monastic life

Auction Time!

The memories of moving out of the monastery this past May are still fresh on our minds. When the monks moved out of the monastery, they could put stickers on their belongings and mark it in one of three ways: Temporary Storage Long-term Storage (not accessible during renovation) Auction All the extra furniture, religious art, and…

Stanberry Parish Carnival

Yesterday evening after prayer, Br. Maximilian and I headed over to St. Peter’s Parish Carnival in Stanberry, Missouri.  It is only a 9 mile drive.  One of our monks, Fr. Karl Barmann, is pastor of St. Peter’s and the annual carnival is a pretty big event.  The town has just over one thousand people, and…

Racing to the Wedding

I’m in Maryville, Missouri today, just 18 miles from the Abbey on pastoral assignment.  While our Fr. Martin is on vacation and celebrating his 40th anniversary of priesthood in Alaska with some parishioners of St. Gregory Barbarigo parish, I am covering the wedding of Colby and Taylor Wiederholt.  This is my first wedding to officiate as…

Life in Christ

I finally finished a little “music” video of the monks the other day and I posted it on our Facebook page and on our YouTube channel.  I was pleased with how it turned out.  So, if you did not see it there, I am posting it on the blog as well.

Cooler Temps, Work, and Construction

I was surprised to find that it cooled off a lot over the evening. At 7:45am this morning, it was 55 degrees. Today is turning out to be a gorgeous day, but it is rather strange weather for late-July. The farmers say they can use some more rain in the days ahead.  However, the crops…

Office Space

There are six offices in the top floor of St. Raphael Hall for our Development and Communications staff.  Today we moved out of our offices in order to use the spaces more efficiently.  While the monastery is being renovated, the monks have had to be creative with their use of space.  So, having undergone the big…

Monastery Renovation: Hidden Treasures

Since the monastery renovation has begun, workers have uncovered several interesting pieces of historical significance.  With such an extensive renovation to a historic building like the monastery, there’s no telling what they would find. Here are a few examples of some recent finds. Below:  Murals discovered a few months ago on the 4th floor when…

Swim, Bike, Run

Do monks get to pursue their hobbies and interest in the monastery? Yes, is the short answer.  We obviously have to get permission and it cannot be too extravagant. On Saturday morning, for the third year in a row, I participated in the Cameron YMCA Triathlon (Cameron, MO). It was a gorgeous and cool morning…

All the Colors

It has been a beautiful week of cooler temperatures in the 70’s. All of the monks have enjoyed it immensely. On this day nine years ago, I was received into the community as a postulant. I remember the feelings of excitement and of simply desiring to do what I thought God was asking me to…

Priests Softball Game

Fr. Victor and I traveled to the T-Bones Stadium in Kansas City, Kansas to play in the 1st Annual Pitching for Priests softball game. I have been looking forward to this game for weeks, and it did not disappoint. First of all, there was a good group of people tailgating before the game. The weather…