Our Corpus Christi Sunday liturgy concluded with a procession of the Blessed Sacrament around the cloister.  The celebration itself was on June 26th.  The monks each took their turn spending time in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament all afternoon until Vespers.  Please, enjoy the youtube clip below.  The music is a rendition of Johann Sebastian Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring.

    Summer has definitely arrived here in Northern California.  There was a moment late in June when rain started to pour down.  That was unusual.  Apparently, strange weather has been occurring throughout the globe.  But here in Vina, we're back to seeing temperatures reach triple digits.
    The monks of New Clairvaux were happy to see Dominican Father Olivier Thomas from the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem, who returned to give a course to our Junior monks on the Passion narratives.  De La Salle Christian Brother, Michael Meister, also returned to continue his course on Dante's Divine Comedy.  And returning to us this summer is our own monk of Vina, Father Mark Scott, who will be giving conferences to the monastic community on the Book of Revelation.
    Finally, the monks were a bit relieved to see our liturgical calendar return to normal after having celebrated 5 solemnities within the past week and a half.  It was, in the words of our abbot, "a bit overkill."  We give thanks, nevertheless, for the many happy returns as we happily welcome back these long, dog days of summer.