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 Brennan Decades ago, just before my first “brush” with professed religious life, my girlfriend at the time would sometimes attend Sunday Mass with me at Our Lady of Prompt Succor Church in suburban New Orleans. Although she lived in the neighboring parish, we had graduated from the same Catholic grammar school, just one year apart, and thus were immersed in a very traditional Roman Catholic/Southern Christian milieu (just imagine that—a very long-established, traditional, provincial enclave of Old World Roman Catholicism below the Bible Belt). While we would eventually separate, our time together included being very much a part of the religious landscape of such a place and time. It was still the 70s, when the sexual liberation movement was kicking into high gear in the deep South, and many young people were rebelling against traditional religiosity, dissatisfied with the perceived rule-loving, devotion-addicted, spiritual stagnation of church authority. At the same...
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 Sister Cecelia There is a saying that things come in threes. Not long ago, Sr. Patricia and I were involved in a car accident. We were not hurt, but the vehicle was totaled. When I learned that two of our parishioners had also had their cars hit quite recently, we could all sympathize with one another. In theory we know we can die at any moment, but this accident made me realize just how vulnerable we all are. What goes through our minds at the time and in the days that follow? For me, I felt exceptionally blessed, not just because neither we nor the other driver were physically hurt, but that many people came to our aid in whatever way they could. I know that not everyone has the same experience. So, what enables some to be so giving and others to seem to turn a blind eye, so to speak, to the needs of others? Haven’t we all been given some abilities to be able to love others, to freely give of ourselves? When the scribe or lawyer asked Jesus what he needed to do ...
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