Winter Events
 Things have been busy over the past month or so of the monks’ first winter in Saint Nazianz. Frankly, it has been a very mild introduction to winter in the Wisconsin! Up until this week we have had almost no snow to speak of, and we were able to bless the small lake that adjoins our property for the Feast of Theophany without any difficulty at all! But eventually the snow did come and now, in the midst of some very cold weather, we have time to sit indoors and catch up with our website duties! Here are some of the highlights of our winter so far.  A few days before Christmas, the entire student body of St. Gregory’s Catholic School, together with teachers and chaperons, made the short walk along Church Street to our monastery for a visit and chance to get to know the monks.The school goes from K to 8th grade. The monks were delighted to receive from the 8th graders a well-designed wooden garden ornament, topped by a beautiful hand-made model of the parish church dedicated to St. Gregory Nazianzen, as a Christmas gift.  Christmas and Theophany celebrations were a time of great blessing for the monastic community and the small group of lay faithful who joined them for the services. The largest group assembled on the Sunday following Theophany, on which Abbot Nicholas served the Great Blessing of Waters in front of the lake known variously as “Oshwald Lake” or “Mill Pond” that adjoins the monastery’s property. Most of the people who attended this inaugural water blessing were from the local Roman Catholic parish. Speaking of that parish, the monks are delighted to be able to host the pastor of St. Gregory’s, Father Patrick Nelson, SDS, during his recuperation from rather painful shoulder surgery. Father Pat brings with him his very shy, but very well behaved, companion Joseph, a black labrador. We’re blessed to be able to help out during this time.
 There have been numerous other visitors to the monastery over this past month, helped no doubt by the mild winter. Several people have made overnight retreats and many more have visited for shorter periods. Among our guests, though, we have to mention our new friend a peacock who wandered onto our property in late November and has simply stayed ever since. We know the farm from which he absconded, and have asked the farmer what he wants. Answer: leave him to make his own vocational decision! So far he’s opted for celibacy and seems very happy in the little house Abbot Nicholas has given him and the daily supply of food he enjoys! Peacocks are a traditional symbol of the resurrection in Byzantine monasticism and iconography (as in the ancient world it was believed that these birds never decayed), so our new friend seems a perfect addition to a monastery named for this greatest mystery of the Christian life! See more winter events photos in our album, here.
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