Double Trouble?

After nearly a year of reigning supreme in our monastery courtyard, Josē has had to make room for a new little companion …

Introducing - Nico!

Sr. Miriam Esther with our new kitten, Nico

This jet-black little kitten showed up in front of our monastery the afternoon of August 22nd, spunky and scrawny and obviously hungry. Mother Mary Veronica allowed us to bring the little fellow back to the courtyard, and he soon endeared himself to us all. Well, almost all …

He and Josē had a bit of a rough introduction, as the established Monastery Cat and the Pipsqueak Intruder stared each other down with arched backs and flattened ears. Eventually, to our relief, the tension broke, and the two have become friendlier every day. Now it’s not unusual to see them play-wrestling in the grass or sleeping together in a sunny spot. Josē has even taken to grooming his little protege on occasion - a service which is usually, although not always, well-received. (Any mothers could probably say the same about bathtime for their little ones!!)

Once the decision was made to keep the kitten, we of course had to name him. Various suggestions were bandied about - “Shadow” and “Neri” since he was SO black, “Gino” (masculine for “Regina”) because he arrived on the feast of Mary’s Queenship, even “Bagheera” after the black panther in The Jungle Book! Eventually, after an informal vote at recreation one evening, we settled on the name “Nico” - short for “Niceforo,” one of our Passionist Beati. After all, the cat arrived fully-dressed in his black Passionist habit!

We have sincere hopes for “Brother” Nico’s perseverance and hope to share photos of him and his “big brother” Josē in future blog posts!