September 15:A Day in the Life: Dorothyann Strange of Right On Strange Photography with iPhone photos
I am so glad that September 15th was the day chosen by fpoe so that I may share this experience with you. Today is the day my husband and I will meet a group of our friends from our church in Ohio at the Benedictine Archabbey and monastery in St. Meinrad, Indiana. As my husband and I are in the long process of moving from Ohio to Indiana, we are already nearby to this special place. It's a 6-hour trip for our St. Aloysius Church group.
We start our trip with coffee and breakfast at a nearby restaurant as we still don't have our fridge or cupboards stocked with anything useful to eat at the spur of the moment (we slept in this morning-yikes!).
Must…stop…at antique shop! My husband and I have a weakness for all things old and so antique shops are difficult to pass by. We didn't find anything we couldn't live without, fortunately, as we are moving into a much smaller home and don't know what to do with all that we have or at least don't agree on what we should get rid of.
We meet heavy traffic on the way to the monastery.
The two spires of the archabbey greet visitors miles away and is always a welcome site. The monastery is located in the middle of a national forest and with the twisted ribbon of highway snaking up and down, left and right through the hills, travel takes longer than expected (can you hear "are we there yet…?)
Our church group has never been to a monastery and my husband has a long history at St. Meinrad having attended high school and college back in the sixties here. I brought my three children here for many years to explore and play while my husband attended board meetings and have developed warm friendships with a number of the monks. This beautiful place has a calming, peaceful ambience that our Ohio friends will enjoy.
My husband and former classmate Father Harry struggle with computer issues before Father's presentation. A young seminarian comes to the rescue and Harry commences to teach us the history of monastic life and the Benedictine traditions of the St. Meinrad monastery. The latin phrase "Ora et labora" translates to 'prayer and work', and is the Benedictine mantra. Essentially, it means to pray and then to put your prayer to action. Harry says that in practice, it is "ora et labora et labora et labora…", a Benedictine joke.
Afterwards, I walk through the monastic campus to enjoy the night sky bright with stars, a hooting owl and the silence of the forest. I have always loved the calm of this secluded place and the warm friendships of those who choose to live here.
