That means he's been a monk for 50 years. His sister, a nun, flew in from South Africa to celebrate with him. She had celebrated her own Golden Jubilee a few months earlier. Photo courtesy of Holy Cross Abbey Inside the Holy Cross chapel during liturgy. The monks observe all the daily sacrements.
Guests are always welcome at the chapel.
I had always thought of monastic life as a kind of time warp completely divorced from the outside world. But it was this elderly priest who encouraged the monks to put their fruitcakes online. Brother Barnabas is the monastery Webmaster. I met Barnabas in the gift shop. Both of us had been teachers, and we groused together for the first hour about students and the state of education.