Sacred Stones, Sacred Stories

The crowd gathers for the blessing ceremony

Family and friends gathered on Sunday, Sept. 2, at our Clyde monastery to celebrate the renovations made possible through the Sacred Stones, Sacred Stories project.

Sister Pat shares her thoughts

The day included addresses by Prioress Sister Pat Nyquist, OSB, Sister Sean Douglas, OSB, and Sister Dawn Annette Mills, OSB. The new entrance was blessed by dear friend Abbot Gregory Polan, OSB of nearby Conception Abbey.

Conception Abbey Abbot Gregory blesses the new entrance while Sister Pat looks on

Afterward, the doors were ceremoniously opened to welcome guests to view the newly renovated areas, including offices, lounge areas, gift shop and the new one-level entrance into the Adoration Chapel and Relic Chapel.

“It was wonderful to have so many people join us for the blessing,” Sister Pat said. “Among friends and family, it was a joyous day. We also delighted in seeing the lead architect, construction manager and some of their staff. We worked very closely as a team during the planning, the deconstruction and construction phases over the entire project, so it was most appropriate to share the joy of blessing with them.”

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There is nothing like a little light when you are in the dark and need to get information.

Between Sister Sean and our workmen, we now have three new hanging lights in our Sister Services room.

The design is from a piece of furniture that is special to us, and they add beauty as well as illumination to this space. We are most grateful.

It’s been a while since we gave a renovation update, so we’re excited about this recent addition!

No, Clark Kent wasn’t spotted in one of our phone booths, changing into Superman.

Instead, our phone booths are now insulated, so that they are more sound proof. Privacy is regarded as a value here, even during our phone calls.

Do you ever wish you had pockets deep enough to hold all those things that you tend to carry from one place to another not knowing why, and most often, set down and forget where you set them? Some of us Sisters are no different.

Luckily, our workmen have fashioned us a set of cubby holes to keep/store/set our things in when we are away from our bedrooms.

The cubbies even have doors so others can’t see your stuff. Hopefully, this will alleviate our losing valuable things we place on tables, window sills or benches near the doors.

Hopefully, we will remember where we have squirreled away our stuff.

Hopefully, our cubby holes are big enough!

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.

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First of all, Happy Valentine’s Day!

We took the time on Sunday afternoon to bring up many of Our Lady of Rickenbach Sisters to tour the “new” monastery.  We had five carloads making the short trip up, but all the Sisters who came enjoyed their visit and seeing things first hand.

Sister Mary Annette looks in joy upon crossing the threshold of the new monastery entrance

Most had not been up to the house since the deconstruction began and the house was converted to a construction zone, which meant if you did not have a hard hat you could not enter.

Sister Jane (right) greets Sister Maureen from Our Lady of Rickenbach

When the Sisters arrived, they were greeted by several of us, and we partnered with them to give them one-on-one tours.

Sister Brigid (left) shows the new gift shop to Sister Lucilla

Afterward, refreshments were served in the refectory.  It was a wonderful gathering of Sisters, from some of the oldest to our youngest.  The OLR sisters returned home happy and a bit tired from their excursion.  This was a wonderful way to spend a sunny but cold Sunday afternoon.

The weather in Missouri changes quickly.

Just this past week we went from the high 50’s to the below the teen’s in a matter of hours.  We also received some much needed precipitation.

Thank goodness the carpet rolls outside were the old carpet, not the new waiting to be installed!

Hours of meetings with architects, Sisters, engineers, plumbers, electricians and a multitude of others. Pouring over plans. Deciding on everything from heating and electrical systems to deconstruction to reconstruction to the color of the carpet in the hallway.

The Sisters who served on the building committee for Sacred Stones, Sacred Stories have spent so much time helping us realize our new home. So we hosted a little party to share our gratitude for their dedication, decisiveness and sacrifice to help make this day possible.

“Sadie,” an old friend, and her shy helper, “Linda,” came for a brief visit to help us say a BIG thank you (below).

The five Sisters on the building committee shared funny stories from their many trips to the architects’ office in Dubuque, Iowa.  After the community thanked the Sister committee, the committee members thanked us in turn for our patience and willingness to undergo what we have.  We all had a good laugh and ended the evening with praising God for his providence at Compline.

Those whom we honored were (from left) Sister Cheryl, Sister Valerie, Sister Sean, Sister Rebecca and Sister Pat.

On occasion, the volunteer fire department of the Tri-C area (near our Clyde, Mo., monastery) visits and performs a walk-through of our buildings to get reacquainted with the layouts of each floor plan. They did this for us on Sunday.

Here they join Clyde Prioress Sister Sean (far right) at the new fire suppression system control panel in the recently renovated main house.

A young volunteer joined the group but was more interested in playing with his electronic toy.  Soon he had an audience, including our Sister Denise.

We are very grateful to all the area first responders (some of who are our own employees). We pray for their safety and that God watches over them during any emergency.

New Correspondence Department at the Clyde monastery

We are so happy that the Sisters have moved back into the new Correspondence Department, which involves those who answer your daily prayer requests from around the world. Yes, our friends, this is where the magic happens! (hah!)

Eagle eyes will spot the brickwork on the far wall. That is the old exterior of the building that helped form the former courtyard. We are so happy our architects preserved this special part of our monastery.

The CD Sisters such as Sister Maria Victoria, Sister Nancy Rose, Sister Dorothy and Sister Dawn Annette have been especially busy for the past few months, and with the advent season upon us…things will only get crazier. But it’s nice they are settled in and working hard to answer your requests for prayer. And thank you so very much for keeping us in yours.