Greetings from Virginia Dale

I will be blogging this week from the Abbey of St. Walburga, Virginia Dale, Colorado, where I will be conducting a canonical visitation for the sisters. We officially began last night before Compline with a very simple ceremony, and over the next few days, I will meet with each of the sisters and at the end write up a report on the community's life. I have always felt very much at home here: the sisters are very warm and have a beautiful, prayerful liturgy. It is a privilege to have this responsibility delegated to me by Archbishop Chaput of Denver.

Joining me is Mother Mary Clare Vincent, OSB, retired Prioress of St. Scholastica's in Petersham, Massachusetts, another wonderful community, 'twinned' to our 'brother' Subiaco house of St. Mary's. It may or may not come as a surprise that women co-visitors have historically been rare. By historically, I mean until about twenty years ago. The new Code of Canon Law (1983) helped make the oversight of women's communities more flexible. It seems to me a no-brainer that I would have asked for a female co-visitor, but I am a child of the 1970's, and while I respect the developments and cultural situations that led to the pre-Vatican situation, our current situation calls for different approaches. More evidence of the inspiration behind the Council.