Dominican Life on Lotus Lane

We're Moving!

noreply@blogger.com (Dominican Nuns) — Mon, 28 Jun 2021 21:38:00 +0000

After eleven good years here at Blogger, we've decided to move to a different blog platform and try something new! We have moved all our posts from this blog to the new blog, although we'll leave this blog up for a while. Meanwhile, come visit us at our new address...and please subscribe so you won't miss a post! See you there!

Our new address: lufkintxnunsblog.org

Retreat with Fr. Vincent Davila, O.P.

noreply@blogger.com (Dominican Nuns) — Tue, 15 Jun 2021 21:47:00 +0000

There's one word that sums up our annual retreat: fantastic!

Fr. Vincent Davila, O.P., a friar from St. Albert the Great Province (central) gave us several great conferences on "The Mystical Body of Christ in St. Paul". Fr. Vincent was able to blend theology and moral encouragement (that is to say, he gently skewered many of our faults and failings in a way that made us laugh umcomfortably) in a manner that was inspiring to many sisters. In addition to his conferences, Fr. Vincent preached his theme of the Mystical Body during his homilies at Mass, providing further interesting commentary. We contributed by planning hymns for Mass and Benediction to fit his themes, which he appreciated. We'll have more news about Father and our retreat in the next issue of "Monastery Bells".

It was hard to return to the everyday world today after such an excellent retreat, but we all feel refreshed, renewed, and ready to pray--and grow in virtue--with greater fervor. Thank you, Fr. Vincent!

Into the Retreat Desert

noreply@blogger.com (Dominican Nuns) — Sun, 06 Jun 2021 23:07:00 +0000

It's that time of year again! Tonight we begin our annual ten-day community retreat. This year our retreat master is Fr. Vincent Davila from St. Albert the Great Province (aka the central province). We'll have more to tell you after the retreat. For now, we just want to let you know that our schedule will vary somewhat in order to accommodate our retreat conferences. However, Mass tunes will still be the same: 7:20 Monday-Saturday and 7:00 Sunday. That's right! Our chapel is finally open to the public for Sunday Mass.

Please pray for us! We'll be praying for you!

Eleven Years...And Still Going

noreply@blogger.com (Dominican Nuns) — Fri, 04 Jun 2021 15:05:00 +0000

This blog has been running for eleven years now! Hard to believe! It seems like only yesterday Sr. Anna Marie, OP (from the Monastery of Mary Queen in Springfield, IL) helped us get started. We've had many good times...and we hope there will be many more to come!

May God bless you, and thank you for reading this blog! If you like it, please tell a friend!

Fraternal Visit

noreply@blogger.com (Dominican Nuns) — Tue, 01 Jun 2021 20:31:00 +0000

The feast of the Visitation has been called a day for religious sisters to get together and, well, visit. This year we had a little twist on this theme--a visit from our brothers, instead!

As you can see, we made quite a group! Most of our sisters were able to be present, and we had seven friars. Four are still in various stages of formation. Two of these four are novices--our own two novices from the province of St. Martin de Porres (aka the southern province)--and two student brothers, one from our province and one from the province of St. Albert the Great (aka the central province). They were accompanied by the novice master for our province and another priest, and our chaplain joined the fun.

And it was fun! We laughed and laughed at our brothers' stories, adventures, and incidents, all told with characteristically Dominican good humor.

We thank our brothers for honoring us with a visit, and only wish they could have stayed longer! But they could only pray Vespers with us and have a quick dinner before heading back to Irving, TX. Still, that was wonderful. We are praying for you all--and for all our Dominican brothers around the world! Y'all come see us!

A Visit With Our Sisters

noreply@blogger.com (Dominican Nuns) — Sat, 15 May 2021 15:18:00 +0000

On May 13, we were privileged to have a visit from the Dominican Sisters of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima.

Their motherhouse is in Puerto Rico, and these sisters are assigned to Sacred Heart parish in Palestine, TX. They brought us some delicious food for dinner--home-cooked! We really appreciated this great meal, and the lovely visit we had with them after dinner. The Sisters celebrate May 13--Our Lady of Fatima--as their patronal feast day, and we were honored that they came to spend the day at the Monastery, where they could have some time for prayer, quiet, and the opportunity for confession as well as our visit. Their house is not too far from our monastery, so we see them fairly regularly. It's always a pleasure! Please pray for Sr. Laura, their novice (in the white veil) who will make her first vows this summer in Puerto Rico.

Mother's Day at the Monastery

noreply@blogger.com (Dominican Nuns) — Fri, 14 May 2021 15:10:00 +0000

The rains are over and gone, and it's time to report on our beautiful Mother's Day celebration! It all began with a special Mass in honor of all our mothers, living and deceased, as well as all the women who have been like mothers to us.

Before Vatican II, many congregations and monasteries called their superior or prioress "Mother". Although we don't do that any more, we still honor Sr. Mary Margaret on this day, with a gift and a card bearing a "spiritual bouquet"--a gift of three days of prayers for her intentions from each sister in the monastery.

Then it was time for the special event--a lovely picnic under our carport! (We had it under the carport because we feared it would rain!)

Several sisters helped cook and prepare the delicious food.

Finally, we were able to sit down and eat and enjoy each other's company.

Hooray for our cooks!

In the afternoon, some sisters enjoyed the cool weather outside.

By evening, however, rain was falling! It actually flooded parts of the monastery, and knocked out the power for a brief time. We got seven inches in an hour!

We planned to have our May Crowning that evening, but it was so wet we moved it inside. Sr. Mary Therese crowned Our Lady this year.

We ended this great day with a circle recreation--an opportunity for all the sisters to be together and share what's been going on. Many thanks to Sr. Mary Margaret, our spiritual mother, and all our mothers, living and deceased, who so lovingly cared for us (and still do!).

Mass for Good Shepherd Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Dominican Nuns) — Tue, 27 Apr 2021 15:16:00 +0000

One of our local pastors and friends, Fr. Denzil Vithanage, celebrated Mass for us on Good Shepherd Sunday and recorded it! Readers of this blog may remember he did something similar back in November. You can watch it here.. God bless you!

Spring Monastery Bells

noreply@blogger.com (Dominican Nuns) — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 16:31:00 +0000

Our Spring issue of "Monastery Bells" is in the mail and arriving in mailboxes everywhere! If you'd like to read our latest issue, please go to our website here and check it out! And as always, if you would like to subscribe to "Monastery Bells" (and get additional things like our popular raffle tickets, our annual pocket calendar and our Christmas card) please just send us your name and address, and we'll add you to our list. We never sell or make our list in any way available to others. God bless you!

Solemn Chapter: The Annunciation 2021

noreply@blogger.com (Dominican Nuns) — Wed, 24 Mar 2021 22:58:00 +0000

The following is Sr. Mary Jeremiah's beautiful talk for our Solemn Chapter (or, as we like to refer to it, our Big Chapter) on March 24. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

The first words we hear every day are--"The angel of the Lord appeared unto Mary...." And we return to this moment of the Incarnation countless times throughout the day.

The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee...to a virgin...and the virgin's name was Mary.

And coming to her, said, "Hail, full of grace!"....

But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be..."

And the angel said to her in reply...

Then the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:26-38)

We heard last Sunday morning at Office of Readings in the Letter to the Hebrews that angels are "ministering spirits...sent to serve [human beings], those who are to inherit salvation"! What a statement! These tremendous spiritual beings are sent to help us.

And, every year on the feast of the Archangels we hear St. Gregory the Great tell us that angels are messengers. The word Angel means "Messenger" in Greek, and Archangel means "Great Messenger" or "Super Messenger". As Gregory continues, "We must also know that the term Angel means a function, and not a nature. For if the blessed spirits of the heavenly homeland are always spirits, they cannot always be called angels; they are Angels only when they announce something. Angels announce things of lesser importance. Archangels are those who announce the greatest, most important things. This is why it was not an angel, but the Archangel Gabriel whom God sent to the Virgin Mary. In such a ministry, indeed, it was fitting that the greatest of the angels should come and announce the greatest news.

"Michael means 'who is like God?' Gabriel, 'Strength of God'; Raphael, 'Medicine of God'. Whenever extraordinary power is needed, the Scripture tells us that it is Michael who is sent: his action and his name make it clear that no one can boast of doing what is reserved for the sole power of God. To Mary, however, it is Gabriel who is sent. It was thus necessary that it was by 'Strength of God that the Lord of the Armies, powerful in the fight, was announced who came to make war with the powers of darkness."

The Angel Gabriel is mentioned in the Bible several times, all of which were events that would change the course of history in alignment for the fulfillment of God's Will in the world. So, I like to think of Gabriel as the Messenger of the Incarnation and Redemption.

The first time Gabriel is mentioned in the Bible is in the book of Daniel. He comes to help Daniel and God's people several times.

The next instance of Gabriel coming to convey a message is to Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist. Luke tells us, "Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him...the angel said to him, 'I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.'"

Gabriel is last mentioned when he is sent to speak with Mary. Mary was a young Jewish girl who was engaged but still a virgin. Gabriel comes a few months after he appeared to Zechariah, to reveal to Mary that she will be the one to carry the Savior of the World, and the one to fulfill the prophecies promised centuries earlier, of the coming Savior being born of a virgin.

In all of these examples, the people that Gabriel visits are at first frightened to see such a majestic being, but Gabriel not only brings messages of hope, he also comes in kindness.

We do not know if Gabriel's "coming" to Mary was an external or internal vision, or only a locution, an inner word. Perhaps we should reflect more on the fact that the message is far more important than the Messenger, for as Hebrews says, "[The angels] are ministering spirits...to save us."

Unlike Michael, Gabriel is not referred to as an Archangel. The Bible does not specify in depth what is rank is as an angel, but what he is called to do is of more importance than his title. When speaking to Zechariah he reveals that he stands in the presence of God, which emphasizes God's unwavering trust in him. It is also his role to convey knowledge of the coming Savior, exceedingly sacred messages to the people of God from God himself. As we said before, Gabriel means, "God is my strength" and it is evident that he lives up to his name, in relying on God to fulfill the messages he is given to deliver.

Gabriel is always a messenger of God's redemption of humanity. But we too are messengers, especially as nuns of the Order of Preachers. Our original title was "Preacheresses". We usually do not preach the Word of God, the message of God's love for the world and the individuals in that world, but we proclaim it by our lives. We do use words with anyone we come in contact with--in the parlor, through letters, on the phone, when we go out to the doctor, and so on. But we especially resemble Gabriel and the angels when we PRAY. This is our vocation, our mission and our message.

The angels are spiritual, intellectual creatures. They can think of going some place or doing something and they are there--instantly--doing or inspiring it. We, through our prayers, can reach any place and any one in an instant, in a metaphorical sense.

As the angel is always before the face of God, in his Divine Presence, while even o mission--so are we, in a way, as we keep our adorations, attend Office and Liturgy, and engage in interior prayer throughout the day while going about our duties insofar as they give space for spiritual thoughts. But, even if we are writing letters or talking to guests, we can do this as ministers of Christ, in union with the Trinity. Therefore we must be focused; striving for unceasing prayer and union with God. We should keep guard over our thoughts so that we are not dragged off target by the logismoi, which is like falling into a swamp or quicksand. We need to be attentive to the guidance and inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

A good messenger is one who gives her heart and soul to the message, that is, she has enthusiasm an proclaims that message with enthusiasm. The greater the One sending the message, the greater should be our efforts to be one with that message.

St. Paul wrote to the Philippians, and he says to us today, "...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."

As Our Lady controlled her thoughts, for she was pure and immaculate of heart, so should we. May Mary and all the angels be with us today and always, leading us, and all our prayers, to Paradise. Amen.

Winter Storm of '21

noreply@blogger.com (Dominican Nuns) — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 16:29:00 +0000

It's hard to believe now--when we are enjoying temperatures in the upper 70s and even low 80s--that last week at this time we were freezing, literally! However, that proves the old saying: "If you don't like the weather in Texas, wait a minute and it'll change."

As we reported earlier, when we had a more fun snowfall in January, we realize that for many people ice storms, temperatures going down to 6 and 8 degrees Fahrenheit (and maybe lower) and such are part of the usual winter condition. But here in Texas, we're just not used to it--and we're not prepared for it, either! One of our sisters, a transplanted Midwesterner, kept assuring us that everything would be fine "when the snow plows come through". We finally managed to explain to her that there are no snow plows in Texas. She was astonished!

We will have a lot more on this story--what happened and how the community coped--in our Spring issue of "Monastery Bells". Here's just a few items that stand out.

(To the tune of "The Twelve Days of Christmas", with apologies to the authors)

On the day of the Presidents, our Savior gave to us:

--Hundreds of branches snapping

--Eighteen nuns a-shivering

--Several rolling blackouts

--Ten space heaters

--Seven puzzles finished

--Five free days!

--Four busted pipes

--Three inches of snow

--Two pairs of socks each

--And a great, loving community!

We can say this both of our own community and the community of Lufkin! We are so grateful to all the people who came out to help us (and there were many!) and also for everyone who helped us get our generator some years back. We never thought we would need it for a winter storm, but God provided! This was especially important for our elderly sisters, who were able to have heat in their infirmary rooms most of the time. And, we were able to have some lights--definitely necessary in our large building!

We continue to pray for the many people who have suffered more with this storm than we have, both in Texas and throughout the south. We are extremely grateful to all of you who prayed for us! We managed to avoid serious injuries and illness, and even to keep cheerful during the difficult times, which was truly a work of grace. Know that we pray for all of you, too, every day and every hour!

Tet: The Year of the Buffalo

noreply@blogger.com (Dominican Nuns) — Wed, 24 Feb 2021 16:29:00 +0000

Whew--it's been a crazy few weeks here! We'll be bringing you more news about some of our adventures, but first we'd like to step back to February 14, when we celebrated Tet. As you may know, one of our Vietnamese sisters likes to organize this celebration annually as a little pre-Lenten party, and we always enjoy it!

We have only one "buffalo gal" in our community at present--our prioress, Sr. Mary Margaret (second from right).

Sr. Mary Christine did a lot of hard work to make a wonderful Tet celebration for us, and it was so much fun!

We played a variety of original games in teams--extra fun for community-minded Dominicans!

Little did we realize that we would wake up...snowed in!! But that's a story for later...stay tuned!

Sister Mary Therese Renews Her Vows

noreply@blogger.com (Dominican Nuns) — Thu, 28 Jan 2021 21:33:00 +0000

Sr. Mary Therese of the Divine Mercy, our temporary professed sister, renewed her vows for one year on Wednesday, January 27, 2021.

This is a milestone in Sister's vocational journey, so we had to celebrate a little!

One of our sisters made Baked Alaska in three different flavors...

...and it tasted as good as it looked!

We had a delicious meal in the community room, with the rare privilege of talking while we ate (we usually listen to a CD or something read to us).

Since Cor Orans, the new document from Rome detailing rules for cloistered living, specifies the renewal of vows annually for three years after the initial three-year period of temporary vows, we may be doing this a lot in the future. But for now, we'll concentrate on the joy of this present moment. Please continue to pray for Sr. Mary Therese as she lives her vows for another year, and pray for us, too, that we may all be faithful to the Dominican vocation God has given each one of us.

"Living For The Other Side": A Review of the Hillbilly Thomists' New CD

noreply@blogger.com (Dominican Nuns) — Thu, 28 Jan 2021 16:16:00 +0000

I don't really know anything about bluegrass, except what I heard on the Hillbilly Thomists' first CD. But I do know this: I liked this CD a lot.

"Living For The Other Side" is a more introspective CD than "The Hillbilly Thomists". If "Hillbilly Thomists" was a revival, this is a family reunion, fun but with a serious side to it. Most of the songs on this CD are original, which offers the talented brothers a chance to preach the Word through their deft blending of Biblical and doctrinal truth with contemporary lyrics. In the song, "You Will Still Walk Down The Line", the chorus tells us, "Now people hear talk about eternity, / they just feel doubtful or afraid. / But truth is the very best medicine. / It's time to get real and get saved." Or, on a more poignant note, from "Give Me A Drink": "Give me a drink, I am thirsty. / I have drawn this well bone-dry / with this old rope and heavy bucket of mine. / Would you put in me a well I can draw from all my life."

I have to confess, though, that the song I can't get out of my head is "Bourbon, Bluegrass, And The Bible", even though only one of those things--the Bible--plays much of a role in my day-to-day life. The chorus for this runs: "Death's in the world, and it's gone viral. / Everybody's talkin bout a new revival. / When it's a question of love and survival: / bourbon, bluegrass, and the Bible." Amen, brothers!

These songs speak deeply to me as a religious, and I pray they will speak to many in the secular world as well. I encourage you to go to their new website, hillbillythomists.com, where you can see music videos, order physical CDs, and download digital copies. And you'll be supporting the work of the Dominican friars, too!

About Our Website

noreply@blogger.com (Dominican Nuns) — Sat, 23 Jan 2021 22:43:00 +0000

We've been meaning to tell you about some of the features on our new website, and now that things have calmed down here (for the moment) we'd like to do it!

As you can see, one new feature is the ability to order prayer enrollments on line. We offer both our card enrollments and our perpetual enrollments. There's a form you can fill out, or you can email us your information--whichever is more convenient for you. You can even make a donation for your enrollment, using a check or credit card

We also now have online giving! This makes donating to the Monastery extremely easy. As with the enrollments, we can accept a variety of payment methods and it's very secure. You can learn more about it here.

We're very pleased with our website, and we are especially grateful to eCatholic, who provides the service allowing us to design this website and keep it online. If you are interested in a website for your Catholic parish, we highly recommend them. You can read more about eCatholic here.

And while you're thinking about it, please stop by our website and visit us there!

Guide our feet into the way of peace

noreply@blogger.com (Dominican Nuns) — Sat, 16 Jan 2021 21:31:00 +0000

In the verses from Luke's gospel known as "The Canticle of Zechariah" or the "Benedictus", Zechariah tells his young son, the future John the Baptist, that he will be a prophet of the Most High. He will prepare the way, so that when He comes, He will "give light to those who live in darkness and the shadow of death, and...guide our feet into the way of peace."

As we embark on this year of grace 2021, it is a perfect time to ask Jesus, the Prince of Peace, to guide our own feet in the way of peace. All of us are surrounded by conflict, division, distress, anger, and even hatred. People are fearful, and this fear makes them act in ways unthinkable under "normal" circumstances. The immensity of this situation is daunting.

One might recall here the prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, asking that God will "make me a channel of Your peace". We are not asked to solve all the world's problems single-handedly. We are asked to be peacemakers in the world we inhabit--that small sphere of family, work, church, and friends, or whatever your particular sphere happens to be. Every act of peace, every choice to love instead of hating, every gesture of reconciliation instead of revenge--these have an effect that reaches into eternity. It may be as small as giving someone a smile, or a friendly wave (since they can't see your smile while you're wearing your mask!). Or saying a kind word. Or not speaking when you really want to say something.

In 2021, let us make a resolution to ask God where He is asking us to bring peace. And then let us do it. May God give us all the peace we so need and desire!

Snow, Y'all!

noreply@blogger.com (Dominican Nuns) — Tue, 12 Jan 2021 22:42:00 +0000

While we do occasionally get snow in Texas, it's rare in Lufkin--and this was (for us) quite a snow! We got a couple of inches in most parts--enough to completely cover the grass and even enough to make a snowman (or snow nun). We realize those of you in northern climes are probably smiling at this, but most of us come from warmer regions of the world and we were delighted! Also we didn't have to drive in it--native Texans tend to be very bad at driving in snow. We actually got even more snow after these pictures were taken!

Our sister from Africa especially enjoyed the snow!

The snow fell Sunday afternoon and evening, and here on Tuesday it is still covering a lot of ground, thanks to some freezing weather. Another amazing event! However, the sun has been shining and gradually melting everything, so by tomorrow our extraordinary snow will be most likely be a fond memory. This is probably our last chance for snow this year--but who knows? One year it snowed on Easter--and Easter was at the beginning of April! Let it snow!

Good Christian Friends, Rejoice!

noreply@blogger.com (Dominican Nuns) — Tue, 05 Jan 2021 22:31:00 +0000

We've been doing a lot of rejoicing around here! And why not? It's still the Christmas season, and we are still celebrating the wonder of Christ's birth. Now, it's time we shared some of our lovely inside Christmas decorations with you! This is our chapel--the picture was taken from our side of the choir, facing the altar. We are so grateful to the people who donated the tree, the wreaths, and the many poinsettias.


Another beautiful donation: this Christmas arrangement to honor our crucifix

And now, without further ado, the creche scenes!

Our main creche in the chapel. Sister Sacristan did a marvelous job!


If you were able to visit us in person, you saw this one in the outside lobby

The community room


The Chapter Hall

The infirmary kitchen

The infirmary

The Print Shop (where Monastery Bells and our greeting cards are created, among other things)

The Guild, where letters are answered and enrollments are made

The Prioress' office

The carol mentioned in our title is traditionally attributed to the 14th century Dominican mystic, Blessed Henry Suso. One of the lines in the modern version found in today's hymnals says, "Christ was born to save!" We never forget that Christmas is a part of the Paschal mystery, and there is certainly an element of sorrow even in our joy (think of the Holy Innocents, for example). But on the whole it is a time when all of us can remember, or consider for the first time, the hope a newborn baby brings with it into this world. Let us rejoice this season as we remember that each one of us was born for a reason!

Christmas at the Monastery

noreply@blogger.com (Dominican Nuns) — Wed, 30 Dec 2020 22:23:00 +0000

Here as we approach a brand new (hopefully happier) New Year, we'd like to bring you some highlights of our Christmas festivities here at the Monastery.

On the evening of December 23, Santa Claus paid us a visit!

Santa brought each sister a copy of Matthew Kelly's book I Heard God Laugh and a few editions of a game called "Yeti in the Spaghetti". We haven't played it yet so we'll let you know how that goes!

We've heard God laughing ourselves...

Next, on Christmas Eve afternoon, we had our annual visit from the Alexander family.


The Alexanders outside the front of the Monastery. They wore masks in the parlor!

We are always happy to see the Alexanders and hear all about what they've been up to over the past year or so. We had a delightful visit with them.

After Vespers, our chaplain, Fr. John Lydon OP came inside to bless the creches in the community room and refectory.

Community room

Refectory

We had two glorious Masses, one at night and one in the morning, followed by our traditional dinner prepared by the Knights of Columbus. Unfortunately, we weren't able to visit with the Knights and their families in the parlor after Mass as we have done for many years, due to COVID--the parlor gets really packed and we wanted to avoid a super-spreader event. Still, a few Knights were able to come and actually do the cooking. God bless them!

Our faithful Knights of Columbus, plus a future Knight, maybe

In the afternoon, in between prayers, we met together in the community room to see the gifts people gave us this year. Usually we get gifts "for the community"--a single gift everyone can use or benefit from. Sometimes we get gifts like popcorn or candy or cookies--always welcome! This year we received a new digital camera (the authors of this blog, the website, and Monastery Bells are particularly grateful for this!), some DVDs from the Teaching Company, and lots of books, in addition to the aforementioned food. We also got a new Chinese Checkers game, which gained a lot of applause from our dedicated players.

Many happy hours of serious fun to come

Much to our surprise, we also received a number of "individual" gifts as well! Several very kind and generous benefactors put together various gifts, making enough so that each sister could receive her own. Best of all, these were gifts we could use: toiletries, bed socks, plastic containers, art supplies, word and Sudoku puzzles, and (of course) more food!

As you can see, we enjoyed the gifts, and we're tremendously grateful to all those who gave them! No matter how old you are, it's still fun to have something to open on Christmas. Thank you, all our benefactors, for giving us such joy and putting smiles on our weary faces this Christmas of 2020!

We are still planning to post some pictures of our various creche scenes around the Monastery, so keep in touch! Remember, Christmas isn't officially over until the Baptism of the Lord, despite what the world may tell you--especially by stocking Valentines already (or so we've heard)...

We wish all of you a most blessed New Year!

We Need A Little Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Dominican Nuns) — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 20:38:00 +0000

This song is so appropriate this year! It made its debut in Jerry Herman's Broadway musical Mame in 1966, when Mame sang it to cheer up her nephew and servants after losing everything in the 1929 stock market crash. We've heard stories that many people are buying real Christmas trees and putting up extra lights and decorations as a way of cheering themselves up during this crazy year. And although we don't usually decorate until about right now, our workmen felt we needed a little Christmas and put up some lights both inside and outside the monastery this year!


Front of monastery

Infirmary yard with Infant Jesus

Our Lady of Fatima

The hedge by the carport


Our bell tower

We also have some decorating going on right now, as you can see...

My, what big poinsettias you have!

Our Lady with Jesus and their decorator, Sr. Mary Giuse

We're still decorating, and we plan to bring you more pictures when we're finished! These may come after the actual date of Christmas (that is, December 25) but remember, the Christmas season lasts until the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which is on January 10th this year. So during this year when we "need a little Christmas" in a particular way, remember you can celebrate for much longer than the secular world would have you believe! (In the old days, the Christmas season lasted until February 2, but even we think that's a little long.)

Christmas is always a special time for us here at the Monastery, since it is also "our" feast day. We are, after all, the Monastery of the Infant Jesus. We hope you will have a happy and blessed Christmas, and know that we are praying for all of you!

Another Visit from St. Nicholas

noreply@blogger.com (Dominican Nuns) — Thu, 10 Dec 2020 22:32:00 +0000

Wow! Not one, but two visits from St. Nicholas this year! The good saint must be making extra rounds to cheer people up during this pandemic.

One evening, as we were gathered at recreation, we heard sleigh bells down the hall! One of the sisters opened the door and in drove St. Nicholas on his motorized chair. (Too much walking, no doubt.) After regaling us with riddles and bad puns, St. Nick and his elfin helper distributed a stocking to each sister. Sorry we didn't get a picture this time!

Among other useful gifts, each sister received a little stuffed toy--a toucan--and a hand-knitted washcloth.

We had such a good time, groaning at the puns and sharing each other's company and opening our stockings. This is a good example of what Jesus meant when He said we should become like little children. Not childish, not naive, but women (and men) mature enough to enjoy the little surprises and joys of life with honest wonder and delight. If we have to remain bored sophisticates all our lives, how will we react to the wonders of Heaven? How will we react to the wonders God does in our fellow men and women every day, even in ourselves? Joy is not dependent on circumstance. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit that God gives to each one of us day by day. It's up to us to enter into it!

Jolly Old St. Nicholas

noreply@blogger.com (Dominican Nuns) — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 20:23:00 +0000

Yesterday, on the memorial of St. Nicholas (December 6), the saint paid us an unexpected visit. We must have been good girls this year!

Note that St. Nicholas is observing medical protocol by wearing a mask!

St. Nicholas came to visit the children at one of our local parishes, and stopped by after Mass to give us his greetings, too--as well as gifts of booklets about his life and times and (chocolate) gold coins. He also left a special treat for breakfast--fresh doughnuts!


Our prioress, Sr. Mary Margaret, with St. Nicholas' presents

The story of how St. Nicholas helped three penniless sisters get married by dropping bags of gold coins down the chimney and into their stockings, hung by the fire to dry, is more or less well known. Interestingly, there is another popular story associated with St. Nicholas and his attendance at the Council of Nicaea. There's only one questionable account of this episode, but it's the kind of thing you almost wish was true because it's just so...well, read on!

According to the legend, St. Nicholas was attending the Council of Nicaea and got a little testy when he heard the heretic Arius expounding the idea that Jesus was not truly God and man, but only man--created by God, not one being with Him. As he put it, "There was a time when the Son was not." Arius, who must have been a charismatic speaker and who definitely had an idea people liked (the Arian heresy was a big problem in the early church) seemed to be winning the day when:

"After the king seated himself on the throne, one hundred and fifty nine fathers seated themselves at either side of him, both they and Arius arguing with much unease. Saint Nicholas, noticing that Arius was about to quash all the archpriests and moved by divine zeal, rose up and gave him a slap that shook all his members."

This is recounted The Life of St. Nicholas composed by Damascenos the Monk in the 16th century. Since the Council of Nicaea took place in the 4th century (325 AD, to be exact) it's certainly possible that some things got exaggerated or even just made up. Still, it gives us some fun Catholic memes to celebrate the memorial, such as this one:

See, you can combine sound theology with popular culture!

A Mass for the Dead

noreply@blogger.com (Dominican Nuns) — Thu, 03 Dec 2020 22:36:00 +0000

On the Friday after Thanksgiving, Fr. Denzil Vithanage came to our monastery to celebrate a Mass for all the deceased religious of the Tyler diocese. We found out after Mass that he videoed the whole thing, and posted it on YouTube! While you can't see us (except maybe briefly at the end) you can hear us singing, and Father's Mass was quite lovely. Our chaplain, Fr. John Lydon, concelebrated the Mass. Please consider checking it out!

So Thankful and Blessed

noreply@blogger.com (Dominican Nuns) — Sun, 29 Nov 2020 00:17:00 +0000

This Thanksgiving weekend has been kind of busy--you'll see what happened in a later post! But we wanted to share some of our Thanksgiving preparations with you. We had a lot of fun setting up the community room for our traditional "talking" Thanksgiving meal.

Setting out the tablecloths

Admiring our Thanksgiving-themed paper plates

Bengal Spice herbal tea--a gift from a Sister's family!

The finished room

Last minute cooking and prep

Off to set the table!

Singing our Thanksgiving grace

Another view of the grace


The inevitable clean up--it wasn't too bad

We are so thankful for the many blessings God has given us this past year, even in the midst of COVID-19 and other disasters. We had food to eat and good company, and we're well aware of the many people who had to sacrifice one or both of those things this year. We thank God for bringing us together as a monastic family, where we strive to love one another and build each other up in charity and peace.

May this coming Advent be a time of joyful expectation as we await the coming of our Savior!

Celebrating Our 75th Jubilee!

noreply@blogger.com (Dominican Nuns) — Mon, 09 Nov 2020 17:06:00 +0000

Today marks the 75th anniversary of our monastery's establishment here in Lufkin! We had big plans for today: a Mass with numerous concelebrants, a reception, visits, souvenirs...but all that went by the wayside when COVID-19 came along. We hope to reschedule these events later, but for now our celebration has been scaled back a lot. Nevertheless, we are still celebrating!

We published a long and informative article on the history of our monastery in the latest issue of our newsletter, "Monastery Bells". If you don't receive the Bells, you can read it here.

(By the way, if you're interested in receiving our newsletter in your snail mailbox, please go to the email address on our website and send us your name and address! It's free!)

We also want to share just a few pictures that didn't appear in the Bells:

This is another view of the first incarnation of the Monastery of the Infant Jesus. Note the statue of the Infant Jesus in front! We still have this statue in our infirmary yard. In 1945, the Monastery was right on Lotus Lane, instead of up the hill as it is today.

This photo was actually taken in the late 1940s, but it shows the growth the Monastery experienced in a short amount of time.

The sign on Lotus Lane directing visitors where to turn onto the access road to reach our Monastery today.

Part of the front of the Monastery today.

And finally--another version of our latest community picture!

We give joyful thanks to God for the past 75 years, and pray we will be here for many years to come!