Praised be Jesus Christ!

Hello all! We have lots of news to share with you. Just in case you haven’t checked out the website as of late, make sure you do. We had our Groundbreaking ceremony on October 30th…and what a blessed day it was! Bishop Olmsted, our faithful shepherd led us in asking Our Lord to bless the beginning of this holy endeavor. That He in His Power might see it to completion, and that all who work in its construction might be guided by His wisdom and protected from all moral and physical harm. Then with the Bishop and our architect, Terry Worcester to lead us, we walked the outline of the monastery and chapel while our friar, Br Bernadine chanted the Litany of the Saints. How happy we were to share with so many of our faithful friends this new beginning, and how encouraged we felt by Bishop Olmsted’s exhortation as he spoke so beautifully about the contemplative life and it’s necessity to the Diocese here in Phoenix, and the world over.

(as you see above, the new cloister tabernacle and public side tabernacle have arrived from Spain! We are re-packaging them back up in their crates, until the new Monastery is completed)

Okay everyone, here is your word for the week…niggle. It means to [1]criticize, constantly or repeatedly in a peevish or petty way. [2] [my personal favorite] to spend too much time and effort on inconsequential details. The reason I am sharing with you this word is we have formed a book club amongst the five of us…’The Nigglings’. We dubbed our selves so, first for our tendancy to niggle(something we all excel at!!) and secondly in happy memory of ‘The Inklings’. (informal literary club started in Oxford of which Tolkien and Lewis were members) We have many things in common among us, one thing being our universal love of books and literature. So, Srs. St Paul and Augustine were inspired to start our niggle club. The first work we have chosen to read together and discuss is Dante’s Divine Comedy. We are working our way through the Inferno, we’ll keep you posted on how things progress on our journey to Paradiso!! This is a wonderful way to grow in knowledge and ‘get through’ somewhat lengthy works that are hard to persevere with on one’s own. What a great way to share amongst friends and loved ones, and keep alive these PHENOMENAL works. Our other future reads include Thomas More’s ‘Utopia’, Chaucer’s ‘The Canterbury Tales’ and Walker Percy’s original and imaginative ‘Lost in the Cosmos’. We’re open to suggestions from any of you bookworms out there.

Lastly, we appreciate everyone’s concern with our former novice, Sr Jeanette Marie. After a period of prayer and reflection Mary has returned home to her family for further discernment.

Thank you for your continued prayers. Your faithfulness is inspiring and a real shot in the arm!!! Please know we remember you and your intentions before Our Eucharistic Lord.!!

Always united in the Heart of Jesus and Mary- Sr Mary Blogger