Dear friends,
We are praying with you and for you as we begin the Paschal Triduum. Today we remember that Jesus, "having loved His own who were in the world, loved them” (and us!) “to the end” (Jn 13:1).
This is the hymn we sing at the entrance of the Mass of the Lord's Supper.
Dear friends,
As we approach the celebration of Easter, we hope that you are all safe! Many people have contacted us to inquire as to how we are doing. Thank-you for reaching out, and for your friendship and support. We are all healthy, and haven taken measures to stay that way. To protect ourselves and others, we’ve had to close our chapel—we’re simply not able to clean well enough after each visitor to make sure you’d stay safe.
Meanwhile, life in the monastery goes on. Our schedule, with its ebb and flow of prayer, study, work and community life continues as usual and helps us to focus on the essential. We are very aware of how fortunate we are to have a priest with us until after Easter. We will live this Holy Week in intense communion with and for you. We are holding all the needs of the world as we hold you and your loved ones in our hearts and prayer. Even though we are all celebrating the Paschal Mystery in a different way this year visibly, we are always invisibly united in the Body of Christ. When one member suffers, we all suffer; and when one member rejoices, we get to share that joy. As we celebrate together Jesus’s victory over death, let us pray in a particular way for those who have suffered death or loss as a result of this pandemic.
We will try to share with you what we can of our liturgy during this week. We don’t have the capacity to livestream, but what we are able to record, we will try to share with you!
Beginning with Palm Sunday…
A little bit of hope and encouragement for us all, with a newly recorded fr. André Gouzes song based on yesterday's Gospel of the Samaritan woman (John 4:1 - 42). As Lent continues, and global concern about the coronavirus rises, let us remain united in prayer!
As the Master of our Order, fr. Gerard Timoner, shared at the beginning of his letter on the pandemic:
“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear?
The Lord is my life’s refuge; of whom should I be afraid?
For God will hide me in his shelter in time of trouble,
He will conceal me in the cover of his tent.”
