A gentle rain is falling at the skete, the skies are dark, snow is predicted and the winds are kicking up. This morning as we walked to the Chapel it was 61℉. The meteorologists say it will be 18℉ when we walk to the Chapel on Thursday morning. This Winter's weather has been intense, to say the least.
It is quiet here, very quiet. Rosary Class has just ended and afterward we had a wonderful time of fellowship as we broke bread together around the table at Anna House.
Just an hour before Rosary Class begun, our Spring Break Guests were leaving. Anna and Jeff left for the North and Fr. Paul, Grant, Bethany, Carolyn and Vincent returned to the South.
Anna and Jeff are part of the skete, coming here as often as their schedule allows.
They know the routine and the skete has become "home away from home" to them.
Fr. Sterne also is a familiar figure around here and has been a part of Nazareth House for many years. He is one of the few people who have traveled to Sierra Leone with us. This Spring break he brought with him (through the CS Lewis Student Center & St. Theodore's Chapel, Columbia, South Carolina) some kind souls who wished to offer themselves in any service they could. I wasn't sure how to deal with such an offer of generosity or what exactly they had in mind.
We've had many come through these doors. We've had those who came out of curiosity to "check things out", we've had those who come to offer their opinion of how things should be done and we've had those who want to learn the ways of the skete to incorporate them back home and/or in the marketplace. There have been those who have come to deepen their prayer life, and even some that come here we still haven't figured out why. But here this week, we had people focussed on being of service to NHA and to the skete.
Vincent continually asked for us to give him work "I am full of energy, give me manual labor," he expressed. And that he did. With Carolyn, he trimmed down all the unruly dried up "monkey grass" so that its new shoots could resurface green and lush. They even cleaned out the chicken coop!
On Monday and Tuesday of this week, they all volunteered to sort medical supplies in the name of Nazareth House Apostolate at Supplies Over Seas (SOS) in Louisville. This is the Non-Profit Organization that makes it possible for organizations like us to provide the much needed medical provisions in Sierra Leone. After completing a full days work at SOS, the group from The C.S. Lewis Student Center & St. Theodore's Chapel returned to the skete with a box full of wound care supplies and blood pressure cuffs to be sent to Sierra Leone ASAP.
We did manage to get one night around the campfire
including launching a trance balloon
but other than dinner each night together and Compline we didn't get to see as much of each other as we would have liked - because everyone was working.
While the group from South Carolina were working at SOS, Anna cleaned Anna House
and Jeff got all my printers and gadgets hooked up and synced.
Jesús put up the Lamp Post Posters along the driveway.
Spring Break Week at St. Simeon certainly helped us "Spring Forward" and we are most grateful for the tremendous help from everyone this week.
...and with everything in working order in my office there is much administrative work I must tend to so for now I bid you goodbye. Look for another post toward the end of this week.
Cheers!
Vicki
It is quiet here, very quiet. Rosary Class has just ended and afterward we had a wonderful time of fellowship as we broke bread together around the table at Anna House.
Just an hour before Rosary Class begun, our Spring Break Guests were leaving. Anna and Jeff left for the North and Fr. Paul, Grant, Bethany, Carolyn and Vincent returned to the South.
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| James and Anna last Autumn at the Skete |
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| Discussion of the Kiddush Cup used at Morning Mass at the Skete |
They know the routine and the skete has become "home away from home" to them.
 |
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| The trimming of the "monkey" grass by Vincent and Carolyn |
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| Supplies available at very reasonable prices at SOS |
On Monday and Tuesday of this week, they all volunteered to sort medical supplies in the name of Nazareth House Apostolate at Supplies Over Seas (SOS) in Louisville. This is the Non-Profit Organization that makes it possible for organizations like us to provide the much needed medical provisions in Sierra Leone. After completing a full days work at SOS, the group from The C.S. Lewis Student Center & St. Theodore's Chapel returned to the skete with a box full of wound care supplies and blood pressure cuffs to be sent to Sierra Leone ASAP.
We did manage to get one night around the campfire
 |
| Compline around the fire pit |
including launching a trance balloon
 |
| Named "trance balloon" because you stand still and watch it fly into the distance |
but other than dinner each night together and Compline we didn't get to see as much of each other as we would have liked - because everyone was working.
While the group from South Carolina were working at SOS, Anna cleaned Anna House
and Jeff got all my printers and gadgets hooked up and synced.
Jesús put up the Lamp Post Posters along the driveway.
...and with everything in working order in my office there is much administrative work I must tend to so for now I bid you goodbye. Look for another post toward the end of this week.
Cheers!
Vicki