OF THIS AND THAT

Today is Martinmass Day-- always celebrated in the monastery with a bit of festivity. In monasteries, St. Martin is the patron of bursars, so ours who is new, was especially remembered at the Intercessions at Lauds: "May her burden be light and her grey hairs few!" This from a former bursar who really knows what goes on in that small office!

So, there was roast beef for dinner and one sister lost her tooth crown!

Earlier in the morning one of the radiator pipes in the print shop was found to be leaking and spurting water all over the binding equipment! The monastery is old and beginning to show its age!

The last few night have been cold and there was white frost on the cloister roof. We are hoping for snow before December 6th, when Sr. Mary Remedios goes back to Cainta, Philippines. Meanwhile, the gardens still need to be cleaned out and turned before winter sets in. We've come to the decision that the raspberry bushes have run their course and will have to be dug out! A huge job! With all the rain this summer, we should've had a plenteous crop but we only got a few handfuls of berries. We're not sure if we're going to replace them. The general impression seems to be that we're tired of raspberries and will plant strawberries again.

Lately, the interest shown by young women in our Dominican monastic life has been encouraging. The requests for more information have been world wide! An international novitiate would be exciting!

Sr. Remedios has a huge canning jar on the kitchen counter filled with eggs! She is salting them; a Filipino delicacy!