Monastery Chronicles

The following is a selection of recent events on Golgotha Monastery Island.

28 October 2002

The new generator is up and running! As its shed is placed at a distance from the house, the new generator, although considerably larger than the old one, is much less noisy. It also produces a steady light without flickering. Along with its large size comes its large intake: it eats 100 litres of diesel every day.

29 October 2002

Farming has its exciting moments. The novices round up the calves to be taken across to our property at Grice Ness on Stronsay, but as soon as the animals started walking down to the barge, they saw the water, and they all bolted in different directions. The novices were back to square one until Mr Thomas Chalmers of Stronsay showed them a (relatively) easy and traditional way of making the calves obey: just grab each calf by the nose, and then it follows you onto the barge without complaint!

31 October 2002

Peter Finnegan, an architect from Kirkwall, visits Papa Stronsay. He will be helping us complete the designs for the new monastery.

2 November 2002

The winds pick up to 60 mph (100 km) for All Souls' Day. Nevertheless this does not deter the confreres during evening recreation from braving the elements and the night to visit our new cemetery on the north side of the island, where Br Joseph Mary is buried. The prayers for the dead were recited amidst the howling storm and wild sea; night prayers followed. On the return to the monastery they faced a headwind; sand blasted in the night wind; blinding sea spray for those wearing glasses; everyone staggered in the darkness. How powerful is God in His creation! How merciful in His judgments of the dead.

4 November 2002

Now that the calves have been taken care of, the novices turn their hands to other animals. This time the 150 sheep have to be rounded up, checked, counted, drenched and treated if there are any signs of foot rot. It is a two-day job.

6 November 2002

Mrs Elise Berenger, from Zimbabwe, visits Papa Stronsay with her youngest daughter Felicity. Elise is the sister of Fr Anthony, Fr Richard, Br Gerard and Br Marcel—Marie.

7 November 2002

Mr Slater, a plumber from Kirkwall, arrives to connect the water and heating systems in the new cells.

9 November 2002

Today is the 270th anniversary of the founding of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer by St Alphonsus de Liguori. Mr Maarten Dupont arrives from Belgium to be a postulant.

10 November 2002

Mrs Maria Galida arrives from Ontario, Canada to visit the sisters on Stronsay.

11 November 2002

Fr Anthony Mary, Br Nicodemus Mary and Br Mark return from their two—week trip to Ukraine. While there, they visited the traditional Basilian sisters in Lviv, and Fr Anthony clothed three new Carmelite tertiaries on behalf of Fr MacDonald, the superior of the Third Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Sydney, Australia.

14 November 2002

Progress is steadily being made on the cells despite the diminished work force. Some of the brothers come over from Stronsay to help with tiling, painting, etc. Unfortunately we are still waiting on window's and roof tiles, so not all the cells are completed yet.

15 November 2002

Another great storm strikes Orkney.

17 November 2002

Mr Eric Dittman of St Maries, Idaho, USA arrives as a postulant. The weather is still and tranquil; a radiant moonlit night with the sea like a mirror.

19 November 2002

The calm before the storm has passed and a new south-easterly approaches; this will last for several days. Winds pick up.

20 November 2002

Day 2. High winds make it necessary to send the workers off the island just after they had arrived. Orkney Ferries cancel their Stronsay service, and people are stranded in Kirkwall. 11 Sheep slaughtered for the freezer. The indefatigable Oscar (from Sydney, Australia) was out in the JCB (back-hoe trench digger) digging a trench at East House until about 11 pm in the storm.

21 November 2002

Day 3. SE - ESE Winds of 60 mph (100 km) continue. Sea is pouring over the pier making an attractive waterfall. Today is the feast of Our Lady's Presentation in the Temple.

22 November 2002

Day 4 SE - ESE Winds of 60 mph continue and will not clear before the end of the week.

25 November 2002

The weather is much calmer. Fr Alphonsus Maria and Br Yousef return from a weekend trip to say Mass at the SSPX centres in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Newcastle.

March 2003

27 November 2002
Desmond Flynn from Glasgow, Scotland, visits us for a week.

28 November 2002
Today is our annual celebration of Thanksgiving Day, thanking God for all the graces, both spiritual and temporal, which have come to us during the past year. With us were Bill Miller, Peter, Evelyn and John Chalmers, John and Marilyn Friel, Ralph and Caroline Fotheringham, and Cyril and Keith Maxwell - all from Stronsay.

29 November 2002
Winter and its rains are coming closer, so Thomas and John Chalmers level off the dirt roads on Papa Stronsay. The packed dirt roads, covered with pebbles, will ensure a minimum of mud to trudge through during the winter.

30 November 2002
Mr Peter Davies, a Kirkwall dentist originally from Australia, comes to visit Papa Stronsay for the day. The same day, Fr Michael Mary and Br Nicodemus Mary depart for New Zealand, where Father’s parents, Mr & Mrs Sim, will be celebrating their Golden Jubilee on 6 December.

3 December 2002
The newest addition to our farm is a young pig - already quite big - bought in Kirkwall. Unaccustomed to sea travel, the pig makes a break for freedom on the Stronsay pier. After being caught and tied up, it is hauled onto the Stella Maris and taken to its new home on Papa Stronsay, where it is now enjoying a yard all to itself.

5 December 2002
After nearly a year in progress, the new shower block is now fully operational! We now have a total of four showers and five toilets in the monastery - up from one shower and two toilets among two dozen monks.

6 December 2002
Our boat, the St Nicholas, is taken out of the water for repairs. Every winter the boats have to be brought ashore for an entire refitting, to make sure that they are seaworthy.

9 December 2002
As the year of novitiate draws to an end, our two postulants and five novices begin their fifteen day retreat, which will finish on Christmas Eve.

10 December 2002
The winter bug attacks the monastery in full force. Over the next three weeks, almost all the Fathers and Brothers will come down with this particularly virulent form of cold.

15 December 2002
Fr Michael Mary and Br Nicodemus Mary return from New Zealand. While there, they visited the town of Palmerston on the South Island, where all of the streets are named after various Orkney Isles.

16 December 2002
Joseph Mate and his family arrive from Zimbabwe. After spending Christmas with us in Orkney, they will make their home in our monastery buildings on the Isle of Sheppey, in Kent, England.

18 December 2002
Someone passes Father Michael Mary a copy of the Christmas Greeting card being circulated on behalf of the local Church of Scotland minister. In it he reads the blasphemous line: “The baby born in the stable, but his mother was unmarried at the time.” The decision is taken to make over a newly acquired building into a chapel of reparation to Our Lady for the blasphemy. The building had been a store shed. The plan was set to turn the shed into a chapel by Christmas and offer Midnight Mass in reparation. The renovated building will be called Our Lady’s Chapel, having as its liturgical title the feast of the Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, December 18th.

19 December 2002
Mrs Ruth Sestak, from Plano, Texas, USA, arrives for the clothing of her son on Christmas Eve.

20 December 2002
Work progresses on Our Lady’s Chapel on the Stronsay pier. Doctor and Madame Savi, Br Louis-Marie’s parents, arrive from Perpignan, France, to spend Christmas with us.

21 December 2002
This evening, seventy-five people join us at the Community Hall on Stronsay for a programme of Christmas carols. A beautiful Christmas crib was erected in front of the stage.

22 December 2002
Br Gabriel Marie returns to the monastery after his first semester of philosophy with the Dominican Fathers in Avrillé, France, where he is studying beside Dominicans, Capuchins and Benedictines. The same day, Mrs Maureen Swampilli of Sydney, Australia, arrives to spend Christmas with us.

24 December 2002 - Christmas Eve
The novices’ retreat finishes. At the sung Mass, our two postulants are clothed in the Redemptorist habit by Fr Michael Mary. Stephen Dabara, originally of Singapore, is given the name Br Francisco (in honour of Blessed Francisco Marto of Fatima) and Patrick Sestak, of Plano, Texas, is named Br Theophane (after St Théophane Venard, the missionary martyr). The weather having become rougher towards evening, Mr John Stevenson is asked to pick up the confreres in his boat the Hopeful. On the Stronsay side, the confreres complete Our Lady’s Chapel by hanging paintings of the Blessed Virgin on the walls of the chapel, and a beautiful Italian crèche graces the main altar. The chapel is full - sixty people - for the Christmas carols and sung Midnight Mass. Fr Michael Mary preached on the necessity of faith and of living our lives in accordance with our faith. After the Mass, the statue of the Infant Jesus was laid in the outdoor manger in front of the chapel. After the Midnight Mass of reparation, the winds had stopped and there was a wonderful calm. The sea had become very flat. Beneath a clear sparkling sky the community returned across the sound to Papa Stronsay on the Stella Maris. Christ is born! There is heavenly peace. Caeli enarrent gloriam Dei - “The heavens show forth the glory of God” (Ps 18:1).

26 December 2002 - St Stephen
The new generator cuts out, leaving Papa Stronsay in darkness. By necessity supper is by candlelight. The old generator will have to be used until the new one is properly repaired.

1 January 2003
At midnight, the New Year is ushered in with a holy hour, during which all the Fathers and Brothers renew their vows. During the day, the wind changes direction to the north, and the first frost of the season comes with it.

8 January 2003
Fr Michael Mary, Br Jean and Br Magdala arrive back from Dundee, Scotland with the newest addition to our community - a seven-week-old Newfoundland puppy named Papay.

9 January 2003
The St Nicholas is back in the water again, a new enlarged cabin having been added to it, and it is now the turn of the Stella Maris turn to come out of the water to be fixed. Two of the Highlander cows have already calved.

Father Michael Mary and the five newly professed monks: Br Dominic Mary, C.SS.R.(Ian Smith, 37 years old, of Lower Hutt, New Zealand), Br Jean Marie, C.SS.R. (Earl Lewis, 25 years old, of Bombay, India) Br Paul Mary, (Perpetually professed from Australia) Br Hohepa Maria (Lawrence Timoko, 19 years old, of Wanganui, New Zealand) and Br Magdala Maria (Terence Silao, 24 years old, of Sydney, Australia).

April 2003

12 January 2003
Fr Alphonsus Maria, accompanied by Flemish postulant Maarten, covers the Mass circuit for Glasgow, Edinburgh and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The faithful at Newcastle have been attending Mass for nearly thirty years in a room at the Royal Station Hotel. After many patient prayers, they have bought an old church in town and will be able to offer Mass there within a few weeks.

17 January 2003
Winds up to 80 mph force confreres to do indoor work. The brothers finish the tiling of the porch on St Michael’s House.

20 January 2003
Our library is expanding! All our books from Sheppey have recently arrived, and need to be taken out of boxes and put on shelves. Several new sets of shelving are added to our library on Stronsay, where our books are being kept until the new library is constructed on Papa Stronsay.

21 January 2003
Miss Jana Chidiac arrives from Sydney, Australia, as a postulant.

22 January 2003
Michael Mann, from Arlington, Texas, arrives as a postulant.

30 January 2003
The five novices start a three-day retreat before their profession.

31 January 2003
Mr & Mrs Clive Martin and their son Joseph, from Kent, England, visit the monastery.

2 February 2003 - The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The five novices make their vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Br Paul adds the vow and oath of perseverance until death in the Redemptorist Congregation. Fr Michael Mary preaches on the sacrifice that Our Lady made of her Son in the temple, and compares the offering of the religious to God through the vows to Mary’s sacrifice. The young man who offers the sacrifice of the vows is also a son and his sacrifice, which brings separation from his family, is shared by his mother and father who suffer this loss and thereby become an image of Mary and Joseph. Present for the event were Br Paul’s mother Mrs Hollowood and his sister Mrs Anne Elliott, who had come all the way from Australia.

10 February 2003
The daffodils had already begun coming up in early January, but high winds are threatening to blow them over. The newly professed brothers spend the day building brick walls around the monastery garden to keep the gales out and the flowers growing.

14 February 2003
As the afternoon boat back to Stronsay was leaving the Papay pier, some submerged rope got caught around the propeller of the boat, stopping the Stella Maris about thirty metres out from the pier. Br Mark braved the freezing water, waded into Papay Sound and cut the entangled rope.

May 2003

25 February 2003
Our Jersey cows have all had their calves now, and we now have enough milk to make eight cheeses every day. As this amount of work requires two confreres, Br Magdala Maria has been assigned the task of learning the cheesemaking process from Br Gerard Maria. The same day, Mr Slater arrives from Kirkwall, and our new cells are now equipped with fully operative heaters. Each cell has its own boiler and radiator that begin operating when the generator is turned on each morning.

28 February 2003
The monastery acquires its second bell! Named in honour of St John the Baptist, it was originally cast in 1814, recast in 1959 and it measures 42 inches in diameter. We purchased it through Whitehall Bellfoundry in London, which claims the fabrication of Big Ben and the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Normally the 20 inch Bethlehem bell calls us to community exercises and rings the Angelus. This bigger bell will be rung on Sundays, feast days and when the wind conditions are such that the voice of the little bell of Bethlehem simply cannot be heard.

1 March 2003
Mrs Stella Hook, a longstanding monastery friend visits us this week. She has owned and operated her own dairy farm in Wales for many years, and had many fascinating stories to tell and helpful hints to give.

6 March 2003
The Scottish Parliament wants to cut down the amount of money given to NHS (National Health Services) Orkney, and one of their proposals is to leave Stronsay without a doctor. A representative of NHS Orkney visits Stronsay tonight to hold a meeting in the Community Hall, and three of our Fathers and Brothers attend the meeting. We are praying that our doctor, so necessary for an island community, will not be taken away from Stronsay.

7 March 2003

In March we visited three excellent cheesemaking operations in Switzerland. Here a professor is showing his Spritz Cheeses. The plans for our projected cheesemaking facility, like a good cheese, is maturing.

Fr Michael Mary, Fr Anthony Mary and Br Gerard Maria, accompanied by Mr Andrew Maxwell of Stronsay, return from Switzerland, where they visited two monasteries where cheese is produced similar to what we aspire to on Papa Stronsay. One was an ancient Benedictine monastery and the other a now disused Carthusian Charterhouse. In neither place, however, did monks make the cheese; rather the producers were making cheese from the monasteries in order to have an added selling point for their goods. The Fathers came back with some ideas for our own cheesemaking facilities, as well as a panorama of photographs showing every stage of cheesemaking from milking to shipping.

10 March 2003
Miss Dorothy Sheridan, a longtime friend and benefactress of our monastery on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, England passed away recently. Her body arrived today on Papa Stronsay. Fr Anthony Mary sang her funeral Requiem in the Chapel of the Holy Face. The funeral procession from the chapel crossed the island to the cemetery situated on the peninsula. The Fathers and Brothers took turns as pall bearers and the holy Rosary was recited. When we arrived at the cemetery Fr Michael Mary officiated; the burial place was blessed and incensed and the coffin lowered into the grave during the Benedictus canticle. Finally the Salve Regina was sung and as the grave was filled in by the confreres the litanies of Our Lady were chanted. Requiescat in pace.

15 March 2003 - St Clement Mary Hofbauer, C.SS.R.
Br Gabriel Marie, who is finishing his first year of studies with the Dominican Fathers in Avrillé, France, receives the clerical tonsure at the hands of Bishop de Galarreta at Ecône. His younger brother Remi, a second year seminarian of the SSPX, received minor orders the same day. Fr Anthony Mary and Br Yousef Marie traveled from Orkney to Switzerland to represent Fr. Michael Mary and the Congregation on this occasion.