Category: Uncategorized

A Visit from John-Carlos Estrada of KTRE-9

Sr. Mary Dominic, Sr. Mary Jeremiah, and Sr. Maria Guadalupe with John-Carlos Estrada
Well, we\’re not going to be on TV (yet) but we did receive a nice visit from KTRE-9\’s news anchor for the 6 and 10 news! John-Carlos Estrada is also the managing editor for KTRE (which is our local ABC affiliate), and an adjunct professor at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, TX. He stopped by to meet us and tell us about life in broadcast journalism, which we found very interesting. Of course we hinted that a story about our monastery would be a good idea, so who knows what the future may hold? Stay tuned!
Check out Lufkin/Nacogdoches news at KTRE.com. 

Sr. Mary Rose\’s Feast Day Celebration

Sr. Mary Rose\’s feast day falls on August 23…feast of St. Rose of Lima…but various circumstances forced us to postpone the celebration of her special day until August 30. Seven sisters joined Sr. Mary Rose in the novitiate for a lovely time!
A tribute to St. Rose of Lima on the novitiate bulletin board. 
Most of the day was spent happily recreating, snacking, and watching a movie. We also played some games and watched Sr. Mary Rose open her gifts. 
The gift table 
Sr. Mary Rose opens a gift as our postulant Cloe looks on
Sister received many useful gifts, including books, cards, and this beautiful tote bag made by Sr. Bernadette Marie
After opening the gifts, we played a game. One sister had to describe an object to her partner, who would draw it based on the description given. The sister who described the object could not say what it was or what it was for, which made the results extremely funny!
Sr. Mary Jeremiah and Sr. Mary Margaret with their drawing and object
Sr. Mary Gabriel and Sr. Mary Thomas with their drawing and object
Cloe and Sr. Mary Rose with their drawing and object
We give thanks to God for a beautiful day, and for Cloe our postulant, and Sr. Mary Rose, our novice directress, whose feast day inspired such a great time! May He send us many more young women who wish to serve Him as cloistered Dominican nuns!

Sr. Mary Regina\’s 80th Birthday!

Sr. Mary Regina celebrated her 80th birthday on Saturday, August 29th! We had a big party for her in honor of this important milestone in the community room with cake and ice cream. 
Sister Mary Regina in her \”Happy Birthday\” glasses!
The delicious cakes…and Sister Mary Regina. In back, from left: Sr. Mary Gabriel, Sr. Maria Cabrini, Sr. Bernadette Marie, Cloe, Sr. Mary Dominic
Blowing out the candles….
Enjoying the cake and ice cream treat with Sr. Miriam (left)
We wish you a happy 80th birthday, and hopefully many more to come, Sister!

Rosary and Funeral Mass Times for Sr. Mary Emmanuel

The Rosary for Sr. Mary Emmanuel will be prayed on Sunday, August 23, 2015 at 7 PM in our monastery chapel.
The Funeral Mass for Sr. Mary Emmanuel will be on Monday, August 24, 2015 at 10:30 AM in our monastery chapel. Our chaplain, Fr. Marcos Ramos, will be the main celebrant. Weather permitting, we will process to our monastery cemetery for the burial after the Mass. 
We will keep vigil with Sr. Mary Emmanuel from Sunday morning until shortly before the Mass on Monday morning. Anyone who wishes to come and pay their respects is welcome to do so.

A Sweet Treat

We\’ve been having some computer issues (which hopefully are all resolved) and this has been delaying some of our planned posts. Even though this event happened about a week ago, we still want to post it as it\’s been quite a while since we showed some of the sisters just having fun. And actually we have a lot of fun!

One of our benefactors gave us a sweet treat for St. Dominic\’s day…milkshakes! We all enjoyed them so much and this afternoon treat really added to the joy of the day.

  Left to right: Sr. Miriam. Sr. Mary Thomas, Sr. Bernadette Marie, Sr. Mary Giuse, Sr.Maria Cabrini, Sr. Mary Dominic. We also received a beautiful coffee table book with pictures of Pope Francis and the Vatican, which some of the sisters are perusing here. 

Working on the puzzle while enjoying a milkshake! Left to right: Cloe, Sr. Mary Christine, Sr. Mary Margaret, Sr. Mary John
Sr. Mary Gabriel and Sr. Mary Annunciata fixing up their milkshakes with extra whipped cream and a cherry on top!

Visiting Friars: Fr. Michael Monshau, OP

Fr. Michael Monshau, OP gave us a fantastic leadership workshop last week! We learned all about the different kinds of servant leadership and how to apply their values to our life, important because although we only have one prioress, everyone leads in some way–or tries to be a good follower, This point was movingly illustrated through the film \”Interrupted Lives\”, about Catholic religious sisters trying to survive under Communism,  which Father showed at the beginning of the workshop. 

Fr, Monshau lecturing
We also learned about the virtues needed to be a good leader. These were naturally taken from St. Thomas Aquinas. With Dominicans, it always seems to come back to the virtues according to St. Thomas Aquinas!
Fr, Monshau spent more time away from the podium than behind it! He is very dynamic!
We also really enjoyed Fr. Monshau\’s wonderful homilies at Mass. He is a truly gifted preacher.We were fortunate to have him preach on the solemnity of St. Dominic, when he concelebrated Mass with our chaplain, Fr. Marcos Ramos, OP. Thank you so much for your time with us, Fr. Michael!