Monthly Archives: June 2012

The first time I heard about “Bay View” was on a beautiful autumn day – just after Rob and I had moved from California to Minnesota.  The sun was bright, the sky a cloudless blue, the air cool and crisp, … Continue reading →

I left Saint John’s Abbey a week ago.  It’s the strangest thing: I really miss the monastery.  I miss the silence.  I miss the rhythm of worship – both the daily interruption of it and the exceptionally slow pace of … Continue reading →

I’ve been here long enough now that when new guests arrive they think I know what I’m doing.  It’s such a hoot.  It is the pace of worship that seems to throw new people off the most – that, and … Continue reading →

I had forgotten how much I love Minnesota.  Rob and I spent more than three years here when we were first married.  That year, the first snows fell on September 21st.  Two months later, on Thanksgiving morning, we opened our … Continue reading →

Worship here at Saint John’s Abbey centers on the reading of the psalms.  Other biblical texts are read each day as well, but the psalms form the largest part of worship.  Over the course of one week, Benedictine monastics will … Continue reading →

“Let all guests who arrive be received like Christ, for He is going to say, ‘I came as a guest, and you received Me.” (St. Benedict’s Rule for Monasteries, Chapter 53) The Abbey Guesthouse at Saint John’s is a beautiful … Continue reading →

OK, I’m 19 days into a 3-month sabbatical and by now I should have accomplished a number of things…  Lose weight.  (I haven’t — hey, if you saw what they’re baking at a Benedictine monastery you wouldn’t either.) Read all … Continue reading →

The schedule of worship here at Saint John’s Abbey – four times a day in addition to the regular interruption of the bells every 15 minutes – is a reminder to be spiritually attentive. At our home in Ambler we have … Continue reading →

I arrived at Saint John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota on Saturday, June 9th.  For reasons I cannot explain even to myself, I have wanted to come here for over 20 years.  My plan was simple: for the next eleven days … Continue reading →

The first Benedictine monastery in the United States was founded in 1846.  Saint Vincent Archabbey is located in Latrobe, Pennsylvania — about 40 miles east of Pittsburgh.  In 1856 — just twelve years after its own founding — Benedictine monks … Continue reading →