What's Fr. Allen Doing at Mount Angel Abbey and Seminary?

I'm presently on a study week at the benedictine Abbey and Seminary called Mount Angel, located in Mount Angel, Oregon, approximately an hour east of Portland and about 6 hrs from St. Matthew.  I have several reasons for being here:

1) Anglican priests are mandated to use three weeks for ongoing study per year.  It is possible to "save them up" for a longer time away but many priests find that spacing out the study time throughout the year is helpful to the parishes they serve.  

2) I want to refresh myself in the Benedictine Daily Offices (see youtube address here attached which shows a snippets of the worship that takes place at Mount Angel http://bit.ly/2dCrCKC).  I believe a church that enables prayer in some sort of regular fashion is a happier, less anxious, indeed, more joyful community.  I hope to continue to speak about and encourage the formation of daily office prayer, whether in our chapel or carried on privately in homes.

3) I'm continuing to work on a book about Christian Spirituality.  It's been a difficult go over the past year or so to find the time to work on it but I will continue to endeavour to do just that.  The particular slant I bring to the task is to speak about what many in the early church would have taken to be the goal of the Christian life: becoming partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet 1:4).  But what I want to ask in this book is, "How in the light of modern realities, in the light of science, can such a thing, can such a journey be possible?"  I see my book building on what is becoming our parish statement: "helping each other explore God's beauty, truth and goodness."

Beside's the video I've attached a picture of the lovely library in which I'm ensconsed.  See you on Sunday, October 9th, Harvest Thanksgiving!