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May Novena Time

During this beautiful month of May, we make a pilgrimage every evening to this statue of Our Lady of the Pines, singing the Litany of Loreto as we go. We have other special devotions to Mary during May, including a May crowning (pictures will come!), hymns, and private devotions, such as extra Rosaries and prayers. Most of all, we have our May novena to Mary, in which we will include all of you! If you have special intentions you would like us to remember in our novena, please send them here and we will include them in a particular way. May Our Lady, Queen of the Holy Rosary, intercede for us all and especially for peace in our world!

Divine Mercy Sunday and John Paul II\’s Beatification

It seems most appropriate that a Pope so devoted to mercy should be beatified on this, the second Sunday after Easter (also known as Divine Mercy Sunday). We pray for the mercy of God on all people, those who know God and those who do not, those who are searching and those who have given up hope, those who remain faithful to Christ and those who have (for whatever reason) separated themselves from Him. This Sunday reminds us that there is always an opportunity to return to God, the God Who loves us so deeply and infinitely!
 John Paul II was a great Pope, no doubt about it. 
We are so happy he is being beatified today and know that he will be a powerful intercessor for us in heaven.

Easter at the Monastery, Continued

Easter is a solemn event…the resurrection of Christ from the dead after His passion…but we think it\’s OK to have a little fun during this Easter octave, too! After all, Easter is also about the joy of new life and new beginnings! So we continued our celebration with an Easter egg hunt in the community room.
Sr. Mary Rose finds an egg hidden in an unexpected place.
Sr. Mary Jeremiah makes a find!
Is there an egg in there, Sr. Bernadette Marie? (Yes, there was!)
Sr. Marie Augustine counts the eggs she found…
…Sr. Mary Giuse is still counting!
The winners, with 22 each, were our two bursars, Sr. Mary Rose (right) and Sr. Mary Christine (left).
Sr. Mary Margaret took special honors for finding the most \”shiny\” eggs.
It was a lot of fun and everyone found something! Many thanks to Sr. Mary Gabriel, Sr. Maria Guadalupe, and Sr. Maria Cabrini who hid all 201 eggs! (201?? Wow! But we have 26 sisters in the house right now, so it evens out really well.) Happy Easter to all and may you be blessed with Paschal joy this season!

Easter at the Monastery

We are having a beautiful Easter celebration at the monastery today, and it\’s only beginning! The entire Easter octave (that\’s from now until next Sunday, May 1) is one long celebration of this most glorious feast. Today, we\’d like to share some pictures with you:

Our monastery chapel, all decorated for Easter
The Paschal candle 
We were delighted to have our friend Father R.B. Williams, O.P.  (who gave our community retreat last year) come to spend the triduum with us. He concelebrated Mass and the Good Friday liturgy with our chaplain, Fr. J.D. Logan, O.P. and they both did a great job! Later, Fr. R.B. shared with us about his travels and adventures as an itinerant Dominican preacher. All too quickly he was back on the road, but not before we got this picture of him with some of the sisters. 

Sr. Maria Cabrini, Sr. Mary John, Fr. R.B., Sr. Mary Gabriel, Sr. Mary Dominic
We hope you are having a blessed celebration of Easter and will continue to celebrate during the octave and until the Easter season ends at Pentecost (June 12 this year)!

Triduum Schedule

 We invite you to join us for our celebrations of the Paschal Triduum, if you are in the Lufkin area. All our Masses and liturgies are open to the public.

Holy Thursday Mass will be on April 21 at 7:15 PM.

Good Friday Liturgy will be on April 22 at 3:00 PM.

The Easter Vigil will be on April 23 at 9:00 PM.

Easter Sunday Mass will be on April 24 at 10:15 AM.

We pray you will have a holy and blessed Triduum! We will be in retreat Thursday-Saturday, and we hope to post again on Easter Sunday. Pray for us — we\’ll be praying for you!

Palm Sunday

      Palm Sunday is a special day. It is the first day of a very special week in which each day has its own particular liturgy and significance. 
    The palms re-enact and connect us with Christ\’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem as King and Messiah, fulfilling many Old Testament Scripture passages. To the ancient Jews, the palms were symbols of victory and abundance. In Christianity they have become the symbol of the martyr, who is victorious over death.
       Everyone is encouraged to take some palms home and put them on crucifixes or holy pictures. The palms have been blessed and are, thus, sacramentals, bringing Christ\’s special presence and power into our daily lives. Seeing them each day reminds us of Christ\’s redemptive sacrifice, which in turn can lead us to prayer and trust in our ultimate victory in Him. 
     The triumphal entry into Jerusalem accompanied by acclamations and songs of praise ends abruptly with the opening prayer of the Mass, when the focus shifts to Christ\’s Passion. Palm Sunday is linked with Good Friday; these are the only two days when the entire Passion account is read, from one of the synoptic Gospels on Palm Sunday and from the Gospel of John on Good Friday. May the words of that opening prayer be a source of renewal and strength for all of us on the journey to eternal life. 
 Father, Jesus fulfilled your will 
by becoming man 
and giving his life on the cross. 
Help us to bear witness to you
by following his example of suffering 
and make us worthy 
to share in his resurrection. 
Amen.