Elegance

Saint Meinrad Day at the Mother Abbey has been a grand experience. They do it up right, all with elegant style and nothing is ever overdone. Good church. Good food. Gracious hospitality with "old world charm". Too much to go into here.

For Second Vespers I was an Assistant to Abbot Martin. (We were ordained Deacons together at Saint Meinrad when he was a student with us.) It was an honor to be asked and a BIG thrill. At the end of Vespers, the silver reliquary which contains St. Meinrad's skull was carried in procession through the Church to the Lady Chapel for the Salve Regina. Then the procession with the Relic moves back through the Church to the Altar area. All this processing is done while responding to polyphonic invocations sung by the Schola. Awesome.

When I logged on to check the email a bit ago I found word that Brother Stephen Shidler died this morning at Saint Meinrad. Stevie lived in the Infirmay just below my room in the Monastery. I had helped take care of him when I worked in the Infirmary before my Sabbatical, and would always stop by to see him whenever I was home from Indy. God rest his soul ... Needless to say, I will miss the funeral, but will lift him up before God from here.

There was light snow on and off through the day, but this evening the skies have cleared a bit. I have no idea what the forecast is, and I don't care ... I'm just enjoying what we got as we get it.