As we look back on the last months of summer, it amazes us just how many visitors came to the farm, both to help us out and just to visit. Carmina especially enjoyed time with many friends from her past. God continues to send friends new and old to experience our life here and, hopefully, experience His Presence.

 

Chiara and Josh contacted us out of the blue to come and help. It turns out Larry taught Chiara’s sister at DeSales University - it’s a small world. Josh has a doctorate in history, which afforded us some amazing conversation.

 

An old friend of Carmina's from her Notre Dame days reached out to visit the farm. She and Claire lived in Badin Hall at ND (we won’t reveal our ages, but we were there for our last National Championship!) Clare now works as a Pastoral Associate in New Jersey, and her pastor is a former student of Carmina’s from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary - an even smaller world! It was so good to reunite with Clare, and we hope for many more visits to the farm.

 

Carmina’s heart was full of joy to have her nephews visit. Her godson  Doug is a senior at Fordham University and is friends with Claire’s son Jay - so many coincidences! Will, a graduate of Quinippiac University, works for ESPN and writes for SportsCenter. Doug’s girlfriend Olivia came along and really took to farm life. The chickens ran away from Will, but the goat kids were a bit more friendly.

 

Josh enjoyed his visit so much that he returned to help out with a goat project and the hay baling, joining our friend Pat from Marian Catholic HS, who regularly brings students to the farm.  We were surprised by our friends George and Margaret (another former student of Carmina’s) who helped stack the hay and shared pizza with us. They are involved with St. Francis Classical Catholic Academy, a new classical school down in Bally, PA. We pray for its success!

 

Some of Carmina's girlfriends from her St. Charles Borromeo days met up at the farm for a reunion. Marianne lives in the DC area, and Judy and Catherine in Philadelphia. Three intelligent faith-filled women! It was a fun day of playing with the sheep and goats, spinning wool, and awesome conversation.

 

We had the pleasure of hosting one of our benefactors, Tom from Delaware, for lunch and a tour of the farm. It turns out he and Larry had a lot more in common than we realized. We are grateful for his love for the Church and support of our mission.

 

Friends old and new came together for a small dinner gathering. Josh and Pat, who came to help several times this summer, were joined by Fr. Gene and Fr. Brian, two priests from the Diocese of Allentown (who happen to be Carmina’s favorite and second favorite seminarians - can you guess which is which?) and our local pastor, another Fr Brian. We had great fun and a wonderful “roundtable discussion for the clarification of thought” that would make Peter Maurin smile.

 

Fr. Alex, Vocations Director of the Diocese of Scranton, brought his staff to the farm so they could experience what his seminarians have been doing the past few years. They LOVED it! Susie had fun collecting the eggs and the sheep really liked Kyra. The Vocations Office is in good hands!

 

For the second year in a row, St. Charles Boromeo Seminary sent the seminarians in their propaedeutic year to work on the farm. Last year, they put up the fence around the chicken coop. This year, we had them clearing out the field to prepare it for winter. It was a tough job, but the men were up for it. After lunch, they made a Holy Hour with Eucharistic Adoration. Our Church has a bright future.

 

John Delaney, Director of Andre House, the Catholic Worker House in Phoenix, AZ, came for a visit while he was in the area for a Volunteer Fair at King's College. Andre House is sponsored by the Congregation of the Holy Cross, the order that runs King's College (and Notre Dame) and is named for St. Andre Bessette. We had a delightful conversation about our Catholic Worker missions.

 

Our friend Matt, who led a group of young adults from Lancaster, PA, earlier in the summer, returned for a short visit on his return trip from a retreat. It was great to reconnect with him and share faith.

 

Pat returned once again with students from Marian Catholic HS in Tamaqua. They completed the clearing out of the field started by the seminarians. Marian Catholic is doing something right - these young people are amazing. We ended the day with a rosary and some quiet time in the chapel.  Pat plans a few more trips in the spring.

 

Larry is in the midst of a lot of traveling and speaking engagements, including talks at Cornell University, Mount St.Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg (a beautiful homecoming for him), and Benedictine College in Atchinson, KS. He leaves for Rome next week to write from the Synod, and upon his return has talks at The Catholic University of America, the University of Scranton, and a conference sponsored by Word on Fire in Rochester, MN. His blog and articles continue to be far reaching - it is exciting to see the fruit of his evangelizing efforts.

 

Carmina, with her friend Annette, maintain their Etsy store, Brown Eggs Yarn, and had booths at two festivals this year, the Endless Mountains Fiber Festival and the Lehigh Valley Fiber Festival. Always the teacher, Carmina continues to do demonstrations of her wool processing and spinning, even incorporating them into retreat experiences. How she loves her sheep!
 

Please continue to send us your prayer requests - let us pray for each other! We are grateful to all our supporters and benefactors. Our needs always seem to be met. If you would like to help feed our sheep (and chickens) this winter, please consider a donation. Your help enables us to welcome visitors and care for God’s creation with dignity.