Tag: Dominican Nuns

Easter at the Monastery

Easter is the most joyful and solemn celebration of the whole liturgical year, and we act accordingly! Most of our time in the week after Easter was spent in chapel, singing the Divine Office and Mass, and adoring our risen Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. However–we did decorate! Take a look at some of our creative decorations.

The refectory. Can you see the “Alleluias” on the wall amid the butterflies?

The refectory tables. The novitiate made these charming flowers and vases. If you look hard, you can catch a glimpse of our candy table in the background. Hey–people send us lots of Easter candy, and Lent is over, so we celebrate for a few days!

The novitiate with their creations. From left: Sr. Mary Pauline, Michelle, Sr. Marie Augustine, Sr. Mary Christine

The chapel during the Easter octave. Sr. Carmen Gloria does a brilliant job decorating, and we are so grateful to her!

And the community room! Thanks to Sr. Mary Giuse who came up with this lovely display.

We hope you continue to have a joyful and blessed Easter season. Remember, Easter season lasts until Pentecost! So you can keep that Paschal joy in your heart, and if you have some jellybeans left over, celebrate!

Bingo!

Recently, we played Bingo during evening recreation. There were prizes to add to the fun and each winner got to take a turn calling the Bingo numbers.

Sr. Mary Pauline calling Bingo numbers. Notice our authentic Bingo number…um…thing.

Sr. Mary Jeremiah, Sr. Mary Rose and Michelle, hoping for a win

Sr. Mary Thomas, Sr. Mary Pauline, and Sr. Mary Therese. Sr. Mary Thomas has already claimed a prize!

Sr. Maria Guadalupe, Sr. Mary Giuse, Sr. Mary Veronica and Sr. Maria Rosario

Sr. Mary Jeremiah, Sr. Miriam, Sr. Maria, and Sr. Mary Rose

Everyone had a fun time–and in the end everyone who wanted one got a prize, too! BINGO!

The Crafty Sisters

One of our sisters, whose duties occasionally take her outside, was surprised to come into the lobby one day and see this on the couch:

When she looked closer, she saw the note!

What a lovely surprise! To add to our joy, we also received a separate gift of crochet hooks, knitting needles, and knitting looms–as well as several books!

Our raffle is coming up this summer, and we are becoming known for our “cloister creations”–afghans, shawls, scarves, hats, sock animals and baby quilts in addition to various other works of art. We spend most of the year working on these items, and then the best of the best are chosen to become raffle prizes. The other items (which are very nice too) become additional surprise raffle prizes (that is, we don’t advertise them on our raffle tickets) or are given to benefactors. Nothing is ever wasted!

If you are interested in seeing what we are raffling off this year, please send us your address and we’ll send you a raffle ticket at the proper time. And we would be especially delighted if you decided to enter our raffle! Although there is no cost to enter, we really appreciate any donation you can give us. Your donations keep our life of prayer, praise, adoration and sacrifice going strong!

Our “crafty” sisters were eager to grab the yarn once it was made available for the taking, Who knows what amazing creations we will make? Thanks so much to our donors who made this all possible!

In case anyone is wondering–we have sisters who knit and sisters who crochet, as well as sisters who use a loom! So everything will be used most joyfully.

You Gotta Have Heart

Recently, Mr. Daniel Morris, a nurse practitioner from the East Texas Heart Institute (located here in Lufkin) came out to give us a presentation on heart health.

He gave a very informative talk, telling us the factors that can affect heart health, the stages of heart disease, and of course how to keep the heart healthy! (We weren’t surprised to hear that diet and exercise play a big role!)

Daniel also graciously answered our many questions. We would definitely like to have someone like him around if we had heart problems!

As you can see, we (and Daniel) have our hearts in the right place!

Thank you so much, Daniel, for your time and expertise! We really appreciated it, and we are grateful to be more aware of the symptoms of heart disease and how to prevent them. God bless you!

Michelle is a “Professed Postulant”

Recently, our postulant Michelle received the Miraculous Medal of Our Lady and a rosary–signs that she has spent three months in the novitiate and continues to do well!

Gathered in the novitiate chapter room

Sr. Mary Margaret gives a brief talk

Receiving the Miraculous Medal…

….and the Rosary!

A little party to celebrate, with tea and homemade cookies

The newly “professed postulant”

The novitiate sisters and Sr. Mary Margaret

Sr. Mary Christine, Michelle, and some of Sr. Mary Christine’s orchids.

We call Michelle a “professed postulant” because this is a big step forward in her formation period. Please pray that Michelle will persevere these coming nine months to her next step, which will be receiving the habit!

Tet 2024

Happy Lunar New Year! We celebrated this festive holiday on February 11 with dancing, games, lucky money, and of course delicious Vietnamese treats!

To begin, the novitiate sisters (and some friends) did a beautiful dance for us.

Sr. Carmen Gloria, Sr. Mary Christine, Sr. Mary Pauline, Sr. Mary Giuse, Sr. Marie Augustine, and Michelle

Since this is the Year of the Dragon, we honored our three “dragon” sisters in the community. You can see our “Tet tree” with its lucky money envelopes in the background. Naturally, we turned the money in to the Bursar and got tickets for playing the games in its place.

Sr. Bernadette Marie, Sr. Mary Dominic, and Sr. Maria Cabrini

One of the sisters read the personality characteristics of people born during the Dragon year, but we have to say most of them didn’t seem to correspond with what we know of our sisters! That’s why we rely on real life experiences, not horoscopes. But it was fun, anyway!

We played some games, too. One game involved trying to hit a tennis ball into a hole. Sr. Mary Pauline, Sr. Marie Augustine, and Michelle did very well with this! Some of the rest of us also managed to get the ball in the hole, but for many it could only be called “a good try”.

The final game was our Vietnamese lottery game. It used to be a little complicated, but one year Sr. Mary Christine just put all the different animals (and the squash) used in the game on a large homemade die, and so we just throw the die and see what comes out on top.

Sr. Mary Margaret prepares to throw the die as all look on expectantly. You can see the tennis ball game in the background.

Each sister received a Mass intention slip, to be filled in with the name of the person she would like Mass to be offered for, and each sister also received a prize. It was a delightful evening, and now we are all ready to begin the discipline of Lent on Ash Wednesday. May God grant you all the blessings He has in store for you, and know we keep you in our prayers!

Sr. Mary Ann’s 60th Jubilee

Recently, we were delighted to welcome Sr. Mary Ann from our monastery in Trinidad for a short visit. During her stay with us, we celebrated her 60th jubilee–again! She had a big celebration in Trinidad this past fall, but a 60th jubilee is worth celebrating more than once.

Sr. Mary Ann renewing her vows.

Taking the gifts up to Fr. R.B.Williams, O.P., our chaplain.

Big smile for the camera!

Fr. R.B. celebrating Mass, assisted by Deacon Jesus Reyes. Check out our beautiful tree and creche!

Receiving a blessing from Fr. R.B. at the end of Mass.

Posing in the hallway after Mass.

We have had a long and beautiful relationship with the Dominican monastery in Trinidad, which has only become closer as the two nuns left there have “joined” our monastery. They will remain in their own country, but we will be giving our assistance and help as needed. We thank God for His ever-providential care of us!