Posts by Conception Abbey
Seminary Orientation
The new seminarians arrived and are slowly getting accustom to campus. As the new freshmen chaplain, I have the privilege of living on the residence floor with 26 freshmen. Yes, it is good news…numbers are up, with total enrollment at 108. This news is a great cause for hope in the Church. The freshmen seem…
Read MoreA Touch of Beauty
Campus is looking nice these days, plenty of beautiful colors. The seminarians return, so that will keep many of us plenty busy. Enjoy the colors!
Read MoreOpen Hearts, Open Doors
These past few days have been filled with God’s many blessings. On August 14, Novice Adam Haake, a priest of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, who has discerned a call to monastic life at Conception Abbey, is testing that call in the novitiate. During this one year period of discernment, he will pray and…
Read MoreOne Week
In just one week the new seminarians will be arriving at Conception Seminary College. Those monks directly (and indirectly) involved with their formation are making preparations during these last days. Just this morning I sat in on a meeting planning the arrival of the freshmen class, which I will oversee this year. We have 26…
Read MoreSummer Projects
The new students arrive for seminary orientation in less than two weeks. There are many small projects to complete before then. I was recently appointed as chaplain to the Freshman class, so this year I will reside in St. Michael’s Hall with the incoming Freshmen. The chaplain quarters needed a little work, so Postulant Adam…
Read MoreOn a Mission
I have been substituting at the Basilica of St. John in Des Moines, Iowa for the past couple of weeks and will be here through the end of the week. When the pastor, Fr. Aquinas Nichols, takes his summer vacation, usually one of our monks is asked to staff the parish. In recent years Fr.…
Read MoreNature, Up-close and Personal
I had a good response from the blog posting of our Br. Etienne’s macro photography, so I decided it was worth posting more. He takes some amazing detailed shots of flowers and insects, and it reveals a certain beauty in ways that the human eye isn’t normally able to see. Enjoy!
Read MoreOut in the Summer Heat
It is been a busy week and I have not been able to get these pictures up sooner. As these warm summer days continue, the work outside the monastery goes on. The sidewalks are looking very nice and will serve the monks and our guests well for many years to come. On the south side…
Read MorePave the Way
Workers were focusing their efforts on the south side of the monastery Monday morning and afternoon, where they are putting in a concrete patio area and continuing to finish the sidewalks around campus. Their work, however, was abruptly suspended due to an impressive rainfall that lasted most of the afternoon and into the evening. …
Read MoreOutside the Monastery
Plenty of work has been going on inside the monastery, but there is still a lot of work that needs to take place outside and around the building. The old concrete stairs on the west side of the monastery were demolished in order to put in new ones. Br. Etienne recently took some amazing macro…
Read More