Our next visiting Sunday will be May 6. Fr. Robert Bulbrook will celebrate Mass at noon, and we will serve tea in Carrowcullen afterwards.

We will have our Easter Vigil service at 6 am on Easter, April 1. It will begin around the firepit in the back courtyard. Everyone is invited to join us afterward in the library for coffee and tea. On Good Friday, March 30, we will have a service at 3 pm that will begin with outdoor Stations of the Cross.

Our next visiting Sunday will be on March 4. Holy Hill will be closed for a month of quiet from 15 January --15 February. We will be open for retreats again on February 15. On March 4, Fr. Robert Bulbrook will celebrate Mass at noon. Everyone is invited for tea and a tour.

The Journey of the Magi ‘A cold coming we had of it, Just the worst time of the year For the journey, and such a long journey: The ways deep and the weather sharp, The very dead of winter.’ And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory, Lying down in the melting snow. There were times we regretted The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces, And the silken girls bringing sherbet. Then the camel men cursing and grumbling And running away, and wanting their liquor and women, And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters, And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly And the villages dirty and charging high prices: A hard time we had of it. At the end we preferred to travel all night, Sleeping in snatches, With the voices singing in our ears, saying That this was all folly. Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley, Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation; With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness, And three trees on the low sky, And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow. Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel, Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver, And feet kicking the empty wine-skins, But there was no information, and so we continued And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory All this was a long time ago, I remember, And I would do it again, but set down This set down This: were we led all that way for Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly, We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death, But had thought they were different; this Birth was Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death, We returned to our places, these Kingdoms, But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation, With an alien people clutching their gods. I should be glad of another death. — T. S. Eliot

A Blessing of Solitude by John O’Donohue May you recognize in your life, the presence, power and light of your soul. May you realize that you are never alone, That your soul in its brightness and belonging connects you intimately with the rhythm of the universe. May you have respect for your own individuality and difference. May you realize that the shape of your soul is unique, that you have a special destiny here, That behind the facade of your life there is something beautiful, good, and eternal happening. May you learn to see yourself with the same delight, pride, and expectation with which God sees you in every moment. John O’Donohue (from Anam Cara)

Everyone is welcome to our Christmas Eve celebration, which will begin at 7:30 pm. Weather permitting, we will start with a short walk outdoors, and then move indoors for Mass. Afterwards, we will have mulled wine and hot cider in the library.

Our next Visiting Sunday will be on December 3. Fr. Robert Bulbrook will celebrate mass at noon, and there will be tea and a tour afterwards.

Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything. Pedro Arrupe

Fr. Matt Blake will celebrate Mass at noon on our next visiting Sunday, November 5. Everyone is welcome, and there will be tea and tour afterward.

Fr. Matt Blake OCD and Gillian Coxhead will be here for our meeting on Nov. 4. It will begin with Mass.