In the Shadow of His Wings

Sponsa Christi May 31st, 2009

Veni Sancte Spiritus!  This has been our heart’s cry during the Pentecost Novena and especially today as we celebrated the fulfillment of the Easter mystery.

Christie signing her official Affiliate commitment

    During the Liturgy of the Hours for the mid-morning hour our Passionist Oblate Affiliate Christie made her first year commitment. Congratulations and thanks be to God!

     After a festive dinner the nuns were treated to a Pentecost game (actually a belated Easter game!) prepared by Sisters Mary Veronica, Mary Andrea and postulant Shannon.

Shannon explains the rules of the game

    Does Shannon seem a little lighter on her feet here? Perhaps that is because she has been accepted to be vested in the holy habit and receive her new Passionist name - Praise God! Also, thanks so much for your prayers for Sharon. We all discerned this life was not God’s calling for her. We are all grateful for the prayers you offer on behalf of all the women discerning Passionist life. Please keep it up!

 This is one of those nuns who disappears at the sight of a camera!

      Tomorrow we plunge into “Ordinary Time”. Why so quickly after Pentecost? – the very next day? Because our Holy Mother Church is telling us it is “ordinary” to be filled with the Holy Spirit – all the time – in the ordinary events of daily life!!!  Alleluia!

Part of the community enjoying the beautiful day…

and Danny too!

 ”Joy is the echo of the Holy Spirit”

~ Blessed Dom Marmion

Tags: Feast Days, Stages in Formation

• Easter , Novitiate news , Passionist Life
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Sponsa Christi May 21st, 2009

    Friday will begin the 2nd annual retreat here in the monastery. Please do keep those of us on retreat in your prayers.  This retreat will coincide with the Pentecost Novena.  Veni Sancte Spiritus!

    I had hoped to write you a lovely and inspiring blog post before leaving for the desert but its just not happening. Postulant Shannon had a couple poems I was going to post but she must have given me the wrong floppy disk as they are not on here and by the time I see her next all my work time set aside for the blog will have passed. 

    You our readers will be in our prayers during the Novena, especially those of you who are discerning a vocation to the priesthood or religious life. May God give you courage and strength to fulfill His will with a generous heart!

    Come Holy Spirit!

    Come through Mary!

• Blessed Mother , Monastery traditions , Passionist Life
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Sponsa Christi May 15th, 2009

From the Decretal Letter Sanctitudinis Culmen of Pope Pius XII

    The distinguished servant of God, Gemma, earnestly committed herself to the spiritual life. With her adopted mother, the notable Mrs. Cecilia Gianinni, she had long discussions about Jesus and spiritual things.

    Avoiding the frothiness of society life, she spent much time in fervent contemplation of the passion of Christ. Day and night she was engaged in intimate communion with God. Reliable witnesses testify that, during the last years of her life, the servant of God, Gemma, was often in a state of rapture and was favoured by God with prolonged ecstasies and unusual gifts, such as we read about in the lives of many saints.

    Among these divine favours was the very special one of manifesting in her virginal flesh the living image of Christ and sharing mysteriously in the various sufferings of his passion. She felt her hands and feet pierced by nails and her side wounded with a lance. At times, the stigmata, or scars of the wounds were visible. It is reported that she saw an apparition of the Lord Jesus himself and of the Blessed Mother.

    She experienced the presence of her guardian angel as a familiar friend, and frequently held conversations with him. There were other unusual manifestations of grace, which Gemma described in detail at the order of her spiritual director. They seem to indicate clearly that there was such a union of mind and heart between this chosen virgin Gemma and Christ that she could say with the apostle Paul: I have been crucified with Christ, and the life I live now is not my own; Christ is living in me.

    For some time, the servant of God has desired to enter a religious community, and thought she was being called to the Passionist Nuns. She felt that God was inviting her to greater austerity and more intensive contemplation of the passion of Christ. Since this is the main mission, a kind of sacred heritage that St. Paul of the Cross left to the religious he founded, Gemma asked more than once to be admitted into the cloistered convent at Tarquinia.

Venerable Father Germano Ruoppolo, C.P. - Gemma’s spiritual director

    But there were obstacles, particularly her poor health and the publicity that had been occasioned by her extraordinary graces. Eventually her illness progressed to such a point that it ruined all hope of her entering.  But even though she could not become a member of the cloistered Passionist community, she deserved to be considered a member of it because she had professed private vows…

    Gemma gave admirable witness to the religious spirit and was a model of Christian perfection. In fact, she practiced all the theological and moral virtues on a heroic scale, and we can say that her whole life was spent in the continual exercise of virtue.

• Passionist Life , Passionist Saints
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Sponsa Christi May 12th, 2009

    It’s getting to be that time of the year when many young women are looking forward to their entrance day to the monastery or convent. We recently had a request from a mom of such a young woman about to enter the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, who wanted to know more about Shannon’s “Bride of Christ Shower”. I wrote to Shannon’s friend who took care of the details and here is what she wrote. I hope this information will be helpful to someone out there about to enter the monastery.

    “We approached Shannon’s ‘Bride of Christ shower’ the same way we would have any other wedding or baby shower; we asked Shannon what she wanted. Basically, we took it as an opportunity for all the people who love her dearly to gather and show support as she took the next step in her life. By the very nature of her next step, there was also a ‘goodbye’ tone to the festivities. I think a direct quote from the shower was ‘So… I guess we’ll catch you on the flip side.’

    Since this was the first time many people got to see Shannon since her big decision, it was also a chance for her to tell her story. The invitations were sent out via evite by Liz (see copy below), and Shannon’s family graciously offered up their home for us to use. One personal request Shannon made was for a small wedding cake, which we had, along with all your traditional shower foods.

    We spent time socializing and then gathered as a group to listen to Shannon’s story and watch as she opened gifts. Afterwards, one of the girls led us in some praise and worship songs, and we spent more time socializing. We ended the night with a nice cup of hot tea and plenty of hugs. Some of us even received party favors in the form of special ‘stuff’ Shannon could not take with her to the monastery. In the end, we were all able to show support for Shannon and send her off with everything she needed for her new vocation.

    EVITE: As most of you know, our beloved Shannon has discerned to enter the Passionists up in Whitesville, KY and is leaving very soon! Please make every attempt to be able to join us this Sunday as it may be the last time you will be able to see and speak with Shannon until we all meet again in the Kingdom!Shannon has requested that at (around) 5pm we all head to the perpetual adoration chapel together for a short time of prayer.* The rest of the shower will include praise and worship, tea time, girl talk, and more prayer time! Get excited y’all!!

    Message from Shannon:  Important!: Your presence is desired more than your presents… BUT for those who would like to contribute to the ‘getting Shannon ready to go because she is broke fund’…Shannon’s needs for entering the monastery: Here they posted the items on Shannon’s entrance list.

   I am not going to send this to Shannon, so if you get any of the items above please post it so that it’s kind of like a registry account and we can therefore all know what has been bought and what still needs to be gotten.

    Lastly, (phew!!) we all know how much Shannon adores letters, so if you can, please write Shannon a letter to bring to the shower because WE LOVE HER SO MUCH!!

    *Unfortunately, we were unable to attend adoration due to local schedules.

• Bride of Christ , Vocation Discernment
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Sponsa Christi May 4th, 2009

    After posting Sr. Mary Andrea’s sharing last week I thought I would also share with you some excerpts from our Rule & Constitutions regarding our spirit of monastic work.

Sisters shelling pecans during recreation.

These first two quotes are under the section entitled Vow of Poverty #27 & 28

They choose to live together sharing all things. They place their talents, work and time at the service of the community and of the Church…

The Passionist Nuns lovingly submit to the common law of work (Perfectae Caritatis 13) and thus provide necessary means for their livelihood. Following the example of Jesus, they work for the glory of the Father and the good of all mankind. They cast aside all undue worry and trust in the Providence of their Heavenly Father. (Matthew 6:25)

Sr. Mary Andrea working in the kitchen during her aspirancy

These 2 quotes are under the section entitled Community Life #76 & 77

To work is God’s command (Genesis 2:15), both for the development of the individual and the cooperation of all in the progress of the human race. Without weakening the spirit of their enclosed life, the Passionist Nuns live out this obligation, providing for their own upkeep, ensuring healthy personal balance through the development of their faculties and talents and helping others in their responsible service of charity.

The nuns willingly fulfill the offices and works entrusted to them, helping one another especially if the work is heavy, remaining united to the Lord who chose to live in this world as “the carpenter’s son” (Matthew 13:55). When possible, the religious work in solitude; when working together, they maintain silence and recollection.

This from A Life of Conversion & Penance #67

For the love of Christ, they generously embrace as their first work of conversion and penance the difficulties of daily life…They spontaneously and joyfully give themselves to the various kinds of work required in the monastery.

Aging and Sick Nuns #81

The aging nuns pass their days in serenity of spirit, conscious that though their energies and capacity for physical work and service have diminished, their lives are precious and fruitful for the community and for the Church. They intensify their contemplative prayer by uniting themselves with Christ, Crucified and Risen, as they await His coming. The community shows the aging nuns appreciation and esteem for the heritage received as the fruit of their faithful work.

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 P.S. Do you wonder sometimes why you seem to see the same Sisters in most of the photos and some Sisters you never see? Well, some have a knack for ducking or just plain disappearing when the digital camera appears on the scene!

Tags: Rule & Constitutions

• Monastic Life , Passionist Life , Passionist Spirituality
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