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Br. Mark Filut, 1933-2019 On September 25th, we buried our dear brother, Mark Filut, and here is Abbot Peter’s Homily for the occasion.  We deeply appreciate your prayers for our deceased brother.

Now that we are firmly established in the Easter season, we can profitably look back and savor, once more, a fine homilies by our Abbot Peter. We present to you here, Abbot Peter’s Homily for the Easter Vigil Mass.

My dear brothers & friends,  It is in chapter 4 of the letter to the Hebrews that we are warned:  The word of God is something alive & active, it cuts like any double edged sword but more finely. It can slip through the place where the soul is divided from the spirit or joints from the marrow.

On Saturday, December 1st, our community celebrated the Feast of the Dedication of Our Monastic Church, which initially happened on December 8th, 2007. One of our brothers offered a post-communion meditation for the occasion, and we offer our brother’s reflection for your reading here: Meditation: Dedication of Our Church: 12-01-2018

Our beloved brother, Fr. Mark, was found dead this morning, lying peacefully in bed with his hands clutched tight around a small crucifix. Fr. Mark spent the majority of his monastic vocation as a hermit living either in a trailer or the cabin. Though his physical heart’s health was unstable for many years, his spiritual heart was pure light. Fr. Mark was a very, very beautiful and holy man who loved Jesus and us profoundly.

Easter Triduum 2018 Now that we are firmly established in the Easter season, we can profitably look back and savor, once more, two homilies by our Abbot Peter. We present to you here, Abbot Peter’s Homily for both Holy Thursday and the Easter Vigil Mass. Holy Thursday Homily 2018 by Abbot Peter McCarthy Easter Vigil Homily 2018 by Abbot Peter McCarthy

It was over twenty Easters ago … the first time I preached on this Easter Gospel text from Mark. This was prior to the “new” Lectionary and guess what … the final line of this Gospel had not been amputated! Let me give it to you straight:

Every time I’ve found myself reflecting on these Holy Thursday readings this week, a particular poem kept surfacing in my mind until it apparently wore a hole in my thoughts!  I realized this morning that one line especially kept haunting my reflections.  It is not a contemporary poem, written over 100 years ago now by a very young, and at the time unknown German poet, Rainer Rilke:

Fr. Francis King, 1926-2017 On October 15th, we buried our dear brother, Fr. Francis King, and here is Abbot Peter’s Homily for the occasion. We deeply appreciate your prayers for our deceased brother.

Community News: Our July 2017 Monastic Life Participant, Josh Gross, has graciously agreed to share with us an experience from our MLR program. Thanks Josh for being with us!!! Reflection: “Monastic Life Retreat: July 2017” by Josh Gross

Community News: On the Feast of Saint Bernard, August 20th – 2017, We honored and celebrated four of our brothers celebrating sixty years of solemn vows. Br. Martin, Fr. Martinus, Fr. Francis, and Br. Alberic … thank you for your witness to monastic perseverance!

Fr. Mark Weidner, 1926-2017 On June 8th, we buried our dear brother, Fr. Mark Weidner, and here is Abbot Peter’s Homily for the occasion. We deeply appreciate your prayers for our deceased brother.

Easter Triduum 2017 Now that we are firmly established in the Easter season, we can profitably look back and savor, once more, two homilies by our Abbot Peter. We present to you here, Abbot Peter’s Homily for both Holy Thursday and the Easter Vigil Mass.

Midway along our road of life I woke to find myself in a secret dark wood, for I had lost the narrow path. To evoke what it was like – how hard, I barely could. This wood was savage, dense and strange! The thought of it renews those fears that I withstood, a place so bitter, only to be caught in death is worse. I cannot rightly say how I came there, I lost the true way wandering unaware,

Right Here on this Holy Thursday afternoon we find ourselves knee-deep in the final section of a very intense Gospel. The Passion Narrative of St. John: with all the swirling themes (layer upon layer) of Light & Darkness; Love & Betrayal; Fear & Courage; Truth & Deception; Violence & Forgiveness;

Ash Wednesday Homily On March 1st, 2017, our yearly celebration of Lent was inaugurated with a rousing homily by our Abbot. We present to you here, Abbot Peter’s Homily for the occasion.

Fr. Joseph Benedict Donnelly, 1916-2017 On March 2nd, 2017 at approximately 11:50 pm, our Fr. Joseph died quietly in bed. Fr. Joseph was a good and holy man who endured much in his final years as his health deteriorated. Thankfully, we were able to care for him, here, throughout it all. Fr. Joseph, in his decline, truly gave himself fully to our community and in so doing, became our communal heart. For Father’s 100’s birthday celebration, a brief biography was prepared: Joseph Benedict Donnelly was born on 3 October 1916 just outside of Philadelphia to Irish Catholic parents. His father was first generation Irish but his mother’s lineage goes back to the colonial days. In 1934 after graduation from high school, he entered the Maryknoll Fathers. At first he was studying Japanese but at the outbreak of World War II he switched to Spanish. Upon his ordination in 1943 he was destined to go to Chile, but then that was cancelled and he headed instead, to Peru, where he served, until 1965, when he entered the Trappists, here at Our Lady of Guadalupe. We deeply appreciate your prayers for our deceased brother.

Fr. Joseph Benedict Donnelly, 1916-2017 On March 11th, we buried our dear brother, Fr. Joe Ben, and here is Abbot Peter’s Homily for the occasion. We deeply appreciate your prayers for our deceased brother.