The true gift ....

 

Any Questions??? 

The Kings are coming are you ready.....

We have a practice of blessing the Monastery on Epiphany.

We meet in the Atrium after Mass, Father says the blessing for homes, sprinkles the room with holy water, he incenses the room and then he takes a blessed piece of chalk and marks the doors of the room. We then process around the Monastery and he changes the marking above every door in the place....we have a lot of doors... One sister has the holy water and the other carries the incense around following Father, so each room is blessed with holy water and incensed. We go all around the buildings, blessing and marking each door and room.
(Did I mention we have a lot of doors and rooms, I think the the number of outside doors connected to the Monastery and Retreat House, is 43)
Father usually only goes around the main part of the Monastery, we change the numbers on the rest of the buildings.

This is a major event each year for some of the sisters, we go around cleaning, organizing and hiding stuff, so that the Three Kings can come and bless the Monastery, physically...

But the greater meaning behind all of this is are we cleaned and spiffed up spiritually for the coming of the Christ, and his friends....

So are you ready????
 

20 + C + M + B + 13

Good Morning Jesus

Bright good morning, Infant Jesus, Thou hast given me this day.

Thou are lying in a manger resting on hard straw and hay.

Infant Jesus, how Thou lov'st me Tenderly I too love Thee
Infant Jesus, how Thou lov'st me Tenderly I too love Thee

Thou Hast guarded me in slumber, hearty thanks I give to Thee.
Angels hast around me gathered night and day to watch o'er me.

Infant Jesus, how Thou lov'st me Tenderly I too love Thee
Infant Jesus, how Thou lov'st me Tenderly I too love Thee

Help me to avoid all evil, meek obedient, modest be.
That I live to please Thee always, Heavenly Child, assist Thou me.

Infant Jesus, how Thou lov'st me Tenderly I too love Thee
Infant Jesus, how Thou lov'st me Tenderly I too love Thee

Good Morning Baby Jesus



Good Night Baby Jesus

1 Sweetest Infant Heavenly Child,    E'er we go our rest to seek.

   It shall all our pleasure be             Thee to see so kind and meek.

R We have come with great delight, wishing Thee a fond Goodnight.

    We have come with great delight, wishing Thee a fond Goodnight.

2 Thanking Thee for grace bestowed,   for the day that has declined.

    Infant Jesus, oh may we                    Offer Thee our heart and mind.

R We have come with great delight, wishing Thee a fond Goodnight.

    We have come with great delight, wishing Thee a fond Goodnight.

3  One more favor, heavenly Child,    oh, do Thou our sins forgive.

    Make us pious, good and kind,        In Thy favor let us live.

R We have come with great delight, wishing Thee a fond Goodnight.

    We have come with great delight, wishing Thee a fond Goodnight.

This is the song that we sing to Baby Jesus at our nativity in the Chapel. Every night we process to the statue of Mary in our Chapel and we usually sing the Marian hymn, that corresponds to the liturgical cycle, after Compline, from Christmas to Epiphany we add this song.

Good Night Baby Jesus!

Happy St Nicholas Day

        Children around the world know and love St. Nicholas—for he brings gifts and treats in December. He is known by different names—and even looks different from place to place. But, it is the same St. Nicholas who delights with small surprises and good things to eat. Nicholas gave in secret, alert to others' needs, and expecting nothing for himself in return. It is this selfless generosity which seeks only the good of the other that made Nicholas' gifts the gifts of a saint.

       Nicholas primary virtue came to be seen as generosity to children—rooted in the stories of rescuing the desperate maidens with gold for their dowries and of saving three children or schoolboys from an evil fate. Nuns in France began leaving treats on St. Nicholas Eve, December 5th, for the small children of poor families. St. Nicholas' gifts were usually good things to eat: apples, oranges, nuts, and eventually cookies and sweets.   

St Nicholas Center ~Gift Giver

Remember:  Who is the greatest gift .......Jesus.......He gave his life for us........

God Bless
and don't forget to put out your shoes.

Christus mansionem benedicat

One of the customs that is part of our Christmas celebrations is the traditional blessing of the monastery in conjunction with the Feast of Epiphany.  Our chaplain, Father Chad, went through monastery blessing the cells of the Sisters as well as the various workrooms and common rooms.

Using chalk, Father inscribed the doors with 20 + C + M + B + 11 symbolizing both the traditional names given to the Magi (Casper, Melchior and Balthasar) as well as the abbreviation of the Latin words Christus mansionem benedicat, which means "May Christ bless the house."

May Christ bless our home -- and yours -- in a special way during 2011.

Christmas Day at the Monastery

On Christmas morning we sang Lauds and Terce:  these antiphons  (as well as the antiphons at Sext and None at noon) tell us of Mary and the shepherds.  Mass followed at 8:00 a.m. 

At 5:00 p.m. we sang Vespers with the antiphons highlighting the divinity of Jesus “who was begotten before the daystar and before all ages.” 

That evening at 7:30 p.m. we sang Vigils of the Feast of the Holy Family and concluded with Compline.  What a beautiful way to celebrate The Liturgy of the Hours and have it form our Christmas Day!

O Come Let Us Adore Him

I want you to share in our beautiful monastic customs celebrating Christmas here in St. Emma Monastery.  After Lauds on December 24, The Proclamation of the Birth of Jesus is sung, situating the birth in history according to the ancient way of describing time.

 
On Christmas Eve at 11:15 p.m., we solemnly processed into the Chapel and I, the Prioress, carried the Infant (made of wax) from Germany.  The netting covering the Infant was embroidered by the Zulu people in South Africa.  A guest Sister from Uganda who studies in Ohio was visiting us over her Christmas break.  

This was part of our experienced that Jesus indeed came for all peoples! Our chaplain, Father Chad OSB wearing the Mass vestments, followed the nuns. 

According to monastic tradition, we sang the first two  of Vigils (psalms) with readings before Midnight Mass and then began the Mass with the Gloria.  After Communion, we sang the third nocturn (canticles) and then the Mass concluded as usual.

Christmas blessings,

Mother Mary Anne, OSB



One of our Christmas Traditions

This tradition that harkens back to the days when our Sisters had charge of the kitchen and dining rooms at St. Vincent Archabbey (1931-1987).  Some of the monks would awaken the Sisters for Midnight Mass by singing Christmas carols to them. 

Today, the tradition although different, is enjoyed by both our communities.  The monks drive over to St. Emma's on the afternoon of December 23 and we spend time singing Christmas carols together and then enjoy sampling a few cookies afterwards.