Fall 2010

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an you recall some of the most significant days of your life? Perhaps events which mark a new beginning or a great accomplishment come to mind: graduations, weddings, the adoption of a child or the beginning of one's religious life, or significant crosses which caused a change in perspective or taught a valuable lesson. Some such anniversaries are marked with sorrow, others with joy. Yet, in the mysterious realm of Divine Providence, grace imbues each of these specific joys and trials, enabling them to work for our good (Rom 8:28). Whether today contains a once - in - a - lifetime experience, or the 789,098th opportunity to do laundry, ‘let [us] not defer nor neglect it, for [we] shall not pass this way again’ (Stephen Grellet).

God is certainly to be found in the ordinariness of everyday life. The usual routines of existence are avenues of His Providence and are themselves gifts by which we serve and love Him in return.

Christ’s inconspicuous and ‘ordinary’ manner of living during His first thirty years on earth is an encouragement for us!

Just as Jesus lived a hidden life in Nazareth, so today He often hides His grace from our recognition and lives quietly in our midst.

Would anyone have imagined that years of labor, study of the Scriptures and prayer would give way to an unprecedented life of

miracles, teaching, suffering and subsequent resurrection? The events of Christ’s life were charged with the presence of the Holy Spirit, particularly after His Baptism in the Jordan. Likewise, the presence of God is

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23). within us, ever at work in each moment, whether we recognize it or not. While our daily journey to holiness is a rugged climb, God has not left us unaided. His call and gifts for this great pursuit are not reserved for the perfect; 'it is not by measure that He gives the Spirit' (Jn 3:34). He desires to give the Paraclete to each of us to shape and mold us along the way.

The saints who have gone before us are credible witnesses of this transforming power of God’s grace, poured out anew in their own particular time, circumstances,

and for their specific needs. Saint Paul’s sudden conversion on the road to Damascus was the foundation to his call and ministry as an apostle. For other men like Blessed John Henry Newman, a life spent seeking fidelity to grace and truth led to the day his of conversion to the Catholic faith. As a young girl, Therese of Lisieux painfully experienced her inability to overcome extreme sensitivity. The power of God overcame her and exchanged this timid weakness into strength on one Christmas Eve. For the youthful Francis of Assisi, the burden of the Gospel was a heavy weight on his conscience as he made an initial attempt to embrace a leper. What was ‘bitter became sweet,’ as he encountered Christ in that embrace. His lifelong conversion had begun.

Celebrating such marvels the Lord has done has been a part of our Christian heritage from the beginning. Let us remember and give thanks for the ways in which these men and women have rebuilt and supported the Church and seek their aid in all our ventures. They understand how much we need grace! With their prayers to support us, we are well prepared to journey through another day remembering the works of God.

A person attempts to reciprocate God’s new wishes and designs as best as he can. For the most part, this will mean valuing one’s self and one’s things less highly, leaving everything to God in ever greater measure, until we can perhaps say that we have totally forgotten about ourselves and find all meaning in God. It will mean standing so much on God’s side that what commonly, humanly speaking, would be considered to be penance, expiation, a burdensome life, now simply bears the name of love. ~Adrienne von Speyr

Sr. Mary Veronica of the Divine Indwelling Professes Vows on July 22, 2010

The steps one takes during the formative years in religious life are indeed momentous and significant: Entrance, Investiture, First Profession, and Solemn Profession. Each ceremony, with its own language of signs and symbols, beckons the Sister to a deeper commitment to Christ and His Church.

On the memorial of Saint Mary Magdalene, our Sister Mary Veronica publicly professed vows for the first time, receiving the black veil, the monstrance, and the profession crucifix during the moving First Profession ceremony. This particular step sometimes can be overlooked due to its placement in between the thrilling Investiture and the rich Solemn Profession. But what occurs at this event is a truth worth sharing and knowing.

At First Profession, a sister freely embraces the Vows of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience. This public witness speaks to the world of the desire to live Gospel values with unbounded generosity. Far from being a somber obligation, this unique Call is a cherished privilege, allowing a chosen few to follow

radically in the footsteps of Jesus. A sister also is formally recognized by Holy Mother Church as a consecrated religious with a mission to pray for God's people. A sister anticipates her "wedding day" by renewing her vows for five years until her Solemn Profession.

Sister Mary Veronica's vocation is a gift to our Community. Her dedication to a life of hidden adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament will win grace to souls and expand the Kingdom.

This our goal!

The way of contemplative life, places you, as living and vital members, in the heart of the Lord’s Mystical Body, which is the Church; and as the heart makes the blood circulate and maintains the whole body alive, so your hidden existence with Christ, interlaced with work and prayer, contributes to sustain the Church, instrument of salvation for every man whom the Lord redeemed with his blood.”

~Pope Benedict XVI

Happy Anniversary Mother Angelica: Sixty Six Years of Religious Life August 15 (The Solemnity of the Assumption) brought with it the great gift of allowing us to celebrate Mother’s first “yes” to God in the journey of her vocation. On that day sixty-six years ago, she took the first steps in making of herself a gift to her Beloved Jesus, to be entirely given and entirely received.

What a powerful witness she is to each of us in her faithful love! In our attempts to show Mother our gratitude, (although these little ways always feel so insignificant compared with all she has given to us) we all got together to spend “family time” with her in her room. Mother’s love for us is so clearly felt, and it is always a joy when we can share these moments with her.

Happy Jubilee, Sister Marie Emmanuel!

A picture is worth a thousand words! Enjoy the myriad of snap shots that wonderfully capture the joy of Sister’s 50th Jubilee celebration on September 4th!

Blessed J.H. Newman: Failures in the Light of Grace After his conversion in 1845, Blessed John Henry Newman’s life as a Catholic can be described as a hidden Via Crucis: a slow, aching journey marked by trials made all the more painful by his perceptive nature. The man so sensitive to criticism was subject to misunderstanding and harsh remarks from the Catholics he now called his brethren.

This clergyman and academic known for his precocious intelligence would experience failure after failure as his projects were rejected and his ideas and writings misinterpreted.

The founder of the Oxford Movement, which sought to bring Anglicanism closer to the ideals of the early Church fathers and fight liberalism in religion, became himself subject to charges of heresy in his writings (Fr. John Connor). Like Christ on the way to Golgotha, who fell and was beaten and humiliated repeatedly, Newman sustained the blows of criticism, of misunderstanding, and even of calumny. Never understood or truly appreciated in his own lifetime, he can now be revered as a holy example of graceful failure--failure that is paradoxically dignified because it is offered up to the One who endured infinite humiliation for our sake. His failures were filled with grace because they were void of self-pity and wounded vanity.

One can appreciate Newman’s trials as a Catholic all the more when one realizes that he could easily have remained safely ensconced in a position of respect as an

Anglican clergyman and professor and yet chose to pursue the path of truth, enduring the ire of his fellow Anglicans prior to and upon his conversion and the suspicion of fellow Catholics afterward. Commenting wryly on his life as a Catholic, he once said, “as

a Protestant, I felt my religion dreary, but not my life—but as a Catholic, my life was dreary, not my religion.” (Fr. John Connor) In our lives as Catholics, we are often called to “take up our cross” and follow Our Lord on the way to Calvary. This cross is almost never the one we would pick for ourselves and is usually fashioned with our unique foibles in mind! Rare indeed is the person who is plucked by God from the ordinary run of life to endure a dramatic martyrdom or to affect the Church in a striking way. There are millions of Catholics

and only 33 Doctors of the Church. There are many, many martyrs, but many more people who quietly lead lives of persistent holiness in the face of equally persistent trial. Some are bright flames of holiness that dazzle the eyes for a moment before being whisked away, while others burn steadily, spending years bearing their crosses patiently for the sake of the faith they love. Newman, far from being a short-lived flame, spent 45 of his 81 years quietly enduring numerous crosses. He is the blessed for those who grapple with the failures and falls that inevitably accompany the sincere effort to search for truth and carry out God’s will. He shows us that failure and trial can be dignified when united with the humiliations of Christ on the Cross. He is the embodiment of a truth spoken by a later blessed, Mother Teresa of Calcutta: “God does not ask us to be successful. He only asks us to be faithful.”

Despite the tribulations that marked his nearly half a century as a Catholic, Newman never regretted the step he took in 1845. With the deeply rooted joy of those who truly know how to suffer in holiness, he wrote in his Apologia pro Vita Sua, “From the time that I became a Catholic…[I] have had no anxiety of heart whatever. I have been in perfect peace and contentment; I never have had one doubt…and my happiness on that score remains to this day without interruption.”

Unwelcome Visitors

Like most Franciscans, we have a love for wildlife, the outdoors, critters and other fellow creatures. However, for most of us the affection for animals tapers at the sight of a few species. Snakes usually provoke a

‘fight or flight’ response from Sisters out for a stroll as do a different sort of black and white furry "friend." Each year, a few skunks from the outside world somehow make their way into the cloister yard. Their presence is usually first heralded by the infamous smell the dogs carry in after an early morning chase.

One memorable morning at 3:00 AM, the dogs needed to go out. When they failed to return to the door promptly, the sleepy Sister on watch grew alarmed and then horrified when one returned drenched in an awful stench. She decided another hour of sleep was in order before attempting to tomato bath the culprit. However, by the time the rising bell was rung, the rest of us could have wished that a tomato air freshener had

been invented to purge the monastery air!

Another Sister had a near accident when out for a walk at twilight. In the dusky shadows, she mistook a certain silhouette for the sighting of a rare rabbit. But then, a bushy tail went up and the black shape started plunging after her! She made a hasty retreat as she contemplated with terror what would happen if she got "skunked!" While all these and other ‘skunk’ episodes could provide some reflection on our own human blunders and the way our actions affect others, above all, situations like these allow us to appreciate anew what it means to ‘give thanks in all circumstances!’

Right: Sr. Mary Regina with one of our tame critters.