Dominican Life on Lotus Lane

Our novitiate is always busy doing something fun! Today our two postulants, with Sr. Mary Rose (our novice directress) made a scrumptious two-layer chocolate cake, decorated with chocolate chips and Peeps.

 The cake was baked this morning, and during noon recreation we decorated it.

Icing it carefully…

More icing? Definitely!

Setting the Peeps on the top…the trick is to leave them stuck together.

Each chocolate chip was placed in just the right spot! You can see our inspiration in the lower left hand corner–Sr. Mary Rose found this great idea in the April 2015 issue of Guideposts magazine!

 And the finished product–a lovely sunflower Peeps cake! It\’s almost too pretty to eat, but after all, we have these pictures to remember it by! Yum!

From left to right: Sr. Mary Gabriel, Cloe, Sr. Mary Rose, and Lesley

It\’s been a busy week! There\’s always a lot of extra liturgy during the Easter Octave and we\’ve been trying to fit in our daily work and activities around it! But we love it! Finally we have a chance today to share some of our Easter decor.

One side of the refectory (the other side is the same, only there are windows on that side). All the decorations were donated over the years by generous benefactors and we thank them! (We made the banners, though!) 

The center of the refectory! The novitiate constructed an \”Easter mountain\” somehow and highlighted it with Easter flowers and a spotlight (you can see the shadow on the wall!). They also used this classic banner made some years ago but still a favorite. In case you can\’t read it, it says \”Worthy is the Lamb\”. Amen! Alleluia!

We hope you are enjoying a blessed Easter season and remember, it lasts until May 24th, Pentecost! So celebrate! Christ is risen!!

Today is one of the emptiest days of the year. No Mass, no Eucharistic adoration. And it is empty for another reason, too: this is the day Christ went among the dead to release the souls of the just. The land of shadows where they stayed until Christ\’s coming has been emptied. But soon all things will be filled with the fullness of Christ. Tonight we will have the celebration of the Easter Vigil, and the beginning of the glorious season of Easter, when we celebrate Christ\’s resurrection from the dead.  May this blessed time fill you with the joy only Christ can give, and may you experience the mercy Christ is bestowing upon you today and every day!

Today Christ was mocked and scorned, scourged and humiliated, before being crucified and dying for us on the Cross. Today Christ is still mocked in so many ways. Let us be among those who love Him and wish to offer our lives with His today.

In a few hours, we will celebrate the evening Mass of Holy Thursday. We have the washing of feet before Mass, in our refectory. The prioress chooses twelve nuns and kneels to wash their feet. Monasteries have surely been washing women\’s feet on Holy Thursday long before Pope Francis (although we do it privately). It is awe-inspiring to think that Jesus gave us Himself in the Eucharist, ordaining the first priests, just a short time before His passion began. Tonight we remember this wonderful event, and we stay awake with Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, keeping adoration of the Blessed Sacrament until midnight.