A Strong Ministry Continues

-

By Brother Gregory

 

Back in 1983, a group of chapel community members at New Skete felt very strongly about the monastic witness lived by the monks and nuns of New Skete. These married couples wanted to join in a closer relationship with the monks and nuns as a third monastic community, and they became known as the Companions of New Skete. With their financial resources and the help of the monks and nuns, Emmaus House was built on the property of the monks’ monastery. For the next 30 years, the Companions at Emmaus House added their voices and zeal to the witness of New Skete as a monastic presence in America. The Companions helped in many ways with the hard work needed to keep New Skete alive. They painted icons, trained dogs in the Adult Dog Training Program, made dog biscuits, added their singing voices to the daily monastic services, offered hospitality to guests visiting New Skete, and gave in so many other ways that the Companions developed their own ministry identity.

One special gift that the Companions offered at Emmaus House was the gift of hospitality to those wanting to visit New Skete, to rest and renew their relationship with God and New Skete. Over the years, some Companions stayed and some left, but this made no difference because Emmaus House was built on the hard work of all the Companions no matter how short or long they stayed as Companions at Emmaus House.

In time, the winter months took a toll on the last two Companions, Br Stephen and Sr Melanie, and they decided in 2014 to leave Emmaus House and find housing that was closer to medical resources around the Albany, New York, area. The Emmaus House property was placed under the monks’ care. This was not the end of the ministry at Emmaus House but just another turn in the continued ministry of hospitality that had been offered by the Companions since 1983. In 2013 the original building built by the monks, which later became the monks’ guest house, was torn down to make room for the new Maurice Sendak Dog Training Center. Emmaus House, along with the surrounding property, was now the answer to the need for a space to accommodate the guests who had increased in numbers over the years. Guests coming to New Skete for the first time, anticipating sparse monastic guest rooms, are surprised to see and enjoy the suite guest rooms—each with bedroom, sitting room, and private bathroom—thanks to the Companions of Emmaus House.

Last year, in July 2022, the monks temporarily closed Emmaus House to guests because the cloister (bedroom area of the monks’ monastery) badly needed some renovations. The monks moved into Emmaus House, and so did seven dogs. In some bedrooms the wall-to-wall carpeting took a bad beating from the canine residents, so it was decided that at the end of June of this year, Emmaus House will be professionally cleaned. As the guest brother for the monks I have received numerous emails asking when Emmaus House will open back up to receive guests. We hope that the professional cleaning will go well and the hospitality ministry started by the Companions at Emmaus House will resume after July 5.

Thanks to Sr Melanie, the last Companion at Emmaus House, and all the other Companions at Emmaus House for their love and hard work in their witness to the monastic life and for the ministry of hospitality at Emmaus House they began years ago.

Popular posts from this blog

Liberty and Belonging

-
Image
  By Br Brennan Just over a year ago I was planning an early retirement with an eye to monastic life. While I can’t say that I had one of those great careers and was at the top of my game, I had come to know some really amazing people over my years in the last job. Among those, I always enjoyed truly close relationships marked by great mutual respect. However, I was also one of those artists with a day job, and as a dancer/instructor/choreographer I had come to notice in recent years a certain status of “esteemed eldership” of sorts (at least in my particular genre, that of East European ethnic dance), however awkward I felt about it. After numerous visits to New Skete over the years, I knew the transition to postulancy and novitiate would involve quite a shake-up in my sense of self. And I was correct. First, I was not going to jump in and wow anyone with any diligence, knowledge, or finesse, as I might try to do in a new job. All I could do was pay attention, and learn what this
Read more

What Is New This Fall?

-
Image
  By Sister Cecelia September 1 begins the Orthodox liturgical new year, and that made think of all the NEW things that have happened and will happen in the near future. It is new that the foliage is not very spectacular this year. That is the first for me in over 50 years! For the first time, the eleven apple trees in our orchard produced only one apple because of the late freeze in the spring. For the first time, the three hazelnut trees bore nuts—and with a very bountiful crop. We will roast our own hazelnuts for the first time. It will be a tasty treat. In October the monks welcomed their second novice this year, and that is a welcome new sight. The nuns have recently received several inquiries seeking monastic life—so, new faces soon, perhaps. New faces reminds me that in September a beautiful well-mannered German Shepherd named Tori was lent to me to care for as long as she is in the breeding program.  Our walks are energized by her running gracefully through the fields chasing a
Read more