Just one week ago the other Interns and I retreated at Mt. Calvary Monastary with the Benedictines in Santa Barbara. Every year of interns traditionally retreat there twice a year. It was started in 1947 by The Order of the Holy Cross.
A place of stunning beauty. Stunning silence. And peace. It had libraries with floor to ceiling books and big plush chairs to read the books in. They had a front room with tea, coffee, and calligraphy cards made by the monks on site.
There was a simple chapel where they met four times a day for Eucharist, vespers, etc. The little nook where their white cape thingies hung whenever they weren't in the chapel. A grand hallway with wooden floors led to the eating area where three times a day they gathered with their guests for food and fellowship. All rooms had huge windows overlooking breathtaking mountain and ocean views.
A courtyard garden in the middle of the building, in which I saw one of the monks working during the day. A stone labrynth in the back. Trees and stones aged with blue-green moss. Lush cacti garden in the front--if cacti can even be considered "lush"....and the above tree that I couldn't take my eyes off of...
I found out today that yesterday it burned to the ground in a wildfire. All the monks were safe, but the destruction is still disarming...send positive thoughts and prayers their way.
3 comments:
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Have a great day .. ^ ^
Oh my gosh... I think I stopped breathing for a second after I read the last sentence or two of your post.. I was just watching on the news about the fires. I am so glad everyone is ok, and I'm also glad you were able to experience that retreat and that place before it was gone. The timing of it all is so crazy.. Excellent post Bethany. I'm sorry about what happened, I will definitely give a moment of silence for all of them and for you.
that is sad that it was such a beautiful place that is now gone. That is a sad thing to hear about. Though our forests are sick, and un cared for and thus we have such destructive gorest fires these days. just wish beauty will survive and return.
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