Month: August 2023

But will she take a new name??

On July 29–the feast of St. Martha–Sr. Maria Goretti began her novitiate with our community. Some of you may be aware that Sister had been a member of our community many years before, and left to join a Franciscan order. We’re happy that she came back! Everyone assumed she would keep the name “Sister Maria Goretti” since she has had it for so long (both here and elsewhere). To our surprise, a box and slips of paper were set out with it a sign: “Guess Sister’s New Name”. What?? Sr. Mary Margaret only smiled mysteriously.

The clothing was held in the morning, in our chapter hall. Since Sister was changing into our Dominican habit from her Franciscan habit, we did the full ceremony.

Sister Maria Goretti answers the questions put to her.

After being vested in the habit, the new veil is deftly slipped on to replace the old one.

Just a little adjustment needed…Perfect!

Sister is vested in the cappa, which we wear during the Triduum and for certain ceremonies (like this one–but today only Sr. Mary Christine and Sr. Mary Margaret are wearing it)..

Finally, after greeting the community, the great moment came.

“In the Order of Preachers, your name will be: Sr. Maria of Jesus.”

We all cheered with relief and joy and a little confusion. The new Sr. Maria quickly explained that she plans to keep St. Maria Goretti as her patroness, but decided to drop the “Goretti” because people often assume it’s her last name. Sr. Maria’s last name is Italian but it is nothing like Goretti! Following this, we read the guesses the Sisters had submitted, and had a good laugh to get ready for dinner.

Yummy Louisiana style shrimp gumbo for dinner!

After dinner we had our traditional party in the novitiate. Sr. Marie Augustine made an assortment of delicious cookies, and tea was served as well. We all enjoyed recreating together, and watching Sr. Maria open her many gifts.

Can I wear these socks with my habit?

We are blessed to have Sr. Maria back with us as a member of our community. Please continue to keep Sister–and all our novitiate sisters–in your prayers as they progress through their time of formation!

Sr. Mary Christine, Sr. Maria, and Sr. Mary Margaret

Summer Roundup

Hey, all y’all! It’s been a long time since we’ve had a chance to catch our breath and write something for this blog! Today we have some time so we’re bringing you a good old Texas roundup of some of the various events that have made our summer exciting (and busy).

Not long after Sr. Mary Veronica’s jubilee celebration, we welcomed Fr. Reginald Baconin, O.P. to our monastery for a couple of months.

Fr. Reginald comes from the province of Toulouse in France, but has been studying in Rome at the Angelicum. He is working on two licentiates at the same time–one on Trinitarian theology and one on Islamology. He speaks English beautifully, with almost no accent, and we were delighted to have him celebrate Mass for us–and give us some classes.

At the end of June, we had a farewell recreation with Fr. Ian.

Sr. Martin Marie crocheted this classic-looking scarf for him, which he was happy to receive.

We also gave him a Dominican coffee mug:

We are sad to see Fr. Ian leave, but know he is needed at his new assignment, which is much more challenging than the one he had here. We are proud of Father for finishing his doctorate and getting his degree. Hopefully he will come back someday, to give classes or even a retreat!

On June 30, Sarah Larmore entered as a postulant.

Sr. Mary Pauline, Sr. Mary Christine, Sr. Marie Augustine, Sarah, Michelle, and Sr. Maria Goretti

Sarah could hardly wait to begin her life as a cloistered contemplative nun!

On July 1, we had our 4th of July picnic. We like to have our picnic celebration on Satursdays if possible.

Here we are, all decked out for the traditional flag raising after Midmorning Prayer.

We had a joyful day of food, fun, games, conversation, and patriotic fervor.

As is our custom on the Fourth of July, we sang “My Country ’tis of Thee” from the Summit Choirbook at Vespers. While we were all filled with love for our nation, Fr, Reginald (joining us for Vespers in the outside chapel) was perplexed. He asked us later, “Why did you sing ‘God Save The King’ to celebrate July 4?”

And as it happens, July 4 is Fr. Reginald’s birthday! We had a special recreation with him that night.

Fr. Reginald has been a big Texas fan for many years, thanks to his father’s love for John Wayne movies (especially “The Alamo”), and various people in our community took him on many Texas adventures, including visits to a Native American reservation, Nacogdoches TX (the oldest town in Texas), the San Jacinto battlefield, and, yes, the Alamo! He bought this hat for himself soon after his arrival, but we had some gifts for him, too–especially this one:

A T-shirt that proudly proclaims, “Texas–Bigger than France”! He loves it!

A few days later we had a visit from our Southern Province novices. We’re happy to say all five of them made profession! Please pray for them, and for the upcoming novitiate class.

We have even more news to share with you, but this is enough for now. We plan to post the rest of the recent news soon. For now, we hope you enjoy this glimpse inside the boring and monotonous life of the cloister! (And yes, we always keep our prayer schedule–even on holidays.)