Sacred Stones, Sacred Stories

Prioress General Sister Pat and Clyde Prioress Sister Sean recently traveled to Arkansas to help some very dear friends celebrate their 125th birthday!

Sister Sean (seated far right) and Sister Pat (seated, third from right) join friends from Holy Angels Convent. Photo: Arkansas Catholic

As part of a yearlong celebration of their 125th anniversary, the Olivetan Sisters of Holy Angels Convent in Jonesboro, Ark., celebrated a special Solemnity of St. Benedict on March 21.

We share a special connection to these wonderful women – our monasteries were founded by sisters who traveled from Maria Rickenbach in Switzerland.

Learn more about this special day with this article from the Arkansas Catholic.

According to St. Benedict, guests bring blessings of God and thus ought to be treated as Christ.

We recently re-opened our guesthouses after the renovations at our Clyde, Mo., monastery and have been blessed to offer hospitality to several guests.

We were especially grateful for our ability to give hospitality to Sister Andrea from Maria Rickenbach, our founding house in Switzerland.

Sister Andrea (center) visits with (from left) Sister Cathleen Marie, Sister Rebecca, Sister Andrea’s cousin, and Sister Cheryl.

Sister Andrea was the mother superior there for 18 years. This trip to the United States was for a celebration of another founding in Arkansas.

Sister Andrea (left) and Emilie

Before they returned to Europe, Sister Andrea and her cousin, Emilie, spent several days with us. Emilie has visited the United States before, but this was her first trip to Clyde. She shared several wonderful stories of their homeland and acted as interpreter for us.

It was a short visit, and we all were sad to see it end. Until we see them again, may God hold them in the palm of his hand.

Mary’s visit by the angel Gabriel announced the coming of a new age, one rooted in the love God had for all people.  Mary freely chose to allow God’s grace to work in her life, and through her choice, God with us, Immanuel, was born.

Reading the gospel passage for today, one is struck by two things.  One, God chose the time, the place and person through whom the Divine will would act upon humanity.  Mary was a lowly woman, unmarried and a daughter of devout Jews who were bringing her up to take her place in society, as a wife and mother to a man. God’s power worked through all these circumstances.

The second thing that strikes the reader is that Mary did not overshadow God’s work, did not become the center of her world, but rather, became the handmaid of the Lord.  She allowed God’s glory to take center stage.  She served the Lord’s bidding, not her own.

Mary is the quintessential saint.  She pondered the words of the messenger and in turn became the messenger with the boldest word, “Fiat.”  May she intercede for us that we too may become the servants of the Lord Most High.

Lord, who came down from heaven
 and stayed in the womb of St. Mary after making the annunciation
 to her through his head of angels, is blessed.

The Lord is blessed whom the heaven and earth, angels and mankind are praising always.

Oh, Lord, let the intercession of your mother 
be a fort for us all.

 Peace be unto thee,
 Mother of the Sun of righteousness.
 Peace be unto thee, the palace of holiness. Peace be unto thee the ship full of blessings. The fruit of your virginity is blessed.

Holy Mother, please pray for us,
 so that we would also be holy like you in our lives.
 Lord have mercy upon us.

Lord Jesus,
 who was kind enough
 to take the presence in humble virgin,
 kindly live in us 
and redeem us from the strong bondages of sins and death. Lord make us good and worthy divine homes,
 so that you could stay in us.

Lord who had been kind enough
 to take the human body from the virgin, 
unite us all in your peace.
 Unite us all with your grace.
 Fill your love in us
 so that we could share the love
 with you and among us all.

Make us worthy to praise thee 
with your blessed Mother and all the saints.

Holy virgin Mother, you are blessed,
 By thy prayers 
let the Holy church and her children
 be saved from all sorts of calamities 
and let all the departed get forgiveness for their sins. Amen.

(prayer courtesy of prayer-and-prayers.info)

New window as it looks today

We were just given back two of our lovely stained glass windows from our Sorrowful Mother Chapel that were broken during the storm last August. It is with joy we share their splendor with you.

Shattered windows after last summer’s storm

Little by little our home is taking back its historic beauty. Help thank God for the blessings.

Today we celebrate the feast of the founder of western monasticism and the Benedictine movement: St. Benedict of Nurcia, Italy.

The Church actually has two feasts celebrating this man of God.  Today is the feast commemorating his death, a day he knew in advance due to his state of holiness and the graces bestowed upon him by God.

St. Benedict’s Rule helps those seekers called to monastic life (and other religious orders) to turn their lives over to the grace of God and the work of the Holy Spirit.  He wanted his monks to learn to live holy lives of inner conversion, lives rooted in prayer, holy reading and humble work.  His rule balances inner work and outer labor, silence and praise, cloister and guests.  His monasteries were schools of the Lord’s service, and we continue to refer to our monastery as such.  Here we learn how to serve God, but also how God provides, guides and loves us.

St. Benedict is the patron saint for those who suffer kidney diseases, for Europe and for students.  We Benedictines celebrate his feast twice – today and on July 11, the day his bones were supposedly translated to a different monastery outside of Italy.

Whenever you celebrate this man’s example, pray for the humility he knew, the love he felt and the joy he lived by putting nothing before Christ.

March is shaping up to be an exciting month for our Prayerfully Popped gourmet popcorn business!

We have been chosen to provide kettle corn and regular popcorn for the University of Arizona’s baseball games. Go Wildcats!

And for those who didn’t sacrifice gourmet popcorn for Lent (GASP!), we have a special deal until March 26: Save $5 on orders of $25 or more! You can visit our retail store in Tucson, Ariz., or shop safely from the comfort of your home at www.prayerfullypopped.com.

Visit us online and check out our new favors like….

Kettle Corn

And this month’s seasonal special….

Easter Bunny

Many thanks to all those who made it possible for us to join the Wildcat family, including Pinnacle Concessions, Kernel Pops and John Perrin.

The Holy Family by Raphael

Today we celebrate the life of St. Joseph as the husband of Mary and the stepfather of Jesus.

What do we really know about Joseph? We know he was a man of faith from the lineage of David. We know he was a carpenter by trade, which means his hands were calloused because he labored for a living. We know Joseph and Mary were not rich as they offered two turtle doves instead of a lamb when they took Jesus to be circumcised. We know Joseph loved Mary and Jesus and reverenced God’s action in his small family.

Not having much written about him, nevertheless Joseph is the archetype of a good and faithful husband, one that neither neglects his faith nor his family.

We do not know about his day-to-day activities or his likes/dislikes. We can only speculate on where he was from or when he died. Tradition says that Joseph was older than Mary and died before Jesus began his public ministry. Regardless of all the unknown, we do know he was a righteous man. Is there anything more important to know?

Many friends helped plant a variety of new fruit trees in the north courtyard of our Tucson, Ariz., monastery last weekend.

The area had been covered with rocks, so our helpers raked out the area, prepared the space and planted the three dwarf nectarines (one pictured above), two semi-drawf apricot trees and one tree each of plum and peach. They will flower and bear fruit at different times throughout the year.

We are very grateful to the donor who made the purchase of the trees possible; to our landscaping friends, including Diana Turner, a landscaping professional who designed the courtyard area and donated a truckload of rich compost/material; and to the many hands who cleaned out the courtyard and planted the new trees.

Helpers included Knights of Columbus from councils at St. Margaret, St. Monica, Mother Theresa and St. Rita in the Desert, two landscaping volunteers and members of the RICA program.

In addition to the tree planting, the day also included window washing by a group of RICA candidates (from Our Lady of Fatima and St. John’s) and KOC members power washing the deck.

“All the volunteers were so willing and happy to do whatever they could for us,” Tucson Prioress Sister Ramona said. “It was a joy to see them and to spend the day together.”

As always, we are blessed to be surrounded by such talented people with hearts of gold!

Sister Maria Victoria (left) and Sister Nancy Rose

Sister Maria Victoria and Sister Nancy Rose attended a regional meeting and workshop on Saturday hosted by the Institute on Religious Life at the Franciscan Center in Independence, Mo.

“Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Hosts: the Sacred Liturgy and Consecrated Life” offered reflections and affirmation on the importance of liturgy and the Divine Office in the Church’s life and mission.

Scheduled speakers included Rev. Thomas Nelson, O. Praem., national director of the Institute on Religious Life;

Mother M. Julie Saegaert, S.C.M.C, a member of the Sisters of Charity of Our Lady and vice president of the Institute on Religious Life whose presentation was titled “Metanoia in the Mass: An Invitation to Inner Transformation;”

Sister M. Teresa Pandl, F.S.G.M, director of religious education for Holy Spirit Parish in Overland Park, Kan., who spoke on “Reclaiming Our True Identity: The Law of the Gift in the Liturgy;”

and Michael Podrebarac, director of the Office of Liturgy and Sacramental Life for the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, who spoke about “Two Participations in the Life of the Holy Trinity: the Consecrated Life and the Sacred Liturgy.”

KQ2 visited yesterday and visited with us about the renovations to our Clyde, Mo., monastery.

They learned how we recycled or reused much of the materials from the deconstruction and incorporated them into the new renovations, along with the installation of a geothermal energy system.

Click here to see the story online.