Yeah. Ava is it. There was a Dominican sister at a little cluster of hermitages nearby. She and I had been corresponding, and she invited me out to visit. So I did, but I stayed with the Trappists and visited her in the daytime. I loved the statue they had Mary’s assumption in the, what front yard. Wow!
It’s been a few years since I’ve been. I loved vespers, and then the night prayers at 3:00 a.m. Amazing feeling of peace, safety, comfort.
I walked across the low water bridge (left my little truck on the far side) one time when there was a lot of rain, got soaked, but made the 4:30 prayers. In the middle of praying, the abbot tapped me on the shoulder, pulled me out of the chapel, and made me change clothes. They didn’t have any jeans small enough for me, so I looked pretty silly. I had only come for supper and vespers, and confession.
After Rob’s parents died, he(we) became major patrons, just from the love of the monks. Incredible kindness, and amazing humor. :-D I remember having so much fun there...
After one dinner I was doing dishes in that little kitchen off the dining room, and I was going to dry them, but the one monk said, “We let God dry the dishes.” I’ve done the black fast there, too, when it was needed...they always told me to quit smoking, God bless them.
There were a bunch of ladies who came to visit when I was there, once, and I explained the Rosary to them at their request, and they were very open to learning the mysteries. A couple of them said, “I have always misunderstood the Rosary until today, I couldn’t imagine what purpose it served.” (Of course, the pamphlet helped.)
Rob’s mother and my father died within four days of each other, and they sent us a condolence card with a comment from each one, how we treasured that!