Dominican Life on Lotus Lane

You may remember that on St. Valentine\’s Day we featured a picture of two doves who had built a nest above our carport. Well, the babies that hatched in that nest are almost grown up now! We found them enjoying a respite from the wind between the wall of our main building and our new generator! 

The doves still have some of their \”baby feathers\” but they are growing fast!

They were not too afraid of us (as you can see) and seemed to like this space…perhaps the site of a nest someday? 

As you can also see, our generator plans are really coming along! We thank everyone who has been so generous in supporting us in this endeavor. We will bring you more generator news in the weeks to come!

We\’re happy to announce that the Spring 2013 issue of \”Monastery Bells\” is available on our website! Just go to www.lufkintxnuns.org and click on Newsletters, then scroll down till you reach it! It has a lot of interesting articles that have not been on the blog, so check it out! And as always, if you would like to receive \”Monastery Bells\” by mail (U.S. residents only–sorry, we can\’t afford foreign postage) please contact us here. When you subscribe through the mail, you will also receive our May and November novena slips, Christmas cards, pocket calendars, raffle tickets and other surprises. It\’s absolutely free! But if you prefer to read online, remember you can always send in petitions for our novenas, and enter our raffles. We\’ll post information on how to do this at the proper time. Either way, we hope you\’ll continue to keep up with us here at the Monastery of the Infant Jesus in Lufkin, TX. Thanks for all your generosity to us and know that we keep you all in our prayers!

Last night we had our raffle drawing! Thanks so much to all who participated. We are so grateful for your support!

We used a more conventional means of shaking up our tickets this year–a large Cavanaugh host box! Sr. Mary Rose shakes vigorously while our special \”surprise\” prize looks on.

Our prioress, Sr. Mary John, drew the first winning ticket.

 Sr. Mary Dominic drew another winner!

And Sr. Mary Christine drew a ticket, too! In all there were six great prizes.

Congratulations to all our winners! May God bless you abundantly for your generosity! We hope you will enjoy your prizes. And of course we keep everyone who entered in our prayers. Thank you again!

Blessed Easter to all!

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed!

We see him without the grandeur of a victory parade–without the chariots, the horsemen, the soldiers–returning triumphant in battle. The same people who now celebrate his entry into Jerusalem with palm branches will soon shout for his death, plaiting him a crown of thorns and nailing him to the wood of a tree. The vanity that once struck Qoheleth is personified in today\’s pomp and circumstance which will soon change to the greatest sacrifice that can be conceived. All things in this world are passing and will fall away–this King too will become a victim of sin\’s cruelty. Those who did not know him, did not care, will forget him in time. 

However, for those who bravely believe, who took the Lamb as their Redeemer, the end of his life was a new beginning. It would continue in the words, \”Do this in remembrance of me\”. St. John Mary Vianney once said that the savior comes to us still as he did on that fateful day of procession with palms. He lives–meekly, humbly, a King giving himself in poverty, coming under the form of bread and wine. It is our task to welcome him, to cast down our palm branches sincerely, and welcome him into our lives to reign there with the peace that surpasses understanding.

Last night, we were privileged to see a live Stations of the Cross put on by the youth group from St. John the Evangelist Church in McAlester, Oklahoma. The high school students were reverent in their presentation and we were very moved by the experience. The evening began with a short, wordless presentation of the Passion story, and then moved into the stations of the cross.

The second station: Jesus accepts His cross

The twelfth station: Jesus dies on the cross 

As you can see in these pictures, the stations were presented with minimal costumes, props and lighting. The students also used youth-oriented meditations which help bring the drama of Christ\’s Passion into the lives of the young people who see and participate in the stations–and into our lives too. This group travels to different parishes each Lent to offer these stations, and choose a religious community to visit each year. We are grateful they thought of us! If you have a chance to see these stations at your parish, we encourage you to do so. Thank you so much to the pastor and students at St. John\’s for this wonderful presentation. We will always remember it!