A Little Sabbath Walk . . .

After a little church in Benson and a little lunch with friends, we headed east on I-10 to St. David, the home of the Holy Trinity Benedictine Monastery. 

As you approach through the remote, isolated village of St. David, you see this cross rising above the horizon.

This cross is 70'… some hardly believed that number but when Lorne and Stanley went and stood beside the cross they did not reach the top of the base.

Once we had parked, the six of us, Lorne and Gail Booth, Stanley and Sharyl Young and Sherwin and I, took a short self-guided walking tour through the grounds. The ponds are bird sanctuaries but when I whipped out my camera they disappeared.

Sherwin and I love adobe, enjoying the colour, texture and architectural details indicative to adobe.

We came upon this monk out on the 'back 40' enjoying a smoke. You can see by the jacket that even though we had glorious sunshine it was a bit nippy with the wind.

We enjoyed the view looking back at the cross where we entered the sanctuary.

St. Francis hanging out in the cemetery… didn't take many photos there, too busy look at headstones.

Notice the Star of David in this wall… we were told that this was a nod to the ancestry of Jesus.

Still wandering… back side of the chapel.

We entered a side gate to the chapel but if you were to look to your left you would see this main gate covered with an arch topped with Tombstone Roses. Would love to return to see these roses blooming.

And to the right is the entrance to this place of worship we had come to see. 

It was late mid-afternoon by the time we got inside the chapel so the sun was low in the sky already and made lovely patterns through the windows on floors and walls.

All the windows had leaded glass… very lovely symbols of the life of Christ. We all enjoyed the simplicity of the chapel… no ostentatious display here. A great place to worship.

 Even the washroom doors got a 'snap'.

I didn't ask but this building may be the residence for the sisters… will check it out next time we visit. The softness of the contours on an adobe building suits my soul!

And there was a resident peacock, making his peculiar noises, strutting around keeping tabs on the visitors.

Of course, the variety of crosses are always a point of interest in the gift shop...

But my favourite shot of the day is this gorgeous fellow, gracing the entrance to the cross which dominated the skyline where we entered.

Hope you had a lovely Sabbath too. 

Be well and stay in touch.