Thanksgiving Day in the USA..

It's thanksgiving day today- in the monastery, monks join the nationwide celebration by obeserving a holiday no-work day today.

the Highlights of today's celebration..........

my photos taken in the morning after the Holy Mass....

the day's schedule for us to follow: at dahil madaming free hours between the time schedule, monks are surely glued in their laptops doing internet thing if not watchin DVD movies or simply in their beds stretching lazily.

preparing for the Holy Mass in which i was the Master of Ceremonies- wearing our black cowl helps shield us from the chilling cold wind breeze insde the Church, na kahit tatlo tatlo na ang oven filled with burning firewood ay hindi pa rin nito magawang uminit sa loob ng abbey church.

a simple flower arrangement complements the simple celebration of the Holy Eucharist in church partcipated in by the monks, nuns of our neighboring monastery for women and our resident guests( in our guesthouse).

this nun still in her seat takes charge of the flowers at the altar...probably, nagpaiwan siya after the Mass to give her time to check on the flowers she arranged, for our afternoon Vespers.Now, upon noticing me taking photos, she gladly gave me her nod as her sign of approval for me to take a shot of her with the Virgin mary image in the background.

from the Church, i proceeded to the kitchen to check on the sisters who are goin to do the cooking for today's banquet. just to find out Father Mayeul doing the washing of the breakfast dishes. he was so unmindful of my presence. now, upon knowing that i was taking shots, he timidly covered his face with the glass he was drying up--a natural reaction and reflex..

Mother Mary Benedicta, the Prioress of the sisters of the monastery of our Lady of the Desert (our neighbor) was the only one i found at the kitchen-minus her cooks, putting up the giant dressed turkey to be baked for our banquet this afternoon- sabagay maaga pa kasi, this was only around 7:35Am when i did the rounds at the kitchen -remember? i am the kitchen manager here LOL.

giant turkeys wrapped in plastic oven bags getting ready to be baked at 400 degrees heat...kawawang Turkeys LOL.

when rodrigo saw me with my digicam , he, as usual and as camwhore as he is, posed inside the pantry adjacent to our kitchen and asked me to take him a shot- i gladly did.

now, it's time for rodrigo to return the favor. kaya ako naman ang pinag pose nya.

after this - i went back to my cell (after giving Mother Mary Bendedicta specific instructions on the things to do in preparation for the afternoon Buffet.)

images showing me and the kitchen cooks at the kitchen and refectory preparing for the main meal banquet at 4:00pm... I was stuck in the kitchen and refectory the whole of the free time helping out with the banquet preparation:

The two cooks who were assigned to help me up for the banquet: Sister Mary Placida and sister Mary, with a volunteer worker from our guests who spent time with me setting up the banquet table food warmers-Michael from Taos NM.

the light meal ( 11:45AM) was served in silence shortly after the 11:30Am Sext prayers.

after the light meal, the preparation of foods for the banquet was resumed with sister kateri and placida in my side.

baking of the turkeys were done...so juicy and yummy yummy baked turkey.

the last hour of preparation in the banquet room before the 4:15PM Banquet.

the guests at the banquet getting their food....time for TALKING MEAL.....

after getting their own food, the guests, monks and nuns get inside the refectory and find their own place to sit --- this time, karambola na-halo halo na- kahit sino pwede mong tabihan at tsikahin habang kumakain ng turkey- mashed potatoes-gravy- turkey fillings- pumpkin na ginisa- (yung hawak hawak ko sa isang picture kaninang umaga pantry), vegetable salad withh thousand island dressing, bread rolls with butter, and drinks of their choice- diet coke, diet pepsi, budweiser, and champagne and other brands of white and red wines.

These last two images(with oblate Thomas Aquinas, Fr Luis, and Jojo Naval -all Pinoys) were the last of the images i caught in the whole duration of the day's great celebration of thanksgiving at the monastery. these two last pics show our pinoy oblate Thomas Aquinas , Padre Luis "Padu" Regalado, and another pinoy protestant pastor Pastor JOJO Naval - he was pastor in his howmtown Hala hala Rizal, but is now based in Espanola - Thomas Aquinas' kasambahay sa apartment na tinitirhan nila. The next activity that followed after the Talking Meal was the dirtiest one- the washing of dishes-pans and bandehado in the kitchen which i failed to catch with my digicam for obvious reason LOL. Vespers followed after dishwashing and all that... the night party and recreation by the monks themselves followed after vespers- I did not take images- for obvious reason: pagud na pagud na pagod ako sa buong maghapong pag ikot ikot at pabalik balik sa kusina, pantry, refectory, at sa banquet room, vice versa. i hope you enjoyed the images and texts.