From January 15-30, 2022, St. Paul's Monastery is hosting an Online Winter Marketplace, featuring unsold items from Christmas at the Monastery 2021 with significant discounts. Shop now before these items run out!

Happy New Year to you! At the Monastery, we do not celebrate with loud noisemakers and cheering at midnight to welcome in the New Year, nor do we celebrate New Year’s like the Romans by offering sacrifices to Janus (a Roman god), exchanging gifts, attending parties, and decorating with laurel branches. As a monastic community, we do not celebrate in the shadow of the secular world. Instead, we celebrate a Holy Day of Obligation, The Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God who is the Author of Life in the mystery of salvation. "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me."

Angels played an important role as messengers in the sacred scriptures. They announced new life to Sarah and Abraham, Elizabeth and Zachariah, Mary and Joseph. In the Magnificat, or Canticle of Mary (Luke 1: 46-49, NRSVCE), we are reminded: "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me."

Every November, we have a special day set aside to be thankful. Our tradition is rooted in the tradition and practice of ancient Israel, where gratitude was not once a year, but a part of daily life. Many of the psalms we pray today show the people’s remembrance of God’s blessings not only in their own lives, but also throughout creation and in the lives of their ancestors who had come before them. They remembered God’s action and presence in their lives and all the gifts they had by God’s grace and love.

As the warm green season of summer blends into a cooler, golden autumn, the frosty winter lays ahead of us. Here in Minnesota, black bears have long been preparing for the cold months of winter. As early as  midsummer, bears begin digging holes for a den or searching out a small cave or hollow tree trunk. Bears may spend up to twenty hours a day eating and gaining weight for nourishment during the coming winter months.

Say what? Alleluia in September and it’s not even the Easter Season. As the Monastery continues to navigate the pandemic and Say what? Alleluia in September and it’s not even the Easter Season. As the Monastery continues to navigate the pandemic and challenge our norms, we move forward and enter what some call a “new norm.”