Beautiful Sunday Hymn

Last Sunday, the Benedictine monks sang this hymn at morning prayer, accompanied by organ, and I found it so beautiful. Since then I looked but couldn't find it online anywhere, and the book it is in seems to be out of print. My friend sent me an image of the song, which I reconstructed using Noteflight. I also exported a simple audio file of the melody, embedded below.

More from St. Benedict's Abbey (Tour of Sacristy and Chapels)

Here are some more photos from the Abbey:

Prayer "before Mass" in the Sacristy. It reads, "Give virtue to my hands, O Lord, that being cleansed from all stain I might serve you with purity of mind and body."

Father Abbot's miter.

You'll never guess what happened to this monstrance. It was mauled by a she-bear on a remote slope in Colorado.

St. Benedict's church, the original church of the monastery before the new one was built. Has a beautiful high altar with baldacchino and perpetual adoration.

Chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the crypt of the Abbey church. There are about a dozen or more side altars for the days when each priest celebrated low Mass, before concelebration was permitted.

Gold stoles from the abbot's pontifical vestment sets.

St. Scholastica chapel. Still has the altar cards from the old days. Strange but pretty stained glass.

Glimpses of a Monastery

I awoke at 4:45 this morning, a good two hours before sunrise, and to a cold still air outside of -4 degrees. Br. Placidus drove me to the airport in Kansas City. I took some photos this weekend during retreat downtime and monastery tours. Here's a few I've uploaded this afternoon.

Missouri River as viewed from St. Benedict's Abbey in Atchison, Kansas. 

Guest house and monastery.

Monastery at dawn after a night of snow.

My guesthouse room after Compline.

Guesthouse room desk.

Snowy morning after Mass.

Weekend Retreat

By time this (scheduled) post is posted, I should be starting a retreat I've gone to for the weekend (grateful to my father for the extended weekend!). I'll be with the Benedictines at St. Benedict's Abbey in Kansas (my first adventure to this State and to the Great Plains). The topic of the retreat is from the rule of St. Benedict. I'll be praying for all my friends and usuals, and hope you'll mention a prayer for me too. You needn't worry about me not returning; I just bought a new car on credit.