A Wonderland Tea Party for Mother’s Day

For Mother’s Day this year, the community celebrated with an Alice in Wonderland themed tea party. We had special tea and treats, Wonderland-themed games, and watched the Disney cartoon version of Alice in Wonderland in the evening.

In the (golden) afternoon, we gathered in the community room to enjoy a delicious tea party. After we got our treats, the Mad Hatter Twins (Sr. Mary Gabriel and Sr. Mary Therese) crowned our prioress, Sr. Mary Rose, as Queen.

Then we divided into three teams to play the Wonderland games.

Then the sisters enjoyed a variety of games that led us to the Wonderland Tea Party. For each game, we won stickers that we enjoyed displaying on our capes!

The first game was to find the key to unlock the door into Wonderland. Sisters from each team searched the community room, finding many small heart keys but only one large rose key.

Can you see the key hidden under the tea pot banner?

Sr. Bernadette Marie finally found the right key!

To get into Wonderland, the sisters had to follow the White Rabbit down the rabbit hole.

Sr. Mary Pauline throws the bean bag rabbit into the rabbit hole.

Sr. Maria Rosario was so close!

After going down the rabbit hole, the sisters had to pin the grin on the Cheshire Cat so he could give them directions to the tea party.

Sr. Mary Therese ties the blindfold on Sr. Mary Margaret.

Good try!

Sr. Mary Giuse gives Sr. Mary Rose directions for where to pin the grin.

Sr. Mary Pauline got very close!

Sr. Mary Jeremiah and Sr. Mary Therese give their best Cheshire Cat grins.

Once at the Wonderland Tea Party, the sisters played musical chairs to see who could get a seat at the table.

“The Unbirthday Song” was the soundtrack. Sr. Mary Giuse won!

We all had a wonderful time eating delicious tea treats, playing the Wonderland games, and collecting stickers. We also greatly enjoyed watching Alice in Wonderland after spending an afternoon in our own wonderland world. Happy Mother’s Day!

Rest in peace, Sr. Miriam

Sr. Miriam of the Precious Blood, O.P., died on March 19, 2026. Born Patricia Gliatto in Chicago, IL, in 1937, she lived 68 years of her adventurous life as a religious.

Sr. Miriam was a trained nurse, but feeling drawn to the religious life she joined the Maryknoll Sisters in 1958. She soon decided to become a contemplative nun, and initially joined the Dominican Monastery in La Crosse, WI, in 1960. She always loved helping people and had a missionary heart, despite her cloistered calling, and helped at the Corpus Christi Monastery in Nairobi, Kenya, from 1978-1981. After that experience, she joined us in Lufkin in 1981. In 1999, she again went on a mission, helping to found the Queen of Peace Monastery, which is now in Squamish, Canada. She always used to say, “Join the cloister. See the world.”

Throughout her time with us, she served in many roles, including sacristan, librarian, helping in the Guild, and as organist. But we’ll mostly remember her for her joyful personality. She was known to charm everyone she met.

A rosary will be held for Sr. Miriam in the Monastery Chapel at 7:00 PM, Monday, March 23, 2026. The funeral Mass with be celebrated by the Most Rev. John Gregory Kelly at 9:30 AM on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, with internment in the Monastery cemetery immediately following the Mass.

A Visit from Fr. Timothy Vaverek

We were doubly blessed to receive a lovely visit and conference from Father Timothy Vaverek, a priest of the Diocese of Austin who is currently serving as pastor for Assumption Catholic Church in West, TX.

After receiving Father Timothy’s book As I Have Loved You: Rediscovering Our Salvation in Christ from his brother Father Gavin Vaverek, we enjoyed it so much that we were eager to meet him and invite him to share more with us.

Thank you, Fr. Timothy, for taking time out of your busy parish schedule and making the long trip from West to Lufkin! Your presence and insights were greatly appreciated.

Tet Celebration for the Year of the Horse

Our monastery enjoys celebrating the Asian New Year, and this year our Vietnamese Sr. Mary Christine organized another wonderful Tet celebration, this year being the year of the horse.

The evening began with Sr. Mary Christine and Sr. Mary Giuse singing a song in Vietnamese.

Then we called up all our sisters born in the year of the horse and Sr. Mary Christine read the characteristics of “horses”. Some of them were accurate!

Sr. Mary Veronica, Sr. Mary Rose, Sr. Mary Magdalene, and Sr. Maria Guadalupe–all of our sisters born in the year of the horse!

We then divided into two teams, the white horses and the black horses, and played games with an equestrian theme. For the first game, a member of each team sat in a chair and stamped her feet to try to be the first to scrunch up a long sheet of newspaper.

Sr. Miriam pulls at the newspaper as fast as she can!

The next game was a horse race, where a member from each team blew through a straw to try to make her horse race across a table to get to the finish line (falling off the table) first.

Sr. Mary Giuse and Sr. Mary Therese start the horse race.

Sr. Mary Jeremiah and Sr. Mary Margaret blow their horses across the table.

Sr. Irma Marie and Sr. Bernadette Marie race to the finish line!

The third game was another horse race. A sister from each team sat in a chair and raced against the other, pulling her horse towards herself using toilet paper.

Sr. Mary Giuse and Sr. Mary Jeremiah each want their horse to win!

But in the end, we were all winners and got to choose prizes.

Sr. Mary Jeremiah, Sr. Mary Therese, and Sr. Marie Augustine with their Tet goodies.

As usual, we all enjoyed this celebration of Vietnamese culture. The music, food, and games are a fun way for us to celebrate the diversity of our monastery.

A Celebration of Consecrated Life

This year, the Monastery of the Infant Jesus hosted the Tyler diocese World Day of Consecrated Life.

Bishop Gregory Kelly officiated at Mass.

Religious women from different congregations from all over the diocese came to visit. Some of them were old friends and some were new arrivals to the diocese.

After Mass, we all met in the parlor to introduce ourselves and explain to each other about our own congregations. There are so many ways religious women serve the Lord. Since we’re cloistered, we don’t often get to see our sister religious, so it was wonderful to be able to host them on this special day.

A Couple of Sisterly Visits to the Monastery

Recently, the Monastery has been blessed with special visits from two fellow women religious. We love hosting sisters from other places and listening to them share about their lives.

Sr. Anna Wray, a Dominican active sister, came to give us some talks on conflict management and how to get along with others in community life.

Sr. Anna Wray is a philosophy professor at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. She taught us about the philosophy of the human person, how people respond to conflict, and better ways to interact with each other when there is a conflict.

We enjoyed her talks and appreciated her realistic approach to problem-solving. It always helps us to get advice from someone who also lives in a religious community and understands the kinds of issues that arise from living with others in this special way.

We showed our appreciation to Sr. Anna by giving her some handmade gifts to remember us by.

We were also blessed with a visit from Sr. Maria of Jesus, the blood sister of our prioress Sr. Mary Rose.

Sr. Marie Augustine and Sr. Mary Rose listen as Sr. Maria of Jesus tells us about her life.

Sr. Maria of Jesus is also a cloistered nun, but she’s a Benedictine (hence her different habit). She’s a member of the Abbey of St. Walburga in Virginia Dale, CO. (Have you heard of Lilies of the Field? That story was inspired by this community.) St. Walburga is distinctive in that their main work is raising cattle, and we all enjoyed Sr. Maria telling us about her life on their farm.

We always enjoy hearing about how other women religious live. It helps us appreciate how we are all brides of Christ, but distinctive in the particular way that we have chosen to live our vocation.