May God Let His Face Shine Upon Us

Posted on August 1, 2011 by the Sisters

The Heat of the Summer Sun

In the sweltering heat of the summer, it is easy to reflect on Jesus as the Light of God’s Infinite Love, the Sun of the Universe. We know that the rays of the sun do not become defiled or diminished based upon what they shine.  They are pure and equally distributed to everything that falls within their light ~ the mountains and the ocean, the countryside and the city.  And these natural rays do more than just give heat: before modern appliances, washed clothes were hung on clothes lines not merely as a means of drying them but also to whiten them naturally by the rays of the sun.  Everything caught in the sun’s glimmer sparkles; even dust, when caught in the rays of sunlight, can appear to glisten like tiny gems.  Likewise, the Sacred Heart of Jesus continually pours forth His Light and Warmth, shining on all, the good and the bad alike.  We, too, can glow and become purified by turning toward the Sun (the Son) and remaining in His Love.  So on those days when we are feeling the intense heat of the summer sun, and all of our best efforts seem to turn into dust, let us sit before the Son in Adoration ~ or in the Tabernacle ~ and let His Radiance whiten us so that we may ‘sparkle’ with His Love.

Posted in Ordinary Time, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

God’s Hidden Love is Revealed

Posted on July 1, 2011 by the Sisters

Sacred Heart of Jesus, We Place Our Trust in You!

A blessed Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to all of you!!! On this glorious day, we are united with every Monastery of our Order and with the entire Body of Christ, as we celebrate the Tender and Burning Love of our God for us. This Love is eternal and was enfleshed in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, God-made-Man. His entire Life, Passion, and Death is a revelation of Love to us ~ an incomprehensible Love, because it has no boundaries as does our feeble love. He never said, “Enough; I will suffer a life of poverty but not humiliation and rejection” or “I am willing to suffer the Scourging but not the Crucifixion.” His Love knew no limits while He was on earth; and it knows no limits now that He sits at the Right Hand of God the Father in Heaven. And, through St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, this Love was revealed in a tangible way through His Sacred Heart, which is an image, an icon, of His Burning Love for us. It is not a Love that seeks retribution or calculates our tiny acts of love and sacrifice into a heavenly spreadsheet. It is a Love that seeks only our love ~ our hearts ~ which were created for that very purpose. We were made for Love, and we were made to love. And at the core of love is sacrifice and selfless generosity. Love is not a feeling, it is a decision we make with our will; and it expresses itself through our thoughts, our words, and our actions.

Many people live their vocations of love out in the world: loving one another as spouses, parents, children, friends. Some people live their vocations of love in religious life. And today we celebrate that particular love in a special way, as we welcome a new Postulant to our community. We ask you to join us in our joy and to hold her ~ and all of our sisters ~ in your prayers. May our Blessed Mother help each one of us to enter more deeply into the Silence and Solitude of the Divine Heart of Her Son, Jesus.

Posted in Monastery News, Ordinary Time | 4 Comments

Resurrection Mysteries

Posted on May 9, 2011 by the Sisters

Worthy is the Lamb to take the Scroll and open its Seals.

Our Triduum and Easter was a glorious and eventful one ~ we had a Capuchin Friar celebrate the Masses and Rituals of these Holy Days. The Chapel slowly being engulfed in the Paschal Light, the chiming of our Church Bell, the incense blending with our prayers being raised to God: all of these outward expressions helped absorb our hearts within the great Mysteries of our Salvation.

The joys of the Resurrection were intermingled with the sorrows we felt at having one of our elderly Sisters return Home to God within the Easter Octave.  She had spent 76 years as a Nun within our Monastery; and while she was born with physical ailments that continued throughout her life, her countenance was always joyful and serene, a source of edification to all of the members of our Community.  The Sisters took turns in vigil around her bedside, praying rosaries and chaplets, ensuring that she had their prayers and presence with her during her last moments on earth.  Our experience with her was a profound one ~ almost seeming to punctuate the Liturgies and prayers in which we had so recently participated.  

As death gives way to new Life, a week following Sister’s Funeral Mass, we had the delight of being present at the Mass where the Second Grade girls from our Academy received Jesus for the First Time in Holy Communion.  We pray for these beautiful daughters of the Church, that they will continue to grow in their love for Jesus.  How blessed we are to be able to help prepare our students to receive the Holy Sacraments of our Church!

And now we look forward to yet another celebration: the 50th Jubilee of one of our Sisters.  The year 2011 has already seen two of our Sisters celebrate their Golden Jubilee, and this Saturday will see another. We ask you to rejoice with us in thanking our most Loving God for the beautiful gift of our vocations.

Posted in Easter, Monastery News | 2 Comments

May your Triduum and Easter be greatly Blessed

Posted on April 12, 2011 by the Sisters

A Crucifix in our Cloister

St. Francis de Sales founded our Order “spiritually on Mount Calvary to serve Jesus Christ crucified, whom all the sisters are to follow by crucifying their senses, inclinations, passions, imaginations, aversions, and fancies, for love of their Father in Heaven.”  As we draw closer to Mount Calvary ~ to the beginning of the Holy Triduum ~ we prepare to enter more deeply into the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Our Lord.  During this time of stillness and silence, rest assured that we carry you and your intentions with us in our prayers.  As we lay the sorrows of the world at the foot of the Cross to be healed by the Triumph of God’s Love and the Glory of His Resurrection, we pray that your Easter will be filled with the jubilant hope of His Victory.

“Keep your eyes fixed on the Master; work together with Him.  Look into His Eyes until you forget your own ideas and learn to think, act, and work in Him, through Him, and for Him alone.” ~ St. Jane de Chantal

Posted in Lent, Uncategorized | 1 Comment