St Alphonsus High and Dry

On the eve of the feast of our Holy Father St Alphonsus the time and tide are just right to easily remove the Monastery barge, St Alphonsus, from the water in order to undergo some maintenance.

The trailer having been rolled down the slipway and under the St Alphonsus, both are slowly pulled back up the slipway.

 

 Whilest each tractor individually has the pulling power to do the job, they do not have the traction to pull the St Alphonsus's 20-plus tonnes, so the wheels spin.

 

 With both pulling in tandem, however, the objective is easily accomplished.

 Br Romuald checks with Fr Magdala if this is far enough.

Using a powerful jack, the vessel is lifted off the trailer.

Each pull of the lever lifts the St Alphonsus's bulk only a few millimetres, but by this an enormous weight is lifted with little effort.

With the weight lifted off the wheels by the jack, Fr Magdala and Br Edmund bring more blocks to place underneath.  The St Alphonsus is not sitting quite correctly on the trailer.  With the weight lifted, the trailer can be repositioned.

The trailer having been repositioned, Brother moves the slightly precarious support-blocks at the back of the boat further forward so that they are lifting both the boat and the trailer off the ground.

 

 The aim is to ensure that the massive weight of the boat is not resting on the wheels for longer than it needs to, in order to prevent damage to them.

Done.  The St Alphonsus and its trailer are held securely, just slightly above the ground.

We wish a very happy feast of St Alphonsus

to one and all!

The Longest Day

Some photos of the second longest day of the year.

Sunset on Papa Stronsay:10:28 p.m.

Sunrise on Papa Stronsay: 3:58 a.m.

Although the sun does drop below the horizon for almost five and a half hours, we do not experience full darkness at this time of year.  You can see on the graph here that we do not have night, properly so called (true darkness), from the 24th April to the 18th August.  However, these dates would only apply when the sky was not overcast.

Pentecost Sunday

Come Holy Ghost, Fill the hearts of Thy faithful, and kindle in them the fire of Thy Love.
Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created.
And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth!

 Solemn High Mass celebrated on Papa Stronsay on Pentecost Sunday.

 

Thank you, most Holy Spirit, for calling us and all those who wish, to consecrate ourselves to Thee in the peace and tranquillity of Papa Stronsay!

That steps not slide. That holy faith be kept.

The sky is beautiful this evening. 

It is clear. The sea is calm.

Ice is biting into the ground.

Welcome stillness indeed

but where steps might simply slide.

O blessed solitude where we meditate at meals

on the lives and sayings of the Saints.

Today there was an interesting statement from St Alphonsus.

We are well  through Volume II of his Life.

On 14 May 1772 he wrote to Father Blasucci:

"Naples is abandoning the faith,

people no longer go to confession,

preaching is despised,

seculars expound theology,

and everyone interprets Holy Scriptures,

the dogmas and commandments

just as he pleases!"

O Holy Father watch over us in 2016!

Pray for us that even if entire cities of souls

abandon the faith in our times,

pray that we persevere 

in keeping the same faith that you professed

and in which you died. 

Lights in the Sky

We were treated to a lovely show of the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) last night. I've personally never seen them this early in the summer, so it was quite a surprise!  I got the camera only towards the end of the display as it was quietening down, but was still able to take a nice photo.

The Northern Lights on Papa Stronsay.

A Sign for the Isle

Papa Stronsay now proudly displays its own sign!  Under the Papa Stronsay Arms can be read the three ancient names of Papa Stronsay:
Papey Minni.
Papey Minor.
Papey in Litla.

A Great sight as you approach the Papa Stronsay Pier!

Very Rev Fr. Michael Mary and the brothers erect the new sign on the pier wall.

Fr. Magdala Maria handles the drill and is assisted by Br Alfonso Maria and Very Rev Fr Michael Mary.

Spring is in the air

It feels like spring is finally upon us, what with the calm wind, the sunshine and God's creatures rearing their young.  Two calves and two goslings have come to join us on Papa Stronsay so far.  We hope that by God's grace there will be plenty more to come as the spring weeks roll onwards into summer.

 This calf is two days old.  It always amazes me how fast they are up and going!

 The goslings are one and two days old.

 Despite their small size, the new arrivals have quickly made themselves a part of the group!

A dairy calf.  She is a few weeks old now and is growing up fast.

Black-headed Gulls nesting in the irises.

A Welcome Visit from Fr Hunwicke

For several years we have been friends with Fr John Hunwicke. That he might consider travelling to us all the way from Oxford, considering the fall he had when in Rome in 2012, seemed almost too much to expect. But to our delight we were privileged to welcome him to Papa Stronsay last week, where for four days he gave us conferences on the holy Liturgy: the Sarum rite, the missal of Stowe, and the history of Papal Anglicanism culminating in the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham during the reign of Pope Benedict XVI. 

Of course we did not simply receive conferences; there is nothing like having a friend to stay; it was super! And yes of course, we are hoping he will return again. 

 Fr Hunwicke's lively and engaging deliveries!
Every word clearly articulated and set to make its mark.

 One afternoon during his visit some of the brethren accompanied Father on a walk around the island.

Father has a keen interest in early monastic archaeology.

 Father examining the ruins of the 11th century chapel of St Nicholas on Papa Stronsay
which is built over an earlier one from the 7th century.

Again in the ruins of St Nicholas's chapel.

The neighbouring island of Stronsay in the background.

Not an easy walk along the beach on the eastern side of Papa Stronsay.

Our Desert in the Pathless Sea.

In Father's Mutual Enrichment blog
 he wrote about his time with us.

Many thanks Father for coming all this way!
Wonderful days!
Haste ye back!

A Tiny Reflection of the Glory of God

Last night here in Orkney we had some of the most spectacular Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights that I have ever had the privilege of seeing.  It was very difficult to capture what we were actually seeing with the camera.  It was like a light show of flashing strobe lights.  The closest I can come to describing it is if you imagine looking into the bottom of a swimming pool on a sunny day and seeing all the shimmering patterns on the bottom caused by the light shining through the water - It was something a little like that only slower, really something to see!  Also what we saw with our eyes was slightly less of a bright green than what the camera captured.  Please find below a tiny reflection of the glory of God:

Reconnected

As many of you may know, on Papa Stronsay we have been without internet access since before Christmas.  It is for this reason that our blog has been so silent.  However, thanks be to God, our internet is now restored thanks to a replacement Point-to-Point Wireless Bridge.

The Bridge transmits the internet from the neighbouring island of Stronsay, across the water of the Papay Sound and into Papa Stronsay.

 A station identical to this one is located on Stronsay and the two transmit and receive the signal back and forth.  We had previously used the same things, but there was some error with them and they had to be replaced.

As a result of our restored connection, you can expect a few updates in the coming days, so stay tuned!

This evening there have been some modest but none-the-less beautiful Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights.  I post a few photos below. It is also rather windy, and I had some trouble holding the camera still, so they are a little blurry.

 The small red dots are the safety lights atop the wind turbines on the island of Sanday.

 The vast majority of out lights are a green/grey colour, but here we see a little spot of red.