Tag: picnic

Summer Roundup

Hey, all y’all! It’s been a long time since we’ve had a chance to catch our breath and write something for this blog! Today we have some time so we’re bringing you a good old Texas roundup of some of the various events that have made our summer exciting (and busy).

Not long after Sr. Mary Veronica’s jubilee celebration, we welcomed Fr. Reginald Baconin, O.P. to our monastery for a couple of months.

Fr. Reginald comes from the province of Toulouse in France, but has been studying in Rome at the Angelicum. He is working on two licentiates at the same time–one on Trinitarian theology and one on Islamology. He speaks English beautifully, with almost no accent, and we were delighted to have him celebrate Mass for us–and give us some classes.

At the end of June, we had a farewell recreation with Fr. Ian.

Sr. Martin Marie crocheted this classic-looking scarf for him, which he was happy to receive.

We also gave him a Dominican coffee mug:

We are sad to see Fr. Ian leave, but know he is needed at his new assignment, which is much more challenging than the one he had here. We are proud of Father for finishing his doctorate and getting his degree. Hopefully he will come back someday, to give classes or even a retreat!

On June 30, Sarah Larmore entered as a postulant.

Sr. Mary Pauline, Sr. Mary Christine, Sr. Marie Augustine, Sarah, Michelle, and Sr. Maria Goretti

Sarah could hardly wait to begin her life as a cloistered contemplative nun!

On July 1, we had our 4th of July picnic. We like to have our picnic celebration on Satursdays if possible.

Here we are, all decked out for the traditional flag raising after Midmorning Prayer.

We had a joyful day of food, fun, games, conversation, and patriotic fervor.

As is our custom on the Fourth of July, we sang “My Country ’tis of Thee” from the Summit Choirbook at Vespers. While we were all filled with love for our nation, Fr, Reginald (joining us for Vespers in the outside chapel) was perplexed. He asked us later, “Why did you sing ‘God Save The King’ to celebrate July 4?”

And as it happens, July 4 is Fr. Reginald’s birthday! We had a special recreation with him that night.

Fr. Reginald has been a big Texas fan for many years, thanks to his father’s love for John Wayne movies (especially “The Alamo”), and various people in our community took him on many Texas adventures, including visits to a Native American reservation, Nacogdoches TX (the oldest town in Texas), the San Jacinto battlefield, and, yes, the Alamo! He bought this hat for himself soon after his arrival, but we had some gifts for him, too–especially this one:

A T-shirt that proudly proclaims, “Texas–Bigger than France”! He loves it!

A few days later we had a visit from our Southern Province novices. We’re happy to say all five of them made profession! Please pray for them, and for the upcoming novitiate class.

We have even more news to share with you, but this is enough for now. We plan to post the rest of the recent news soon. For now, we hope you enjoy this glimpse inside the boring and monotonous life of the cloister! (And yes, we always keep our prayer schedule–even on holidays.)

Mother’s Day at the Monastery

The rains are over and gone, and it’s time to report on our beautiful Mother’s Day celebration! It all began with a special Mass in honor of all our mothers, living and deceased, as well as all the women who have been like mothers to us.

Before Vatican II, many congregations and monasteries called their superior or prioress “Mother”. Although we don’t do that any more, we still honor Sr. Mary Margaret on this day, with a gift and a card bearing a “spiritual bouquet”–a gift of three days of prayers for her intentions from each sister in the monastery.

Then it was time for the special event–a lovely picnic under our carport! (We had it under the carport because we feared it would rain!)

Several sisters helped cook and prepare the delicious food.

Finally, we were able to sit down and eat and enjoy each other’s company.

Hooray for our cooks!

In the afternoon, some sisters enjoyed the cool weather outside.

By evening, however, rain was falling! It actually flooded parts of the monastery, and knocked out the power for a brief time. We got seven inches in an hour!

We planned to have our May Crowning that evening, but it was so wet we moved it inside. Sr. Mary Therese crowned Our Lady this year.

We ended this great day with a circle recreation–an opportunity for all the sisters to be together and share what’s been going on. Many thanks to Sr. Mary Margaret, our spiritual mother, and all our mothers, living and deceased, who so lovingly cared for us (and still do!).