Shards of morning glory

The branch of the Lord will be luster and glory,

and the fruit of the earth will be honor and splendor

Isaiah 4:2

We had a wonderful sunrise here this morning at Saint Meinrad Archabbey (not ours alone, of course).

After Vigils and Lauds and then breakfast (around 6:30 a.m., before my second cup of coffee), I stumbled still half-asleep through the calefactory. I was awake enough, however, to catch a glimpse through the window of an illuminated sea of broken orange, red and pink clouds sinking into the hills on the eastern horizon and giving way to a clear blue sky.

Second cup of coffee in hand, I grabbed my camera and hobbled outside (I broke a toe this weekend) to admire the view and take some shots of it (the beautiful sunrise, not the ugly toe). The photo above was taken just outside the monastery door, and the one at the bottom of this post is from the same vantage point (with zoom lens disengaged), offering a fuller view of the fields, lakes, and woods below and beyond the Holy Hill.

Swinging around, the small photo to the right features a window (behind which is the Blessed Sacrament chapel) in the apse of the church reflecting the morning glory.

Don’t ask me how I broke my toe. There aren’t too many noble ways to do that, really. Let’s just say I was a little clumsy yesterday. Earlier in the day, while helping to set the tables in the monastery refectory for dinner, a drinking glass somehow flew out of my hand and smashed into another glass on the table, shattering both and spraying shards of glass everywhere.

At dinner, the glass set at my place had been replaced with one of the small plastic cups used by our elderly brethren. The red-faced snickering at the next table gave away the prankster. Though I got some strange looks from a few who were unaware of what had happened earlier, I quietly sipped out of my plastic cup.

Clumsiness aside, a broken toe can be endured with due care. At least I get to keep my leg. Unfortunately, one of our older monks, who has suffered terribly the last couple years, will lose one of his during surgery today. Your prayers are requested—that no matter what, God’s glory may shine through our brokenness and bring us to the dawn of the Resurrection.