Tue 29 Nov, 2011
Sister Denise (left) and Sister Deanna Maria took time after a meal to chat about many things.
We venture to guess that one of the topics was settling back in the main house after major renovations kept us away for over a year.
Yes, we are really here in our refectory. And it feels great!
Mon 28 Nov, 2011
(from left) Sisters Nancy Rose, Marietta and Maria Victoria donned work clothes to move furniture back into the main building as renovations are wrapping up. Our dog, Maggie, hopped on for the ride.
We are on the move, using tractors, wagons, carts, vans, cars and anything else that will carry items back to the main house from various buildings we spent the past year living in.
The community is moving back in. YES! Not all of us are moved back yet, but we did celebrate Thanksgiving dinner in our refectory. It was a welcome feeling to be back in our space sharing the duties of the daily monastic calling – prayer, work and praise.
Tue 22 Nov, 2011
This will be an exciting week for Sisters at the Clyde monastery and will provide many things to be thankful for. We have begun moving back into the main building as renovations are almost complete!
Sisters are packing belongings and, with the help of work crews, moving furniture back into new and renovated spaces.
On Thursday, we will celebrate Thanksgiving in our refectory again! It’s been more than a year since we gathered for a meal in that beautiful space. And what a lovely occasion it will be – giving thanks for all we have and for all those who have helped us with this journey.
And on Saturday, we will be back in our Adoration Chapel on a permanent basis, praying the Liturgy and giving thanks to God!
Fri 14 Oct, 2011
A monastery’s common table is a symbol of the lack of personal ownership of anything, which includes food. The refectory is the place the community gathers to pray and break bread together, sharing a common meal from a common kitchen symbolizing community life.
During the renovations, our refectory was closed. We covered the floors to protect it from all the other construction going on around it.
It was a Benedictine tradition from centuries past to excommunicate someone from the common table for serious faults. This points to the importance we monastics give to the common table.
Once we move back in, our locally made tables will be fewer in number and the space has been shortened, but we will relish the communal dining hall.
For those who have joined us for a meal, you’ll notice the north wall seems closer.We reconfigured the space and walled off a portion of the north end of the refectory. We created a new room that will house Sister Services, which includes our mail boxes. Just goes to show all the different facets of this project: old, new and recycled too!
Mon 30 May, 2011
The work crews have begun to raise the floor at one end of the hallway that runs along our refectory (above) so that it will be level with the connecting halls.
The floor in the community’s new service room (mail drawers, office supplies, etc.) has already been raised. Now the hall will be even with it as well. The rise will be a more gentle incline for those who need help moving between the different areas of first floor.
Here at the west end of the refectory hall (above), you can see the beginnings of a ramp that will meet the new library floor without much variance. This is a very good thing!
Mon 7 Feb, 2011
While the work crews make their way through the monastery, new staging areas need to be established. These are two such areas – the Refectory and the Tower Room on the third floor.
Our dining hall is a temporary work area
Tower Room today...what will it look like tomorrow?
It is hard to imagine what these spaces will look like once the work is done and we are moved back in. We know for sure they will not be as dirty or cluttered!
Fri 17 Dec, 2010
Turning empty space into new use
This new room was created from the north end of our too-large refectory.
It is being redesigned to become a new community services room. The floor has been raised to help level the variance from the chapel to this area. The work crew has also moved in a set of our book lockers from the hallway into the new place. Things are moving along.