Today I visited one of my favorite Minnesota churches- the Grasshopper Chapel! Originally built as a plea for Mary's intercession against the plague of Rocky Mountain locusts that was devastating the state, by the time the second mass was said, they were gone. Shortly thereafter they went extinct! ⚓

For those looking for some fun continuing education, I'm teaching an online course on ancient and medieval Christianity in Asia and Africa this September and October! I'm excited to be able to teach a dedicated course on this material. cdsp.edu/call-courses...

Truly amazing actual dropdown menu of option for "sex" when booking tickets for the Vatican Museums!

<sings> "One of these things is not like the others...one of these things is...an Anglican!" ⚓

A very reasonable and relatable reaction to going for a walk in the fresh air, honestly, even if there HADN'T been an execution waiting at the end of it... (From Salvation at Stake by Brad Gregory, p.99)

After watching obsessively for the white smoke, I was actually 10 minutes late in hearing about it, and this cuteness is why!

I’ve been running late to everything this week because there are so many cute baby geese to watch, but who among us, etc… (I’m sure Saint Werburgh would excuse me slinking in late to prayer if the excuse was “BUT LOOK, BABY GEESE!”⚓️

Walked in, read the white board, and wondered if this was the to-do list for today. I could get on board with this as an agenda! ⚓️

I've spent the last few months asking Saint Walburga to fix this whole bird flu situation. But it turns out that Saint *Werburgh* is the nun with the geese! Rookie Benedictine error... I'm sure we'll have this whole mess straightened out in no time now that the prayers are going to the bird nun...⚓

Exactly! The survey makes me look like some kind of contrarian Luddite (an impression that admittedly is probably not helped by the whole "living in a rural monastery" thing...), but there are just WAY too many ethical problems at this point...

Any saint who has an animal in their icon, like Melangell with her rabbit or Mildred with her deer! Honorable mention for Saint Botolph...patron saint of boundaries. (Technically literal property lines, but I think he'd be fine protecting boundaries of all kinds!)

Totally misread this sign as saying that the local Catholics were having a "Guilt Auction," and I was genuinely disappointed to discover my error, because I was actually intrigued!

Compline begins with 15 minutes of silent meditation. Today Sophia, who has lived here for 14 years and knows perfectly well that she is not allowed in chapel, waltzed in, curled up in front of the altar, and proceeded to SNORE loudly for the next 15 minutes while we all struggled not to giggle....

Monastic work project: helping to recycle candles by beating old candles with a hammer, removing the wicks, and then continuing to smash them into small, meltable pieces. Very therapeutic, deeply satisfying, goes great with imprecatory psalms, 10/10 would recommend.

Visiting a new monastery for the first time, and my cell comes with a CAT! This is a major selling point...

It has been a real joy to spend this week with my brothers on the Anglican-Oriental Orthodox International Commission, supporting one another in a time of great difficulty for our siblings in several of the member churches, and learning from one another's church traditions.

Two versions of my bio in the AI image generator...both older versions of myself who are clearly living the dream...

Spent the morning watching world events unfold as though their outcome depended upon me continually refreshing the live updates. But spent the afternoon out of cell phone range while feeding an otter and a giraffe!

Last (?!) in-person meeting of the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music before General Convention is ominously soon, with much still to be done....but Bugnini's "Reform of the Liturgy" is reminding me that it really could be much worse... #tec