Come join us in this sacred work
Some of you who have never visited Combermere or who haven’t been here in many years, might be curious to know what the work looks like for our Men’s Department. So, here’s a run-through for your prayers and maybe even as an invitation for you or someone you know to come join us in this sacred work.
Bryan O’Brien and Peter Goring look after our big fleet of cars, trucks, tractors and our telephone needs — inter house and outside — as well as our internet and electronic requirements. Several times a week, Peter walks through the parking lot checking the fluid levels, tire pressures, etc. of our vehicles.
Then these two men work on the cars in St. John’s auto shop, just down the road by the river. Repairs, seasonal tire changes, and routine maintenance keep them busy. Peter came to us with a computer tech background as well, for which MH Publications is very grateful. He helps them out on Fridays.
Darrin Prowse carries a huge load in our carpentry department. Most of our buildings were “stick-built” —the traditional method whereby each part of a building is constructed on-site. The building materials, such as wood, roofing materials, windows, and concrete, are transported to the site, and construction is undertaken piece by piece.
These 50, 70, and even 100-year-old barns, houses, shops, poustinias, etc. require ongoing upkeep: roofing replacement, siding repair, concrete work, window replacement, and the list goes on. Any of you homeowners will understand what I am writing about. Darrin is always grateful when guests come with some carpentry skills, but he is also more than capable of training our guest volunteers in the basics.
Jeremiah Barker and Shaun Fowler keep our wood-heated buildings supplied with firewood. I like to say that the “pipes” which transport wood from the forest to the furnace, boiler, and wood-burning cookstove are strong arms. With the help of men guests, Jeremiah and Shaun split, move, stack, and move the wood again.
Winter paths are shoveled, heavy snow is removed from roofs, simple outdoor maintenance on the buildings and grounds are done. The list goes on.
In addition to his responsibilities on our formation team, Peter Gravelle led the main house renovation project for the last seven years. We are coming to the end of that project. Peter, along with one or two of our men guests and some local men, finished up the basement level, and is now taking a break.
They did a beautiful job on the main dining room, and we recently celebrated the first Mass in the newly-renovated upstairs adoration chapel. What a joy it is to have the Blessed Sacrament reserved once again in the main house!
During the winter months, Scott Eagan and Fr. Louis, along with men applicants and guests, harvest lumber and firewood for the coming year. Douglas Guss and Daniel Perren do similar work, concentrating on firewood for the maple sugar shack.
In the spring, our men move into the maple bush, producing a year’s worth of maple syrup, which we use for our cooking, baking, and other sweetening needs.
Plumbing, heating, and electrical maintenance, repairs and upgrade projects are seen to throughout the year by Michael Amaral, Tom White, Daniel, Douglas, and Mark Olszewski. Repairs and replacements are in constant demand.
Under the leadership of Scott Eagan, our farmers(most of whom came to Madonna House with no farming background) keep the family and guests fed year-round.
Alexander MacAdam and Steve Heroux manage our small dairy and beef herds, a flock of sheep, and chickens. Frank Brick takes care of dairy products for consumption by our family and guests.
Daniel Wildish is our chief gardener. We are able to grow most of our garden-grown food, planting crops at the farm and the large garden at St. Mary’s. We don’t have the heat or soil suitable for wheat or hard beans, so we purchase these and mill the wheat for our bread baking as we are able. We all help the farmers plant potatoes and onions in the spring.
Weeding, thinning, and harvesting the different crops is full-time work throughout the growing and harvesting seasons, so we have weekly bees with as many staff and guests helping as possible.
Fr. Louis Labrecque works with Scott on our haying, woodlot, and forest management. Peter Lyrette and Peter Anzlin pitch in with every area of the farm work. Many hands do indeed make light and enjoyable work.
We gratefully receive guests who come to share in our work, our family life, our encounter with the Lord through liturgy and a supported interior life. Some of them come for a few weeks, even a few months, with skills in these many areas of our work; some come with no special skills at all.
The Lord is present here guiding our Nazareth way of life. Our daily encounter with him is our most precious work of all, sustaining our life together and the work of our hands.
