In the Shadow of His Wings

Sponsa Christi May 10th, 2013

Isn’t that a neat word? – heterogeneous!  Meaning “different in kind, unlike, incongruous”…I thought that a good description of the photos in this post. Really, I was just wracking my brain to think of a unique name for this post and happened upon this word.

Please keep us Sisters in your prayers…the Marthas of a few weeks ago are now the Marys. That’s right – half the Sisters are beginning 8 day solitude retreat Saturday through Pentecost Vigil – while the other half keep the monastery running – hopefully the kitchen will survive – the 3 junior professed sisters have taken over…

Some monasteries news…

Nothing like putting a meal on the table for the Nuns and also baking some bread for a feastday breakfast.  Mmmm…delicious!

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Several weeks ago we celebrated Mother Catherine Marie’s feast day (St. Catherine of Siena) with a lovely Gaudeamus day.

Sr. Mary Therese surprised Mother and all of us with about 7 new oil paintings!  I think some of them might be put in our on-line gift shop so stay posted.

Sr. Cecilia Maria presents Mother Catherine Marie with the “first fruits” of her peppermint and spearmint plants. We are enjoying fresh mint tea!

One can’t outdo the Superior in generosity – Mother Catherine Marie has treats for all the Sisters, with the blessing of our Eucharistic Jesus – Lord of our House.

Sr. John Mary presents Mother with some note cards made from cartoons drawn by a recently deceased sister of our Passionist Nuns in Japan – Sr. Maria Dolores.

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Recently we were invaded by the Niehaus clan (Sr. Mary Andrea’s family) who helped move and stack wood. Sr. John Mary’s brother also joined in on the fun. THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK! ! !

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Thanks to our dear Passionist brother in Christ – Fr. Giuseppe Barbieri, C.P. – we have these photos from Easter day.

Christie and Sr. Ann Miriam have a transfiguration moment.

These smiles show forth the joy of being brides of Christ and living a life of love in the heart of the Church.

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I hope you enjoyed this little highlight from the past couple of months.  God-willing and the creek don’t rise (which it is currently doing with all the rain we are getting) I will write another post with photos of our grounds during this beautiful Spring weather.  Please join us in praying for good planting weather for our farmers!

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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 January 9th, 2013

“Can we keep the Christmas tree up a bit longer…?  Perhaps we can put it on wheels and bring it out at certain times of the year…”

So went the conversation last night during our evening recreation. We LOVE the Christmas Season!  We hate to see it end.

Below are some snapshots of our Christmas-Epiphanytide…

Singing Christmas Carols and wearing those zany hats loaned by our sweet Oblate Veda!

One Sister enjoys Christmas music on a subdued Sunday afternoon while working on a Jane Wooster Scott puzzle – a snow scene of course!

Blessed be God this year we have Epiphanytide – that week between Epiphany and the Baptism of the Lord in which to continue to partake of the rich liturgical readings and hymns.

And to continue to make many visits to the holy crib…to meditate on the Word made Flesh – the whole “reason for the season”. We have several nativity scenes throughout the monastery. Today we took this one down…until next year!

We also enjoyed a visit with some of our seminarians of the Diocese of Owensboro, KY

My…them Texan boys sure know how to make a snowman…out of 1/2 inch of snow fall! Sr. Rose Marie’s brothers had to run those balls of snow up and down the hill many times to pack in that much snow!
There are those zany hats again…

The nativity scene in our library…a beautiful gift from
another of our Passionist Oblates!
Nice photo from Sr. Rose Marie’s dad!

Our Lord Jesus Christ…truly present in the Most Blessed Sacrament. How full of wonderment we have been as we revisit His great love for us in assuming flesh and becoming a little child and then remaining with us in the
Sacrament of His Holy Love!

O Sacrament Most Holy
O Sacrament Divine
All praise, all thanksgiving
be every moment Thine

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• Catholic Vocations for Women , Christmas , Cloistered Life , Monastery traditions , The Holy Eucharist
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Sponsa Christi November 14th, 2012

…this post is a little late…but better late than never!

Read our summer newsletter at our website. It features the ordination to the priesthood of Sr. John Mary’s brother and lots of news from the monastery. Enjoy!

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Sponsa Christi October 2nd, 2012

Greetings on this rainy day from the Heart of the Church!  As you know we pray very much and live in a spirit of prayer that Jesus Crucified may be more known and ever loved and we also pray for the needs of our Holy Mother Church, our nation and our world. 

The Lord sends us abundant blessings in the midst of our life of union with him.  A recent blessing was the refurbishing of an old calvary scene and the creation of a “shadowbox” to protect it by Tim Wynn – Sr. Cecilia Maria’s father.

Some months back Tim refurbished and created a backdrop for a Calvary scene which was donated a year or two ago by a dear friend Charlotte Oberst. We wanted a way to protect the scene and he did a fine job!

For the crucifixion scene he replaced the cross with walnut, the backdrop is maple burl and the frame is walnut. The shadowbox itself is also walnut with slip dovetail joints and the door has mitered corners – quite a work of art!  Thank you Tim! 

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This is a familiar sight : lots of needles flying at recreation!
Crochet, darning, knitting, cross-stitch and more.

This month we also said goodbye to our dear aspirant Ruth. Her time with us came to an end after receiving special discernment graces during the Septenary prayed in preparation for the Solemn Feast of our Lady of Sorrows. Ruth returns to California and takes a bit of us with her as she seeks to follow God’s call there and beyond. We miss you Ruth and keep you in our prayers!

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Spiritual Mothers of Priests

Fr. Jeff, Sr. John Mary’s brother visited with us in August and he offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We had wonderful visit and some belly-aching laughter as he shared his journey from good job, girlfriend and nice truck to seminary, ordination and priesthood.  We continue offering the prayers and penances of our Passionist life for Fr. Jeff and all our priests!

I leave you with a quote from He is My Heaven, a life of Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity. Although the book is written about a Carmelite Nun it can certainly be attributed to the life of a Passionist Nun as well. This is a good insight into what Spiritual Motherhood is all about:

The Carmelite prays and strives for closest possible union with God, not simply for her own holiness and salvation; she is aware that the more she is living in Christ, the more powerful she is in her prayer for others. Just as evil can pollute and corrupt, even more so can goodness and holiness transform.  Elizabeth herself expressed this in the first letter she wrote to a seminarian for whom she was praying:

“Oh, how powerful over souls is the apostle who remains always at the Spring of living waters; then he can overflow without his soul ever becoming empty, since he lives in communion with the Infinite! I am praying fervently for you, that God may invade all the powers of your soul, that He may make you live in communion with His whole Mystery, that everything in you may be divine and marked with His seal, so that you may be another Christ working for the glory of the Father! 

“You are praying for me too, aren’t you? I want to be an apostle with you, from the depths of my dear solitude in Carmel, I want to work for the glory of God, and for that I must be wholly filled with Him; then I will be all-powerful: one look, one desire will become an irresistible prayer that can obtain everything, since it is, so to speak, God whom we are offering to God. May our souls be one in Him and, while you bring Him to souls, I will remain, like Mary Magdalene, silent and adoring, close to the Master, asking Him to make your word fruitful in souls. “Apostle, Carmelite,” (Apostle, Passionist!) it is all one! Let us be wholly His, Monsieur l’Abbe, let us be flooded with His divine essence that He may be the Life of our life, the Soul of our soul, and we may consciously remain night and day under His divine action.”

 

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Sponsa Christi August 4th, 2012

Today being the Feast of St. John Vianney, patron saint of parish priests, I thought I would bring you the article Sr. John Mary wrote for our recent community newsletter. (No, the newsletter hasn’t been posted on our website yet but as soon as it is I will let you know.)

My Brother, the Priest…

Ten years ago I never thought I’d say that! Not that he did not have priestly qualities but because he had set his course on a different path. It was the evening of my Perpetual Profession of Vows, as I said goodbye to my 22 year old brother Jeff , I whispered to him to stay close to our Blessed Mother. He became very solemn and said, “we don’t pray the rosary enough.” I realized then the Lord was awakening within him a desire to live his faith more fully. Two years later he entered what is now known as Bishop Simon Brute College Seminary and seven years after that on June 2, 2012, he was ordained a Priest of Jesus Christ for the diocese of Evansville, Indiana!

He is only a man, this brother of mine, but a man chosen by God to be indelibly marked as an “alter Christus”. “The world looks to the priest, because it looks to Jesus! No one can see Christ; but everyone sees the priest, and through him they wish to catch a glimpse of the Lord! Immense is the grandeur of the Lord! Immense is the grandeur and dignity of the priest!”

 ~ Blessed John Paul II

My brother, the priest…As I write this article he is one week old, a “baby priest” some say. As the days pass I find myself uniting my life to his priesthood. His offering of Christ and all of humanity to the Father. His call has called me to a greater realization of my own priestly vocation as a baptized daughter of God, offering my life through, with and in Jesus to the Father by the Holy Spirit, to pray and do penance. To live Saint Paul’s admonition to the Romans, “…I beg you through the mercy of God to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, your spiritual worship. Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may judge what is God’s will, what is good, pleasing and perfect.”

~ Romans 12:1 – 2

All the Sisters here have been just as delighted as I am over this wondrous gift of a priestly vocation in my family. As contemplative nuns, dwelling in spirit at the foot of Calvary, we take seriously our mandate to be Spiritual Mothers, especially of priests. To pray and do penance for the sanctification of priests following our Lady of Sorrows, Mother of the Eternal High Priest and Helper in his work of Redemption.

The vocation to be a spiritual mother for priests is hardly known, barely understood and consequently, rarely lived, although fundamental and vitally important. It is a vocation that is often hidden, not apparent to the human eye, but intended to transmit spiritual life.

~ Adoration, Reparation, Spiritual Motherhood for Priests
by the Congregation for the Clergy 2007

Through fidelity to our daily hidden life we seek to help priests to be faithful in all their life of self-offering, prayer and duty. I think of the closing words of Bishop Charles C. Thompson, who ordained Fr. Jeff and his classmate Fr. Brian Emmick, “Dare to be priests of JOY.” Yes, we offer our lives for priests that they may know and show forth the joy of a life totally dedicated to Christ. I ask your continued prayers for my little brother, the priest – that he may be a holy priest. A holy priest means a holy people!

…the community of the baptized…’by regeneration and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, are consecrated to be a spiritual house and a holy priesthood, that…they may offer spiritual sacrifices.’ This ‘common priesthood’ is that of Christ the sole priest, in which all his members participate…But ‘the members do not all have the same function.’ Certain members are called by God, in and through the Church, to a special service of the community. These servants are chosen and consecrated by the sacrament of Holy Orders, by which the Holy Spirit enables them to act in the person of Christ the head, for the service of all the members of the Church. The ordained minister is, as it were, an ‘icon’ of Christ the priest.

~ Catechism of the Catholic Church 1141, 1142

 Fr. Jeff pictured with his and Sr. John Mary’s brother Mitch (right) and Mike (left), one of Sr. Mary Andrea’s brothers.

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Sponsa Christi July 2nd, 2012

Wow, it has been so long since I posted I almost forgot how…I guess I shall take you on a little journey covering highlights of this past month…

When I last left off we were preparing for Mother Catherine Marie’s Gaudeamus Day.

I shall let the pictures tell the story…

These first photos are of some handmade gifts we brought to Mother for her to keep or give away…

 A beautiful Thomas Kinkade (RIP) cross stitch done by
Sr. Mary Therese

Decade and 5-decade rope rosaries plus a lovely bookmark which Sister has been working on for about 5 years! Or maybe it is 7 ??? Anyhow, she finally finished it.

yes, we got those granny squares sewn together.

A fruit of Sr. Rose Marie’s 8 day retreat. The little girl on the left is looking at Jesus as the rays of his love and mercy flow upon her.

For our “After Meal Entertainment” we enjoyed some live music.

(Also, we were sad, but accepting of God’s will, as we said “goodbye” to Anne who returned home on June 12. Please keep her in prayer as she continues to discern the Lord’s will for her life. We miss you dearly Anne! God love you!)

With delight Mother Catherine Marie opens her last gift -
a kite!

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A few days after the Gaudeamus Sr. John Mary, after receiving permission, was blessed to attend her brother Fr. Jeff’s ordination to the priesthood.

Visit the website of the Diocese of Evansville IN to read about it and see some photos of the ordination.

Congratulations to Fr. Jeff along with his parents Bill and Bernadine and his brothers and sisters.

Fr. Jeff’s Ordination card

AWESOME…

Fr. Jeff’s First Mass at St. John’s Catholic Church
in Daylight, IN

Fr. Jeff incensing the altar and the crucifix

Fr. Jeff consecrates his life as a priest to our Lady,
Mother of all Priests.

Please do pray for Fr. Jeff and all our newly ordained priests – may they be men after the heart of God…contemplatives active in the heart of the world.

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We’ve also been happily preparing for Sr. Mary Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee celebration which will take place this Sunday, July 8th. Her actual anniversary is Monday, July 9th – the Passionist Feast of our Lady of Holy Hope.

Image of Our Lady of Holy Hope – Our Holy Founder, St. Paul of the Cross, was very devoted to our Lady under this title.

In an upcoming post I will share photos with you of Sr. Mary Elizabeth’s celebration along with a message from her heart about living vowed Passionist life for 50 years.

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We also recently printed an 8 page newsletter. We are in the midst of stuffing them with envelopes, then they will be off to the post office and in your mail box!  If you don’t receive our newsletter and live in the United States and would like to receive it please leave your name and address in the comment box below. We’ll gladly add you to our newsletter list.

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We have been very united with our nation during this Fortnight for Freedom. One point of interest – our novice Sr. Cecilia Marie created a summary of the history of our Congregation during the Napoleonic suppression of Religious Freedom in the early 1800′s. She has been reading this to us each evening during the Fortnight.  I hope to share that with you soon as well!

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I must say adieu!  (I commend you “to God” – a derivative from the Old French)

Take care of yourself in this heat – we have been in triple digits for a week now and our grass has been brown for several weeks. The lake is getting low.We are beginning to feel we live in a dust bowl – please God, mercifully send us rain!

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Sponsa Christi May 30th, 2012

Hello!  We are busy around here with preparations for our Gaudeamus Day tomorrow in honor of Mother Catherine Marie. We have this special day each year as a way to thank and honor our Superior for her generous service to the building up of our community and her charity toward each Sister. It is a day of joy and festivity!  May God reward you Mother for your generous response to God’s call to serve our Passionist community in this way!

Above is our celebratory schedule for the day

Sr. John Mary tries to finish up an afghan for Mother.

Many of the Sisters make gifts to give the Superior on this day. The Superior in turn, can use these as gifts to give to benefactors, etc. This is a long-held monastic tradition.

There will be special food and a musical tribute using violin, Appalachian dulcimer and flute!

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Speaking of Sr. John Mary…her brother Deacon Jeff’s ordination to the holy Priesthood is this Saturday! The long-awaited day has almost arrived. Please do keep him in prayer, along with all our newly ordained priests throughout the world.

Deacon Jeff’s invitation in front of 3 very holy priests -
St. Padre Pio, St. John Vianney and St. Anthony of Padua

It is a special gift to have a nun in our community who has a brother who is a priest.  Two other of our Sisters here have had this wonderful grace in their family. One was Sr. Jeanne Marie and her brother Fr. John Wehmhoefer both of whom have now passed to their eternal reward and are united in gazing on the merciful face of God.

Another is Sr. Ann Miriam seen below with her brother Fr. Joe Mills.

This photo was taken while Father was in the seminary at St. Meinrad and shortly before Sr. Ann Miriam entered the monastery.

This photo was taken last fall, approximately 60 years later!

Thank you Deacon Jeff for your “yes” to the Lord’s call in your life!  And congratulations to Sr. John Mary’s parents Bill and Bernadine and also to her siblings Patricia, Doug and Mitch!

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Sponsa Christi May 7th, 2012

“Where is everyone?” That was my thought Saturday morning when I came into chapel and saw that we had no guests for Mass, which is unusual. As I sat there praying and preparing to enter into the “Holy of holies” a number of people came in to chapel all at once.

During the announcements after the noon meal Sr. Mary Agnes explained to us what had happened. She had gotten a call before Mass stating that the gates were not open and there was a line of cars waiting to get through!

She drove down and discovered that the gate hinges had actually broken!  You can see here that the gate is being held to the post by a chain.  Our faithful grounds-keeper came over and with the tractor managed to move the gate so that our guests could come on in.

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On my walk down to take the photo of the gate I came upon the goose nest and it was empty…that could only mean one thing…the goslings were hatched and sure enough I snapped a photo of them here with mom and dad.

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Last week Anne and Chuck Hagan graciously delivered and spread some good “barn yard dirt” in the garden. God bless you!

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And Dave and Carol Niehaus (Sr. Mary Andrea’s parents) spent a day cutting down trees to provide more sunlight on the veggie garden. May God reward you for your labor!  Here a couple Sisters load up some of the cut wood.

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Today we had the great excitement of a shipment of compost arrive!  Good and rich compost – a whole dump truck full! Thank you Lord! and Jane & Tim Wynn! (Sr. Cecilia Maria’s parents)

Wow…who is going to spread all that?

Who said monastery life was dull? Everyone has monotonous days but each moment of monotony is filled with graces that will not be given again.  May each of us respond to the Lord’s love and grace each moment of our days!

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Sponsa Christi April 23rd, 2012

Three blog posts in 3 days! I am on a roll…or actually, I am on retreat and have time to type up some posts that have been rolling around in my head…

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Have you checked your humor lately?

How is it doing?

Two things my spiritual director persistently (!) speaks about is my need to grow in humility and my need to develop a sense of humor.

This past Christmas we received a delightful gift from Sr. Cecilia Maria’s grandmother that is helping me with the latter point, a book called Between Heaven and Mirth by Fr. James Martin, SJ. In this book Father assures us that God wants us to experience joy, to cultivate a sense of holy humor, and to laugh at life’s absurdities – not to mention our own humanity.  I invite you to rediscover the importance of humor and laughter in your daily life…and so does Pope Benedict!

I believe [God] has a great sense of humor. Sometimes he gives you something like a nudge and says, ‘Don’t take yourself so seriously!’ Humor is in fact an essential element in the mirth of creation. We can see how, in many matters in our lives, God wants to prod us into taking things a bit more lightly; to see the funny side of it; to get down off our pedestal and not to forget our sense of fun.

~Pope Benedict XVI – In God and the World

By the way, Anita (Grandmother!) recently came with Sr. Cecilia Maria’s parents for a visit. They kept speaking of the physical resemblance between her and Sr. Mary Magdalen. You decide…

Do you like Anita’s amber necklace? This “petrified tree sap” washes up on the shores of Denmark where Anita is from.

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