This week at Mary Theotokos! Well the snow is melting and the river is starting to run wild! There has been flooding in many towns. In the house another type of water works takes most of our efforts and skills. Will the Walkers be able to plumb all the bathrooms? Will the accommodations for retreats take shape as well as the Friday prayer groups? Will the kids actually swim in that cold pond? Read on to find out what’s going at The Mary Theotokos Monastic Center at the end of April.
Due to the large snow melt combined with the rise in temperatures and the torrential rain for a few days; the river has risen to epic levels. Fortunately the house is high and dry, and the sound of rushing rapids has been a pleasant echo filling the house. The pond at the end of the meadows has become a welcome swimming hole for the dog. The children have been doing some wading, but an all out swim is still too cold to consider.
Inside the preparations continue. I know this is simply a picture of a bathroom but in many ways it is a sign of a small victory of man vs. plumbing. When we arrived there were seven total bathrooms, four in the main house and three in the Chapel and Church. Out of that number one was working. Now after a lot of new pipes and sweat all seven work and are eagerly awaiting use by more pilgrims on retreat. The next shots below show the work that has gone into creating a common area and breakfast nook for the second floor retreat rooms. This work isn’t finished yet; a small kitchenette is being prepared to be installed in this common area soon. We hope that this will make the second floor retreat rooms a lot more user friendly!
From this common area the porch beckons with its panoramic view of the orchards and meadows.
On the back porch of the second floor the retreat visitors will be able to find another place to enjoy God’s beauty as they sit in the peaceful silence by the river on one of the many porches.
In the front yard the lawn is finally beginning to emerge from winter and that driveway which vexed us all winter has become much more manageable.
We say goodbye for now with a warm sunset over the Church and a threat of snow in the overnight forecast, (yes I know, Easter Sunday just passed and Divine Mercy Sunday around the corner and they say snow tonight! But it will most likely only be in the mountain.) today on Friday we prepare to have our Chaplet of Divine Mercy and Rosary groups stop by. So for now, from the Mary Theotokos Monastic Center in Newark Vermont, we wish you all
God’s blessings and God’s peace to you and yours.
