The next adventure begins!

Like my trip to Australia, the start of my European sojourn did not begin on a high note. Despite the predictions of thunderstorms, Northern New Jersey seemed relatively calm on Sunday evening. As we approached Newark airport, one of the monks commented,"It's a lovely night to fly." Maybe as the weather goes . . . Apparently other airports on the East Coast were not so fortunate, so there were numerous delays. The plane bound for Lisbon that was at our gate, didn't leave until after 9:30 pm. We were supposed to take off at 9:55. Even after that plane left, the passengers from the incoming flight from Shannon didn't start coming into the terminal until about 10:30. It was then that United finally decided to post that our new departure time was 11:30 pm! Shame on them! They must have known that. Anyway, we finally did start boarding around 11:00 and we did eventually take off.

I was dead tired by this point and was probably asleep before we reached our cruising altitude. I roused myself when the food came around because I was hungry. Had I known that we were going to be so delayed, I would have eaten in the terminal. There's now some decent food to be found in Terminal C. Instead I had a ration of vegetable baked pasta, which was overcooked, but palatable. The glass of white wine helped put me back to sleep quickly. There were quite a few bumpy spots in the crossing, some of them enough to wake me up. The bottom line is that on a 5 1/2 hour flight, I might have gotten 3 1/2 hours sleep. The next thing I knew, the cabin lights were on and we were preparing to land in Shannon. The pilot announced the weather conditions as 59 degrees, overcast with light drizzle - welcome to Ireland! After the sultry weather we've been having, I was ready for the change. A break in the clouds allowed me to catch my first glimpse of the patchwork of green fields that is the Irish countryside. "I'm here!" I thought, ready to begin this next chapter.

I was met by a monk of Glenstal, Senan Furlong, whom I have known since my days at Sant'Anselmo in the 90's. It's always great to be met by a friendly face when arrives in a foreign country. Soon we were on the road and headed to the abbey. We caught up on things in the car and before long we were pulling onto the long, handsome drive that leads from the road to the monastery and school.

The "castle"

Glenstal Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in County Limerick on the south-west coast of Ireland. A 500 acre estate with streams, lakes and woodland paths, surrounds a castle built in the romantic Norman style.Glenstal is also a very beautiful place with rich, lush vegetation. It's also a working dairy farm, of which the scented air left no denial. I was happy to be back in a place that I have enjoyed visiting before.

I was shown to my comfortable room, where I had a chance to shower and change before joining the monastic community for the mid-day meal. Even though this is their principal meal, it is informal and talking is permitted. I had a chance to say hello to many of the monks whom I have gotten to know over the years,either at Sant'Anselmo, through the exchange with their school, or during my prior visits. I was greeted on all sides by the very Irish phrase "You are very welcome"; and, indeed, that's how I feel.

I crashed after lunch and had a nice siesta. I rallied around, 4:00 and went for a walk around the property. It felt good to breath fresh air after all those hours in the terminal and in the airplane. I walked down "the lane"and back and enjoyed being greeted by a "Hi'ya" from my fellow walkers, of which there were many. I rejoined the monastic community for sung Latin Vespers in their recently renovated Abbey Church and it was a wonderfully peaceful experience to stand in the monastic choir and sing those timeless Gregorian chants. It amazes me that it has been 17 years since I have sung those psalms with any regularity; yet, they were still alive and fresh in my memory. I looked around and saw not a few of the monks singing them by heart. That is, of course, what St. Benedict wanted - that the monk should interiorize the words in such a way as to pray them with the heart, not just the mind. A simple supper with a reading from a biography of Benjamin Franklin followed. In tonight's reading, he was, among other things, experimenting on electrocuting turkeys! Who knew? After supper, there was an interesting conversation with several of the monks in their community room. Now, it's time to turn it. Day 1 of the European adventure is over.

If you want to know more about Glenstal, you can watch this short video which they have posted on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GlenstalAbbey/videos/2022483954451467/

The entrance to Glenstal Abbey