A Visit to the Monastery in Advent

I thought it would be interesting to see what things were like during Advent, so I scheduled a three-day visit — from the afternoon of Tuesday, December 11 through the afternoon of Friday, the 14th.
Things were not very different from the way they were during previous visits. Of course, it was colder than during visits during other seasons, but the biggest difference wasn't because it was Advent, but because the college was in session.

When the college is not in session — as was the case during most of my visits — on weekdays the community Mass is at 8:30 a.m. and Vespers is in the late afternoon, followed by dinner and recreation, with Compline at 7:30. But when the college is in session — as was the case this time — Mass is in the late afternoon, with Vespers at 7:05, following dinner and recreation. Compline is prayed privately. This schedule accommodates monks who have jobs in the college as well as students who would find the afternoon a more convenient time for Mass that the morning. But I'm sorry to be unable to pray Compline in choir with the community.

There were two things that were different specifically because it was Advent: there were some special antiphons, hymns, and prayers for the Advent season; and there was an Advent wreath in the refectory in front of the Abbot's table.

(My place at table is visible between the two candles on the left. The abbot's table is offscreen to the right, at right angle to the tables pictured here.)

(Looking from my place toward refectory door. Abbot's table to the left. The retired abbot, the prior, and the subprior also sit there.)

Apart from those differences, the routine was indistinguishable from how it had been during my earlier visits.

Alumni Hall, the oldest, and iconic, building, had window candles and a lighted wreath.

On Thursday, five students from the college came for an overnight visit. I would have liked to meet them during recreation, but the abbot thought that I wanted to play bridge with the old monks and insisted that I take his place at that table.

I had brought several books: among others Jan Sobieski: The King Who Saved Europe, by Miltiades Varvounis, on my Kindle reader; Wrestling with God, by Richard Rolheiser; and most importantly The Biggest Lie in the History of Christianity, by Matthew Kelly. If I read the first chapter of the Kelly book on Tuesday evening, five chapters on Wednesday and another five on Thursday, there would be four left for Friday. It was a very good book and it was easy to follow that program. On Friday morning it occurred to me (or as the Evangelicals would say, "The Lord told me") that I should share the book with the students. So while we were waiting for Midday Prayer to begin, I gave it to one of the students and asked him to share it with the others.

I had already read more than half of the book on Jan Sobieski, and I finished it during my time there. But I only read one chapter of the book by Rolheiser.

When I wasn't praying, reading, eating, or recreating, I had time to take pictures, to stroll around, and to visit the campus bookstore, and to drive to a nearby Market Basket and get a couple of gift cards which had been requested for my parish's giving tree. Here are a couple of photos of the campus flags (U.S., N.H., and college) at half mast, presumably in honor of President Bush.

 (Alumni Hall in background.)

(Library in background.)

I had brought my private signal with me,

(The swan and crescent and the colors black and white come from a family coat of arms, the fouled anchor represents race committee, and the "gout de sang" (red drop) is from the St. Anselm coat of arms.)

 and at recreation on Tuesday evening I showed it it Brother Ignatius — who took final vows last summer — and to several of the older monks. Father Peter was especially intrigued.

When I was almost ready to leave, after lunch on Friday, I had a conversation with Brother Ignatius. I told him what I had done during this visit, and we looked forward to seeing each other on my next visit, probably next summer.

I recommend clicking on the pictures to enlarge them.

Winter Visit to the Monastery, Part 1

As I noted in my report on my October visit to the monastery, Father Peter twice urged me to visit again soon. Normally, I'd have waited until summer, but since he seemed so insistent, I decided not to wait that long. It's a bit easier to schedule visits in the summer because from around the end of September until the beginning of May, I attend lots of concerts in Boston, and groups I'm involved with also meet less frequently or not at all during the summer. It seemed that I could visit from the afternoon of Sunday, February 5, through the afternoon of Thursday the 9th without missing anything important, and I'd be able to get home in time to go to the symphony concert that evening. So I made arrangement to visit during those days.

One thing about winter, though, is that there can be snowstorms heavy enough to make travel difficult. So it happened this time. A storm was predicted for Thursday; and as predictions became increasingly dire, it seemed that if I waited until Thursday I wouldn't be able to get home in time to get to the symphony that evening. So I decided to leave after Vespers on Wednesday evening.

The abbreviated visit went pretty well. When I arrived, Fr. Cecil (the "e" is short as in "set") was near the door and greeted me. He had been on his way to haustus (snack time) in the refectory and I put my things in my room

 and joined him and we had a nice conversation. As I've reported previously, Sunday dinner is done buffet style in the chapter room, with beer and wine available. People can converse at their tables, instead of the normal reading aloud which accompanies lunch and dinner in the refectory.

Since my visit in October the novice, Brother Francis, had taken temporary vows (lasting three years) as a monk, and a recent college graduate named Ryan had become a postulant: someone who lives with the monks and participates in community activities for several months on a trial basis. Postulants wear regular clothes, not monks' habits. At dinner Ryan and I were at the same table along with six of the monks, and I was able at one point to get a bit of his background and give him a bit of mine. He seems like a good guy. He's from Massachusetts, a recent graduate of St. Anselm College, and has been thinking about joining the monastery for some time.

Having previously been invited to give a presentation at a Unitarian church on the topic of Catholicism, I had decided to bring a book with the documents of the Second Vatican Council to do some research in preparation for my talk. During the time I was at the abbey, I managed to read the Constitution on the Church and most of the Decree on Ecumenism. My basic thought is that the Council decided, in effect that the Counter Reformation is over, and what I read supported that idea.

In addition to the Vatican documents, I had brought several other books: Pope Benedict's Final Testament, an interview with Peter Seewald after he had resigned the papacy; a book on Eric Voegelin, the philosopher of history and spiritual order, by Michael P. Federici; and, for something more spiritual, a little book called Generous Faith, which is a collection of stories by different writers which the editor has grouped around three topics. I read these at different times as a diversion from the Vatican documents.

On Monday and Tuesday I got outdoors to take a few pictures before the predicted snowstorm.

Looking ENE from the porch of Alumni Hall, the main administration building. The flags are, l.-r., New Hampshire, St. Anselm Abbey & College, and United States of America. The statue is St. Anselm.

Looking back at Alumni Hall. The third floor windows in sunlight were the suite where the scholastics lived when I was there.

Statue of St. Benedict between Alumni Hall, r., Joseph Hall, l., and Abbey Church, offscreen l. 

On Monday, Father Cecil and I were again at haustus together and talked for a bit.

Table reading at lunch and dinner on Monday and for the rest of my visit was from The Invisibles: The Untold Story of African American Slaves in the White House, by Jesse J. Holland. It was interesting stuff, although at times the author seemed a bit repetitive. History buffs might enjoy it. At this point, though, it isn't quite a "must read" for me.

Click on the pics to enlarge them. I recommend it.

This may be long enough for one post, so I think I'll pause here, and come back with one or two more posts (depending on how much detail I feel like giving) to wrap it up.

Japan Diary, Part Five

June 5 & 6  Wednesday was trash day. Stuff had to be at curbside for pickup by 7:30, so it was my first order of business after waking up at about 5:00 a.m.. In mid-morning I went food shopping at the stores nearest to the house. Had breakfast when I got home, watered and misted the plants*, brushed the cats, was surprised when Minka licked my hand. In mid-afternoon, I had lunch, worked sudoku and crossword puzzles in the newspapers.

*Yang Yang decided it was a good idea to drink the water in the dishes under the plants. I decided it wasn't. When I picked him up and was carrying him to his water dish, he struggled and scratched my arm.

From about 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., I took a nap, then watched some baseball on TV. Unlike my country, they don't have baseball games on TV every day. It seems that every Japanese major league team has one or two American players. A noticeable difference in crowd behavior is that when each team is at bat, there are numbers of fans wearing team colors who sing the team pep song. So there's no quiet time (except maybe between innings and halves of innings).

I got to dinner about midnight.

Cod, sauteed peppers and mushrooms, salad, black coffee (in pot), manhattan, white wine.

Thursday morning, having gone to bed at about 2:30, I was awakened at about 5:00 to feed the cats. I got up at about 6:00, and Yang Yang paid a brief visit at about 6:30.

At about 7:30 I went out to take a walk along the pedestrian promenade.

A view of a side street across Shiroyama Dori (the street the promenade parallels) from the promenade.

Near the farthest point of my walk, perhaps a mile from the point where I started.

I find it a little surprising that they put it in English. This is in an area where I think there are very few English speakers, and few of them who would be unable to handle the Japanese.

A tile embedded in the promenade. This looks like an old map of the area.

Hollyhock.

I saw a couple of maps which showed a fairly direct route from near the annex back to the house via regular roads, so I decided to try it. At one point I became uncertain which way to go, but I knew that going right would either get me where I wanted to go or back to the promenade. Eventually I arrived at an intersection a couple of blocks from my brother's house and got back to the house just after 9:00. After that it was a relaxed day of newspapers and TV and occasionally looking in on the cats. They spent most of their time in the main bedroom, but Yang Yang also liked to spend time looking out from the breezeway between the two houses. Once in a while Minka joined him for a moment.

Yang Yang in the bedroom.

Minka on my s-i-l's bed.

My brother and s-i-l were due back late that evening, so I had dinner early and cleaned up the kitchen.

Chicken livers and hearts (they came attached to each other) sauteed with mushrooms etc. on toast points. Usual beverages.

When the folks got back we had a little collation which included some German cheeses and pastries I had bought. I got to bed about 1:30.

June 7  Friday was my return to the States (via Toronto).

My brother in what I understand is a fairly typical pose with the cats. Minka doesn't curl up in a lap, just drapes herself over one thigh. Yang Yang is not a lap cat at all. (If you recognize my brother, please keep it confidential).

My sister-in-law drove us to the station, where my brother and I caught a train to Shinjuku. There my brother made sure I found the train to Narita. It turned out my flight was delayed, which meant less time in Toronto. So I decided just to stick close to the gate. After an hour or so I realized that the gate I was at was my seat number, not the plane's departure. Fortunately, there was plenty of time to recover from that misreading of the boarding pass.

The flights were smooth and uneventful, although the Tokyo-Toronto leg went well south of the normal route, making the distance considerably longer than normal, but the pilot made up for it by flying about 100 mph faster than normal, so our flight time was about as scheduled. I suppose the change of route was to avoid rough weather.

I arrived home in a downpour from a tropical storm and got drenched just going from the van to my front door.

It was a pleasant and relaxing time in Japan, and my brother was very grateful. He said that if I hadn't come, he'd either have cancelled his trip or spent the whole time worrying about the cats.

Well, that concludes the trip. I may post a follow-up, with some words about the cost of the whole thing and pics of the loot I picked up, but these five "diary" posts give you the basics. I hope it was somewhat interesting.

Snow — Blizzard of 2013 etc.

Here are some pics from my iPod, because my regular camera wouldn't turn on. I hope the quality isn't too bad.

First a couple from a light snowfall a few days ago. I like to have fun making patterns other than just straight lines, conditions permitting.

 

Looking up the street

Looking from the side door

Looking from across the street

Now for pics from the aftermath of the blizzard.

Back of the house

Between house and garage. The large pile in the foreground is from my plowman's work on the driveway. Hidden behind it, alongside the garage is an area about 6 ft. (or 2 m) wide — about half the distance to the back steps which the wind blew clear: the grass was glazed but visible.

The plowman shoveled the sidewalk from the driveway to the side door, and my good neighbors snowblew and shoveled the back steps and the area adjacent to them which the wind hadn't already done, but I still had to shovel the front walk because that's where the deliverer tosses the Boston Globe early in the morning. Just after I started, I decided I should get some pictures of how it looked before I finished the project. So that's when I took the two pics above and the next three.

Front of house, with shovel handle

Same from the middle of the street. I've only dug to the middle of the windrow left by the plowing.

Same, closer. As you can see, the wind scoured the roofs pretty well.

When I finished shoveling the walk — which took about 45 minutes, going at an easy pace, with frequent pauses of 10-15 seconds — I took the following pics from inside.

Kitchen window with snow on the storm window.

Front walk, with ice on the storm door — piles of snow from my efforts by the tree and to the left.

Then it was time to have a cup of malt-flavored Ovaltine.

Tomorrow, I'll have to cut a way through the windrow in front of the side door to provide access to the USPS letter carrier. It shouldn't take too long, since the walkway between it and the door has already been cleared, as I mentioned. I'm not sure if I'll also try to shovel the sidewalk along the street in front of my house.

Picture Post — Rothenburgiana

Here are some pictures which are related to things I wrote about in connection with my time in Germany last September. They are not pictures of events there, but of souvenirs of earlier contacts: things I have here in my home. Click on pictures to enlarge.

This is the replica of the Meistertrunk beaker which the Junge Schar gave me on one of my visits. Naturally, it is one of my most prized possessions. I'm not sure how easy it will be to read the writing. The central figure is the Emperor. To the left are the spiritual electors (one visible in this view) and to the right, the temporal electors (two visible). To the left of the top of the throne is the date 1616, the date of an expected visit from the Emperor Matthias, which didn't take place. It is in its normal place in my living room.

 Here we have the Meistertrunk beaker with a liter-sized mug (Maßkrug) from 1990 to the left and a normal sized (1/2 liter) tankard on the right. The beaker is about 10 1/4 inches to the rim, and about 16 1/4 inches to the top of the lid. The Maßkrug shows former mayor Nusch drinking the meistertrunk. It's 7 1/2 inches high. The tankard shows a scene of the encampment outside the walls. It shows a member of the Junge Schar preparing their meal in a large kettle. The Junge Schar banner is hanging above. The cook of the group "Hackschnack," gave it to me and said this was a picture of him because he noticed an artist drawing the scene one day when he was cooking. It does look like him. I told him I'd think of him every time I used it; and he kissed me. He died of stomach cancer about 10 years ago. And I do think of him whenever I use it.

I've turned the beaker and the tankard, Above the spiritual electors are the names of their archdioceses, "Trier Cölln (Cologne) Meintz (Mainz)," and below them the coats of arms of their bishoprics. The scene on the mug is the city herald on a horse outside the walls

The back of the beaker. The mug shows an imperial flag bearer inside the city.

The secular electors. Left to right "Böhmen (Bohemia –actually written above the emperor because of space limitations) Pfaltz (Palatinate) Sachsen (Saxony) Brandenburg" with their arms below them. I've recently learned that each elector had a titular office in the empire, and I believe the objects the electors are holding relate to those titles. On the mug, Hackschnack is to the right of the kettle. TO the left is a member of another group, the Panduren.

A couple of years ago a former Junge Scharler, Hannes, visited North America with his wife and daughters. I treated them to dinner in Boston and gave them a little tour of my hometown. After leaving the Junge Schar, Hannes joined the Feldschmiede (Field Smithy) group which his father had founded. As a thank-you gift he sent me the candle holder, which was made by another member of his group. And when I was there in September, Hannes made the nail for me. The nail is 3 5/8 inches log, and the candle holder 4 1/2 inches high.

Another view.

To the left is a picture of the Junge Schar with me in uniform in the group. It was taken in 1991. To the right is Stefan in the uniform of Hans Staudt, jun., the leader of the Junge Schar

Same picture of Stefan as Staudt jun. To the right is a picture I took of the Junge Schar in 1990.

A drawing Stefan drew in his last or next to last year (+2, it says) of Gymnasium (high school), which he gave me on one of my visits in the early '90's. I keep it in my bedroom.

A painting by Stefan's dad, dated 2002. It shows the semi-abstract crucifix (showing the resurrected Christ) which hangs in St. John's church, with the gothic-style window behind it. The picture hangs in my dining room.