February 2017 at Santa Rita Abbey

February 2017 at Santa Rita Abbey

The Latest News from Santa Rita Abbey

Father Bernard Johnson, RIP

Our beloved chaplain of many years, Fr. Bernard Johnson, went home to God on February 21. He was our Advent & Christmas chaplain from 2000 to 2012. He served our Order in many capacities over the years: as Procurator General for our Order in Rome, a kind and wise abbot, a highly respected canon lawyer, and for us a dear brother and friend. He will be missed by many people, both within our Order and without. May he rest in the peace of God! His funeral Mass and burial will be at his home monastery of New Clairvaux in Vina, California, on Friday, February 24. His monastery will no doubt be posting an article about his life sometime soon. When that happens, we will post a link to it on our Facebook page.

New Family Guest House Project

On the home front, we continue to move forward on our plans to build a new Family Guest House. We are working with architect Hank Krzysik of Tucson, who is doing a great job for us. God willing, once we choose the contractor for the project, we hope to break ground sometime in the spring.

Monastic Experience Weekends

Meanwhile, we are preparing another Monastic Experience Weekend for single Catholic women, ages 21-40, who are discerning a call to consecrated life. We have two planned for this year, the first one is March 24-26, and the second one August 25-27, 2017. These weekends give women the opportunity to participate in the Divine Office and the Eucharist with us in our monastic church, to learn about the Trappist Cistercian way of life and our life here at Santa Rita Abbey, to share their own vocation story and to hear our Sisters’ stories, and to ask any questions they may have. Below you will find a link to our color flyer promoting the March weekend. If you would like to help us spread our invitation to the young women in discernment in your area, please download the flyer and share it however you wish. Ask your pastor if it he would post it at your church, or perhaps you’d like to share it with the nearest college Newman Center. Thank you! For more information, see our web page at https://santaritaabbey.org/monastic-experience-weekends/

Monastic Experience Flyer

Ash Wednesday & Lent

Our friend Fr. Olaf Winter has just arrived for his annual pre-Lenten retreat. We are grateful to him for the gift of daily Mass while he is here (Feb 22-Mar 2), including on Ash Wednesday, March 1.

Yes, the season of Lent approaches! We turn to Chapter 49 “The Observance of Lent” in the Rule of St. Benedict for our inspiration: “We urge the entire community during these days of Lent to keep its manner of life most pure and to wash away in this holy season the negligences of other times. This we can do in a fitting manner by refusing to indulge evil habits and by devoting ourselves to prayer with tears, to reading, to compunction of heart and self-denial.” Our Lenten penances are to be offered “with the joy of the Holy Spirit” as we walk through the Lenten desert looking “forward to holy Easter with joy and spiritual longing.”  A large part of our Lenten observance is Lenten Reading (which St. Benedict writes about in the previous chapter, 48).   Every afternoon during Lent we gather in the library for a period of quiet reading together. As Lent approaches, each Sister is choosing her special Lenten Reading book from our monastery library and leaving it in the library office. Mother Victoria will give them out to us on the First Sunday of Lent.

Cistercian Altar Breads is a busy place these days, too, with Lent and Easter approaching. We Sisters are baking, cutting and bagging our whole wheat altar breads to supply our parish customers across the U.S. Here’s a recent photo of some of our Sisters at work, checking freshly cut peoples’ breads. On a routine day at the bakery, we cut 75,000 of the 1-3/8″ size.

A blessed Lent to you! We Sisters are so grateful to God who has called us to this beautiful place and to this beautiful monastic community. We hold all of God’s beloved children, whatever their creed or native land, in our hearts and in our prayer. May we all learn to respect and trust one another and together build God’s peace in our world. We pray that this Lent will be a time of grace and peace for all.  We thank you, our friends, for your encouragement and many kindnesses to us. May God bless you and all your loved ones!