"What Silence is Not," with Mother Cecilia

Today on the podcast, "What God is Not" with Mother Natalia and Fr. Michael O'Loughlin, the first of a series of episodes with the other nuns of our monastery begins, kicked off by an episode with Mother Cecilia, titled, "What Silence is Not." (The other episodes will air periodically throughout the coming months.) Mother Cecilia takes a unique angle regarding silence, speaking about more than just the obvious physical reality of silence. She defines it as, "the emptiness of self," and challenges both those who would rather avoid silence and those who naturally like it. We hope that everyone will find some food for reflection in this episode and be challenged to dive into some true silence.

"Be poor with Me: reflections on poverty"

Today is the first day of the 40-day Nativity Fast (or "Philip's Fast," because it begins on the eve of the feast of the Apostle Philip). Today we begin to prepare our hearts to receive Jesus in the Incarnation, who enters into our physical and spiritual poverty and takes on the poverty of our humanity. 

As we begin this fast, we offer for your reflection a video that we produced this year and just released this past weekend for our Bridegroom's Banquet. It is called, "Be poor with Me: reflections on poverty." We hope that it will help to set the spiritual tone of your preparations for Christmas.

Discernment Retreat, Dec. 17-19

Single Catholic women, ages 18-35, who would like to take a weekend to pray about a possible vocation to the monastic life, are invited to inquire about attending the upcoming discernment retreat at Christ the Bridegroom Monastery, December 17-19, 2021. Experience the life of prayer at the monastery, listen to talks on prayer and discernment, make use of the opportunity to get to know the nuns, and receive healing through the Mystery of Holy Repentance (Confession). If you are interested in this retreat, or a future discernment opportunity, fill out the Vocation Inquiry Form. Please fill out the form by Dec. 6 for this retreat. Space is limited and may fill up before Dec. 6. Mother Theodora will contact you to talk about availability. With questions, call 440-834-0290 or email christthebridegroom@gmail.com. Visit this link for the schedule and more information.

Bridegroom's Banquet deadline extended to Nov. 8!

The registration for our annual benefit dinner on Saturday, November 13, has been extended to Monday, November 8. We still have space left and we would love for more people to be able to join us! Registration is free and donations will be doubled!

We are also excited to announce the entertainment for this year's banquet: musicians Matthew Trovato and Natalia Wohar. They are both dear friends of ours, and Natalia is a budding Byzantine Catholic singer/songwriter who just released her first album! Visit this link to listen to or purchase her music. Click on the photo to the right to listen to her music video.

Day-after banquet video premier

If you are not able to attend our Bridegroom's Banquet benefit dinner in person, you can still join us online on Sunday, November 14, the day after the banquet, for a livestreamed greeting from us and the online premier of our new video, "Be poor with Me: reflections on poverty." More information about the time of this online event will be available on our website closer to the date of the banquet. You can also donate toward the matching funds even if you cannot attend either the live or online events. More information is available on the "Bridegroom's Banquet" tab. Please pray for the fruitfulness of our event and for all those who will participate. Thank you so much for your support! God bless you!

Thank you to our fall work day volunteers!

Wow! We had an amazing crew of volunteers that came with only a week's notice to help at our fall work day on Oct. 9! We accomplished all of our projects!! Enjoy these photos to get a glimpse at the hard work, good food, fun and prayer of the day. Thank you so much to everyone!

Join us for our Fall Work Day, Oct. 9

Sorry for the late notice! (We've been overwhelmed with the life profession!) We hope you can join us for a day of outdoor and indoor work projects, prayer, food and fun at the monastery on Saturday, October 9. Volunteers of all ages and abilities are welcome! The day begins at 10 a.m., includes lunch, and closes with vespers at 5 p.m. followed by a cookout. Come whenever available, and bring a side dish to share if you can. The monastery is located at 17485 Mumford Rd. Burton, Ohio. Please RSVP* by Thursday, October 7, to christthebridegroom@gmail.com or 440-834-0290 so that the appropriate amount of food can be prepared.

Tools we especially need this time: weed whackers

*Please RSVP with:

1. The number of adults (include teens) and the number of kids (12 and under)

2. Will you be here for lunch or dinner or both?

3. The dish you plan to bring