Hail-damaged stained glass window in Clyde’s Sorrowful Mother Chapel.
It was an ordinary Thursday in August until about 7:15 p.m. Winds picked up. Thunder and lightning crashed through the sky. Then rain came and finally large, marble-sized hail. Horizontal hail came at us so fast a wall of white obliterated the trees and buildings standing less than 100 yards away. The damage is minimal considering the power of the storm and the fact that the storm had two passes through our corner of Missouri.
We want to assure everyone that the Sisters are okay and thank God that none of us sustained any injuries from the storm and all are safe.
Many of our workmen and their families came as soon as they were able to help us board up windows to stem water penetration. Our nursing staff on duty made sure the elder Sisters were safe and sound. One Sister slept through the entire event. Several altar bread employees spent hours helping us clear parking areas, stairways and driveways of debris and glass. We are grateful for all the help we received. May God reward everyone’s generosity.
Just one of the dozens of trees lost or damaged.
Relic Chapel stained glass window was destroyed.
More than 40 windows were blown out at the main house, Our Lady of Rickenbach, the guest house and office buildings, the soap house and the altar bread department.
This is a series of pictures of the OLR chapel where we have been gathering for daily Divine Office and Eucharist.
Broken windows in Our Lady of Rickenbach’s chapel.
Soaked carpet, battered plants and lots of glass.
Sisters worked tirelessly to clean up our worship space so that we could pray our evening office Friday evening. We did just that without electricity but with a lot of feeling and mindfulness.
Our Lady of Rickenbach’s chapel after the clean up efforts.
Praise and prayer are always necessary, especially during chaotic and difficult times. The time spent together praying helped assuage our battered hearts and we slept soundly.
