Without novices, however, the housework must still be done. And so we came together in a community meeting recently to decide how we would do it. The list of jobs was presented: cleaning bathrooms, lunchroom, hallways, etc., etc. Gradually, one by one, people began volunteering for these jobs. They knew it would either be that or be assigned to them. But still it was heartwarming to witness all that good will.

The newly gilded crosses have been installed on top our church towers and they are magnificent. But some of us were skeptical that anything as delicate as gold leaf could stand up to the ravages of nature. We have extreme temperatures and we have roaring winds that tear things apart. No, we were told, gold leaf is extremely durable. Well, apparently it can not withstand just anything. A certain owl has been perching up there at night and doing something besides hooting.

Fr. Hugo has been doing a lot of writing down there in Pine Bluffs, Wyoming, where he is parish priest (see last issue). Recently he published a feature on our confrere, Fr. Philip, in the Cheyenne diocese newspaper. Philip is spending a few months assisting the pastor of Jackson before assignment to the Hispanics of the diocese. The curious thing is that there are several Colombians in the Jackson parish, including the assistant priest Philip is replacing. Philip just returned from many years in our Colombian priory, Monasterio de Tibatí in Bogotá.

On Sunday, September 18, we had a nice musical event in our church here at the Abbey. Trio Apollo, a Bismarck-based woodwind group, played an assorted program of music entitled “A Lewis and Clark Musical Excursion.” Lewis and Clark did not play clarinet, oboe and bassoon like these women, but apparently they did dance to fiddle and harmonica when things got dull. With its vaulted ceilings to enhance the acoustics, the Abbey church is an ideal place for concerts.

But the blizzard was not all bad. Best of all, it brought 1.6 inches of precipitation and meant that we would not go into winter with no sub-moisture. It had hardly rained here since the 4th of July. Our cattle were stranded without feed, but in no real danger because the temperatures were not very low. The farm-crew managed to bring them in for some lunch after all.

We had an unusual visitor this October in Felipe Mora, who graduated in June from our Colegio San Carlos, our school in Bogotá, Colombia. He is college-bound and also interested in pursuing a monastic vocation in our priory in Bogotá, Monasterio de Tibatí. At any rate, he was able to travel for some months in this country, and he decided to stop in here on his itinerary. While here, he teamed up with Brother Bertrand on the recorder for some very nice music during our Sunday liturgy.

Bro. Llewellyn spent a couple of weeks in Minnesota this month showing his pottery at the College of St. Benedict. He was part of a show called “Taking It With Us,” in honor of the retirement of Sister Denis Frandrup, his teacher. Llewellyn was able to stay at nearby Saint John’s Abbey where he had lived during his schooling fifteen years ago. During this same period, Bro. Aelred vacationed at Saint John’s lake cabin in the North Woods of Minnesota.

Fr. Terrence traveled to Clyde, Missouri, to give a retreat to the Benedictine Sisters October 1-7. Clyde is in the northwestern corner of Missouri, only two miles from Conception Abbey. Both of them are large communities with well over a hundred years of history behind them. The Sisters operate a factory for the making of altar breads. Since their numbers are down and their age is up (like most of us!), they have had to automate much of this production.

The Liturgical Press came out this fall with a book of meditations on the Rule of Benedict by Fr. Terrence. The title is Day by Day with Saint Benedict. It is a volume of 286 pp. ($14.95, very cheap!) and includes a 200-word meditation on the Holy Rule for every day of the year. As the author worked away at this project last year, he began to notice that there really are quite a few days in a year.

Lent started early this year for Bro. Pius when he fell and broke his femur bone in early October. After surgery, he spent weeks at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Dickinson doing physical therapy. But Pius is good at therapy; he has been inventing his own exercises for arthritis for years. Presumably he showed the therapists at St. Joe’s a trick or two. He also watched more TV baseball than he had before in his long life.

Bro. Gregory took the vacation of a lifetime in Los Angeles this month. In honor of his 40th anniversary of profession, his relatives (Bill Goetz, chairman) gave him a plane ticket to anywhere in the USA. In the follow-up interrogation by his fellow monks, Gregory said that he did not go to Disneyland because 1) It is too expensive. 2) It takes all day. As for Las Vegas, well, don’t even ask. But he did get to Prince of Peace Abbey, Oceanside, CA, so he had a nice busman’s holiday.

Fr. Thomas has been busy again this fall visiting the Catholic schools of the region. He sometimes works alone and sometimes participates in vocation programs that feature diocesan and religious speakers and representatives. Of course, grade and high school children are too young to know what they want to do with their lives, but at least

everyone who attends a Catholic school should know that monks and nuns still exist, and it is still possible to become one.

November was a time of retreat for Fr. Terrence, but he did not spend it in a monastery. He was taken to St. Alexius Hospital, Bismarck, with kidney failure on November 6. Two days later, doctors removed a large stone and the patient began to return to the land of the living. Life in a modern hospital often consists of being hauled in and out of large, shiny machines. If you are lucky, these hi-tech contraptions eventually reveal what is wrong with you. But it is still the doctors and nurses who bring you back to health with tender, loving care. All you have to do is accept their ministrations.

On November 2, Fr. Lawrence climbed into his car and headed south—a long way south. His destination, St. Walburga Monastery, Virginia Dale, CO, where he will be chaplain for the next six months. St. Walburga, which was founded from Eichstaett, Germany, as were most of our American female monasteries, is one of the strictly contemplative Benedictine monasteries in the country. It was founded in Boulder, CO, but in recent years the nuns found themselves surrounded by suburbia, so they moved to a rather remote spot on the Wyoming border north of Fort Collins, CO. The elevation of the new monastery is so high that they cannot raise a garden! But now they are closer to God, and so is Fr. Lawrence.

Owl Update: The church crosses have been strategically wired, so there will be no more hooting.

On November 25, Frs. Gerald and Sebastian set out for Bogotá, Colombia, where they were honored guests at the 40th anniversary celebration of the first graduating class at Colegio San Carlos (1965). These two men were members of our priory of Tibatí at that time, so they provide a living link with the beginnings.

Over the weekend of November 18-21, Brothers Anthony and Aelred drove to Sidney, MT, to participate in a youth retreat called Big Sky TEC. They functioned as adult staff members for the program. TEC retreats resemble the Search retreats that were held for many years at the Abbey. Now that Search has moved its operations to Minot, it seems that the brothers want to keep in touch with youth work, even if they have to travel to find it.

On Sunday, November 20, Brothers John Patrick and Bertrand traveled to Bismarck, where they attended the play “Dead Man Walking” at the University of Mary. The main attraction for them was the fact that our very own Bro. Michael played one of the roles. Apparently one of the actors had to drop out, so Michael stepped in on short notice. He did fine, but he says it took a lot out of him.