Christmas Ass is Retired

Perhaps some of our readers might remember last year's nativity billets where Sister Mary Blogger drew card no. 19, the "Christmas Ass." If you do not, don't be scandalized, just click here for the story. This year the sister erstwhile known as a beast of burden has been promoted to one of the shepherds. Although no one drew the infamous card no. 19, we did have two sisters who drew other animals, the lamb and the ox, to be exact. See picture below for the ox and lamb ... who kept time (cue Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band.)

There are several shepherd cards to be drawn among the billets for the Court of the King and Sister Mary Blogger drew the following card:

No. 4
The Shepherds
Keeping watch over their flocks
-----
THERE WERE SHEPHERDS KEEPING THE NIGHT
WATCHES OVER THEIR FLOCKS.
(Saint Luke, II, 8.)
-----

At the court of the King JESUS you will have the office of the Shepherds who kept watch over their flocks.

Remark that it is to poor, laborious, vigilant men that GOD first reveals the mystery of His birth. If you wish to partake of divine communications, detach yourself from the goods of earth, love labor, and watch over the flock confided to you; that is, over your heart and over all the powers of your soul.

Practice -- Vigilance
Aspiration -- O my JESUS, be Thou the guardian of my soul.

Christus Natus Hodie!

We did it again! We cheated. We sang Christmas carols during the third week of Advent. This year our "Library Angels" and their musical companions were just stellar. Last Friday, some of our sisters gathered with our librarian (who manages to avoid the camera -- but for a cameo appearance seating people during "O Holy Night") and her angels as well as some alumnae and their families. As in the past, the hit of the afternoon was the "12 Days of Christmas" complete with illustrations and individual solos ... or in the case of the "partridge and the pear tree" ... it was a "Tree-O." We share three minutes of our fun time last Friday as we wish our readers a happy and holy Christmas.

Thirteen Years Later

After the fire of 1993, which consumed the inside of our school building and drenched the chapel which connects the monastery to the school, we had our sacred spaces -- our chapel and our choir -- rebuilt and rededicated. On 21 December 1996, His Eminence James Cardinal Hickey blessed and reconsecrated the familiar space where we gather six times a day. With the permission of the Office of Liturgy and in accord with the general norms provided by the Table of Liturgical Days, the 21st of December is a Solemnity for our community: a six-candle, Gloria and Creed, white vestments, proper office, and pull-out-all-the-stops (okay, except the oboe stop, that one sounds funny) kind of solemnity. We have a great deal for which to be grateful and marking the anniversary of our chapel's rededication is a special way to do that. Below is a snippet from the second reading at Office of Readings yesterday. It is from a homily given on the day after the rededication: the fourth Sunday of Advent 1996. Serendipitously, the theme from the Song of Songs is always particularly special for us on the 21st of December since it is the first reading given to us by the Church -- to say nothing of an equally-befitting Gospel!

"I would like to speak about what takes place in this chapel today which continues to make it a holy space. My image here are the two principal characters in the Song of Songs . . . . You know the story well. It is a love story. They spot one another and it's love at first sight! Then they lose one another and search frantically throughout the city looking for each other. When at last they meet, they embrace and speak, heart to heart, these poignant words: 'Tenui nec dimittam!' -- I have hold of you and I will never let you go! . . . . That same story, in one way or another, is the story of each sister here. . . . They speak of their mutual love many times each day in this sacred space. . . . In addition to community gatherings here, each sister finds herself in this space in quiet and brief moments many times throughout each day, from very early in the morning to deep into the night. . . . For it is here where the Beloved awaits them."

Very Rev. Lewis Fiorelli, OSFS

O Lord and Leader!

O Adonai, et Dux domus Israel, qui Moysi in igne flammae rubi apparuisti, et ei in Sina legem dedisti: Veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.
---

O Lord, and Leader of the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the red fire of flame and gave him the law on Sinai: Come and redeem us with outstretched arm.

This antiphon refers to two accounts, in the book of Exodus, where God reveals Himself to Moses. The second encounter, when God gave the Law to Moses, is a very poignant encounter. The old covenant is ratified and the exchange between God and man is filled with imagery of fire and light. The fire which the Israelites saw atop the mountain was but an indication of the light that was to come in Christ.

The second part of the antiphon, "come and redeem us with outstretched arm," is an echo of Yahweh's promise to Moses that "I will free you from the burdens which the Egyptians lay on you. I will release you from slavery to them, and with my arm outstretched and my strokes of power I will deliver you" (Ex 6:6). The promise made to the people of Israel in the Old Testament is seen in its fullness when it is considered in light of Christ's redemptive death. As the people of Israel awaited freedom from their captors, so the Church awaits the birth of the Messiah.

What are some of the ways in which we can be held captive today? When we lose focus and replace Christ as the center of our work, our family, our ministry, etc., we are at risk of becoming a prisoner. Even something which is very good in itself, can cause us to lose focus. We can become so involved in one aspect of our life that it affects our relationships, our families, our ability to maintain balance and moderation, etc. Even a "good work" can be dangerous to our freedom if we do not keep Christ at the center all that we do. Whether we are students or teachers, parents or children, caregivers, social workers or soldiers ... we are free as long as we keep Christ at the center of all our actions.

Christmas Entertainment

Looking for a family-friendly classic that isn't warn out with air time? A monastery favorite is the one-hour opera (English) by Gian-Carlo Menotti. This Christmas story about a crippled boy whose family provides hospitality to the magi on their way to Bethlehem is as inspiring as it is charming. To be accurate, we happen to own the 1978 VHS edition by Kutler (and not the RCA recording of the original NBC production, as pictured above.) This quaint holiday tale will be our movie of the month this coming Friday for locals who would like to join us for pizza and a movie before all-night adoration. Movie starts at 7.15pm.

Religious Roadwork

You might stump the helpful worker in the orange apron if you walked into home depot and asked for a tool to help you "lower a mountain."

We hear so often, during this most sacred season of Advent, about the call to make straight the way of the Lord. We're told to fill in the valleys and level the mountains. And in today's first reading from Isaiah, we hear that the people of Israel, the beloved people of God (yes, believe it or not "worm" and "maggot" are terms of endearment ... lost somewhere in translation) will be made into an instrument to help along the roadwork: a sharp, new, double-edged sledge.

The Lord promises the impossible and asks us to trust Him. We are invited a clear a path for His coming. We are asked to discard all that is unworthy of the coming of the Lord. Perhaps we could think of that path as the road which leads to our heart. What do people encounter when they meet us? What kind of response do others receive when they ask us for a favor? Better yet: How do we greet those who inconvenience us? Are the mountains of our impatience and the valleys of our irritation stumbling blocks which might hurt someone who seeks our attention? Maybe we can't shave down all our mountains in one Advent season, but perhaps we can find a way around those we can't conquer right now -- a tunnel, perhaps -- which might help us to make a level road for all those who approach us. And when the waiting is over, may the newborn King find a smooth journey to our hearts.

"Fill up the valleys; that is, fill your heart with confidence and hope because salvation is near at hand. The sight of our great faults brings with it a certain ... shock ... which unnerves the heart and often leads it to discouragement. These ... ditches and valleys must be filled up for Our Lord's coming!"
St. Francis de Sales

A Conspiracy Afoot!

If you are not one of the 900,000 plus people who have viewed this video, it's worth the two and a half minutes. Not all of us are in an position to raise money to make global changes, but all of us are in a position to give more "presence" to those around us this holiday season -- and beyond. If St. John the Baptist were alive today, he'd probably be a "conspirator" too. Hat tip -- er, veil tip -- to our good friend, Christy, who had this video posted as her Gmail status message yesterday! Thanks, Christy!

"True servants of God preach and teach those whom they guide only so as to lead them to God, as much by their words as by their works. This is what St. John does today."
St. Francis de Sales

Indulge Yourself

Indulge yourself: come pray with us!

After two great announcements on the Zenit news service, (click here and here to read them) our Federation President, Mother Susan Marie from our Monastery of Brooklyn, has written a lovely response telling readers of our up-coming jubilee year and the plenary indulgence available to those who pray in a Monastery chapel during in coming year.

Here in Georgetown, we will be kicking-off the jubilee year on 24th January 2010 with a 10am Mass in our Nolan Center. All locals are welcome to join us for the occasion.

"Be strong, firm, constant and unchanging . . . . so that nothing may separate you from your heavenly Bridegroom who has united you with one another; may nothing take away from you that union which alone can keep you united with Him, so that, all of you having only one heart and one soul, He Himself may be your only heart and your only soul."
St. Francis de Sales
Introduction to the Book of Rules, 1618

Trio of Things to Celebrate

This past Thursday was a day chock-full of celebration! In addition to the usual Thanksgiving festivities, it was the birthday of our retreatant, Cynthia and the Feastday of our Mother Mary Berchmans. (Poor St. John Berchmans is often overlooked ... and this year he landed on Thanksgiving!) As a gift for Mother, our friend Stephanie (pictured above with Mother) produced this very exquisite sketch on silk-screen. The lettering around the picture is repeated below.

Holy Mary, Mother of God and Virgin, I choose thee this day for my queen, patron, and advocate, and firmly resolve and purpose never to abandon thee, never to say or do anything against thee, nor to permit that aught be done by others to dishonor thee. Receive me, then, I conjure thee, as thy perpetual servant; assist me in all my actions, and do not abandon me at the hour of my death. Amen.

St. John Berchmans

As we approach this most sacred season of Advent, we can have no better model to follow than Our Lady. She trusted in the Lord's promise even when earthly wisdom might have protested. When she uttered her "fiat" she gave back to the Lord her claim on shaping her life. And with the word "Yes" she changed the world. Forever. Deo gratias!

Ever New

This could be an advertisement for the "old technology" meeting the new.

At the conclusion of Saturday's Mass for the Feast of the Presentation of Mary, some of our sisters took the opportunity to sign the vow book. (It needn't be done immediately after Mass but some prefer to sign the book earlier in the day than others -- just so long as each sister has a chance to sign the book before the day is over.) Our venerable Sister Raphael, at 99 years young wheeled herself over to the book and, leaning on the lectionary for balance, signed the ancient vow book. A pen and a 197 year-old book -- it would seem -- qualify for "old technology."

Enter the new technology. As some of us watched Sister Raphael sign her vows we mused about how nice it would be if we had a camera to capture the moment. One of our Oblate seminarians who had joined us at Mass to renew his own vows was quick thinking and reached for his iPhone. Thanks to our very own Michael Castrilli, OSFS we have these lovely photos of Sister Raphael to share. In addition to our photo-snapping seminarian we were joined by three other Oblates of St. Francis de Sales. It was a delightful "family reunion" for a splendid Feast day.

"This is the way, my dear Sister. Grace will never be wanting to us if we are faithful in seconding its attractions; thus will God bless us and our labors."
St. Jane de Chantal

For Those Who Pray

... that's a literal translation of "Pro Orantibus" which is what the Vatican celebrates on Saturday 21 November, the Feast of the Presentation of Mary. Since 1955, the Church has dedicated the Feast of Our Lady's presentation as a day to pray for those whose contemplative vocations give them the great privilege of being available to pray for others.

Here in our monastery of the Visitation of Georgetown, we are blessed with the best of both worlds. We are steeped in a 400 year monastic tradition (okay: 399 years, 5 months, and 14 days to be exact) and our particular monastery was founded in 1799 for the dual apostolate of prayer and education. So, while we observe a monastic horarium and monastic customs, the "work" we do each day is done -- for the most part -- both in the monastery and in the school. It is a unique blend of contemplative life and the apostolate of education.

This beautiful feast is especially meaningful for us for two reasons:

First, since it is "pro orantibus" day, we are very mindful of the number of people who call, email, write letters, send faxes, etc., with special intentions. And we are grateful for the Church's prayerful support of this precious responsibility of praying for those in need.

Second, 21 November is a very special day for us since it is the day upon which all Visitation sisters around the world renew their vows. Each sister will rewrite and resign her vows (the short formula) in her monastery's vow book. Our vow book dates from 1812 and has the vows of every sister who has even been professed in our house -- or who has ever been visiting on this feast (we have a special page in the vow book for guests, visiting sisters who happen to be with us on this day.)

As is the custom of our Order, all Visitation monasteries observe a mini-retreat for the three days prior to the renewal of vows. Do pray with us as we prepare to reecho our "Yes" to the Lord on Saturday morning!

Our Friendly Neighbors

We were delighted to welcome members of Georgetown University's Catholic Daughters for a day of reflection on Saturday. After a morning of praying and listening to a spiritual conference ... and before their afternoon spiritual walk-n-talk, the group assembled some foam turkeys in the spirit of Thanksgiving: both the up-coming holiday and in a spirit of gratitude for the many blessings we receive in our daily lives.

How many Georgetown students does it take to assemble a foam turkey? Many, it seems. Turkey-making isn't as easy as it looks!

This is a pretty turkey in progress; her other eye is just about to be attached. She's wearing her finest collar for the day of reflection!

This poor turkey lost an eye during assembly. His owner wanted to emphasize that, despite his loss, he is still a "thankful turkey." A subtle reminder to all of us not to forget to count our blessings -- even during challenging times.

Advent Approaching

It's hard to believe that Advent is just around the corner. Today's first reading whets our appetite for the first of the Great O Antiphons which we will sing on 17 December:

O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti, attingens a fine usque ad finem, fortiter suaviterque disponens omnia: Veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.

----

O Wisdom, you who come forth from the mouth of the Most High, and reaching from end to end, mightily and sweetly ordering all things: Come and teach us the way of prudence.

We are reminded that the Lord, to whom the title of "WISDOM" is applied, is the great choreographer of creation. And the image of him ordering all things "sweetly and mightily" is a poignant -- and delicate combination -- of attributes. The created world around us is not the only place where the Lord's order can be seen. The circumstances which surround us -- the "soup in which we find ourselves," to use an expression from St. Francis de Sales -- are also part of Wisdom's work. It can be easy to acquiesce to the Lord's ordering of circumstances when they are pleasing to us; it can be a challenge, however, to accept them when they interrupt our own order and our own plans. Let us, this day, pray for the grace to accept the circumstances that the Lord orders, trusting that his might and his sweetness will assist us. Let us entrust our day -- and our lives -- to his divine Wisdom.

"There is nothing so gentle as true strength and nothing so strong as true gentleness."
St. Francis de Sales

Award!

WOW! Our friend, NC Sue at "In Him We Live and Move and Have Our Being" was thoughtful enough to consider us as a "Gorgeous Blogger" in her post of 30 October. We are, admittedly, a bit late in our acceptance and conferral of our own six "Gorgeous Blogger" titles.

As part of the award, we will be telling you six things about ourselves which are little known and then recommending six other blogs for this honor.

In no particular order, here are six random facts about our monastery:

1. The oak beams which support both wings of the monastery are all hand-cut and are held together with hand-fashioned nails (you don't find those at Home Depot!)
   
2. Sunday, in season and out of season, is ice-cream for dessert at dinner. Heaven help the dispenser who runs out of ice-cream!
3. The community is evenly (and hopefully charitably) divided along "GOLD TEAM" and "WHITE TEAM" lines. This Saturday is the fall Gold-White contest ... Sister Mary Blogger doesn't want to be biased, but she's got a tiger print-tie to take to the game with her!
4. In our monastery cemetery, one will find the graves of the Foisy sisters; they were blood sisters who joined our community and received the religious names, "Sister Mary Ambrose" and "Sister Mary Augustine." They happen to be cousins of Blessed Andre Bessette.
   
5. Prior to our renovation in 2006-2007 most of us slept on beds which were donated to us from hospitals after the Civil War ended.
6. Our vow book, in which every professed sister writes her vows, dates to 1816 and has the name of every sister who has ever professed her vows (or renewed her vows) in our house!

Here are six Gorgeous Blogs worth visiting:

1. Our monastic buddies up in the Garden State, the Dominican Sisters of Summit!
2. The fabulous flower garden at Little Flowers by our local friend, Elizabeth.
3. Our "repeat-offender" whose made her annual retreat with us several times has a beautiful blog about life as a consecrated virgin.
4. It's hard to resist the wonderful reflections of Sister Genevieve Glen, OSB who has penned many of the hymns found in the "Magnificat" for which she serves as editor of the daily offices.
5. We enjoy the adventures and reflections of Sister Veronica at Franciscan Footprints.
6. Lastly, the "Gorgeous" blog is no longer continued but has ended for a "Gorgeous" reason ... and the nifty title was too good for this grammarphile to resist. Do have a peek at Quantitative Metathesis.

Thanks to our friend, Sue, for the award. We look forward to reading six things about some of our fellow bloggers.

The Sophomores Cometh!

Yesterday marked the first of several visits we'll be having with members of our sophomore class. In a series of seven gatherings of 15-20 students, our campus ministry staff is introducing the second-year students to different ways of praying with scripture. They receive some background information on the Liturgy of the Hours, attend daytime prayer, eat dinner ("lunch" to them) with us and then, after lunch, they learn about Lectio Divina. Pictured above, the sophomores and sisters gather for a brief introduction before grace.

"Simplicity towards God consists in seeking Him only in all our actions, whether we are going to the Office or to the refectory . . . let us go everywhere to seek God and to obey God."
St. Jane de Chantal

Happy 99th Birthday

No, that's not a Halloween costume, it's a bit of a photographic embellishment to mark our dear Sister Raphael's 99th birthday today! Sister offers (almost) a century's worth of wisdom marked by her characteristic wit and humor. Among sister's witty remarks is the "gold standard of citrus." When a sister offers our local nonagenerian a piece of orange or grapefruit at a meal other than breakfast, her reply -- with a smile -- is: "Gold in the morning, silver at noon and lead at night. No thank you, dear."

As a librarian for many years, Sister Raphael has a great love for books. In addition, she is insatiably interested in maps. Perhaps, somewhere in her past, a great-ancestor was a cartographer! Please join us in thanking God for sister's good humor and good health. We hope to be adding a third digit this time next year!

Steubenville Video -- Finally!

It's taken us quite a while to collect our happy memories from this year's vocation fair at FUS. Part of the reason we are almost a month late in sharing a window into our trip is that we've graduated to a new video editing program. Thanks to our school's IT department, we are using Sony Vegas to edit our videos. Although the possibilities for transitions and fades and other such features are wonderful, the "learning curve" is a steep one, so we're a bit slow in the "Shoestring" department these days. Do enjoy a short road trip with us!

Even More Shameless Promotion

Pardon the shameless promotion:

Tonight we will be showing the movie "Therese" at 7.15pm and serving pizza to locals who wish to join us for movie night. The movie will be shown in the school's "Little Odeon" on the third floor of Founders' Hall. From 7pm to 7am we will be having all-night Adoration. Movie-goers are welcome to stay and pray after the show!

Solemn Profession

This video needs little introduction but the appearance needs a bit of an explanation: this is our first attempt at using HD video ... so embedding the window at the correct HD size did not -- apparently -- go as smoothly as planned. Fortunately, Friday's event did and we're pleased to share a few minutes of it with our readers! Sister Mary Roberta made her solemn profession on the Feast of St. Margaret Mary and here we have a 3 minute recap of the highlights. Thanks to our school's IT department for use of the software which made it possible to edit in HD. Revisit with us this momentous event!

"I choose Jesus, my Lord and my God,
for the only object of my love . . ."

from the Profession formula for the Order of the Visitation

Climate Change is the Answer, NOT the Problem!

This is our third year of participating in "BAD" -- blog action day. To quote the organizers of this year's BAD, "Anyone is free to join in on Blog Action Day and there is no limit on the number of posts, the type of posts or the direction of thoughts and opinions." With that liberty in place, we'd like to put a Salesian spin on the discussion.

It is true that our lifestyles as individuals and as nations can affect the environment in a positive or negative way. Our impact on the environment as it relates to climate change, however, is only a symptom of a larger problem. The larger problem is our diminishing respect for the dignity of human life and a lack of recognition for the Lord's splendor in the created world around us. What's the solution to this problem? Climate change. Not a "global warming" kind of climate change, but a change in the CULTURAL CLIMATE.

Climate change will be a wonderful thing when it means that we respect the dignity of the unborn child; when we revere and honor the wisdom of the senior citizens among us; when our interactions with one another are marked by mutual respect and kindness. When we do not respect human life as a gift from God, it is not a surprise that we fail to treat the environment with gentleness and respect. Changing how we treat the environment will only happen when we change how we treat one another. The God of the universe, who created us out of love, longs for the day when we treat one another with a respect worthy of the kingdom of God. When we treat each other with gentleness and love we cannot help but to treat the world around us with respect for we will see God's handiwork in every flower, every raindrop and every creeping, crawling critter around us.

"Thus it is that good thoughts and holy aspirations may be drawn from all that surrounds us in our ordinary life. Woe to them that turn aside the creature from the Creator, and thrice blessed are they who turn all creation to their Creator’s Glory."
St. Francis de Sales

"Blessed is the soul who seeks God everywhere. For she will find Him everywhere and everywhere she will seek what she has found!"
St. Jane de Chantal