July 8, 2016

July 8, 2016

Sisters and helpers sorting priests hosts (2-1/2″ size) in the altar bread bakery

Our new Volunteer Helpers program is off to a great start!  Our visit first volunteer was here for the month of June.  She stayed at the retreat house, joined the community for Mass and the Divine Office, and lent a capable hand wherever she was asked–retreat house, altar bread bakery, monastery kitchen (she’s a great cook!) and house cleaning.  We are grateful to her for her generosity to our community, and we pray that she has taken many blessings home with her from her time here.  Our next volunteer is scheduled to come in August, and a third volunteer is signed up for September and October.  (For more information on the program, see our Volunteer’s page.)

Fr. Francis Michael celebrating Mass on the Birthday of St. John the Baptist

Fr. Francis Michael, who has just retired as abbot of Holy Spirit Monastery in Georgia, arrived on June 11 for some sabbatical time and to be our chaplain.  He is an avid watcher of birds, butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies.  To our surprise, he says we have more varieties of dragonflies and damselflies here in southern Arizona than they have in Georgia!  The Sisters appreciate his thoughtful and down-to-earth homilies at daily Mass.  He will be with us until the end of July, and then Fr. Casimir from Holy Trinity in Utah will be our chaplain for the month of August.

June 24, the solemnity of the Birth of St. John the Baptist, used to be the day the summer monsoons were to begin every year.  Lo, and behold, this year it actually rained on the 24th!  Thank you St. John the Baptist!  Water is so precious in Arizona, we pray for good rains here and wherever else needed throughout the year, but we pray especially in the summertime.  We were thrilled two days later by a wonderful downpour which flooded the whole yard and turned our driveways into rivers.  In all, we’ve had about three inches of rain since the 24th.  We’ll keep praying for rain, not only here, but especially in those regions where wildfires are raging.

Sr. Cathy shows off her hanging veggies

This summer three of our Sisters have little veggie gardens growing.  Sr. Nettie has tomatoes and basil in pots at the retreat house.  Sr. Cathy has tomatoes and zucchini growing in hanging planters in our backyard.  Sr. Esther has tomatoes, eggplant, green peppers and green beans growing in between the rose bushes in the sacristy garden.  The banner at the top of this journal entry features some of Esther’s produce.  Keeping the critters away is always a challenge, especially before the rains begin, when our hose-watered plants are the only green things for miles!

Three juvenile ravens resting on a shady branch behind the altar bread bakery

One of the devoted adult ravens takes off with a beak full of bread for her hungry children

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the wildlife arena, Mr. & Mrs. Raven now have a family of four young ones which have left their nest in the last couple of weeks.  So now we have six ravens to entertain us!  It gets pretty noisy outdoors when all four “teenagers” are squawking for Mom & Dad to bring lunch.  Mom & Dad themselves aren’t above squawking at us outside the kitchen door, letting us know in no uncertain terms that we are not delivering bread scraps fast enough.  As for our deer friends, we have our eyes out for new fawns, but haven’t seen any yet.

On July 4th we enjoyed our annual Independence Day celebration.  Everyone helped prepare the picnic food, and then we had a Mexican Trains tournament (a domino game we enjoy a couple of times a year.)  Midday Prayer at noon was followed by our delicious air conditioned picnic in the lovely foyer of the art building.

If you haven’t seen it yet, here’s a link to our brand new official Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Santa-Rita-Abbey-1401882016504354/ We have started a “Wednesday’s Wisdom” weekly post which features a quotation on the spiritual life from monastic and other Christian sources.  We also occasionally post short news items, like some rainfall pictures from June 24.  Please help us spread the news by liking our new Facebook page.

God bless you!  May you and your loved ones all have a beautiful summer!

Here’s a few rainfall photos:

The rain on June 26th came down faster than the gutters could manage

Our Lady’s rose garden soaking up the rain

The flower pot garden outside the kitchen, with water flowing through the carport and out into our driveway