Little Lamb

The Lamb

Little Lamb, who made thee?

Dost thou know who made thee?

Gave thee life, and bid thee feed, 

By the streams and o'r the mead;

Gave thee such a tender voice,

Making all the vales rejoice; 

Little Lamb, who made thee?

Dost thou know who made thee?

Little Lamb, I'll tell thee,

Little Lamb, I'll tell thee:

He is called by they name,

For He calls Himself a Lamb. 

He is meek, and He is mild;

He became a little child.

I a child, and thou a lamb, 

We are called by His name.

Little Lamb, God bless thee!

Little Lamb, God bless thee!

William Blake

Happy New Year

We pray that 2012 was a year of growth in the Lord and a greater awareness of your vocation in life. We are all called to a vocation, to grow closer to the Lord in our daily lives.

May God continue to bless each and every one of us.

Community Sharing at Chirstmas time ....

Due to the wonderful world of living in a small community we have learned to share.... the Flu.....

This is why the blog posts have stopped for a little bit. Sr Blogger was confined to her cell.....

Christmas posts will follow...

Celebrating the Advent of a Life

The universal joy of Christmas is certainly wonderful.

We ring the bells when princes are born,

or toll a mournful dirge when great men pass away.

Nations have their red-letter days,

their carnivals and fesitivals,

but once in the year and only once,

the whole world stands still to celebrate

the advent of a life.

Only Jesus of Nazareth claims this world-wide,

undying remembrance.

You cannot cut Christmas out of the calendar,

nor out of the heart of the world.

~ Anonymous

Reborn each moment...

Celebrate the feast of Christmas every day,

even every moment

in the interior temple of your spirit,

remaining like a baby

in the bosom of the heavenly Father,

where you will be reborn each moment

in the Divine Word, Jesus Christ.

~ St. Paul of the Cross

The Legend of the Poinsettia

It once was the custome in Mexico

For the villagers to leave

A gift for the Baby Jesus

In their church on Christmas Eve.

In one small village, a little boy,

Who had no gift to bring,

Prayed to God for a way to show

His love for the Infant King.

God, in His mercy, looked down on the boy

And answered his earnest prayer

By causing a flower to bloom where he knelt --

A flower so brilliant and fair.

The miraculous flower was formed like a star

With leaves tht were red and so bright,

And the boy's precious gift has come to be known

As the "Flower of the Holy Night."

Published in Christmas Blessings

by Hallmark

A Christmas Prayer

Christ Eternal, hear our prayer,

Bless our friends everywhere,

Bless each home and fireside hearth,

Bless the children's fun and mirth,

Bless the carols that are sung

As the holly greens are hung;

May all earth this Christmastide

In Thy joy and peace abide.

Christ Eternal, shed Thy love

From Thy throne in Heav'n above,

Fill with peace the hearts of men

As Thou didst at Bethlehem;

May Thy glory fill this day

'Til all men shall know the way

to Thy great salvation free,

Blood-bought Gift of Calvary.

Christ Eternal, may all men

Look anew to Bethlehem,

May they see the guiding star,

May they hear the angel choir,

May their faith grow deep and strong,

Trusting Thee, God's only Son;

May all earth its homage pay,

Christ, to Thee this Christmas Day.

Kathryn Thorne Bowsher

Tannenbaum Nunning

The erection and decoration of the various Christmas trees throughout the monastery and its environs calls forth various gifts and talents.  This year has been no different thus far, and it all started with the placement of the star...
This beautiful 12' tree pictured above was given to us this year.  One of our volunteers assisted a Sister in assembling it.  It was known (though not widely), that the bottom of the pole was "somewhat" bent, but it assembled well and looked really terrific -- and most importantly, stood erect! 

A few days later, one of us began to decorate the tree by putting the star on the top, with the necessity of tilting the top slightly in order to reach it from the 10' ladder.  All went well until Sister was down ladder and moved it to a better location to begin decorating.   You guessed it, the tree began to fall...

Three of us and two of our strong-armed male volunteers then began the nearly hour long task of making the tree stand erect on its own.  When shoring up the base didn't help, we switched the tree to a different style holder, and adding stronger shoring up material, i.e. rocks.  When that didn't work, the engineering mind said we needed to wire it.  Thankfully, the recessed area in the ceiling had four screws placed in the architecture that were in the exact places needed to attach the wires, and now our tree is standing wonderfully erect! 

And as you probably have already guessed, our minds are already thinking of what needs done to make this task to erecting and decorating this particular tree easier next year...

A Christmas Poem

We were sent the following poem, and thought it was something to share with all of you...

If you look for Me at Christmas

you won't need a special star --

I'm no longer just in Bethlehem,

I'm right there where you are.

You may not be aware of Me

amid the celebrations --

You'll have to look beyond the stores

and all the decorations.

But if you take a moment

from your list of things to do

And listen to your heart, you'll find

I'm waiting there for you.

You're the one I want o be with,

you're the reason that I came,

And you'll find Me in the stillness

as I'm whispering your name.

Love,

Jesus

We Wish You a Blessed Christmas!

Our Cor Jesu Monastic Chapel is always a wonderful place of prayer.  We thought you would like to see it decorated for Christmas.  The "baby in the manger" is a nearly life-size wax infant from Germany.

Blessed Christmas and a Happy, Joyfilled New Year to All of You!

Mother Mary Anne, OSB

and Benedictine Nuns