Letters from Ascension Hermitage and Sanctuary

 Chances are that tomorrow will be windy and rainy but today is calm and warm - a perfect day for walking outside to enjoy the signs of early Spring. We hope you are having a beautiful, peaceful day too. On this Sunday afternoon, I do believe that every cat and dog at Sanctuary House is asleep - it's very silent! And so, I'll share this quotation from I & Dog , a book published in 2003 by the Monks of New Skete: "When we are quiet enough, freed from all our inner noise and chatter, we can see with new respect the natural beauty and wisdom of the world around us and appreciate our ties to it. Such perceptive silence opens up our lives to a healthy reverence and awe for all things; it creates a capacity for openness that is both humanizing and life-giving." [p.59]

Good morning, everyone! We (Clancy, Sally, and Casper) are just here to tell you it's a beautiful day at Sanctuary House . . . the sun is shining, the temperature is up to 58, and we've had breakfast! Hope your morning is as beautiful as ours is!  

 Blessed Feast of the Annunciation!  (This icon is from The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America  Annunciation of the Theotokos - Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America - Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America )  " Happiness comes not when we reluctantly accept a new situation, a burdensome challenge or difficult responsibility, but when we embrace it and thank God for the opportunity to grow. Mary did not simply resign herself to her fate. She saw God acting, God loving, God offering, and she whole-heartedly embraced the new reality and burst into a song of praise and thanksgiving. She found true happiness in a life filled with gratitude." -- Thomas J. Paris And today I also remember my grandmother - I never knew her in person . . . she died when my mother and her younger brothers were children, but her spirit always lived in our house. She was the seventh of ten children, the sixth girl. Her father wanted a child to have his name, so he said, "Boy or girl, the next...

When I went out to feed the chickens this morning the waning crescent moon was bright in the blue-gray sky. Of course, that reminded me of a hymn (#544 in The Hymnal 1982 ): Jesus shall reign where e’er the sun Does his successive journeys run; His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, Till moons shall wax and wane no more. To Him shall endless prayer be made, And praises throng to crown His head; His name like sweet perfume shall rise With every morning sacrifice. People and realms of every tongue Dwell on His love with sweetest song, And infant voices shall proclaim Their early blessings on His name. Blessings abound where e’er He reigns: The prisoners leap to lose their chains, The weary find eternal rest, And all who suffer want are blest. Let every creature rise and bring Peculiar honors to our King, Angels descend with songs again, And earth repeat the loud amen. May our lives also say Amen! We are here on earth for such a short time - just passing through really . . . God grant t...

Daisy woke up from her afternoon nap ready for a treat. "Oh yes," she said "a little hay would be delicious! And then my honey and fruit stick - what a great day!"  Sometimes it is the simple things of everyday life that bring the most joy.

Willow gave me a sideways glance. "Do you have treats," she wondered, "or are you only taking photos?" She must have decided that I had no treats - which was correct - because this is as close as she came. The pasture is still very muddy, but the grass is beginning to grow green again, just in time for the first day of Spring tomorrow!

  And today we also celebrate St. Gertrude of Nivelles, the patron saint of cats and of those who live with cats! [with thanks to my friend Dana for reminding me . . .]

  Happy St. Patrick's Day from everyone at Sanctuary House! 💚

  "Death comes unexpectedly!" That's the only line I remember from the movie Pollyanna  which came out when I was 11, so that dates me! But it is exactly what happened at Sanctuary House this morning - our 10+ year-old cat Zed, who had seemed perfectly healthy yesterday, was dying. Ordinarily, Zed greeted me with a swift swipe of his claws-out paw, but today he lay down and yowled - a definite cardiomyopathy sound for anyone who has heard it before. I popped a baby aspirin in his mouth. He let me pick him up - a certain sign that he was very sick. I tried to make him comfortable, but he burrowed under his blanket, and not long after had left us for the Rainbow Bridge. Zed was short for Zedidiah a name that means beloved of the Lord. He was a strange cat, always a little feral although he had lived indoors for most of his life, but very much loved. Life on earth is short - love every minute of it!

 The quiet of the afternoon was interrupted by the sounds of tractors spreading fertilizer on a near-by field. The horses took that as a signal to run and play - well, at least Imagine and Willow. Sonny, Titan, and Bubba just watched.

Whatever else is happening in your life today, know that Spring is coming . . . see it's almost here! Love and prayers to all from all of us at Sanctuary House  

 Unlikely as it may seem, more often than not, I hear something on our local classical music station that just makes my day. For many reasons this weekend has been long and tedious: tax forms, grant application, too much information from diocesan convention, the time change, the price of horse feed - you know the kinds of things.  But then, this morning at 6 a.m., Sing for Joy ! The final piece was "Guide Me Ever, Great Redeemer," and yes, I sang along - although with slightly different words, since I know the version in The Hymnal 1982 . Believing that the words are in the public domain, I'll share it here - and that tune Cum Rhondda ? Yep, that will be in my head all day! I hope this makes your day too: 1 Guide me, O thou great Jehovah, pilgrim through this barren land; I am weak, but thou art mighty; hold me with thy powerful hand; bread of heaven, bread of heaven, feed me now and evermore, feed me now and evermore. 2 Open now the crystal fountain, whence the healing s...

I was very glad to know that when my local Episcopal parish needed a place to worship while our heating system was being replaced, the nearby Presbyterian church came to our rescue. And, as many events do, this one reminded me of an ancestor - in this case my 7th great-grandfather John James Muirhead.  John Muirhead was a martyr for the right to worship in the Presbyterian religion in Scotland in 1666, in the village of Ayr, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Of course, there was a serious connection between religion and politics, but I believe for John Muirhead anyway, he died for his religious convictions. He was only 28 - his wife Elspethe had died two years earlier, and his two surviving sons were young (James was 13 and Claud was 9; another son, John had died at the age of 4) - yes, if you're doing the math, Mr. and Mrs. Muirhead were only 15 when they started their family! Fortunately for me, someone else raised the boys and they eventually came here after also living in Ireland. The ...

The goldfinches flocked for breakfast this morning, thanks to Debbie Shepherd whose donation of nyjer seeds replenished our feeders just when our seed supply was running low!  And in Lent Madness? The two saints for today are Athanasius of Alexandria and Richard Meux Benson - I voted for Benson, first of all because we Religious have to stick together, but also because my cats love his middle name! When I read them the choices, they immediate chose Benson. Lent Madness is a serious learning experience, but also a reminder not to take yourself too seriously! Athanasius of Alexandria vs. Richard Meux Benson | Lent Madness

  Sharing the message from the Lent Madness website  Lent Madness 2025 | Lent Madness  and suggesting again that Lent Madness is a great activity to add to the observance of Lent. Today we begin our forty-day journey to Easter. The Lenten season invites us to rend our hearts, to take an unflinching look at the ways in which we have fallen short of our calling as followers of Jesus Christ. Difficult? Certainly. Necessary? Absolutely. Joyful? Yes, eventually. As our  Book of Common Prayer  reminds us, during Lent we "prepare with joy for the Paschal feast." How can this be? It is always joyful when someone finds Jesus or returns to him. And returning to Jesus is something we all need to do again and again. The world can look hopeless. Chaos and violence fill the news. Greed and fear seem endemic. It appears that evil has won the day. But the Gospel of Jesus Christ offers a hope-filled truth. In the suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, we se...

  Spring not coming fast enough?  Well, you can always paint your own Spring! Just think of it as a garden that you never have to water and where the blooms never fade or die. These irises are "blooming" in our stairwell. And if you want to "plant" something else later? Paint can fix that too!

 Una watched me from her "hiding space" in a Chewy box. "What's for breakfast?" she thought.  "The usual, Friskies Turkey Pate," I told her.  Una ordinarily waits to eat until I have gone on to other tasks. Una and her brother Sava have lived here for years. Sava is not as shy as Una is, but they are aloof, love-me-from-a-distance, don't-touch-me-too-often cats.