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Easter 2023

2023-05-06T15:50:15-05:00April 9th, 2023|Homilies of Father Abbot|

Haec dies quam fecit Dominus: exsultemus et laetemur in ea, alleluia. This is the day which the Lord hath made: let us be glad and rejoice therein, alleluia.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My very dear sons,

Haec Dies. This is the day. These words, taken from Psalm 117, figure throughout the Easter liturgy. This morning the monks were awakened by the same biblical verse, as the brother assigned to rouse them from slumber, going from cell to cell and knocking upon each door, repeated the words Haec dies, This is the day…, which is thus employed to wake us up only on Easter Sunday and on the day of a monk’s profession.

Truly this is the day, because on Easter something immensely important happens, something far outside the normal […]

Maundy Thursday 2023

2023-05-06T15:58:21-05:00April 6th, 2023|Homilies of Father Abbot|

Before the festival day of the pasch, Jesus knowing that his hour was come, that he should pass out of this world to the Father: having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them unto the end (Jn 13:1).

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My very dear sons,

The verse just quoted, taken from the Gospel according to Saint John, says it all. The entire mystery of Maundy Thursday is contained as if in a spiritual seed in these few words: the washing of the feet, the institution of the Most Holy Eucharist, Christ’s painful awareness of Judas’ betrayal, and the beginning of the Passion. It is all there. “He loved them until the end,” that is to say, to the utmost, until the last moment, until His human physical […]

Clear Creek Abbey hosts Empress Zita Symposium

2023-04-05T16:33:34-05:00April 5th, 2023|News|

Servant of God Empress Zita Holy Mass & Symposium at 10am on May 13, 2023

Holy Mass in honor of Servant of God Zita of Bourbon-Parma, Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary, followed by two Presentations, interrupted by a Luncheon, and then a Question and Answer Panel.  Symposium speakers include Mr. Charles Columbe (author of a biography on Blessed Charles of Austria) and HIRH Archduke Rudolf of Austria (grandson of Empress Zita), with the participation of HIRH Princess Maria-Anna Habsburg Galitzine (granddaughter of Empress Zita).

Reserve a seat at their website EmpressZitaCause.com.

Annunciation 2023

2023-04-01T15:37:36-05:00March 25th, 2023|Homilies of Father Abbot|

Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thy ear: for the King hath greatly desired thy beauty (Ps. 44)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My very dear sons,

Is it not rather surprising this feast of the Annunciation, celebrating the event that marks the coming into this world of the Son of God, devotes so much of the liturgy to texts taken from Psalm 44, which is a nuptial song? The opening chant or Introit, the Gradual, and the Tract are all drawn from this wonderful and inspired wedding poem. Why? Whose wedding is this? Who is the bride here? Where the groom?

At first glance the facts are disconcerting enough. The Blessed Mary of Nazareth is joined to Saint Joseph on earth in a very real, but unique […]

St Benedict Transitus 2023

2023-04-01T15:25:00-05:00March 21st, 2023|Homilies of Father Abbot|

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My Very Dear Sons,

Today’s solemnity recalls the transitus, the “passing” as it were, the death, of Our Blessed Father Saint Benedict. It falls rather appropriately in the season of Lent, during which we turn the eyes of our soul toward the more austere aspects of life in the Church and in the lives of all of us. The death of Our Lord is a lesson in the ultimate meaning of things, and the death of His Saints is like a miniature version of the unique passage toward His Father of the Word Incarnate.

The mood of the Church these past decades has been about a certain reform (a constant need that always returns) and about the re-evangelization or New Evangelization of so many places, where the Faith […]

Learn Gregorian Chant – Laus in Ecclesia Level One & Two Courses

2023-02-09T11:22:17-06:00February 9th, 2023|News|

Clear Creek Abbey will host two classes in Gregorian chant:

Laus In Ecclesia, level 1, taking the complete beginner or amateur in Gregorian chant to the level of being able to sing the chant with a certain competence

Laus in Ecclesia, level 2, building on the first degree, sharpening skills in reading notation, and rhythm, with an emphasis on the singing of the Divine Office in Gregorian chant.

Laus in Ecclesia, level 3, bringing all the previous levels to completion: this level is aimed primarily at directors of scholas, with a concentration on interpretation of bigger pieces and chironomy (direction).

The classes will be held from July 12th until the 16th, 2023. Find out more about it and register at clearcreekmonks.org/learnChant .

Mending the Soil

2023-03-26T14:02:30-05:00January 13th, 2023|Letters to the Friends|

Dear Friend of Clear Creek Abbey,

And [the man] said to the dresser of the vineyard: Behold, for these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down therefore: why cumbereth it the ground? But he answering, said to him: Lord, let it alone this year also, until I dig about it, and dung it (Lk. 13:7-8).

As our agricultural experts inform us and our farmers—after generations of experience—concur, the fertility of soil implies a kind of balance. The scientist will speak to us of the pH factor, a measure of the relative proportions of acidity and alkaline qualities, assuring us that soil apt for growing all sorts of useful plants […]

Epiphany 2023

2023-01-14T15:17:13-06:00January 6th, 2023|Homilies of Father Abbot|

And entering into the house, they found the child with Mary his mother, and falling down they adored him (Mt. 2).

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My very Dear Sons,

On the feast of the Epiphany we remember three mysteries of the Faith, all having to do with Christ’s manifestation to the world: the visit of the Magi, the Baptism of the Lord, and the Wedding Feast of Cana where Jesus performed His first public miracle, turning the water into wine. Of these three mysteries it is the visit of the Magi, the first panel of this mystical triptych, which we contemplate in particular on this 6th day of January, the other two scenes being commemorated in days and weeks to come.

The Sovereign Pontiffs, including the current one, have been […]

Requiem Mass for Pope Benedict XVI

2023-01-14T15:41:11-06:00January 4th, 2023|Homilies of Father Abbot|

[The wise man] will give his heart to resort early to the Lord that made him, and he will pray in the sight of the most High. He will open his mouth in prayer, and will make supplication for his sins. For if it shall please the great Lord, he will fill him with the spirit of understanding: And he will pour forth the words of his wisdom as showers, and in his prayer, he will confess to the Lord. And he shall direct his counsel, and his knowledge, and in his secrets shall he meditate. (Eccli. 39:6-10)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My Very Dear Sons,

There is, perhaps, no power upon the earth that more forcefully pushes back the darkness and sadness of earthly mortality than the light of true wisdom, […]

Light of Christmas

2023-03-26T14:01:53-05:00December 26th, 2022|Letters to the Friends|

Dear Friend of Clear Creek Abbey,

There is much discussion in the Church these days about traveling down a “common road,” synodality. Whatever may be your view on this—and views differ—one thing is clear: the road that beckons to us in this particular season is the one leading to Bethlehem. There we will find Him who would one day announce that He is the road, the way. “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (Jn. 14:6). Furthermore, as we travel during Advent with the Holy Family toward the Little Town in Judea that is to be the birthplace of the Savior of mankind, the Child is already in our midst, as He rides in the womb of His Immaculate mother, perched with her upon the donkey led by Saint Joseph. What a […]

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