In the Shadow of His Wings

Sponsa Christi October 14th, 2011

With a clear call from God and the love of Christ Crucified flaming in their hearts, five Passionist Nuns set out from their monastery in Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1946 and started the long journey to Kentucky. It is with profound gratitude to God that I dedicate these blog posts to those Foundresses as we celebrate the marvels He has done.

The community of Passionist Nuns in Scranton, PA in early 1946. The Superior, Mother Mary Agnes Roche, is seated second from the far right. The other four foundresses together with the first postulant are circled.

Five valiant Nuns consecrated to Christ Crucified brought Passionist life to Owensboro, Kentucky, planting the spirit of St. Paul of the Cross firmly in Western Kentucky soil. The tiny seed of those early days has grown and borne fruit as winter, spring, summer and fall recurred over the course of 65 years. I hope you will continue to journey with us as I recount the story of those first beginnings….

Kentucky Bound!

Your letter of May 1st comes as a great surprise to me.   I am wondering how you even knew there was an Owensboro Diocese….

So began a letter of Most Rev. Francis R. Cotton, Bishop of Owensboro.  In early May, 1946, he received a letter sent by the Passionist Nuns of Scranton, Pennsylvania  to 21 bishops.  Bishop Cotton’s speedy response on May 3rd—the first favorable answer the Nuns received—proved to be decisive.  God knew there was an Owensboro diocese, and that’s exactly where He was going to lead the founding nuns!

From Scranton to Owensboro

During the 1930′s and early 1940′s, the Scranton community was blessed with so many vocations that they began planning a new foundation.  The superior, Mother Mary Agnes Roche, hoped to open the new monastery in Boston, or perhaps Trenton or Camden, New Jersey.

Although the bishops in these cities responded graciously, none was able to consider a new monastery in his diocese.  Mother Mary Agnes then searched the Catholic Directory for dioceses that had no contemplative monasteries, or at least none that engaged in retreats.

Meanwhile, let us cry to the Lord continually, since this holy work must be the fruit of prayer.

-St. Paul of the Cross to Mother Mary Crucified, the first Passionist Nun

Mother Mary Agnes and her Scranton community understood this very well, and so they backed up all these efforts by earnest prayer.

Under the Patronage of Saint Joseph

Realizing the gravity of the enterprise, and her need for divine guidance, Mother Mary Agnes sought the powerful intercession of St. Joseph, the Patron of the Interior Life and the Guardian of Virgins.  Here is her own account of the “long talk” she had with him one day:

I said to him, ‘What am I to do?  They want me to make a new foundation and I don’t know where to go or what to do.  But, dear St. Joseph, if you take over, I’ll follow the counsel of those who have a right to advise me.’

Subsequent events throughout our 60 year history show how seriously St. Joseph took this conversation!  Later Mother Mary Agnes wrote that she had visited Owensboro “with great confidence in St. Joseph…as we had so specially placed our difficulties before him.”  She added that

St. Joseph manifested his care by donations sent in his honor or in his name.  This happened so frequently that we decided on dedicating the new monastery to his patronage.

Choosing a Site

Arriving in Owensboro for a visit, the Nuns found that Bishop Cotton had already picked out the Benita Avenue property for the new monastery.  He did, however, suggest that the Nuns inspect a few other possible sites.  In the end, Benita Avenue was chosen and Mother Mary Agnes expressed her satisfaction in a letter:

We secured a very nice piece of property at Owensboro.  The grounds are in good condition and are considerably larger than our place here in Scranton.  There are two houses and a garage.  The main building is a large…eight room residence with four massive white columns along the front. The other is a little four-room cottage.

Both places are in perfect condition so we will not have to spend anything on repairs, just for alterations necessary to adapt them to our needs.  We shall have to get our enclosure wall erected and later when we have grown and can think of building the convent and chapel, the present house will be excellent for retreats.

To be continued…

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Sponsa Christi October 4th, 2011

This month of October brings us 65 years of loving and prayerful presence in the Diocese of Owensboro, Kentucky, USA! Won’t you join us in thanking and praising God for bringing our 5 Mother Foundresses to the “South” those many years ago.  They have all gone to their eternal reward and have left us virtuous examples to follow as we seek to faithfully continue the charism they began on Kentucky soil. God-willing, throughout this month I will bring you snippets of the history of our foundation.

This Friday, October 7th – Feast of the Holy Rosary – is the day we keep as our “Foundation Day”. It was the day Mass was first offered in the little old “mansion” on Wing Avenue in Owensboro.  This Wednesday (tomorrow) we will keep as a Gaudeamus Day to celebrate this special occasion.

So be on the look-out for some neat photos, inspiring history and reflections. And please do keep us in prayer – that we may remain faithful to this awesome gift God has given us – to be called to be a Passionist Nun in the 21st century.

Deo Gratias!  St. Paul of the Cross, Venerable Mother Mary Crucified and our Mother Foundresses, ora pro nobis!

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Sponsa Christi June 26th, 2011

    I know, you’re wondering if you are really at the monastic blog of the Passionist Nuns or the “Passionist Nuts” – as we might be referred to on a Gaudeamus day!

   Some years ago, (how many I don’t know, before my time, which would be over 16 years ago) the brother of Sr. Ann Miriam gave us an Appalachian mountain dulcimer which was handcrafted in eastern Kentucky. One of the songs in the book of directions and music that came with the dulcimer was the old American folk song – “Bile (boil) ‘dem (them) cabbage down”.  Sr. Cecilia Maria was able to figure out the dulcimer pretty quickly and we just had to make a skit to go with this song. Hence, our after meal entertainment for Mother Catherine Marie’s gaudeamus day last week.

   Since the directions say that the dulcimer is “best” played with a turkey feather we just had to include that “five-legged” turkey that Sr. John Mary saw a few months back on the back hill of our cloister courtyard. Yes, perhaps I’ll tell you that story at another date.

The schedule for Mother’s special day

The cast of “The Passionist Nuts Meet Mad Kentucky”

    In case you are in need of some comic relief here’s the skit…

The Dulcimer Chronicles:
Passionist Nuts Meet Mad Kentucky

Cast:
Sr. Mary Poppins Veronica
Sr. Rose Marie
Sr. Cecilia Maria

Part The First  (announced by the passing of the poster nun- SMV)

[The three sisters gather at the back of the recreation room, coming in from the refectory.]

SMPV: May St. Michael and all the holy angels…

Novices: guard us in all our ways!

SMPV: The presence of God…
   Jesus, Mary and Joseph be praised…

Novices: forever and ever!

SMPV: Well…. Wacha wanna do?
 
SRM: I dunno. Watchoo wanna do?

SCeM: When in doubt… consult the novitiate store room!

SMPV: Of course!

 [SMPV goes over to a door in the recreation room opens it and disappears into the “store room”]

SMPV: Aha! I have just the thing!

 [She brings in a box, setting it on the puzzle table, which is covered with a cloth. There will be a helper (SJnM?) behind the table.]

SCeM: Ahh! What’s this?
SMPV: Well… I thought that we could learn new instruments and start a Passionist band so we can play for MCM’s Gaudeamus today. What do you think?

SCeM: (Use some fun Latin word that would be the equivalent of “Great! Let’s do it!)

SRM: So what kind of band do you have in mind, Sister?

SMPV: Well, let’s see

 [SMPV opens up the box and begins to pull out some of the smaller instruments—flutophone, yuke, etc…
 She bends down and looks deeper into the box and says:]

SMPV: Ha! that’s funny! I was sure there was something else in here… Hmm!

 [She reaches and digs around in the box, bent and looking deeply into it as though into a deep hole…
 She reaches deep and the hidden helper hands her the xylophone]

SMPV: Aha! Here’s one!

 [She pulls the xylophone out. SRM & SCeM look astounded…
 She reaches in again, and the hidden helper gives her the mandolin banjo]

SRM & SCeM:  ????? How did you…? But where…?

 [SMPV digs a little more and pulls out a dulcimer with the help of the hidden helper…]

SCeM: What kind of a violin is that?

SMPV: I’m not sure… I think it might be a dulcimer.

SRM: A whatimer?

SCeM: Let’s see…
 [SCeM opens up the case. We all “ooooh and ahhhh.”
 SRM reads instructions while SCeM takes it out and follows the instructions
 for how to hold it and how to play. Read note about the *5-legged-turkey  feather.]

SRM: Now where would we get a feather from a 5-legged turkey???

SCeM: I know! SJnM saw one the other day. You could ask her!

 [SRM goes to the TV room door which has a sign that says “SJnM” on it.]

SRM: [to herself] She’s not here. I guess I’ll have to find one myself.

(all exit the scene at this point.)

+++

Cast:
Sr. Rose Marie
The 5-legged-turkey

Part The Second  (announced by the passing of the poster nun- SMV)

SJnM comes out wearing the 5-legged-turkey get up. She does a little turkey  walk/dance made up impromptu by herself.   Then she “parks” somewhere and acts like she’s sleeping…

SRM comes in with a “bush” in front of her. She spots the turkey, gets excited, and signals for all to be quiet. Then she slowly creeps nearer to the turkey and…. SPRINGS!

The turkey has a “gobble fit.” SRM obtains a turkey feather. She holds it up like a trophy. The turkey takes off, exiting the scene, but pokes her head  back in just long enough to make a funny teasing face. Then SRM exits the scene holding up the feather.

 +++

Cast:
Sr. Mary Poppins Veronica
Sr. Rose Marie
Sr. Cecilia Maria
Community

Part The Third  (announced by the passing of the poster nun- SMV)

[Someone (SCeM?) plays a trumpet tune on the xylophone introducing SRM  onto the scene where the other sisters are waiting with the dulcimer.  She is victoriously displaying the turkey feather. She’s wearing a straw hat with a blade of grass in teeth. She’s also holding a bag with a paper coon tail sticking out.]

SMPV: SRM! What happened?!

SRM: Whew-Wee! It was a big-un, yaw!…

Uh-saw-t… jess-uh snoozin’.
‘Den I comes up reeeeel ‘kwite’, an’ Hot dawg!
I gots de fether uh-de fi-legged turkey!…
Am I back in time fer muther’s gig?

SCeM: SRM! You ‘done turn’d hill-billy!

SRM: Yep! I done ben kentuckianized!

[She tosses SCeM a straw hat]

(I thought it would be awesome if SCeM burst out with some “hill-billy” Latin right here as she puts on her hat etc… If we have time to figure that out.)
 
SRM: Sis-ter Mare-D’lores. Guessh whut… I done got some coons!
 
[SRM then goes over to SMD and holds up the coon-tail bag]

SCeM: Bedder go git de cook book an’ dat smokin’ flaver.

SRM: Den we ken bake ‘em up reeeeel good! Whewwww Wee!

SCeM: Maybe we ken puts ‘um in de mikerwave fer ur week er two!

SRM: [Remembering that she’s holding the turkey feather…]
 Eh! Ere’s de noter. Give ‘er uh go!

SCeM: Whewww Weee!
 [She hands SCeM the feather. SCeM begins to play the cords of “Boil ‘dem Cabbage Down”]

SMPV: I have just the thing!
 
[She goes over to her box and pulls out a stack of lyrics to give to each sister so they can sing along.]

SRM: Yaw come’on now! Ever’ body sang!

[Everybody joins in singing Boil ‘dem Cabbage Down.]

All end with “Happy Gaudeamus Mother!”

+++

   Now, remember that all copyrights to photos and text on this blog belong to the Passionist Nuns. Therefore, don’t be getting any ideas of copying any of this and using it elsewhere. Our reputation for somber, boring nuns might be ruined. I hope no one is “offended” by our play on the legendary Kentucky hill-billy accent. Since we ourselves live in Kentucky we thought we could get away with sharing it with you without “upsetting” anyone.  If you are offended perhaps you need someone to tickle your funny-bone with a turkey feather and to serve you up some boiled cabbage and ”coon”, raccoon, that is.

    Anyhow, there was some spirituality in our day as well. Mother Catherine Marie has great devotion to Our Lady of Fatima and the theme of Our Lady’s messages which is to join her in being “coredeemers” for the salvation of mankind. So that was the theme of her card. She also received some practical and some spiritual gifts, including a very special book Eucharist – God Among Us by Joan Carter McHugh, given to us by a special benefactor.

    We also watched a great movie - Paul VI from Ignatius Press. We highly recommend it. What a saintly man this pope was. How blessed we are to have had so many saintly popes in the 20th century!

Sister Ann Miriam wearing the “party hat”

Sr. Cecilia Maria with her origami bunny wabbits which were a part of the party decorations. Mother Catherine Marie’s beloved deceased father, having his “Doctorate in Rabbit Psychology” , was famous for his love of domesticated rabbits and their many uses.

Catching the last glimpse of a rainbow at the end of a wonderful day in the monastery.

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Sponsa Christi April 13th, 2010

    We are still amazed at the front page coverage of Ane Kirstine’s vocation story in a secular newspaper!  We wanted to give you a peek at it.  On the left – color photo of Ane Kirstine standing at the foot of the cross – front page of the newspaper!  On left – inside full-page story with 2 more photos.  What a gift from the Lord. Lexington is a big college town – University of Kentucky – we pray that some young discerning women see the article and are inspired to discern Passionist life!

Our monastery cat Danny Boy wanted to get in the picture too

     This past Sunday brought us the wonderful visit of two of our Sisters from our monastery of Passionist Nuns in Erlanger, Kentucky – Mother Margaret Mary, CP and Sr. Maria Grace, CP. Yes, Kentucky is blessed with not one but TWO monasteries of Passionist Nuns! Our Sisters in Erlanger may soon have a website to promote their community Passionist contemplative life; we’ll let you know when this is up and running. Please continue to pray for holy and healthy vocations to our communities here in the U. S. and throughout the world.  God bless you!

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Sponsa Christi December 19th, 2009

I just came across this interesting article on the website of the Archdiocese of Louisville.

Father Medley named Bishop of Owensboro

by Glenn Rutherford ~ December 17, 2009

Pastor of St. Bernadette Church in Louisville will be ordained and installed on Feb. 10

    Father William F. Medley, currently pastor of St. Bernadette Church in Eastern Jefferson County, has been named by Pope Benedict XVI to be the next bishop of the Diocese of Owensboro, Ky.

    And no one could be more surprised about it than Bishop-elect Medley.

    The announcement of the papal appointment was made Tuesday, Dec. 15, in Owensboro, where Bishop-elect Medley appeared at a news conference with retired Owensboro Bishop John J. McRaith and with Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz and Archbishop Emeritus Thomas C. Kelly, both of the Archdicocese of Louisville.

    Bishop-elect Medley, 57, will be ordained and installed as the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Owensboro at 2 p.m. CST on Feb. 10, 2010, at the Owensboro Sportscenter.

    In a brief interview at his office at St. Bernadette parish earlier this week, Bishop-elect Medley said he received a call about the appointment on Dec. 3. On the other end of the phone line was Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the Vatican’s Apostolic Nuncio to the United States.

    The nuncio began the conversation by talking about a recent visit to the Holy Land, the bishop-elect recalled.

    “He talked about standing by the Sea of Galilee, and he noted that the apostles had to submit to the will of Jesus,” Bishop-elect Medley said. “Now, I knew who Archbishop Sambi was, but I’d never talked to him,” he said, “and then he told me that ‘we’re all called to abandon ourselves to the will of the Father, to the will of the Lord.’ Then he said ‘the pope wants you to accept the call to be the next bishop of Owensboro.’”

    At that point, Bishop-elect Medley said, he paused, not knowing exactly how to reply.

    “I don’t know if the position was on the radar screens of any other priests, but it wasn’t on mine, and I was just speechless,” he recalled. “I knew there was a vacancy in Owensboro, but I didn’t think that had anything to do with me. I was just silent.”

    And in response to the silence, the nuncio said “Father, do you accept?”

    “And I replied by saying, ‘Archbishop, I’ve never said no to anything the church has asked me to do,” the bishop-elect said. “So yes, I accept.”

    It was the proverbial bolt out of the blue, the pastor noted.

    “I mean, I was so surprised that during the conversation I never even thought to get up and close the office door,” he said. “I just wasn’t conscious that this would be that type of call.”

    All of a sudden, he said, his life as a pastor in the Archdiocese of Louisville had taken a remarkably surprising turn.“

    I realize that my life has changed dramatically in the past 11 days,” he said. “It’s one thing if you see changes on the horizon and can kind of plan for them. But when it’s a total blind-side, well, I don’t know what to tell you.”

    Bishop-elect Medley said that, over the years, he’d been fortunate enough to have friends and colleagues, parishioners and fellow priests tell him from time to time that he’d make a good bishop.

    “I took them as being sincere, and I took that as the wonderful affirmation that it was,” he said. “But it never seriously crossed my mind that it could happen, because there are so many good and wonderful and talented priests. … I could make you a long list of those right here in the Archdiocese of Louisville that I would have proposed for this position long before myself.

    “So while people saying that was very affirming, it was never a realistic consideration on my part,” he acknowledged.

    The bishop-elect was born Sept. 17, 1952, in Marion County, Ky., a part of the state known as its Catholic Holy Land. He was baptized at St. Francis of Assisi Church in St. Francis, Ky., attended St. Thomas Seminary High School in Louisville and received a bachelor of arts in philosophy and psychology from Bellarmine University in Louisville. His master of divinity degree was obtained from the St. Meinrad School of Theology, and Bishop-elect Medley was ordained to the priesthood on May 22, 1982, at the Cathedral of the Assumption.

    Self-effacing and affable, the bishop-elect will bring to his new position a wealth of pastoral experience gleaned from service to a panoply of Archdiocese of Louisville parishes.

    “If I have a strength, I suppose what I bring is a broad pastoral experience,” he said. “When I was first a pastor it was in the West End (of Louisville) and involved bringing together three churches to create St. Martin de Porres Church. Then I was at St. Joseph (the Basilica of St. Joseph Proto Cathedral) in Bardstown, a large rural parish with a large school and a high school. And here I’m part of a new parish (St. Bernadette) straddling the line between Oldham and Jefferson Counties.

    “I bring a love for being a pastor of the people,” he added. “As a pastor I think I’ve been a competent administrator, though I don’t know what that means on a diocesan level.”

    The bishop-elect has told both Archbishop Kurtz and Archbishop Kelly that he intends to make use of their expertise and experience.

    “I’ve said I’ll be calling on them a great deal,” Bishop-elect Medley said. “They will be my mentors.”

    When the shock of the new appointment wore off a bit — the bishop-elect contended during the interview that it still hasn’t faded completely — Bishop-elect Medley began considering what he might do to plan for his new position.

    “I was in a fog for a couple of days; I have to admit it,” he said. “I received the call on Thursday, and by Saturday morning I got around to trying to make a list of things to do. I’m a great guy for making lists and the like, but I just couldn’t think.”

    So he decided to find a copy of the rite of ordination of bishops — something he found in a book he had on hand — and that has helped, he said, to bring his thoughts together.

    “I began to spend time reading that and praying over that,” he said, “and it was a great solace. The church rituals are rich and wonderful and tell you a lot of theology. So virtually every day I sit and read that over again, and I consider (what) the prayer and that ritual entail.

    “Prayer is the only definitive preparation that I know of,” the bishop-elect admitted. “I’m going to be on a pretty steep learning curve, I suspect.”

    He already knows quite a bit about the demographics of his new diocese — it has 79 parishes, he said, and 60 or more of them have 500 or fewer households. “For the most part all of the parishes there are small,” he said. “There are a handful of sizable parishes in Owensboro, Henderson and Paducah.”

    And since the Diocese of Owensboro’s inception in 1937, it has pretty much been the norm for pastors there to serve more than one parish, he said.

    As for early plans as the new bishop, Bishop-elect Medley said his learning curve will be “a process of listening and praying, of getting to know the sisters and priests and lay people. It’s a healthy diocese; there are no skeletons in the closet. There’s a healthy presbyterate and a healthy people. So I’ll go there and strive to do what we as a church do — be more evangelizing and work to bring the charity and love of Christ to more people.”

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Sponsa Christi December 18th, 2009

    As the long-awaited day draws near it is beginning to look like Christmas in the monastery. Of course, no Christmas lights are turned on until Christmas Eve!

    The novitiate finally finished this afghan   Just in time for Mother Catherine Marie to give away for Christmas. Here they are pictured with our Sr. Ann Miriam who resides at Carmel Home. Sister may have been the one who began these granny squares which were found in a box a couple years ago when we did some cleaning out. The novitiate just finished them off. Sr. Ann Miriam did many works of art in her younger years - even dying her own yarn various colors!

The Third Sunday of Advent brought us the Whitesville Hoe-downers for an hour of Christmas songs with a few Gospel hymns. Our own Sr. Rose Marie got in on the act with a couple songs including “Ashoken Farewell“.

 Here June Evans and the “Hoe-downers” follow Sr. Rose Marie’s lead violin

Dwayne Roby gets in on the act.
We so appreciate his serving at Mass on Sundays too!
And don’t miss Joe Payne at his left -
faithfully attends daily Mass in our monastery chapel.

    This past Tuesday before Mass our chaplain announced a message of great joy – we have a Bishop-elect!   His name is Rev. William Medley (Bishop-elect Medley now!) and he is from the Louisville archdiocese – yes! a Kentuckian!

    O Come, O Come Emmanuel! Six days more until we kneel at the Crib of Redeeming Love!

* Photo of Bishop-elect Medley found on our diocesan website.

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Sponsa Christi November 4th, 2009

   We have delighted much in the change of seasons this autumn. We know once the leaves fall from the trees we will once again see much of the misery left over from the ice storm last February. But the Lord has been easing the transition for us by giving us a beautiful show.

    Here is a hilarious sight!
During the ice storm this tree broke off just above the rope that was holding it in place.
That rusty old stake is STILL doing its job!

Enjoy the tour!

Fog over the lake at sunrise

St. Paul of the Cross trail

The garden

The swing

The glory of the Crabapple Tree

See the half moon?

Our “Monte Argentario”

Novitiate members out for an afternoon walk

St. Joseph keeping guard over his monastery

A glimpse of the panoramic view one sees when entering the grounds of St. Joseph Monastery and Guest House.

    Have you made your annual retreat? I invite you to consider making a retreat on these holy grounds! Join us for the Liturgy…walk the grounds…rest in the silence of God’s presence. 

O see how the cross is lifted up…to draw all men unto Him…
a day lived for the glory of God and salvation of souls…
Goodnight!

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Sponsa Christi February 14th, 2009

    I know this is a looooong time coming! You know…life in a monastery is not a constant leisurely stroll in the cloister.

We keep busy around here! 

Busy for the Kingdom!

    Dear Lord, have mercy on us! The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. We accept good things from the Lord and should we not accept evil?

Our once beautiful big pine bowed low with ice

    I had a bad head cold and was spending that fateful day tucked away in my cell…The above prayer is what I wrote in my journal as through the evening and night of Tuesday, January 27 I (and many others in the tri-state area) heard tremendous popping and crashing sounds. This was the sound of trees, tops of trees and very large branches completely covered in ice, breaking and crashing to the ground in the woods surrounding our monastery.

What a mess! and the walking trails are impassable

By the time these photos were taken much of the ice had melted

    The next day brought a devastating beauty as everything was covered with 1 1/2 inches of ice and we began a 5 day odyssey of no electricity. By the way, today is day 18 for many people in our area still without power. Thankfully we have had mild temperatures these past couple of weeks which helped warm up the homes of those who have roughed it out without a generator.

Can you see tops of trees are gone, some trees broke right in half

     We are very blessed to have a generator that kept one refrigerator and freezer running plus the treatment plant. Some electrical outlets worked and we made good use of our flashlights. We have gas stoves and ovens so we had hot water and hot food – what a blessing those 2 things are!  But we had no heat! How very, very blessed we were that our chaplain Fr. Ray Clark and Msgr. Powers came to stay in our guest quarters, which, considering there are no outside walls in this area, is the warmest place in the monastery. We had 2 priests and daily Mass!  We converted our parlors into a cozy chapel, for as you can imagine, with all those stained glass windows in the main chapel, it was freezing in there!

Sr. Mary Veronica and Shannon return from walking to our chaplain’s house to invite him to stay in our guest quarters…couldn’t make contact through his cell phone

    We had trouble making contact with the outside world for the first days as landline phones and cell phones weren’t working too well.  In fact, that coming weekend we were to have a Rachel’s Vineyard retreat in our Guest House. We thought surely others realize what we are going through and will know it is cancelled but, low and behold, when we finally were able to get through to Fr. Ben Cameron, CPM at his Generalate (The Father’s of Mercy) which is about and 1 1/2 hours from here, had know idea what was going on here and was still planning the retreat!  (By the way, we thank the Lord it was rescheduled and will end on Divine Mercy Sunday!) It was kind of freaky how all was well in that area. Dear Fathers of Mercy, God reward you for your prayers! Also, Nashville fared very well and so one of the Rachel’s Vineyard team members from there (Phil Trevathon) showed up! He graciously left us his bottled water, vitamin drinks and granola bars. God bless you Phil!

Recreating during the meals – by candlelight!

   On Wednesday we received a call from a friend that there had been a break in the water line and that the Whitesville waterworks was turning off the water! Well, we began to fill every container and bucket we could find with water for we did not know how long this was going to be for. It turns out the anticipation was worse than the actual fact. We were only without water for a couple hours in the afternoon! 

    It was interesting to see the various coordinations of clothing each Sister put together to stay warm. I personally was up to 7 layers of clothing by the final day! Mother lifted the fast and the abstinence from meat and we took our recreations during our meal time (meaning we talked while we ate). We joked that we were “fasting from heat”!  We even had and AME (After-Meal-Entertainment) one evening, by candlelight of course, which drew belly-aching laughter.

Liza and Henry try to mend the bucket!

        These days certainly spoke to us about living without computers, light, heat, outside contacts (we didn’t have mail until the next week!) survival and dependence on Divine Providence.

     This was just an amazing and unforgettable experience. Yet, we were sobered in recalling that many poor people and homeless people live like this in a daily basis. We also thought much about those persons who live in hurricane areas (many of you!) and how this was somewhat similar to that.

Wow, do we have a lot of clean up to do now

Jesus, have mercy on us!

Jesus we trust in you!

Jesus, we offer these inconveniences to you for many intentions, especially for an end to abortion and for respect for all persons, the disabled, the elderly, the immigrant, etc.

 Special thanks to St. Joseph’s men…

•  Jim Cecil - who checked in on us sometimes twice daily to see if we needed anything (batteries!)
• Steve Mills - our groundskeeper who was without power for almost 2 weeks!
• Tony Lanham – for kindly helping us keep our generator filled with diesel fuel
• And those others whom I am momentarily forgetting!

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Sponsa Christi February 1st, 2009

   We have had quite a time here the past 5 days with no electricity or heat. Our generator did keep the freezer and refrigerator running and we have gas stoves – what a blessing from the Lord! Once I get some photos developed I will share with you about the great ice storm of 2009. Until then be inspired by this poem of Msgr Powers who has spent these days (along with our devoted chaplain Fr. Ray Clark) in our guest quarters (interior rooms which were the warmest in the monastery!).  Also, pray for all those still without heat, etc.

The Storm

Master of the storm: God

The storm assertive: Commanding surrender

Beauty birthed in pain: Authenticity

Motion brought to stillness: Conflict

Water held in ice: Imprisoned

Ice crushed to water: Freedom

Nature humbled man: Servant

Time slowed to sacredness: Mystery

Silence demanded listening: Music

Trees breaking to pieces: Pruning

Communication held in boundaries: Confinement

Light captured by darkness: Night

Cold chilling to the bone: Suffering

Darkness obedient to the candle: Journey

A buzz – a flicker – light – heat: Freedom!

Guest of the storm: God

by Msgr Powers – Ice storm of February, 2009

Photo: www.Edenpics.com

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Tags: Kentucky, Poetry, Weather Flora & Fauna

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