice!) from the whole congregation. After the resurrection service we had a reception for all who came. We wish all of you a most blessed Easter.
With the arrival of the first ruby-throated hummingbirds on March 2, we knew that spring was here. If you want to check how near they are to you, click on the map at right, which charts their advance every year. With Easter earlier than ever this year, it's nice to know that the hummingbirds decided to come a whole week earlier than last year.
The image of la Moreneta at the Benedictine Abbey of Montserrat is the image on our Christmas card this year. When we were in Spain we went to Montserrat and took this picture. We wish you peace and joy this Christmas season and pray that our world will come to see that the ways of peace are the ways of our God among us.
At our December meeting Catherine Whitney (left) of Houston made her final Oblation. We are blessed by her becoming a part of the community. Please pray for her and for us. Our next Oblate meeting is Saturday, May 17th. If you have any questions
or are interested in the Oblate program, click here for a brochure of the Oblate program or write to us.
Lynette Parsons made her final Oblation at our meeting with our Oblates on November 17th at the Monastery. She is pictured here (right) signing her commitment as an Oblate at the celebration of the Eucharist. We welcome her into the community and ask your prayers for her.
On Saturday, October 6, we met with Sr. Joan Chittister, OSB at a conference in Houston on mysticism. She played a large part in our coming to Texas ten years ago, so we had our picture taken with her. It was a delight to see her again.
On September 13th at about 2:45 in the morning, we awakened to the sound of a great wind, followed by torrential rains. We found out later it was Hurricane Humberto, which roared through greater Beaumont as a category 1 hurricane, dumping 6-14 inches of rain in a five-hour period. It left about 118,000 people without electricity and all quite surprised. It was supposed to be a tropical storm not threatening our area, so people were relatively unprepared. We were luckier than most and did not suffer damage or even lose power. However, it was an unwelcome echo of Hurricane Rita, which only two years ago wreaked major damage everywhere.
In June we traveled to Spain, to the northwest province of Galicia, and stayed in the town of Corme (above). We visited the shrine of St. James (right) in Santiago de Compostela, a pilgrimage site for centuries from all over Europe. The coastline in Galicia was rugged and beautiful, like the coastline pictured here (lower left) and the countryside was dotted with horreos, stone granaries to store the harvest over wintertime (lower right). We ended our trip in Barcelona, where we visited friends and toured the Benedictine Abbey of Montserrat, perched high in the cliffs in Catalonia for almost a thousand years (see near left below). The views were breathtaking, and the people standing in line for hours to touch the famous image of the black madonna was quite moving.
If you wish to be put on our mailing list for news and happenings at the Monastery please click here.