So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still
Will lead me on,
O’er moor and fen, o’er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone;
And with the morn those angel faces smile
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile.

— The Pillar of the Cloud by Cardinal John Henry Newman

A couple more notes from my Advent Retreat at St. Joseph’s Abbey.

(1) Handcrafted stoneware/porcelain pottery from the monks at St. Joseph’s Abbey.

(2) Added three books to the Limestone Library from the Abbey Bookstore:

(2a) Life Lessons from the Monastery by Fr. Jerome Kodell

“Our life is an arc of ascent and descent. And this is for our good, because the project of this life is to learn how to turn over control to the Creator so that we may have the interior freedom to leave this world in peace and be ready for new life with God.”

(2b) Lead, Kindly Light by James Sharp

“Mary is the most beautiful flower ever seen in the spiritual world. It is by God’s grace that there have ever sprung up at all the flowers of holiness and glory. And Mary is the Queen of them. Therefore she is called the Rose, for the rose is of all flowers the most beautiful.”

(2c) Night Prayer by Catholic Book Publishing Corp

Loving Mother of the Redeemer,
gate of heaven, star of the sea,
assist your people who have fallen yet strive to rise again.

To the wonderment of nature you bore your Creator,
yet remained a virgin after as before.
You who received Gabriel’s joyful greeting,
have pity on us poor sinners.