Category: Uncategorized

St. John Chrysostom

All the sisters here at the Monastery have been praying for peace in Syria and the world, but some have been praying for this peace particularly through the intercession of St. John Chrysostom, who has a Syrian background. In the homily we read at Office of Readings today, he says: \”If Christ is with me, whom shall I fear? Though the waves and the sea and the anger of princes are roused against me, they are less to me than a spider\’s web…I always say: Lord, your will be done; not what this fellow or that would have me do, but what you want me to do.\” Truly God is our ultimate refuge and our strong support in this world of conflict and violence. May peace come to Syria and all the Middle East and the world!
We continue to pray for peace, through the intercession of all the saints of Syria, including Afraate, Ephraim, Simon the Stylite, Isaac of Nineveh, John Chrysostom and John Damascene, not to mention our Lady, Queen of Peace.

Holy Hour for Peace

Responding to Pope Francis\’ call for a day of fasting and prayers for peace, we will be having a Holy Hour at our monastery on September 7, 2013. It will begin with silent prayer in common at 7 PM, and conclude with Compline and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. If you are in the Lufkin area, please consider joining us as we pray for peace in Syria and the world! Even if you cannot come please say a prayer and fast in some way for this important cause and this difficult situation. As Tennyson once wrote, \”More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of\”!

Questions Answered: August Edition

In this occasional series, we answer questions that come up. If you have a question you\’d like to ask, feel free!

Q: I notice you added a contact form to the blog. Why is that?
A: For people to make contact! If you would like us to pray for you, or if you are discerning a vocation and would like to speak to our vocation directress, you can leave a message either on the blog, or on our website here. We added the form to the blog so there are more options available. We try to respond to everyone who contacts us.

Q: Did some of the sisters change jobs? I noticed some changes on the website community page.
A: Yes! As readers of this blog probably know, we elected a new prioress, Sr. Maria Guadalupe, in July and when a prioress is elected (or re-elected) all the other jobs are subject to change as well. We have a new novice directress, Sr. Mary Rose, and a new vocation directress, Sr. Mary Jeremiah, in addition to many other changes. We will have some more on this in the next issue of our newsletter, \”Monastery Bells\”, which is available either by snail mail or on our website.

You can leave a question for us in the comments box, or use either contact form (website or blog), or just email us. Our email address is on our website.

 

Saint Monica

St. Monica was the mother of St. Augustine. While Augustine was involved with the Manichees and making a general mess of his life, Monica prayed for him day and night, weeping copiously, so that the bishop of her home town reportedly told her, \”The son of so many tears will never be lost!\” Remember that no one who knew Augustine as a young man would ever have expected him to do such a dramatic 360 turn, ending up as bishop of Hippo, a saint, and a doctor of the Church. The prayers of a mother are certainly powerful! Let us never give up on those we love, but continue praying for them with confidence. Let us ask St. Monica to intercede today for all our friends, relatives, and people we love who have turned away from God and the faith. She is sure to help them–and us, too!

Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary

\”On your right stands the queen in gold of Ophir…\” (Psalm 45)
Today we celebrate the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The title \”Queen\” is given to her for at least two reasons: first, she is the mother of our King, Jesus Christ, and second, she is Queen by virtue of the dignity given to her by her Son. This memorial was celebrated for many years \”unofficially\” and was given official recognition in 1954 by Pope Pius XII. It ties in beautifully with the solemnity last week, when we celebrated Mary\’s Assumption into Heaven, body and soul. Having been assumed into Heaven, she is crowned Queen. This is recalled in the fifth glorious mystery of the Rosary. Mary is Queen of everything, in a sense: in the Litany of Loreto, she is extolled as \”Queen of angels, Queen of patriarchs…Queen of martyrs, Queen of confessors,\” and so on. Those of us who live in countries without royalty may find the concept of Mary as Queen a difficult one to grasp–you can\’t call Mary the \”First Lady\” to Christ\’s \”President\”! But if we follow the promptings of grace, we will be drawn to understand this concept, and we will acclaim Mary as our heavenly Queen, a sure refuge, a help for all Christians.

Last Look at MTS Program, 2013

This year brought us to the conclusion of a four-year trial of the Monastic Theological Studies Program. We are so happy to say the trial was a success and the program will be repeated starting next year with a new group of nun-students! Stay tuned to find out when and where!
And now, a few last images from this year\’s program!
As if bananas weren\’t enough…some of the intrepid students used a rare bit of free time to shell kidney beans that Sr. Marie Augustine grew in her garden! They listened to some fun African music while they worked…a true \”bean party\”!
Sr. Joseph Maria (Summit), Sr. Maria Teresa (Summit) and Sr. Mary Francis (Farmington Hills) relaxing and checking out the blog! 
Sr. Maria Teresa (Summit) caught a lizard in the Gate Parlor (where we had classes)! She released him alive after this picture!
One night we called Summit monastery using Skype–a technology never used before in Lufkin. The computer was still connected to the projector so we had quite a view of the sisters in Summit\’s community room.
Each MTS sister received a small diploma and other neat items from Sr. Mary Jeremiah (Lufkin), the coordinator of the program, and Sr. Mary of Jesus (Elmira), who graciously served as a tutor for the students two years running. 
And the students had a little surprise for Sr. Mary Jeremiah, too!
Sister received many cute gifts, including a beautiful candle from Summit (they make them at the monastery in addition to their awesome soap line), a Texas potholder, a rosary, and other good things. She is holding the card from all the students, which everyone signed. We are so grateful to Sr. Mary Jeremiah and the Association Formation Committee for making this a wonderful program these past four years! Thank you for everything!

MTS Moral Theology Presentations

It\’s been busy around here, but we wanted to bring you the MTS presentations! Each sister discussed a controversial moral topic, presenting it in the style of St. Thomas Aquinas\’ Summa theologiae.

Sr. Mary Rose (Lufkin) considers the morality of birth control vs. natural family planning
 Sr. Mary Francis (Farmington Hills) spoke on whether abortion can be morally acceptable
Sr. Mary Thomas (Lufkin) discussed whether same-sex marriages can be recognized by the Church
 Sr. Maria Teresa (Summit) gave an eye-opening presentation on gender identity disorder, with a great PowerPoint presentation.
Sr. Mary Gabriel (Lufkin) was happy to finish her presentation on the morality of the death penalty
Sr. Mary Dominic (Lufkin) talked about assisted suicide and euthanasia
And Sr. Mary Giuse (Lufkin) ended on a positive note by discussing the possibility of friendship with God.
We had some of the best discussions we\’ve ever had in our years of the MTS program on these topics, and it was a beneficial learning experience for all the sisters.  We have all grown so much in our communication skills as we tried to present the fruits of our study over these past four years. Wea re deeply grateful for all these opportunities, and we know the next edition of MTS will be just as good–if not even better!