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Meet Our Monks |
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| Each day at 6 a.m. Br Jim can be found at his kitchen table praying, meditating or thinking of the coming day as he drinks a cup of coffee. While all the monks rise at different times, Br Jim likes to begin his day in this way before joining all the monks in chapel at 6:45 for Lauds (morning prayer). |
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Today is a regular sous-chef day for Br Jim, he will work with our lay cook, Vicky, preparing veggies, cutting up fresh herbs or washing dishes. He stays at this job all day, beginning at 8 a.m. and finishing in time for Vespers (evening prayer) at 5 p.m. - stopping only for daily Mass at 11:30. Br Jim enjoys his work so much that you never hear him complain about how hard it is or how boring it may be. |
| There are times when Br Jim takes time off from the kitchen work to be sure he keeps his body in good shape. |
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On his day off he can usually be found walking the grounds or working on his hobbies, one of which is making beautiful walking sticks out of diamond willow wood. He also does pen and ink sketches and sculpture which he learned in art school in Santa Fe NM |
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Br Jim has been working with Vicky in the kitchen for over 12 years and says: "We get along real good - working together for so many years." On Vicky's days off Br Jim does all the cooking himself, which is no easy task considering there are always 30 monks and associates, and often guests and retreatants which sometimes can total an additional 40. |
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There are days when Br Jim thinks back on the many other jobs he had since first coming to Blue Cloud Abbey in 1953. He was in charge of the kitchen for over 5 years, at different times he was in charge of baking (picture to right, baking 2 king cakes for our Mardi Gras dinner), maintenance, landscaping, the lakes and even the garden. In the pioneer days when the monks were building the abbey, Br Jim made forms, poured cement and even did welding. |
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| Br Jim will keep you amused for hours with the strange twists and turns his vocation to the brotherhood has taken. He first made inquiries in 1953 when he came for a visit. He returned the next year to enter the novitiate but only stayed a year, he was too young and restless. In 1956 he was drawn back to Blue Cloud, made a second novitiate and stayed 4 1/2 years. He left again, this time for 12 years working in various jobs from South Dakota to Montana on to Nevada. In 1972 he knew God was calling him back, so he returned, made a third novitiate and stayed. Br Jim is apparently following his maternal cousin, Blessed Andre Bessette of Montreal Canada in responding to God's call to be a brother. |
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Br Jim often talks about his family whom he enjoys visiting on his vacation. He keeps in touch with life-long friends, such as his good friend, Leroy, from his hometown of Vermillion. |
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Updated 3/03 |
