Still in the Country

I've not returned to Slovenia.  Yet.  Not until May.  However, since returning home I've had fewer Masses on Sundays.  In addition I am moving to the Boston College community in two days.  It is only about eight miles away.  The moving itself will be piecemeal.  Most of my clothes are in the new house.  Will take some things tomorrow and Thursday.  At some point Thursday night I will get a ride from Campion to BC and that will be that.  Will need help with a few things such as my futon and a lot of boxes of books but BC will supply that.  

In addition, I spent over a week on the road driving from Weston to Malvern, PA to officiate at a cousin's wedding.  It was great.  The day after the wedding I drove up to Newburgh, NY, spent the night and then drove in a miserable rain to Arlington, VT.  The rain eased up in Albany.  Alas, that meant ninety minutes in driving rain, trucks, and the dark as I left at 5:30 AM.  Long long trip.  Seemed much longer than the three hours that it took.  However, Tuesday was magnificent.  We'd moved some of my talks to Monday so suddenly I had a free day with perfect photo weather.  Photos at the bottom. 

Eager to get started with the new work.  It will be interesting to live on a college campus again.  There is a different sense of energy on a campus though at times it would be nice if it were at a bit lower volume.  Especially after midnight.  

Will probably post a homily in a day or two when it is ready.  Tomorrow is the Feast of St. Luke.  The following day is the North American Martyrs. That is the day I move to BC.  Am looking forward to a few weeks of not much travel or activity.  

One of the cloister walks.  The monastery is in the brutalist fashion.  It is one of the very few brutalist buildings I like.  It works.  It will probably stand forever.  

The monastic church, choir stalls, lecterns and altar.  The central time of  Carthusian life is the night office that begins with the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin in the cell beginning at 11:30 PM.  At midnight the community meets in the church for a two to three hours of the night office.  Mass at 7:45 AM and vespers at 5.  Otherwise the men remain alone in silence. 

The main altar and tabernacle.

The stained glass is magnificent.  It is non-figurative in purple, blues, and gold.  The light suffuses the entire church in a warm glow depending on the time of day. 

The books are very large, old, in Latin, and use Gregorian chant.  

The graveyard is in the center of the cloister.  A Carthusian is buried beneath a simple cross with no name, date of birth, death, or anything else.  He is buried as anonymously as he lived. 

Sunrise overlooking Arlington, VT.  This is from a point about 2/3 up Mt. Equinox.

Sunrise reflected in the windshield of the car. 

+Fr. Jack, SJ, MD