Eve of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart

Greetings,

On this eve of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, our community begins the celebration with Statio (procession of the sisters into Chapel) and chanted first Vespers of the Solemnity.  During these days, we are also much more aware of the presence of the Sacred Heart throughout the monastery.

This Sacred Heart of Jesus blesses all those coming and going on the first floor of the monastery.  He stands between the sewing room, the computer room, and the doorway leading to our inner courtyard.  In the midst of our ordinary lives, the Sacred Heart calls us back to the divine that dwells in each of us.

There are several rough hewn Sacred Hearts that one of our Sister Artists has created.  This one graces a hallways between refectory and retreatants rooms on the way to the Chapel.  They are simple yet beautiful.

The guests who come to Bishop Martin Marty Chapel are greeted on the ground floor by this bronze Sacred Heart of Jesus.  He was designed and cast by a local artist and friend of the monastery.  The bronze used to hang in the entrance of the old monastery, but it was transferred to the entrance of the Chapel after our renovations.

 Above the entrance of our original convent building, a carved lintel piece was set above the main doorway..."The Convent of the Sacred Heart".  In the middle of the lintel was this detail drawing that is also mirrored in a stained glass piece.  We saved the lintel during our renovations and it still stands near the entrance of the monastery's new entrance.

Sacred Heart Hospital, an institution we still sponsor and pray for, commissioned an interactive Sacred Heart bronze statue several years ago.  They have a life size version in the hospital gardens...it is a delight to watch people sit on the bench next to Jesus and children crawl up onto the open knee.  We have a small scale model of the statue near a main stairwell and close to our book of remembrance (honoring the stories of our sisters who have died)...fitting don't you think?

Blessings,