tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8740833416243787264.post3004999306377629680..comments2023-04-17T08:17:10.801-04:00Comments on From a Brother: Once a MonasteryAnthony Zubahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10510769963599518038noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8740833416243787264.post-77306581800096180412021-12-10T10:58:01.947-05:002021-12-10T10:58:01.947-05:00"That which is holy and divine needs no shrin..."That which is holy and divine needs no shrine or temple -- it's human beings who need to create and protect sacred spaces so they may connect to who they really are. Bless the Garrison Institute for keeping the spiritual flame burning."<br /><br />Wow, talk about having things backwards. We Catholics build shrines and temples in certain locations precisely because those places ARE holy; the churches at Lourdes or Fatima for example, or St. Peter's in Rome, built over the grave of the first pope. Once built, THEY become part of the "holiness", conduits to the Divine just as icons are. It's totally "new age" to say that churches and temples aren't needed, or if they are, it's to enable US to connect to who we "really are". Connect to ourselves? What about connecting to God, the Virgin Mary, the saints, traditions, and our ancestors in faith? What about connecting to the goal of salvation through Christ, something that Buddhists will never have?<br /><br />I lived at Garrison for several months in the early 1970's as a postulant and left, thanks to trendiness. I remember a trendy All Souls Mass with jack-o-lanterns on the altar, priests ditching their habits for suits and ties on Friday night to go clubbing in NYC, finding relics of saints tossed in the attic, being saddened to see hand illuminated parchment books from Germany rotting in a storage room, and more. I do have respect for members of other faiths as fellow human beings, but that you would bless Buddhists for "keeping the spiritual flame alive" at Garrison suggests that you think that Catholic Christianity and Buddhism are on par with one another. That mentality drove thousands of people OUT of RC religious orders and the Church in general in decades past. Thankfully, new orders and communities have been founded to quench the spiritual thirst that some traditional orders no longer quench. A state of the Buddha is now where the altar used to be, upon which bread and wine became the body and blood of Christ. Just peachy.Hanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04394379852357655547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8740833416243787264.post-69789265003100868912021-06-23T11:49:28.663-04:002021-06-23T11:49:28.663-04:00Hello. Do you know why there is a bamboo forest on...Hello. Do you know why there is a bamboo forest on the property? Thanks. -AnnmarieAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12083651551442996452noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8740833416243787264.post-59596950803507555442015-10-06T17:37:26.964-04:002015-10-06T17:37:26.964-04:00Both of my brothers went through the high school a...Both of my brothers went through the high school and my older brother was ordained after four years in the monastery. My older brother entered Garrison when I was 3 and he was ordained when I was 16. I have such fond memories of Garrison and wish i had gone to visit before it was sold.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11622572257507076447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8740833416243787264.post-51341224017720794072015-10-06T17:36:49.077-04:002015-10-06T17:36:49.077-04:00Both of my brothers went through the high school a...Both of my brothers went through the high school and my older brother was ordained after four years in the monastery. My older brother entered Garrison when I was 3 and he was ordained when I was 16. I have such fond memories of Garrison and wish i had gone to visit before it was sold.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11622572257507076447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8740833416243787264.post-45637221607448871962014-03-03T12:11:16.237-05:002014-03-03T12:11:16.237-05:00I work at the Garrison Institute and the stations ...I work at the Garrison Institute and the stations of the cross were not cemented over. Drywall was placed over them since they weren't appropriate for the current use of the space. We recognized their beauty and significance and wanted to preserve them. I'm curious about the meaning of the images on the windows in the chapel and those on the outdoor altar to the north of the what was called the Bay Tree Building. Any info anyone cares to share can be sent to me at dennis@garrisoninstitute.org. dennis27https://www.blogger.com/profile/02453713056666367596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8740833416243787264.post-51206198239012465382012-06-11T16:31:22.880-04:002012-06-11T16:31:22.880-04:00Peace be with you, Regina, and thanks for stopping...Peace be with you, Regina, and thanks for stopping by the blog. Garrison is indeed a very good place -- a beautiful place -- and I am thankful the old monastery is in the hands of respectful custodians. That which is holy and divine needs no shrine or temple -- it's human beings who need to create and protect sacred spaces so they may connect to who they really are. Bless the Garrison Institute for keeping the spiritual flame burning.<br /><br />Should you wish to kindle the childhood memory of fantasies of life as a Poor Clare, let me indulge you with this post about a visit to a Poor Clare monastery:<br /><br />http://fromabrother.blogspot.com/2012/02/poor-clares.html<br /><br />I can sense your feeling of attraction and aversion to Roman Catholicism. I am of the same mind as Fr. Donald Cozzens, who observes, with hope, that what we are witnessing today is the passing of the Roman Catholic Empire and the coming of the Roman Catholic Church. Whether the keepers of the church-as-institution are aware of this is another question.Anthony Zubahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10510769963599518038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8740833416243787264.post-67660620463832557742012-06-11T15:25:31.864-04:002012-06-11T15:25:31.864-04:00June 11, 2012
Hi ---
I found your blog while searc...June 11, 2012<br />Hi ---<br />I found your blog while searching for information about the beautiful place in which I attended a meditation retreat this past weekend, the former Mary immaculate monastery/Garrison nstitute.<br />First, I have been uncatholic for decades but as a child wanted to be a Poor Clare or Carmelite nun at varying points in my NYC-apt based dhildhood and so actually being in a former monastery was gripping for me. I wondered what the little seats around the perimeter were and I thought the choir loft was a choir loft, but you say it was a segregated spot for the lay ministers. Were the arched areas behind the alter little shrines? I had to bring myself back to the breath as I "heard" (not literally!)Latin chanting and wondered what the place smelled like with incense and candles and scores of woolen robed guys with bare feet! <br />The Buddhist world is quite schismatic as you probably know----that big golden Buddha is Tibetan---"my" Buddhists the secularists (see: Buddhism Without Beliefs by Stephen Batchelor, a beautiful & simple book)would have a much (much) less flashier "alter" if any.<br />However, there probably would be candles.<br />I believe the present Garrison Institute is a very good place in several very important senses, and (sorry) roman catholicism a darker and darker anachronistic force in the world--- but the loss of the monastery to the Franciscans that had to let it go must have hurt.<br />Regina<br /> Regina Kelly Houghteling<br />Access Services Librarian<br />City College Libraries<br />160 Convent Ave<br />New York, NY 10031Regina Houghtelinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18339821159958152189noreply@blogger.com