Sad news has drawn me away from Mehatoor this week.
Abbot Bavo, my guide and my superior at the asteroid monastery where I spent most of my live, has passed away at the tender age of 223. He was a wise man, always caring for his monks and doing everything to lead them closer to God. His main character trait was compassion. Not the kind of compassion that goes along with pity and resignation. The kind of compassion that makes one get up and help.
This saintly man showed me monastic life, and it is because of his teachings that I decided all those years ago to renounce a worldly life and become a monk.
The order held a vigil and a ceremony in one of our main monasteries in Kador, on Kothe XI, rather than on the asteroid monastery where he was Abbot. I think they wanted to make it possible for members from systems farther away to go to a more accessible location. But I can't shake the feeling that abbot Bavo would have preferred his own secluded surroundings as a final resting place.
I went there, and participated in the three-days vigil at the cathedral where he was laid in state. After these days of prayer and contemplation, he was laid to rest in the cathedral's catacombs.
Even though the past days have been marked by grief and sadness, there was also a good aspect. It brought me back in contact with many of my Brothers, whom I have not seen for almost two years. Joining them in prayer, sharing simple meals in communal fashion, and listening to the stories of what happened to them, brought great comfort and pleasure.
Dear Abbot, I am grateful for this final gift of bringing us back together.
