March 19, 2016
Here it is, the final few steps in the journey of Lent. Already the eastern sky is beginning to glow with the promise of the rising sun. We will soon enter into the holy days of Jesus’ merciful love made manifest. May these days be rich with the mercy and love of God for you! Our trees and flowering bushes are alive with color, especially the forsythia. Our beautiful Bradford pear tree is dropping its petals in the winds we have been experiencing, but the tender spring-green leaves are covering it now. What a glorious sight!!
Now we are busy with Easter preparations: singing practices, all sorts of delicious aromas coming from the kitchen, the grounds around the abbey worked on to ready them for new growth. Everywhere you turn it leads to new life.
We are sprucing up the retreat house with the planting of muhly grass, a lovely ornamental grass that has ethereal pink flowers come September. We have to find a plant that the deer, which we have in abundance, don’t want to have for supper. Wish us luck! If this grass makes it, it will be beautiful against the retaining wall on the retreat house grounds. We’ve been spraying it with Deer Away or something of that sort to discourage any munching on it.
We recently had four lovely young women for a short vocational visit. It is beautiful to see the seeking and love for God so evident in their bright faces. May the Spirit guide them and all who are longing to give themselves to God in the vowed life. On the day they arrived, 
our dear Fr. Casimir returned to be with us for Holy Week and Easter. It is a joy to have him with us again. Our friend, Michael Downey is also here to add to our joy.
No journal entry is complete without a recap of our ravens. They now perch on a windowsill to alert us to the fact that they are hungry by calling out and pecking on the glass. Only one of them is becoming more-or-less tame. You can come within about five feet of her/him before it backs up to a more comfortable distance. Then comes the cawing for food. Of course, we break down and give them some stale bread. They have US trained… and we thought we were taming them!
Soon our friends Clay and Marcia will arrive with the beautiful sorting tables for our altar bread department. Clay is a master carpenter (among many other gifts) and has made them for us. He also made our gorgeous refectory tables, so we know the quality of his work. Besides all that, they are good friends and we are always gifted by their presence.
Blessings and love to each of you in the graced and glorious season! May Holy Week prepare you for an ever-deepening experience of God’s love at Easter in the Risen Christ.