This year Thanksgiving in the Monastery was a day of food, fun, and community celebrating.
At noon, we gathered in the community room, where our Thanksgiving feast was laid out.
We sang our traditional Thanksgiving grace, giving thanks to God for everything he’s given us.
Then we all sat down at our decorated tables to enjoy a wonderful meal.
In the afternoon, we gathered in the community room to watch The Boys in the Boat, an inspirational film about the U.S. rowing team at the 1936 Olympics.
After supper, we went outside to enjoy our traditional Thanksgiving fireworks.
The sisters had to bundle up on the cold Thanksgiving evening.
Sr. Mary Christine and Sr. Mary Pauline set off impressive fireworks.
Sr. Mary Rose and Sr. Mary Margaret enjoy hand-held sparklers.
Sr. Mary Pauline and Sr. Mary Jeremiah had fun with the firework lighters!
After the fireworks display, we went back inside to enjoy some of the annual dog show on TV.
As usual, this Thanksgiving was a day of community fun. We had good food, good laughs, and some great fireworks! We give thanks for God, our community, and for all of our benefactors who make our life here possible. Happy Thanksgiving!
Christmas at the monastery was fun, festive, and very busy. Our celebrations lasted for days and we had many special events and visitors.
We always enjoy decorating our monastery to get ourselves in the festive mood, and keep the decorations up as long as possible.
Our sacristan, Sr. Carmen Gloria, is particularly creative with the decorations in the chapel. The creche gets special attention to call everyone over to adore the baby Jesus.
Every year, the magi start at one corner of the chapel, but eventually make their way over to the Holy Family in time for Epiphany.
Christmas wreaths make the chapel particularly festive.
Right before Christmas, we had a visit from jolly old St. Nicholas and one of his elves (the Healys, good friends of the monastery), who brought along some friends
Dr. Price and Dr. Fidone with Bella
They brought along their new puppy Bella, a beautiful chocolate Newfoundland dog, who was given special permission to come over to the nuns’ side of the parlor and quickly made friends with everyone.
Bella takes a nap.
On Christmas Eve, we had our usual midnight mass, then sang Christmas carols on our way to the refectory for our traditional midnight breakfast.
The refectory looked so beautiful with all of the foliage and Christmas lights. The novitiate did a wonderful job decorating!
Sr. Mary Pauline, Sr. Mary Christine, and Sr. Marie Augustine with the beautiful refectory Christmas creche.
On Christmas day, we spent all afternoon opening presents from our generous benefactors. There were group gifts to the whole community, and we also each got many gift bags full of treats for ourselves.
On New Year’s morning, we had our usual Big Chapter, in which we each get a card with a saint patron and a special cause to pray for during the upcoming year.
Then we give each other the kiss of peace to welcome in another year at the monastery.
In the evening, we go around the monastery Christmas caroling, which gives us a chance to see all of the Christmas decorations in the various departments throughout the monastery.
Sr. Mary Pauline and Sr. Mary Christine with their beautifully decorated novitiate Christmas tree
Christmas caroling in the outside lobby
We love going outside and seeing all the beautiful Christmas lights our workmen have put up for Christmas.
We made sure to go over and sing to our patron, the Infant Jesus!
On Epiphany, we have our big Christmas feast day, where we play games and recreate together all day.
This year, the novitiate was in charge of the evening’s activities, and divided us up into three teams and had us play star-related games.
In the end, everyone was a winner and we all got gift bags, including some special “star bread” baked by the novitiate.
Christmas is a special time for us, when we reflect on the closing year and look forward to the next. It’s a time not just for our community to come together, but also for us to visit with our special friends and benefactors who are so generous and make our lives here possible. Thanks be to the Infant Jesus!
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration this year, full of laughter, fun, and feasting.
As usual, we decorated the community room and set up tables so we could display and eat the food together. Seeing the full tables reminded us how blessed we are and how God always finds a way to provide us with everything we need. Friends of the Monastery were so generous, as they are every year, so we had plenty of food and treats. We even had an “international” table, with Vietnamese pho soup and a couple of Tanzanian dishes.
We’re especially thankful for our hard-working cook, Sr. Marie Augustine (pictured with a pie).
Other than feasting, we spent the day recreating with each other in the community room. We talked and laughed and relaxed together.
In the evening, we went outside for out annual fireworks display. Sr. Mary Christine was in charge of lighting them while most of us sat and watched, but when she brought out the individual sparklers we all took some to put on our own fireworks show.
When we were done with the fireworks, we went back inside to relax. We had enough time for our aspirant, Sophia, to entertain us with some musical pieces on the piano.
Sophia is an extremely talented pianist, and we all enjoyed chair dancing to her music.
As usual, we had so much fun on Thanksgiving, and it was a wonderful day for the community to come together as a family. We are all so thankful for our monastic vocation, each other, and all of our wonderful benefactors who make our life possible.
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!
Dominican Life on Lotus Lane 