FRUITCAKE BAKING RESUMES

 

(Fr. Alberic removes cakes from oven)

 

 

2012 is here and the fruitcake enterprise at Assumption Abbey begins again in earnest today; Monday, January 30th.  THIS IS THE ABBEY'S 25th YEAR PRODUCING THEIR FAMOUS FRUITCAKES.   A special silver tin will celebrate the 25th year.   The first year of production only about 600 cakes were baked;  today,  production plans to make over 25,000 each year.

 

Over the next 45 weeks, the bakery will be in session 5 days a week, baking 125 cakes each day Monday through Friday.    The Abbey does not bake on special feast days and solemnities of the Church year.   The friars from the Prayer Fraternity here are part of the decorating and wrapping phases of production, working Tuesday through Saturday.

 

If you are interested in buying one of the fruitcakes, google Assumption Abbey / Ava, MO and go to the fruitcake section of the website.

PRAYER REFLECTION FROM YOUR PRAYER FRATERNITY

(picture from early 2011 ice storm)

 

COUNSEL ON PRAYER

                by  Jean-Pierre de Caussade

 

I have only two things to say on the subject of prayer:

 

Make it with absolute compliance with the will of God, no matter whether it be successful, or you are troubled with dryness, distractions, or other obstacles.

 

If it is easy and full of consolations, return thanks to God without dwelling on the pleasure it has caused you.

 

If it has not succeeded, submit to God, humbling yourself, and go away contented and in peace even if it should have failed through your own fault; redoubling your confidence and resignation to his holy will.

 

Persevere in this way and sooner or later God will give you grace to pray properly.

 

But whatever trials you may have to endure, never allow yourself to be discouraged.

 

 

(Jean-Pierre de Caussade was a Jesuit who lived in the 1600's, most well known for his treatise on Abandonment to the Divine Providence, and his letters to the Sisters of the Visitation whom he directed.)

 

 

POPE BENEDICT XVI AND PRAYER

 

POPE BENEDICT SPEAKS ABOUT PRAYING

 

 

In 2010, Pope Benedict agreed to a series of interviews with veteran journalist, Peter Seewald.  One of the questions asked of the Pontiff in the interview was: "And how does Pope Bendict pray?"   The pope responded with these words:

 

 

"As far as the Pope is concerned, he too is a simple beggar before God -- even more than all other people.  Naturally I always pray first and foremost to Our Lord, with whom I am united simply by old acquaintance, so to speak.    But I also invoke the saints.  I am friends with Augustine, with Bonaventure, with Thomas Aquinas.  Then one says to such saints also:  Help me!   And the Mother of God, is, in any case, always a  major point of reference.  In this sense I commend myself to the communion of saints.  With them, strengthened by them, I then talk with the dear Lord also, begging, for the most part, but also in thanksgiving -- or quite simply being joyful."

 

 

(from BENEDICT XVI,   LIGHT OF THE WORLD,   Ignatius Press,    p. 17)

 

 

 

 

HUMOR AND PRAYER

METHODS OF PRAYING.

 

As we consider methods of praying, a little humor may offer some enlightenment to the subject.

 

 

A priest, a minister and a guru sat discussing the best positions for prayer, while a telephone repairman worked nearby. 

 

"Kneeling is definitely the best way to pray," the priest said.

 

"No," disagreed the minister.   "I get the best results standing with my hands outstretched to Heaven."

 

"You're both wrong," the guru put in.  "The most effective position is lying down on the floor."

 

At that, the repairman could contain himself no longer.  "Hey, fellas," he interrupted.  "The best prayin' I ever did was when I was hangin' upside down from the top of a telephone pole." 

PRAYER AND BLESSING FOR EPIPHANY

20  C + M + B  12

 

"Father, we give you thanks on this feast of the Epiphany, for leading the Magi from afar to the home of Christ who has given light and hope to all people.   By the power of the guiding Spirit, may his presence be renewed in our home.  Make our home a place of human wholeness and divine holiness, a place of joy and laughter, a place of forgiveness and peace, a place of prayer, service, and loving care for one another. 

 

As we mark this lintel, send the angel of mercy to guard our home and repel all powers of darkness.  Fill those living here with a love for the Gospel life and warm them with the fullness of your grace.

 

And so, Father, may all who dwell here or grace its portals with their presence in the coming year, find the joy and thoughtfulness of Mary, the God-Bearer, and thus praise and thank you eternally, together with Jesus, the Light of the Nations, in the unity of the Holy Spirit and the Church, now and forever.   AMEN."

 

(On the feast of the Epiphany, it is customary in some cultures to sign, with chalk, above the doorway, the initials of the three kings and the current year as seen above, as a blessing for the home in the coming year.   The prayer above is adapted from a similar blessing in FRANCISCANS AT PRAYER.)

HAPPY NEW YEAR -- 2012

(chapel door at Prayer Fraternity)

 

A PRAYER FOR THE NEW YEAR!

 

 

Dear Lord:

 

We are in the 15 millionth millennium of the universe.

We are in the 4.5 millionth millennium of the earth.

We are in the 4 millionth millennium of life.

We are in the 2,600 millennium of humans.

We are in the 3rd millennium of the common era.

 

Help us to know and understand that we are who we are today because of all that has existed before us.  May we realize that we carry in our bodies and spirits the struggles and changes, joys and sorrows, loves and hates that have occurred throughout all time.

 

In this New Year of 2012, help us know that we are called to live with the knowledge and awareness that we are a part of all that is and that our decisions have an affect on the quality of life for all beings.   We are called to live this connectedness that exists between all members of creation.  We are called to put our hands upon creation and speak to it in words and touch, telling it how lovely it is because it cannot remember.  We are called to remember loveliness for one another until each of us can remember, believe, and live in love.

 

 

(adapted from a prayer by Sr. Mary Goergen, OSF, in PRAYERS FOR A THOUSAND YEARS,  p. 7)