MY DEAR FRIENDS,

Greetings to all of you from the monastery!

The monks continue much as always, with their daily round of prayer, work, and community life. You are all very much always in our hearts and in our prayers. We may be getting older, but we are still enjoying the grace that comes from living as Saint Benedict taught us. My own health continues to rebound after my surgery last August, and I have resumed a full round of duties.

As I write this, the winter doldrums may be here in force, but there is the hope of spring on the horizon, and we are preparing for the holy season of Lent, as it prepares us for that great celebration of the Paschal Mystery of Easter.

I make Saint Paul’s words my own, as he sums up what all of us monks wish for all of you:

We ask that through perfect wisdom and spiritual understanding you should reach the fullest knowledge of his will, and so be able to lead a life worthy of the Lord, a life acceptable to him in all its aspects, bearing fruit in every kind of good work and growing in knowledge of God, fortified, in accordance with his glorious strength, with all the power to persevere and endure, giving thanks with joy to the Father who has made you able to share the lot of God’s holy people and with them inherit the light. (Colossians 1: 9-12)

May God richly bless you all!

Yours in the Lord,

Abbot Gregory Mohrman, O.S.B., ‘76