In the Shadow of His Wings

Sponsa Christi April 12th, 2013

Easter greetings to all our friends!  Sorry I abandoned the internet world right at the Sacred Triduum. We had a profound experience of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Divine Bridegroom.  We are still celebrating with Alleluias and the lovely Regina Coeli!

Would any of you be interested in distributing some of our vocation brochures? Here is a PDF version.

front cover

brochure when half way open

Yes, our brochure is “outdated” now with the election of Pope Francis. This is another reason why we would like to get these distributed quickly.

Opened brochure

back side of brochure

If you are interested, please leave your name, address and phone number, number of brochures to send and a brief explanation of how you would use them in the comment box below.  If I publish the comment to the blog I won’t publish your contact info.

OKAY – OUR COMMENT BOX ISN’T WORKING – you can contact us through our vocation email address:  vocations(at)passionistnuns(dot)org.

God reward you for promoting Passionist life!

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Sponsa Christi March 26th, 2013

Jesus loved us “to the end” – to the fullest extent possible.
What other religion can boast that their god loved them so much
he/she became a human being and died for them that
they might know Love eternal?

Our post last year entitled Meditations for Holy Week is getting a lot of views so I thought I would re-post that again this year.

Here are some EXCELLENT meditations
on the spirituality and history of Holy Week.

Holy Week

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper

Friday of the Lord’s Passion

Easter Vigil in the Holy Night

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• Catholic Vocations for Women , Easter , Holy Week , Passion of Jesus , Passionist Spirituality , Passionist Vocations for Women
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Sponsa Christi March 18th, 2013

Happy St. Joseph Day! Well…almost. We will have First Vespers of this great solemnity in one hour. Today we are finishing a solemn 9 days of prayer in honor of St. Joseph and tomorrow will be celebrated with great solemnity in our community since our monastery is named after St. Joseph. This is our “community feast day”!  And this year it is extra special with the Inaugural Mass of Pope Francis. You can be sure we will be watching this…although NOT “live” as most, if not all of us Sisters will be asleep when the Mass begins at 9:30 Rome time (3:30 central time?)

Back to this blog post topic!  This year we will have the wonderful presence of a Passionist priest to lead our Holy Week services.

Fr. Giuseppe Barbieri CP

We hope some of you will be able to join us!

March 24 – Palm Sunday Mass of the Lord’s Passion:   8 a.m.

March 28 – Holy Thursday Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper:  7 p.m. followed by Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

March 29 – Friday of the Lord’s Passion:  3 p.m.

March 30 – Easter Vigil Mass:  8 p.m.

March 31 – Easter Sunday Mass:   10 a.m.

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Sponsa Christi March 13th, 2013

The sound of the obedience bell brought all the sisters running to the tv room where we kept our eyes glued to EWTN’s coverage of the Papal conclave. We waited for an hour for those doors to open onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, listening to the commentators AND adding our own…watching the white smoke, hearing the bells and we added the ringing of our own monastery bells.

Sister rings the obedience bell. This is a rush of bells pealed repeatedly to let the sisters know there is urgent news of some sort and to gather near the crucifix.

Then out came the Cardinal Protodeacon to announce Habemus Papam – Jorge Borgoglio – in Italian – WHO?  Franciscum!  Wow, this man is taking a new name…many prayers were offered as we waited on the edge of our seats for him to emerge from behind the red curtain.

Great excitement over white smoke!

Pope Francis!  At first he just stood there, taking it all in, waiting for the microphone…those were long minutes.  Then he spoke from his heart, prayed the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be in Italian (morphing into Spanish?) and before he gave the Papal blessing he asked us to pray God’s blessing upon him and made a profound bow.  He then asked for the microphone again and ended his comments by hoping everyone has a good night and good rest!

Veni Sancte Spiritus!  Guide Pope Francis!

Apologies for so many exclamation points…we, with the whole Church, are wee bit excited.

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Sponsa Christi March 7th, 2013

Last week brought us the largest Nun Run we have ever welcomed to the monastery. About 40 high school gals came all the way from St. Mary of the Woods parish in Whitesville, KY – about 3 minutes from our monastery. They arrived in a large charter bus!  I should have gotten a picture of that.

It was a joy to share with them the riches and treasure of Passionist life, of being a bride of Christ and living as love in the Heart of the Church.

Here we are with the chaperones. Fr. Ken Geraci, CPM, spearheaded this group. Way to go Fr. Geraci!  I have to take this opportunity to put in a good word for our dear Fathers of Mercy. Fr. Geraci was just ordained a priest with this community last summer. He is currently assigned as Associate Pastor at St. Mary of the Woods. After leaving our monastery the group headed off to visit the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia in Nashville, TN – about 2 hour drive from here.

+++

Another newsworthy item of last week was of course the resignation of our beloved Papa Pope Benedict XVI. As the Nun Run was departing it was 8 p.m. Rome time and official moment of resignation. We joined with the Universal Church in praying for our beloved Pontiff Emeritus and are praying for the Cardinals as they gather for the conclave.

Pope Benedict giving his blessing to our newly elected Superior General Fr. Joachim Rego, CP, October 5, 2012

We came across the following article last week on EWTN News.  We are looking forward to receiving this letter!

Cardinal Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State, has written to the world’s nuns and monks to ask for their prayers for the conclave to elect Pope Benedict’s successor

“The Holy Father is certain that you, in your monasteries and convents throughout the world, will provide the precious resource of that prayerful faith which down the centuries has accompanied and sustained the Church along her pilgrim path,” Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone’s Feb. 21 letter says.

“The coming conclave,” Cardinal Bertone emphasizes, “will thus depend in a special way on the transparent purity of your prayer and worship.”

…

He noted that Pope Benedict “has asked all the faithful to accompany him with their prayers … and to await with trust the arrival of the new Pope.”

“In a particularly urgent way,” he added, “this appeal is addressed to those chosen members of the Church who are contemplatives.” And Cardinal Bertone advised contemplatives to look to the Pope’s example of devoting “himself above all to prayer, contemplation and reflection.”

The Secretary of State finished his letter by saying that Pope Benedict, “with whom I shared the contents of this letter, was deeply appreciative, and asked me to thank you and to assure you of his immense love and esteem.”

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Sponsa Christi March 3rd, 2013

Today is the one month anniversary of Sr. Cecilia Maria’s wedding to the King!

Here are some YouTube links to various parts of the Passionist Mass of Religious Profession. Special thanks to NunMother – Sr. Cecilia Maria’s mother – for uploading these!

Here is one special little story from that weekend of abundant joy and grace:

Both her parents, Jane and Tim, her maternal grandmother, Anita, and her only sibling, Whitney made the lengthy journey from the West coast. They arrived Friday night. The next morning they were all in chapel; Tim was setting up a video camera as Whitney and Mother Catherine Marie practiced the various music they were going to play for the Mass. (Whitney accompanied us beautifully on violin.)  When they started playing “O God Beyond All Praising” Tim stopped dead in his tracks and after a few moments he whispered, “That was the processional hymn for our wedding”.  He was obviously deeply touched.  Sr. Cecilia Maria was totally clueless to this fact when she asked if we could learn this song for her profession.  What a lovely arrangement by Divine Providence! And, how many men remember the processional hymn from their wedding day!?

The recessional hymn is linked here on YouTube.

Also, don’t miss the masterful switching of the veils and the catch of the crown of thorns when sister bowed during the offertory procession!

Here are a few more photos from the day…

Some people will do anything for a unique camera shot!

That is Fr. Joshua McCarty, one of our young diocesan priests, at the top of the ladder. (and our Msgr Powers’ “calmly” sitting beneath it!) In 2011  Fr. Josh founded Lolek Productions in order to create high quality media as a part of the New Evangelization called for by John Paul II.

Truly, a singular view point!

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Sponsa Christi February 19th, 2013

Yes, it’s that time of the year again…The patronal feast of our novitiate is just around the corner…that is the feast of St. Gabriel of our Lady of Sorrows on February 27th.

A statue of St. Gabriel graces the entrance of our novitiate. The novitiate is the place in the monastery set aside for the use of the new members. It includes their private cells, recreation/class room/library and computer area. It also includes the office of the novice directress who is the little superior of these new lambs of Jesus and Mary.  It is the place of the “making of a nun”.

We began our novena to St. Gabriel and would like you to join us during these 8 days of prayer for an increase of members in our community.

Many women just need a bit more courage to give a greater “yes” to Jesus and try out Passionist life. Others feel they must be absolutely certain this is God’s will for their life before they will try it out. But that is almost an impossible frame of mind to achieve.

In my own journey all I was sure of was that God wanted me to try out Passionist life. It was a time of discernment. That is why one does not make vows within her first week of entry!  It takes time to get acclimated to monastic life and see if it is God’s call for her.  Rarely does God speak in an audible voice: Yes, enter here!  No, generally he inclines a woman’s heart toward or away from the life.  With the help of the novice directress, through fidelity to prayer and a getting a taste of monastic life, God’s will is made manifest.

Please pray for those women whom Jesus is calling to be his Passionist brides to give a generous YES. Your prayer might obtain the final grace they need to respond to God’s plan for their lives!  Your prayer might just make a nun!

   O good St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Virgin, you were taught by God to love the Passion of Jesus and to remember the Sorrows of Mary His Mother. By her side, you stood by the Cross of Jesus and shared her compassion. Following her, you grew in love for God and all His people. O St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Virgin, we humbly ask you to intercede before God on our behalf, especially for the intentions we now present before you.

• For all the women whom God is calling to join our monastic family
• For the spiritual and temporal needs of our novitiate members and the novice directress
• For all who pass through this novitiate - this holy training ground – that they will respond generously to God’s graces poured out in their hearts during this time of intense formation

We place our trust in your prayers St. Gabriel and wish to follow your example. Remember us, and especially our youth, with compassion. Support us all our days by your holy prayers. And when this life is done, may we join you in heaven in the company of Jesus and Mary.  Amen.

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Sponsa Christi February 5th, 2013

I don’t have time to give you much text but here are the photos of the divine wedding day!

Beautiful bouquet of flowers from our Passionist Nuns in Erlanger, KY!

Bishop Medley incenses the altar and crucifix.

Fr. Rodger Hunter-Hall gives the homily

Sister makes her profession of Vows. Her mother looks on in the distance.

Master of Ceremonies seminarian Will Thompson watches the masterful switching of the veils…

Giving her dad the sign of peace

A number of gals from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, KY joined us for the great occasion…perhaps a future Passionist candidate is somewhere in their midst???

Sr. Cecilia Maria’s dear sister did a most excellent job playing during the Profession Mass. Here she is practicing the day before.

The newly professed nun with her parents and dear grandmother. Really they aren’t wearing purple…

Hats off to our wonderful photographer Larena who provided most of the pictures in this post! Shown here with our diocesan seminarian Michael Charles.

Another post will come giving credit to our dear Bishop, priests, deacons, seminarians, Passionist Oblates, photographers and videographers…special thanks also to the friends of Sr. Cecilia Maria who traveled so far to be with her on this very special day. It was a true joy to meet you all!

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• Bride of Christ , Catholic Vocations for Women , Monastic Life , Novitiate news , Passionist Spirituality , Passionist Vocations for Women
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Sponsa Christi February 2nd, 2013

O what a most glorious day!  Words cannot express it…Blessed be God! Alleluia!

I must share with you the moving homily preached by our Fr. Rodger Hunter-Hall.  I will leave you in suspense regarding a photo…I’m terrible aren’t I?  Also, I don’t have a photo yet but I do have a homily…

Presented to the Lord and Consecrated by the Spirit

Your Excellency

Dear Brothers in the Sacrament of Holy Orders

Mother Prioress

Dear Sisters

Dear friends in Christ:

In the life of a monastery like Saint Joseph’s, today’s event is truly a milestone, an event for the history book. Professions happen just infrequently enough that, each time one occurs, it truly grasps the fullness of our attention. It calls each of us to reflection; it lifts our eyes and focuses them, for these all too brief moments, on a distant horizon…a horizon where time and eternity come together.

Continue Reading »

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• Bride of Christ , Catholic Vocations for Women , Cloistered Life , Passion of Jesus , Passionist Spirituality , Passionist Vocations for Women , Redemptive Suffering , Saint Paul of the Cross , Scripture Reflections
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Sponsa Christi February 2nd, 2013

Here is that marvelous reflection I mentioned in my last post. This is found in the worship booklet for the Mass of Religious Profession which will take place in 4 hours…

~  Reflection by Sr. Cecilia Maria of the Body of Christ  ~

As we come to this feast of the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple, upon which I also will be presented at the altar of the Lord as His bride, my thoughts turn to Joseph and Mary as they brought their newborn Son into the courts of the Lord for the first time. How their hearts must have been overflowing with unspeakable emotion! Their footfalls upon the Temple steps were both a culmination and a beginning: a culmination of the long, often difficult, often uncertain journey which had begun for them with an angel’s announcement in Nazareth; and the beginning of a new journey towards the world’s redemption. Today I, too, mark a culmination and a beginning as I profess my first vows as a Passionist Nun.

As Mary came to the Temple to consecrate her firstborn to the Lord according to the Law of Moses, the joy must have been palpable! Having conceived the Son of the Most High and nurtured Him in her womb by faith, and having endured both physical and emotional difficulties, she now brings the Son back to His Father. “Behold, O God, the Long-Expected One! I consecrate to you your Christ!”

In a similar way, my profession today is a culmination of the grace which was poured into me at baptism and which has grown and blossomed with the years. My journey, like Mary’s, has been difficult at times and has required me to leave behind many familiar and beloved things for the sake of God’s work. My journey, like Mary’s, has arrived at a day resplendent with joy, a day when I shall be consecrated entirely to the Lord and His love.

The Presentation in the Temple is also the beginning of the road to Calvary for both Jesus and Mary. It is the hinge between the seasons of Christmas and Lent, between the joyful and the sorrowful mysteries. After Simeon gives thanks to God for the salvation this Child represents, he turns to Mary and prophesies His passion and her share in it. As He is presented to His Father, Jesus’ life is definitively given over to the work of redemption in all its suffering and all its glory.

This consecration is at the very heart of the Passionist Nun’s life. As I profess my vows today, my life becomes knit together with Jesus’ own life, my mission with His mission. From now on, my whole existence will be caught up in Jesus’ work of redemption, “filling up in my own body what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the sake of His Body the Church” (Col 1:24), and becoming a channel of the grace, the glory, and the joy of His resurrected life into our world.

The Passionist Nun is called to be a sign of the love of God, who “so loved the world that He sent His only-begotten Son … not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:16-17). By her union with Jesus Crucified and Risen, she shows to the world both the depths of God’s suffering love, and the height and breadth of the life and joy which flow from it. Please pray for me, that I may be faithful to the vocation to which God has called me!

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• Blessed Mother , Bride of Christ , Catholic Vocations for Women , Passion of Jesus , Passionist Spirituality , Passionist Vocations for Women , Redemptive Suffering
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