Dear Friend of Clear Creek Abbey,
In a sentiment of profound thanks to God and to all of you, who have helped us along the road, I wish to share with you some photos that can give you a certain sense of the joy that filled our abbey on January 22nd, when the Most Reverend David Konderla, bishop of Tulsa, came to bless the newly completed Chapter House, in the presence of all the monks and a crowd of the local faithful. These photographic images can only express a portion of the spiritual and human sentiments that moved our hearts on that special day; nevertheless, you may find in them a means of seeing the larger picture and of sharing in our thankfulness, if it is true that a picture is worth a thousand words.
A monk prepares the cloister wall for a roof.
Above are pictures of the chapter room, at the heart of the new residence.
In the photos below, architect William Heyer leads some of the faithful through the new cloister, and Bishop David Konderla blesses the new residence building. The magnificent painting pictured is the work of Gregory Wietrzychowski and Kika Karadi.
At the heart of the new residence is our Chapter Room. At the center of the Chapter Room stands a lectern where the Holy Rule is read each day, that book by which we live as Benedictine monks. With the support of your prayers and precious material assistance, despite the revolutions and upsets that often punctuate human existence during our time on earth, that is the place where we will congregate each day, in order to follow our vocation to serve God, preferring nothing to the love of Christ and the Opus Dei, until the day dawn, donec dies eluscescat, and the day star arise in our hearts (2 Peter 1:19).
br. Philip Anderson, abbot
