Imbolc Waxing Bloodroot Moon
I’ve had visitors now for lunch every day. Father Chris and I discussed being hard of hearing. When I mentioned saying something inappropriate occasionally in noisy places, he recounted a time when a parishioner said he was going to his sister’s funeral. That’s nice! Father Chris replied.
Brother Paul presented me with a pound of Blue Cloud Abbey honey, from one beekeeper to another.
I’ve gotten to know more of the monks on an individual basis, mostly through lunch since I spend most of my time here in the room writing and when I finish in the afternoon no one’s around. Dinner is in silence and afterward the monks retire.
Breakfast is usually in silence although Sunday morning is not, I learned today. The rhythm goes silent breakfast after morning prayers, then day prayer and eucharist followed by a lunch when talking is ok and a silent dinner not long after evening prayer held at 5 pm. Vigils come at 7:30 and after it, at 10 pm, the night or grand silence.
The silence at regular intervals and the quiet in general make this a wonderful place to write. The only noises here are bells, singing and chanting, howling wind and the occasional train.