PONTIFF'S LAST DAY TODAY

 

POPE  BENEDICT  XVI  STEPS  DOWN

 

Today our Supreme Pontiff,  Benedict XVI,  steps down as pope for our Roman Catholic Church!   Along with so much of the world community, we thank him for his service to our Church and world community and we pray for him in this new stage of his life.      We pray for him and we pray that the Holy Spirit will guide and direct our cardinal electorate who are charged with choosing his successor:

        That Pope Benedict XVI,  who has served the Church faithfully as Supreme Pontiff, may find peace and consolation as he turns to a life of prayer for the Church,   we pray to the Lord!

        That the Holy Spirit will inspire and strengthen the Cardinal - electors as they choose a new Holy Father to lead us,  we pray to the Lord! 

 

 

NAZARETH HERMITAGE

 

(chapel at Nazareth Hermitage)

NAZARETH HERMITAGE

 

"Hermits are those who choose to live alone in silence for religious reasons.  They dwell on the fringes of the church ...this eremitic life has a long tradition in the church, beginning with the desert saints of the second and third centuries.

Nazareth Hermitage was established in 1976 with the permission of the local bishop.  Each hermit lives in his or her own hermitage, a small cement-block house dug into the side of the ridge.  Windows look out over the trees to the distant vistas of the oak-pine forest.  Once a week they gather for a common vegetarian meal, which they take turns cooking.

Each hermit rises early, at 3 a.m.  Each prays the liturgy of the hours alone.  There's a flexible structure to their day, allowing each hermit to adapt to whatever seems best suited to their needs, while incorporating various practices common to all.  One practice, for example, is agreeing to work only three hours a day in the winter and four hours in the summer."

Rich Heffern penned those words in an article he wrote for NCR about our Nazareth Hermitage here on property donated to them by the Trappist monks of Assumption Abbey in rural Ava, MO.    It captures for you some of the tone of their life together in prayer.   They do share daily Eucharist.   Along with two sisters,  Sr. Mary and Sr. Miriam,  the other founder, Fr. Leon,  is a Trappist hermit who has been there from the beginning with the sisters.    Today there are 7 hermits living as part of the hermitage.

Sharing remotely in their lives, but always in their prayers, the friars here are blessed by their presence here on the monastery property.   Pray for them,  as we do.   They are certainly praying for you and the many needs of our Church and world.

 

ASSUMPTION ABBEY

 

(Assumption Abbey - Ava, MO)

Our Prayer Fraternity is located on property belonging to the Trappist monks at Assumption Abbey in rural Ava, MO.   In September 1950, six Trappist monks arrived from New Melleray Abbey near Dubuque, IA, to start a new foundation here in the 'hills and hollers' of the Ozarks.   The 3400 acres of the property were donated by Joseph and Lily Pierson. 

The name Assumption Abbey was chosen, since in the year 1950, Pope Pius XII proclaimed the dogma of Our Lady's Assumption into heaven.    The early monks lived first in an old Swiss stone chalet house (with no central heating and no electricity and no running water) that Mr. Pierson had on the grounds used for hunting purposes.   Gradually, the monks built other buildings around the house.   In 1971, they moved into the new monastery pictured above.

The first monks supported themselves by farming and orchards (that didn't fair well in this area); secondly, they utilized the rocks, sand, and gravel in the creeks to make concrete blocks (this was more successful but very hard work); for the past 25 years, the monks have supported themselves with a very successful 'fruitcake' business. 

In 1972,  Assumption Abbey assisted in beginning a new Trappist foundation in the Phillippines.    In 1976,  Nazareth Hermitage (with 3 hermits) was begun on another section of the property about 2 miles from the Abbey.   The Franciscans arrived in 2005 to open their Interprovincial Prayer Fraternity on another section of the property, also about 2 miles distance from the Abbey.   

Today, these three communities are a great support to each other and  provide a 'spiritual oasis' here in southwestern Missouri, as part of the diocese of Springfield/Cape Girardeau.    Pray for us as we do for you!  

 

 

INTERPROVINCIAL FRANCISCAN PRAYER FRATERNITY

 

 

TOUR OF FRIARY BUILDINGS

Throughout this blog, there are many different pictures of our buildings here in rural Ava, Missouri as well as the grounds, etc.   If you would like to see a complete VISUAL TOUR OF THE FRIARY AND GUEST ROOMS, go to the 'Archives' section of this blog, to the year '2010', and click on 'July'.    ENJOY!