The nuns realized that storage space
had been reduced when a break room for the employees was set up in 2003. One of
the rooms in the nuns’ bedroom area was used, but we knew we would eventually
need a better solution. So, in 2018 plans were drawn up to use the space
between the bakery and the building next to it. A space 20 feet by 14 feet would
be gained. Weather and COVID delayed progress, but gradually things were in
order and a start was made. “Pictures are worth a thousand words,” so
these will help tell the story.
The line on the wall is the angle for the new roof.
After removal of the plants,
flowers, and bushes, the dirt was leveled in preparation for the cement
sub-floor.
The cement truck finally arrived. Some tree branches had to be removed so the backhoe could get close enough.
See the pouring that took place in the above video.
Mik Klaus working on the roof connection.
Now
the siding was removed carefully so the boards could be used on the outside
bakery wall. A bakery window was carefully taken out to make room for a doorway
into the new room. There was just enough space to leave the sink in place.
The roof and outer
wall were then added on top of the cement foundation. A temporary doorway was
left where the window would be placed after the doorway was cut out of the wall
in the bakery for entrance into the new room.
Shellie and
Mik working on the interior work space before adding walls and wiring of all
sorts.
Entrance to the new room from the bakery.
The small office with a view!
The
needed storage space–not full now, but soon it will be.
The
bakery addition blends in as if it had always been here.
By Brother Theophan We live in an age of unprecedented distraction, our inner worlds often resembling a noisy, crowded ecosystem of competing anxieties, looping memories, and a relentless inner narrator. Fragmentation is now the norm—we’re pulled in a dozen directions at once. But what if this isn’t a personal or moral failing? What if it’s simply the natural condition of an unregulated mind and a numb heart—and there exists a reliable, experience-proven path, understood by both ancient wisdom and modern science, to bring harmony to the chaos? In the late 18th century, a monumental anthology of spiritual texts known as the Philokalia (literally, the Love of the Beautiful) was published in Venice. Compiled from the writings of ancient Christian contemplatives, it was never intended for monastics alone, but to make the existential truths of Christianity accessible to everyone. As Metropolitan Kallistos Ware (of blessed memory) observed, the Philokalia’s ultimate aim is to awaken...
By Brother Christopher It’s no secret that within the Orthodox Church monasticism has often been extremely critical of the Church’s involvement in ecumenism. Particularly since the Orthodox Church’s participation in the World Council of Churches and the renaissance of Athonite monasticism in the 1970s and 1980s, there have been strong anti-Western and anti-ecumenical voices coming from Orthodox monastics who see engagement with non-Orthodox on social, cultural, and religious levels as leading the Orthodox Church down a perilous path of betrayal, departing from its inheritance of being the one true Church of Christ. The thinking goes that since the Orthodox Church is exclusively the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church on earth, possessing the fullness of truth, the only possible justification for Orthodox involvement in the ecumenical movement is one of witness with the aim of converting non-Orthodox to Orthodoxy. Since that hasn’t happened and the likelihood of...
By Carl Patka Every autumn, I have the privilege of volunteering at the St. Francis Day Animal Blessing hosted by the Monks and Nuns of New Skete. The tradition of the Blessing of the Animals originates from St. Francis of Assisi, a 12th-century friar known for his love and respect for all of God’s creations, particularly animals. St. Francis is a cross-over saint, loved and respected by Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox alike. Dog owners from near and far drove up to New Skete on October 4, 2025, to a beautiful fall day for this year’s Blessing of the Animals. They came to have their best friends blessed in an outdoor ceremony that calls on God and St. Francis to bless every creature that breathes—including the dogs and their owners—with a little sprinkling of holy water. We have been blessed with good weather almost every year; one year, we had to move inside the church because of rain, and it was lovely having nearly 100 dogs (and a small goat) inside for the service....
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