The Oblates of Mount Saviour Monastery

From Fr Michael Perry ….

CHRIST IS RISEN !
Well, it may have been a quiet week in Lake Woebegone but it was even quieter here at our monastery, our/us being the oblates

Brother John and the brothers decided to take a very hard line in applying the rules of safety in this COVID crisis.  Everything is shut down and, with the exception of delivery people, no one can come past the front door or into the Chapel.  That made for a very quiet week and a silent atmosphere.
Fr Don Curtis was the celebrant for all the liturgies and each of the ceremonies was adjusted to our circumstances.  No processions, no frills.
And profoundly beautiful in the simplicity.
I have been here since March 5 and hope to stay until we all get the word that it is safe to go home. All the monks and l have managed to stay healthy proving that an ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure.  At the door to the refectory, where if it were a chapel they would have a bowl of holy water, we have the giant size dispenser of hand sanitizer.  It is really funny to see us squirt our hands and not bless ourselves.
There are(unfortunately) few enough of us that each one has his own table giving “social distance” a new meaning because we are too far from one another to be social.  So all meals are in silence.
It has snowed a few times during Holy Week but Easter was as glorious as one would hope.  And there is more snow coming despite the million daffodils that are blooming all around.  God bless the man who planted them !
From what l have heard, shearing is still planned but on an invitation only basis.  With a wisdom that is effective rules are being kept for safety sake even if it will mean no participation from people outside the community.
Except, of course, the sheerer who will be staying in StGertrude’s with Eve who is also well.
I’m sure the brothers join me in wishing you every blessing of this Pascal season, especially wisdom and good health.

Christ is risen indeed !
Fr Michael Perry
(Oblate Br Emmanuel)