Category: monastic life

St. Martha–and a Visit from the Polkers

The feast of St. Martha (which is now the feast of Martha, Mary and Lazarus) is a traditional day in our monastery to honor the sisters who do the cooking. In times past, the novitiate would take over the kitchen and give the cooks a day off. But, as our cook Sr. Marie Augustine reminded us, “Martha never took a day off!” So the novitiate came and helped Sister get ready for a delicious meal.

Diana, our kitchen assistant, and Sr. Marie Augustine, adorned in chef’s hats for this special day.

Sr. Marie Augustine prepares to slice a pineapple, but don’t worry. She’s wearing an apron–it’s white and blends in with her habit!

The other thing that happened on July 29 was that our good friends the Polkers came up from La Porte, TX–quite a drive, especially in the heat. The Polkers come about three times a year, bringing loads of food. This includes things we need, like flour, meat, sugar, juice and cereal, and things that are just treats, such as mini cream puffs and ice cream! Because there is a lot of food and most of it needs to be refrigerated or frozen–and all of it needs to be put away somewhere–it’s all hands on desk when they come.

Sr. Mary Christine and Michelle looking for places to put things!

Working together to get the job done.

Sr. Mary Giuse pushes a cart holding margarine and ice cream into the kitchen.

The Polkers always bring a lot of fresh fruit! The novitiate sisters–Sr. Mary Pauline, Sr. Mary Christine, and Michelle–carefully washed and dried everything so it would be ready to be eaten.

Did we mention the meals were delicious? Sr. Marie Augustine is a wonderful cook! We appreciate her very much. And we are so grateful to the Polkers and all their friends, who keep us supplied with groceries! Thank you both!

St. Martha, patroness of hard-working people, pray for us!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

St. Catherine of Siena once said that the Dominican Order was like a “broad, fragrant garden”. And to make this figure of speech a reality, we have been fixing up our gardens–one new and one old!

We’ll begin with the infirmary garden. The plants we had in this area were frozen during the winter storm of 2021, and we are finally able to put new plants in, as the weather has been cooperating–lots of sun and rain!

Several views of the infirmary garden, from all angles

We gave up on ground cover, and are trying pine straw instead (which we have a lot of!). You can see several new plants here, including two dogwood trees.

We also planted a lot of caladiums–some of them are starting to poke a few leaves out!

Some dear friends of ours wanted us to put in a butterfly garden–and they generously provided the means for us to do this. In order that our many guests could enjoy it, we planted it out front.

Our workmen, David and Pete, look on as the special soil for the garden is delivered.

They really dumped it!

David filling in the beds

Pete smoothing them out

The new beds–ready for planting!

All planted! Now we wait for it to grow a little, and hopefully, the butterflies will come! Many thanks to our dear friend Carmen who helped so much with both of these gardens!

We also got some large rocks for landscaping around the front of the monastery. Thank goodness another friend of ours was able to find some men to help us place them!

These men ROCK!

Thanks to everyone who helped make these gardens grow! We appreciate all your time and hard work. Thanks to our sisters who worked very hard planting and designing and organizing the gardens. Please pray with us that these gardens will do well, and that we will hopefully avoid any more freezes like 2021!

Bingo!

Recently, we played Bingo during evening recreation. There were prizes to add to the fun and each winner got to take a turn calling the Bingo numbers.

Sr. Mary Pauline calling Bingo numbers. Notice our authentic Bingo number…um…thing.

Sr. Mary Jeremiah, Sr. Mary Rose and Michelle, hoping for a win

Sr. Mary Thomas, Sr. Mary Pauline, and Sr. Mary Therese. Sr. Mary Thomas has already claimed a prize!

Sr. Maria Guadalupe, Sr. Mary Giuse, Sr. Mary Veronica and Sr. Maria Rosario

Sr. Mary Jeremiah, Sr. Miriam, Sr. Maria, and Sr. Mary Rose

Everyone had a fun time–and in the end everyone who wanted one got a prize, too! BINGO!

The Crafty Sisters

One of our sisters, whose duties occasionally take her outside, was surprised to come into the lobby one day and see this on the couch:

When she looked closer, she saw the note!

What a lovely surprise! To add to our joy, we also received a separate gift of crochet hooks, knitting needles, and knitting looms–as well as several books!

Our raffle is coming up this summer, and we are becoming known for our “cloister creations”–afghans, shawls, scarves, hats, sock animals and baby quilts in addition to various other works of art. We spend most of the year working on these items, and then the best of the best are chosen to become raffle prizes. The other items (which are very nice too) become additional surprise raffle prizes (that is, we don’t advertise them on our raffle tickets) or are given to benefactors. Nothing is ever wasted!

If you are interested in seeing what we are raffling off this year, please send us your address and we’ll send you a raffle ticket at the proper time. And we would be especially delighted if you decided to enter our raffle! Although there is no cost to enter, we really appreciate any donation you can give us. Your donations keep our life of prayer, praise, adoration and sacrifice going strong!

Our “crafty” sisters were eager to grab the yarn once it was made available for the taking, Who knows what amazing creations we will make? Thanks so much to our donors who made this all possible!

In case anyone is wondering–we have sisters who knit and sisters who crochet, as well as sisters who use a loom! So everything will be used most joyfully.

A Class with Fr. Gavin Vaverek, JCL

Father Gavin Vaverek, pastor of Our Lady of Victory parish in Paris, TX, recently came and gave us a class on Lent. Father gives us classes on a variety of topics whenever he has time, and we always enjoy his great presentations and his witty remarks. In this class, Father encouraged us to “begin with the end in mind” when it comes to Lent, looking forward to the Triduum and Easter. He covered the main aspects of Lent–prayer, fasting, and almsgiving–encouraging us to use Lent as a time to grow in our Christian life and to keep up our good Lenten habits through Easter and beyond. Most of all, Father reminded us, Lent is a opportunity to grow in love and to share in the life of Christ. We had heard some of this before, of course–but it was a wonderful help to renew us in our Lenten practices, which can become mere form if we are not careful. And we can always learn something new about the spiritual life! Thank you, Fr. Gavin, for taking time out of your busy parish schedule and making the long trip from Paris (Texas, that is) to Lufkin! You are always welcome!

The community listens attentively to Fr. Gavin’s presentation. He’s a wonderful lecturer!

Michelle is a “Professed Postulant”

Recently, our postulant Michelle received the Miraculous Medal of Our Lady and a rosary–signs that she has spent three months in the novitiate and continues to do well!

Gathered in the novitiate chapter room

Sr. Mary Margaret gives a brief talk

Receiving the Miraculous Medal…

….and the Rosary!

A little party to celebrate, with tea and homemade cookies

The newly “professed postulant”

The novitiate sisters and Sr. Mary Margaret

Sr. Mary Christine, Michelle, and some of Sr. Mary Christine’s orchids.

We call Michelle a “professed postulant” because this is a big step forward in her formation period. Please pray that Michelle will persevere these coming nine months to her next step, which will be receiving the habit!