Preparations are now well advanced for our patronal feast this Friday. With two cardinals coming, as well as a gaggle of prelates, monks and nuns, local dignitaries, Old Dowegians and oblates, and friends of the community, we will have our hands full.
So today the community met in the morning to strategize for the day and sort out logistical issues. Then, in the afternoon, our loins girt with working garb, we set to cleaning the abbey church. Mops, brooms and vacuum cleaners, detergent, wax and polish made for a vibrant and pungently fragrant atmosphere. So with the church ready, it remains for the monks to prepare themselves.