From April 16 – 28 the fourteen junior monks and nuns of the American Region (OCSO) met together for the Junior Seminar at The Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, GA. Sr. Anna O’Meara of Our Lady of the Mississippi, with a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Catholic University, presented a series of interactive conferences on the Incarnation. Dom Thomas Davis, former abbot of Our Lady of New Clairvaux, drawing on his own study and translation of our Cistercian fathers, offered a series of conferences on the Meditations of William of St Thierry.

In their written evaluations, juniors often mention these gatherings as a significant time to get to know other juniors, to share their own experiences of the monastic life and to get know the host communities more deeply.

On a day trip to Atlanta, we visited the Sisters of Charity who greeted us graciously and introduced us to the women they care for.