A Bit of Monastic Life

In case you have been wondering why there have been no new posts since I departed the US, it's due to the monastic life I entered upon my arrival at Maria Laach Abbey. It seems that in addition to the austere room, internet access is only available in one small portion of the complex, and even that is no sure thing. In fact, this evening is the first time I have been able to get a good, steady connection, so I am hoping to get somewhat caught up on my postings.

I left St. Louis on Thursday, September 8 at 1:07 p.m. in the rain. After a brief connection in Atlanta, I arrived in Frankfurt at 8:15 a.m. on Friday, September 9. The splurge for Business Class was worth every cent. I arrived in Germany well fed and fairly well rested. Getting through immigration and customs went quickly and I was then met by my driver for the hour plus drive to the Maria Laach Abbey. Upon my arrival at the Abbey I was shown to my room, pictured here.

Other than my friend, Gereon, who is the organist at the Abbey church and my main contact for my time here, only a few folks speak English (haltingly!) and there is not an English word to be found. So, yes, I really am in Germany!

After a short nap on Friday (in lieu of lunch), I met up with Gereon who gave me a quick tour of the Abbey Church, where we later went back for Vespers at 5:30 p.m. The monks chant Vespers with organ accompaniment. Following Vespers and a short break, there was an organ recital in the Abbey Church at 7:00 p.m. What an amazing instrument (3 manuals, 66 stops). I can't wait to get my fingers on it at some point during my stay.

Following the recital I joined Gereon, his wife and young son, the recitalist and his family, one of the monks and a few other folks for dinner. We drove past a McDonald's, but fortunately kept going and ate at the Vulkun Brauhaus. It was already going on 9:00 p.m. by this time, but I enjoyed some good German food (roasted pork, potatoes and red cabbage). I didn't get back to my room until around 10:30 p.m. My sleep schedule must have still been off kilter, because I wasn't able to fall asleep until 3:00 a.m., but slept in until 10:15 a.m., so I think I will be back on a more normal schedule beginning tonight.

Saturday, September 10

After beginning today a bit late, I went to the Abbey Church to hear the monks chant the noonday prayers (a capella this time!). Immediately following the noonday prayers, my friend Gereon played a 45 minute Orgelmatinee, an event he does every Saturday. After the organ concert I had a late lunch. We (Gereon, his family and myself) were going to take an afternoon walk around the Maria Laach (Lake), but Gereon fell asleep when he went home to pick up his wife and son, so we didn't make it over to the Lake. But as Gereon said when he apologized - the Lake isn't going anywhere so we can do it another time this week. In lieu of the walk, I spent the afternoon relaxing and reading in my room, which I suppose is a very "sabbatical" thing to do.

I again attended Vespers, after which I had a private dinner in the staff dining room. And, as you now know, the rest of the evening so far (it's currently 8:00 p.m.) has been spent catching up on this blog while I am connected to the outside world!

I have included a few pictures of the Maria Laach Abbey Church and organ below. The only audio/video recordings I have so far are on my phone and I haven't yet been able to get them transferred to my computer. Over the next days I will record using the camcorder which will make it easier to download and include either on the blog (although videos may not be more than 25mb) or on my YouTube channel. So stay tuned.

After morning mass tomorrow, Gereon and I are off to Belgium. On our Monday return we plan to make a few more stops in Belgium and possibly the Netherlands before arriving back at the Abbey.