Sacred Stones, Sacred Stories

Our dear Sister Lynn Marie shares these thoughts from a Benedictine Sister on Lent:

The Lenten season will soon begin

I love Lent.  I know that’s not something you hear often, but I really do.

For us Lent is a time, as Chapter 49 of the Rule of St. Benedict states, to “wash away during these holy days all the negligences of other times.”

These 40 days before Easter are for many Christians a special time set apart to prepare our hearts to commemorate again the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.  It is a time of conversion, a time to be intentional about our faith life and our Christian walk, a time to turn away from sin and return to God. In a way, it is a new start.  It’s another chance to try to do “life” a little better – to be kinder, gentler, and more compassionate, to ask forgiveness.  It’s turning the page of your notebook of life to a fresh, clean blank sheet.

The Lenten theme is one of penitence.  It is this atmosphere of repentance which some may perceive as negative, oppressive or depressing.  I think it is just the opposite.  For me, it is a blessing.   Who else but our God lets us come to Him voicing all our faults, shortcomings, failures and sins and  FORGIVES US?  Repentance is our great privilege as Christians. It is in this spirit of penitence that the idea of “giving up something” enters into the picture.  We do this not to receive forgiveness – that has already been given – but to show our sorrow for our sins and to show our gratitude to God.

The Gospel (Matthew 6:1-18) that is read on Ash Wednesday sets the tone for the whole season. In it, Jesus exhorts his followers to three things – almsgiving, fasting, and prayer.  Alsmgiving keeps us attentive of our neighbor, fasting helps us master ourselves, and prayer brings us closer to God. These are the pillars of the Lenten season, and it is in these areas that we can try to increase our measure of service to God.  Below are some suggestions that you might like to use as your offering to God.

PRAYER (these are suggestions to increase or deepen your prayer life)

• Set aside time for daily prayer
• Read some Scripture daily
• Try to attend daily Mass
• Pray the Rosary or the Divine Mercy Chaplet
• Form a prayer group and pray with others
• Read a biography or autobiography of one of the saints
• Meditate on the Passion of Christ
• Read a book on faith or spirituality

ALMSGIVING

• Collect your spare change during Lent and give it to the poor
• If you are fasting from food, give the money you would have spent to a food bank
• Volunteer your time
• Do acts of kindness for others
• Give of yourself by spending time with someone who is lonely
• Share your faith by inviting someone to church with you
• Give of your love by forgiveness or a kind word

FASTING

• Fast from eating between meals,
• Fast from candy, chips, or some other favorite “junk food”
• Fast from soda pop, coffee, or alcohol
• Fast from the Internet/Facebook/Twitter
• Fast from complaining
• Fast from unkind speech
• Fast from a bad habit (lazyness, nail biting, interrupting people)

As in the Gospel, Jesus tells that we are not to do these things in obvious and self-seeking ways but with a quiet and humble heart.  The Rule of Benedict says that no monk should take on any form on penitence without the permission of the abbot.  This is to prevent pride and a “see how holy I am” attitude and it is a way to help us stay accountable to the practice we have chosen.

It is hard to give up things we enjoy, and it is difficult to fit other things into our already busy schedules.  I know from my own experience, after the first week or two of Lent, my good resolve has fallen by the wayside. The temptation is to say, “I’ve blown my perfect record no sense in trying to do this for the rest of Lent.”   Don’t give up!  Remember every time we begin again, we are turning back to God.   We are blessed beyond measure to have a God who, like a loving father, welcomes His wayward children home again and again and again.

I hope you all have a blessed Lenten journey.  May we all look forward  to Easter with holy joy!

Learn more about Sister Lynn Marie at her blog.

Keeping plans handy

Plans for the renovation are seen near many of the work areas in the monastery.  There is also evidence that these plans are being consulted, and some aspects of the plan are being changed to provide improvements or to work around some impossible situations.

Evidence that plans sometimes change

This is one spot that was changed.  I see much evidence of this throughout the building. However, we have reached the mid-way point of our project! All appears to be on schedule for us to move back in the main building in late summer!

Sister Joan

Join us tomorrow (Thursday, Feb. 24) as Sister Joan Ridley appears on Radio Maria’s “The Good News Hour” at 11 a.m. (CST) to discuss her vocation story and her book, “In the Presence: The Spirituality of Eucharistic Adoration.”

You can listen to the broadcast online by going to Radio Maria and clicking on the “Listen Live” icon.

Sister Joan lives at our Tucson, Arizona, monastery and serves as subprioress for the community.

Sister Cathleen Marie demonstrates the hot process of soapmaking

On Monday, Sister Cathleen Marie and Sister Judy, the force behind Monastery Scents, hosted a group interested in learning about the soapmaking process.

The group of nine men, women and one child arrived with Betsy Keenan and Brian Terrell, oblates and friends of the Clyde, Missouri, community, who have been hosting a craft retreat at their Catholic Worker community in Iowa.

Sister Cathleen Marie, who uses industrial vats and mixers for her own soapmaking, demonstrated the process on a lesser scale in order to show how retreatants can copy the methods on their own by using common household appliances.

They spent the day learning the differences between cold and hot process soapmaking, types of fragrances and ingredients that are used, how Sister Cathleen Marie began making handcrafted soap 10 years ago and the story behind her addition of holy water to each batch.

Sister Judy demonstrated how she makes the shea butter lotion.

Betsy Keenan remarked how excited the retreatants were to learn about the process of making handcrafted soap. She asked them, “Are you empowered to make your own soap?” Several nodded “yes” with excitement. They left with samples of lotions and soaps, hopefully inspired to create their own in the near future. We had such a great time sharing this ministry!

Look what we noticed coming off one of the cutters in our altar bread department this morning?

Special altar bread surprise this morning

Looking at the baggie…It’s an altar bread that matches our Congregational emblem.

BSPA emblem, a cross with the bread and wine of Eucharist

Special bread shaped like our emblem

The breads are supposed to be perfectly round and usually are. People see Elvis in a potato or the Blessed Virgin Mary in a piece of toast, but we’ll take our special altar bread any day! Maybe we’ve found a new product. Hah!

The Diocese of San Diego's Pastoral Center, once home to our San Diego monastery

Earlier this month, we received a lovely letter from a representative of the Diocese of San Diego. Our former monastery, which we closed in 1992, now serves as the diocese’s central office.

“I thought you and your sisters would like to know that your beautiful chapel here in San Diego is still a holy place of prayer…..At special times all of us on the diocesan staff here (about 97 persons) have a day of reflection (in the chapel). February 10 was one such day. I smiled to myself thinking as we sang morning prayer together, ‘St. Scholastica would be pleased, and the Benedictine Sisters would be pleased as well.’ So I thought I would just let all of you know that the love and charism you lived and gifted in 3888 Paducah Drive, San Diego, is still alive and well.”

We are indeed delighted to know that our monastery, built in the 1960s with its “beacon light over the Pacific,” still serves as a home of reflection and prayer to others!

Sister Mary Gertrude

Our dear Sister Mary Gertrude Gross, 91, passed away yesterday afternoon after an illness.

She made her first monastic profession in 1949 and was appointed bookkeeper of the Clyde community in 1958 until 1962 when she was named treasurer general for the Congregation.

She moved with the generalate to the St. Louis community in 1966 and was elected a general councilor two years later. During her years as a Benedictine Sister, she also served in the correspondence department, coordinated the Marriage Encounter groups and greeted guests and tour groups.

Our Sister Lynn Marie remarked, “One of my favorite traditions here is when we make our final vows we sing this Scripture verse, and when one of our Sisters is dying we gather around her bed and sing it again for her: ‘Receive me, Lord, according to your promise and I shall live. And disappoint me not in my hope.’” Ps 119:116.

We will post more information about the services once plans are finalized.

Sister Rita (left) and Sister Cathleen Marie at the Good Shepherd Festival

Our Sister Rita and Sister Cathleen Marie had a great day yesterday at  the “Shoppers Showcase” hosted by the Good Shepherd parish in Shawnee, Kansas.

Thanks to everyone! What a delight it was also to see good friends.

To learn more about the products sold at the festival, please check our online store at http://www.monasterycreations.com/.

Old doorway

This junction of two halls used to give us access from one to the other but is now blocked.

I didn’t have to look very far to see that the work crew had cut through a wall to provide a new way to the other hall.

New doorway

The new way is through an old bathroom and laundry room.  My, how things change quickly!

Bathroom soon to be new fitness room

The renovation is allowing an old under-used bathroom to be converted to a workout room.

We will have lots of space for our treadmill, elliptical trainer and bikes.  There will be room for weight lifting, stretching and aerobic exercise.

We try to be health smart, and many of us include exercise in our daily schedule.  We love to be outdoors to get our exercise, but sometimes the weather just does not permit us to. So this room will be a good Plan B option when needed.