Abbey

“Just returned from the lake…”

“Just returned from the lake…”

In Minnesota, (and Wisconsin for that matter!) this time of year you will often hear the words to the above title. Well, even though monks certainly do not have a personal lake cabin, we do as a community have a retreat in northern Minneosta for personal and group time away from Collegeville. Each year, as [...]

SJU Student Makes Gift to Abbey Retirement Fund

SJU Student Makes Gift to Abbey Retirement Fund

Jared Sherlock will be a senior at Saint John’s University this fall. He is a gifted young man and also a very talented stage magician. This past school year I had the pleasure of working with Jared and his fellow classmates as well as theatre staff from the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s [...]

Happy Feast of our Holy Father Benedict!

Happy Feast of our Holy Father Benedict!

Summer brings gardening…

Summer brings gardening…

I have heard that there is something that can be very therapeutic about gardening. I think I have learned this first hand within the past month. This summer one of the monastic associates asked if he could reclaim one of the many gardens on the property that had been neglected. (Actually, the monk that had [...]

Number 3 of 6!

Number 3 of 6!

Again had the pleasure of hosting 60 some youngsters for a tour of the Abbey Church as well as midday prayer.

Pictured are half the participants of the third session of Leadership Camp sponsored by Saint John’s Preparatory School.

A wonderful group of young people who are blessed to have excellent counselors and directors!
Peace, bpv

Monastic Bee Keepers…

Monastic Bee Keepers…

Two of the novices began keeping bees on campus again. Over the years the bee hives have “come and gone” and for a few years we were bottling honey for our own use. Two hives were begun again this spring with the novices being coached by monks who had kept them in the past. So [...]

Prep Summer Leadership Camp II

Prep Summer Leadership Camp II

Br. John Hanson and I had the pleasure of taking the second summer Leadership campers on a tour of the Abbey Church today. Below is the picture of my group. We have so many guests for midday prayer that we had to put the campers in the lower stalls – thus the poor picture with [...]

Saint John’s Prep School Summer Leadership Camp begins!

Saint John’s Prep School Summer Leadership Camp begins!

It was a pleasure to host the first week of Summer Leadership Camp as sponsored by Saint John’s Preparatory School. This week’s camp was for the ladies and they were a delightful group to have visit the Abbey Church for a tour wrapping up with midday prayer with the monks and other guests. They are [...]

YTM on campus again this summer!

YTM on campus again this summer!

YTM (Youth in Theology and Ministry) is back on campus this summer. YTM is an excellent program for high school age young people and their counselors (who are in college or post grad) to allowing them to explore their Christian Catholic faith in a very deliberate and intense way. The program this summer is fashioned [...]

Three Chapels Devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary

Three Chapels Devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary

Here is a short photo tour of three out-of-the-way chapels in Minnesota that are dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.  
GRASSHOPPER CHAPEL, COLD SPRING MN
(Dedicated to Mariä Himmelfahrt or the Assumption)  
Last summer, while driving back from an afternoon birthday tea for my mother, the idea came to me to visit the Grasshopper Chapel at Cold Spring. [...]