Sacred Stones, Sacred Stories

The new entrance is beginning to get some company – walkways and driveways!

Crews worked on concrete-related projects this week, laying forms for the new driveway and installing the walkway to the new entrance.

Eagle-eyed readers will also spot something else we’re really exited about….

Yes! They’re back! The medallions that once graced the west side entrance porch of our monastery. How wonderful it is to see them in their new home, in a prominent place of welcome for all our future guests!

This porch once graced the west side of our monastery, greeting visitors at the main entrance.

With renovations, we moved the main entrance to the south side. But we made sure to save some things.

Patiently waiting for a new home are the medallions that adorned the porch and the cross that rested on the top:

It will be wonderful to see these beautiful pieces – those that signify our monastic life and commitment to the Lord – once again grace our home.

These are portions of the columns from the porch that sheltered our former west entrance.

Installed in the 1920s, they took the brunt of winter’s wrath of snow and ice over the decades. Because of this we were unable to salvage them completely but look forward to finding a way to use parts of them somewhere else down the line.

It is part of our history now: the old entrance steps, porch and columns our visitors and guests used to enter the main building of our monastery.

Here’s what it was like before:

During the removal:

And here it is now:

What we found underneath the floor of the porch was a large empty space looking much like a catacomb.  The pieces of the façade will hopefully be stored and reused if possible.

Now the western face of our building is smooth and awaiting new facing bricks that will make it look like it was always this way.