Monastic Immersion Experience 2017-2018

Upcoming Monastic Immersion
Experiences:

  Thanksgiving Weekend
November 24-26, 2017

New Year

December 30– January 1, 2018

Holy Week and Triduum

March 25-31, 2018

Corpus Christi

June   1-3, 2018

Additionally, women are
welcome to come at other times as their schedules permit

Happy Birthday Mother Mary Anne

God bless!!!
Happy Birthday
From your Daughters

Ash Wed. in the Monastery 2013

Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.

What a wonderful way to look at life. We were made by God and we will return to God.
We have a practice of taking an inventory of our cells, on Ash Wed. This allows us to clear out what we don't need and what has accumulated over the years. Having moved around a lot growing up, I never have stayed in one place for longer than 4 years.now I have been in the same room for 11 years. I never thought that things could multiply so fast...  
Doing this helps us also to take inventory of our interior life.

How are we going to grow closer to Christ this Lent. 

Shrove Tuesday in the Monastery

So What do the Sisters do for Mardi Gras?

We love to dress up and have a good time!

This is our time to "Twinkle and Shine "

Good Shepherd Sunday

The Fourth Sunday of Easter, sometimes referred to as Good Shepherd Sunday, is different for us this year.  I/we don't remember this day without Sr. Gaudentia celebrating her profession anniversary.  The two have been one in the same.

The Good Shepherd is certainly an image of Christ that Sr. Gaudentia dearly loved.  Even in her advanced years, she showed forth a beautiful aura of childlike trust in the Shepherd to whom she could turn whenever she was in need. 

Perhaps that's one of the best legacies she leaves us.  To have such trust and confidence in a loving Lord who cares for all our needs, that we can turn to Him as small children turn to their parents, and know that he will supply our needs.

Benedictine Immersion Experience

Sr. M. Luka and Sr. Mary David, along with seven girls and women discerning a vocation to the religious life spent Palm Sunday weekend with us learning about Benedictine monasticism.  

Mater Redemptoris House of Formation in La Crosse, Wisconsin is a project of the Diocese of La Crosse and staffed by the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George.  Founded in the Jubilee Year 2000, it provides programs to assist in the discernment process.  Young women may live in a convent setting, develop their prayer lives and learn about the religious life.  It also provides retreat experiences and mentoring in the spiritual life for those who are not part of the residential program.

The weekend gave time for the participants to learn about our monastic vocation, get to know the community, experience praying the full Divine Office and recreation time with the community as well as have some time on their own to enjoy our beautiful grounds and personal prayer.

Please pray for these girls and women who are discerning their vocation -- as well as all those who are seeking God's will for their lives.

Mardi Gras - Monastery Style!

Whatever you want to call it -- Mardi Gras, Fasching, Carnival, Fat Tuesday -- it all commonly means a last day of feasting and good, light-hearted fun before Lenten fasting and abstinance begins. 

What do nuns do to celebrate?  Well, we've gathered a collection of funny hats, wigs, masks, etc. that we mix with scarfs, brightly colored fabric, some jewelry and whatever else may be at hand and dress up.  We enjoy some tasty treats and just have fun relaxing together -- and of course, take some photos to record the memories of our "costume creations."

So, enjoy an extra treat or two today -- and Happy Mardi Gras!

All Souls Day

Crucifixion scene overlooking our monastic cemetery.

The Feast of All Souls’ has its roots with St. Odilo, an abbot of Cluny who died in 1048.  He had ordered the commemoration of the faithful departed to be celebrated annually in the monasteries belonging to his congregation.  (Cluny was a reform that began in 910 as a new and somewhat stricter form of Benedictine monastic life.)

This commemoration of the faithful departed later extended to Benedictine and Carthusian monasteries and then to the Church in general.  Before the end of the 13th century, it was almost universally celebrated on the day following All Saints.

We would be honored to remember your deceased loved ones in our prayer during the month of November.  We read the names we received aloud to the community and then place them before the Sacred Heart statue in the Atrium.  Not only will we keep the names in mind, but we also have a visual reminder on our way to and from the Cor Jesu Chapel to lift your loved ones to the Lord in our prayer. 

To send us your loved ones names to remember in pray, please email them to vocations@stemma.org and put "All Souls Prayer Request" in the subject line.  Thank you!

We uphold you in our prayer...

Dear readers,

Last evening we began our community retreat that ends on Friday evening, October 14. 

During these days of prayer and recollection, we will hold you and your intentions in our prayer in a special way.  We ask that you remember us in your prayers during these days.

God bless you abundantly!

                                                               Your Benedictine Nuns

P.S.  Don't worry!  We have worked ahead so that you may continue to enjoy our ususal daily blog post.

Congratulations to our some of our Benedictine Brothers

Yesterday for the Feast of Our Holy Father St. Benedict, Archabbot Douglas and the monks invited us to join them for Mass and to witness the solemn profession of three of the monks:  Brother Maximilian, Brother Jeremiah and Brother Michael.  It was a wonderful liturgy and it is a great joy for us as well at the lifetime commitment made by these monks.

Several times during the year the monks who are in the Junioriate come out for days of recollection and then we share a meal together in the evening after Vespers.  It is a pleasure for us to get to know them and be part of their early monastic journey.

Brother Max, Brother Jeremiah, and Brother Michael please be assured of our continued prayers for you, and thank you for saying "Yes!" to Christ's invitation to follow Him as a monk at St. Vincent Archabbey.

Anniversary of Dedication

On June 29, 2002, we dedicated our Cor Jesu Monastic Chapel.  While we did shed some tears as our former was razed, today it is hard to imagine not having such a wonderful space in which to sing the praises of God. 

The simple clean lines and lance windows lift heart, mind and soul up to God as we sing The Liturgy of the Hours placing upon our lips the psalms -- those prayers that Jesus himself prayed -- that take into account every human emotion:  praise, joy, sorrow, anger, fear, and so many more.

Join us in thanking God today for the gift of this wonderful place of prayer -- and it you find yourself in the Greensburg area, know that you are always welcome to stop in a pray...

Suscipe me Domine

Each year on the anniversary of her profession, each Sister stands in the middle of choir and sings the Suscipe with the other professed nuns of the community. 

The Suscipe is taken from Psalm 119:116 (If you uphold me by your promise, I shall live; let my hopes not be in vain) to which the Gloria Patri is added.  This verse is first sung by each professed nun at the time of her First Profession of Vows.

It's both a petition and a prayer to our heavenly Father to help sustain each of us individually (and as a community) by His providence and grace. 

Please remember each of us in your prayers, as remember all of you in ours.  God bless you!

Happy Birthday, Dear Mother!

It's not often one gets to surprise the Superior, but last night we did just that!  We always celebrate the Superior's Name Day and Birthday festively.  This year we came up with the idea to have a dinner party when Mother Mary Anne would least expect it -- on a Sunday evening after a weekend retreat.  (Mother's birthday fell on Saturday, and we "promised" to celebrate it "sometime" next week.)

After we processed out from Vespers we presented Mother with a formal invitation to join us at our Monastic Guest House for dinner.  A few year's back we were given a golf cart which was also appropriately decorated to provide Mother's transportation. 

It was a wonderfully relaxing evening enjoyed by all.  And in case you're wondering (and it isn't obvious from the decorations!), Mother's favorite color is red.

St. Scholastica Celebration

Celebrating the Feast of St. Scholastica (a solemnity for us Benedictine Nuns), brought the added joy of having Archabbot Douglas Nowicki, OSB, from our neighboring Benedictine brothers at St. Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe, PA.  Archabbot Douglas was the principal celebrant and homilist for the celebration of the Eucharist and then joined us for a festive meal.

This is just another example of the wonderful relationship we have with our Benedictine brothers.  One of the monks now serves as our chaplain, others are spiritual directors and/or confessors, and others come out to offer conferences to the community to further enhance our spiritual life.

God's blessings to you, Archabbot Douglas, and your community for all the ways you help us to grow in our love for and union with God.

"Super" Sunday

While most folks in southwestern Pennsylvania were glued to their television screens for the Steelers chance at win #7 in the Super Bowl, we had a celebration of a different kind. 

We did deck out tables in black and gold, but instead of watching the game, we spent the time enjoying one another's company, good food, and some entertaining games.

What do we consider the ultimate "Super" Sunday you may ask?  Easter -- the Feast of the Lord's Resurrection.

A View from the Roof

During our "roof-top" experience, we took "advantage" of the "vantage" point and took some nice photos.  The one above shows some of the outdoor Stations of the Cross and the life-size crucifixion scene overlooking our monastic cemetery. 

We were grateful that this trip onto the roof was during a sunny morning, with temperatures that were not bitter cold -- it made lingering to take the photos enjoyable!

A Real "Roof-Top" Experience

 

In life some things are given.  If there's water running down a wall from the ceiling, you can say with fair accuracy that there's a roof problem.  Well, that was reality one day this week, so two of us were afforded a "window of opportunity." 

 

Translation:  we climbed out the window onto a flat roof below the flat roof that was having the issue, climbed a ladder and then created a trench through the snow and ice (and rocks that are part of the roof) to allow the pooling water from melting snow to flow to the roof drain. 

 

We are happy to report that our efforts worked:  the water wasn't dripping from the ceiling areas when we came back inside! 

 

Just one more way of doing everything for the honor and glory of God.