Christmas Day Celebrations!

Christmas Greetings!

Christmas celebrations began with the divine.  Our Lauds and Mass rang with joyful choirs.  While our morning prayer was open to all, the sisters were only joined by our chaplains.  However, our Christmas Mass filled many more of the Chapel pews with a celebration of diversity.  To the delight of all, the student sisters from Tanzania lead the procession at the offering of the gifts. Music filled with rhythmic drums played over the speakers as they danced before the gifts with khanga cloth from home tucked over their habits.  The celebration of God's Divine welcome continued as we stepped forward at the reception of the Eucharist.  The sisters began the line in variations of white, black, and red for the season.  Then our guests and visitors stepped forward; the young and old, those in Sunday best and blue jeans, the carefully-coiffed and those with green hair, little girls with brand-new sparkly Christmas clothes and their more somber grandparents. It was a wonderful celebration.

After our Christmas brunch, the monastery seemed strangely quiet in the afternoon.  A number of the sisters changed into their 'festive' Christmas best, located 'official' identification, bundled up, and carpooled caravan style down to the Federal Prison on the other side of town.  The sisters have celebrated a Christmas Mass with the men of the Federal Prison for many years.  Sister Musician-Liturgist sometimes plays at their regular Masses and coordinated a group of the residents to play the bells for the Mass with the Sisters.  Every year the little chapel space is packed for the Mass; it is a sacred time to share our welcoming the Lord into our lives and reminding them of our prayerful support of their conversion.  The hope we seek to share with the residents echos Pope Benedict the XVI's Christmas Message:

"If we believe". Here we see the power of faith! God has done everything; he has done the impossible: he was made flesh. His all-powerful love has accomplished something which surpasses all human understanding: the Infinite has become a child, has entered the human family...Yes, there is a good earth, a healthy earth, an earth freed of all selfishness and all lack of openness. In this world there is a good soil which God has prepared, that he might come to dwell among us. A dwelling place for his presence in the world. This good earth exists, and today too, in 2012, from this earth truth has sprung up! Consequently, there is hope in the world, a hope in which we can trust, even at the most difficult times and in the most difficult situations. Truth has sprung up, bringing kindness, justice and peace.

The afternoon was also time for our family Christmas party! All the sisters gathered in the Chapter room for treats, music, and laughter.  The party began with treats and a mix of Christmas Carols and songs.  The music ended with a rousing rendition of the "12 Days of Christmas"; except this year, we also had different signs for each table to wave during our part of the '12'.  Next the prioress shared the community gift, a book by the Abbot Primate (head Benedictine monk).  Finally, Sister Elves delivered the sisters' gifts from the generous members of St. Mary Church...the room filled with exclamations of joy and laughter.  Sisters continued comparing the family photos and cards that were included with many of the gifts and began to compose their 'thank yous' and 'promises of prayer' as we picked up the Chapter Room and prepared for evening Vespers.

We will continue to keep you in prayer throughout this Christmas Season!

Christmas Blessings,

Christmas Eve Events...

Greetings,

The monastery has been bustling with activity during this ONE DAY between the last Sunday of Advent and Christmas Day.  After Lauds, Mass, and breakfast, the preparations for the next day's festivities began.  The sisters divided into groups of merry elves to get all the work done.

Sister Sacristan and Sister Subprioress making final
poinsettia placement decisions while preparing Chapel.

The sisters decorating the Chapel had 'double duty' since the Advent Wreath and purple banners needed to be taken down before the white and gold Christmas banners and poinsettias could bedeck the sanctuary and pillars.  A few sisters artfully arranged a few dozen red and white poinsettias around the base of some simple evergreen trees that flank either side of our high altar while others continued to cart them in from their 'cool' storage.  Sisters with great balance tiptoed on the pews to lift down the purple and hang banners of gold with white.  Sister Sacristan was also quite busy; moving from candle to candle with new pillars and votives, refilling the little oil dedication candles, and positioning highlights of golden material around the Christmas candles.

Sisters home from mission join in the joyful work of
playing 'elf' and preparing the Christmas gifts.

 Another sister collected all the Advent table decorations from the dinning room and carried away its Advent Wreath as well.  In their place, the tables were brightened up with white table cloths, season placemats, and rose bowls filled with mini-bouquets of red and white; a Christmas Nativity scene was also displayed in the center of the dinning room.  The cooks and bakers, gift wrappers and musicians were all bustling about the monastery all morning long.  And two merry little elves carted special gifts from St. Mary Church from a small meeting room to the Chapter room where other elves were lighting the tall Christmas tree.

Bishop Martin Marty Chapel
as Christmas Vespers begins



Tonight, we will share our traditional meal of oyster stew, potato soup, and cherry pie.  Then with the quiet of December winter all around, we sing "Silent Night" with our candles lit as we statio two by two to the front of chapel and then to our pews.  The Chapel stays semi-lit with our candles as the cantor choir sings the Christmas Proclamation! This Christmas Vigil Vespers builds our anticipation the glory of our Christmas celebration tomorrow.

May Christmas Blessings be Yours,

Advent Reminders...

Greetings,

Advent reminders can be found all throughout the monastery, even these last days of preparation before Christmas.  Our Chapel is still swathed in purple simplicity with the wreath standing vigil until our Christmas Eve Vespers tomorrow night.  The widow of our Chapel gathering space still bears the message to wait in hope and anticipation.  Another Advent wreath still stands central to our monastery dinning room.  These symbols of our faith are the reminders that are expected and obvious.  However, the Advent message pervades all corners of our life at the monastery...

These chalk boards are mounted to the wall near the entrance to each floor of our bedroom area (a.k.a. dormitory).  The sisters of 4th Floor have had a gentle Advent reminder this year.  That in all ways and in all places we are to 'Prepare the way...".  The simple drawing is reminiscent of Isaiah's prophecy that "In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God! Every valley shall be lifted up, every mountain and hill made low; the rugged land shall be a plain, the rough country, a broad valley (40: 3-4).  As we walked by this Advent reminder on the way to Vespers on this final Sunday in Advent, we were reminded that there was still time to prepare, still work to be done to make ready the way of our Lord. 

Blessings,

O Emmanuel

Our chapel window depicting the Nativity.

O Emmanuel, our holy King and Giver of the Law,
the expectation of the nations,
their longed for Redeemer
and Savior:
O come, come soon to save us,
our Lord God-With-Us!

O King

Our chapel window depicting Christ the King.

O King of Nations,

you for whom all lands are longing, you are the holy cornerstone who bind together all God's people:

O come, come
and save humankind,
whom you formed
from the dust of the earth.

A Social Network Christmas

Grettings,

Ever wondered how the Infancy Narratives of Jesus' birth would be shared with all the social media we use today?  Take a moment ponder and pray as we prepare for the Coming of Our Savior!

O Dayspring

O Rising Sun,
the splendor of eternal light
and brilliant sun of justice,
O come
and with your holy light,
shine on us
who sit in darkness
and in death's shadow!

O Key of David



Artwork by...
The Benedictine Sisters of Turvey Abbey

 O Key of David,

and scepter of the House of Israel,

who opens the door
and no one closes,

who closes the door
and no one opens:

O come, rescue us
from our dark prison,

where we sit in death's shadow!

O Root of Jesse

O Root of Jesse,

who stands as a sign of the people,

before whom kings shall be silent,

to whom all nations shall pray,

O come, come Lord to freee us,

and delay no longer!

O Adonai

O Adonai,

and leader of the house of Israel,

who appeared in a burning bush to Moses

and gave him the Law on Mount Sinai,

O come, come Lord and redeem us
with your strong arm outstretched!

O Wisdom



Artwork by...
The Benedictine Sisters of Turvey Abbey



Greetings,

Today, we begin a week of reflecting on Christ's coming in a deeper way with His many titles from the Old Testament. Each morning a new title is placed in the "O Antiphon" wreath that hangs in a central corridor of the monastery; and Each evening we chant the praises of His name in the O Antiphon to the Magnifcat Canticle.

O Wisdom of God,

Who came forth from the mouth of the Most High,

reaching from beginning to end,

and with great power yet gentleness

you set all creation in order:

O Come, come Lord

and teach us the way of Wisdom!

Gaudete! Rejoice!

Greetings,

The purples of Advent recollection and pinks of Advent rejoicing fill not only our chapel and hallways, but all of nature seems to be celebrating the season with beautiful sunrises and sunsets blazing the sky with Advent joy.  The readings from today's Gaudete celebration fittingly express our Advent joy and anticipation illustrated in our sisters' photos...

Sister Mary Kay found our monastery's emblem filled with Advent color
on her way to Laud's one winter morning a few years ago.

 "Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!
Sing joyfully, O Israel!
Be glad and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!" Zephaniah 3: 14


Another Sister Photobug captured this moment of sunset with the
Advent colors from the sky filling the waters of the Missouri River.

Cry out with joy and gladness:
for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.God indeed is my savior;
I am confident and unafraid.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
With joy you will draw water
at the fountain of salvation.
Cry out with joy and gladness:
for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel. Isaiah 12: 2-3

Blessings and Rejoice!

The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

"O holy Dwelling Place of God.  O holy Temple of the Word. 
O holy Mary, holy Mother of God!" ~ Lauds Antiphon.



The Immaculate Conception by Monastery Icons

"Hail, bright star of the ocean, God's own gracious mother, Virgin ever sinless, take our supplication, to your Son, our Savior.  Surely he will hear you." ~ Vespers Responsory

One Jolly Monastery Tradition

Greetings,

The quiet of our simple Wednesday supper was interrupted with a joyful chorus of "Jolly old Saint Nicholas, lean your ear this way; Don't you tell a single soul what I'm going to say!"  Saint Nicholas himself came into our monastery refectory on the eve of his feast with two helpers to visit with the sisters and share his gifts of apples and oranges as well as chocolates and candies. As Saint Nicholas visited around the dinning room, he teased the sisters about eating all their spinach (the vegetable for supper that night) or they might get coal instead.  Saint Nicholas also visited our elders in the care center in their dinning room as his helpers and our staff sang and joined in the fun.  All of the sisters received a special blessing from our ancient bishop and legend.


Sister Sub-Prioress, Father Chaplain, and Postulant Peggy
with all Saint Nicholas' goodies for the sisters!

Our monastery has been celebrating the visit of Saint Nicholas for over 70 years! With our Swiss roots and many early sisters from Germany or German Ancestry, this festive celebration of generosity, hospitality, and child-like awe is a natural and joy-filled expression of our Advent waiting for the Lord's coming.  Our saint's visit began with with singing and laughter; and after he left, the sisters continued to visit  about their Saint Nicholas memories.  Over those 70 years, Saint Nicholas has been played by new novices and junior sisters, monastery and college chaplains, but the earliest memories were of Sister Georgia who died in 1968.  She would come to evening recreation, all dressed up with apples and oranges for all the sisters who then joined in with welcoming, song, and laughter...only to be quickly quieted at the bell for Compline. 

As this tradition continues to welcome and bless, new members and guests to the monastery are initiated into this celebration of our heritage.  This year on the eve of Saint Nicholas; Sister 5th Grade Teacher had invited a few of her students for a visit to the monastery.  They loved the 'surprise' visit by the saint and couldn't wait to go home and back to school and tell the tale of their monastery guest!

Blessings and Happy Advent,

Happy New Year!

Greetings,

The season of Advent ushers in our new Church year.  At the monastery, the season is welcomed with new color and greenery in the Chapel and prayer spaces, with extended silence in our mornings, and with a deeper awareness of God's presence among us.  While the Rule of Benedict has much to say on the season of Lent, Advent wasn't yet part of the Church's Tradition and celebration during Benedict's lifetime.  However, we infer many of the Saint Benedict's recommendations from Chapter 49 to this season: to pray more, to read and reflect, and prepare ourselves for the celebration of the Christ's Incarnation and His triumphant return.

This autumn was filled with many events which gave us the opportunity to share our blessings.  The Monastery Gift Shop (and the whole monastery) hosted our 6th annual "Holiday Fair" on October 27th.  Throughout the year, sisters prepared the best crafts of crocheting, quilting and sewing; beaded dozens of rosaries, bracelets, and jewelry; Father Monk brought down breads and soaps from his monastery while Sister Baker whiped up batches of her own treats and poured candles to boot!  It was an amazing variety that spread throughout the monastery's front parlours and hallways, and between 9:30 am and their afternoon closing, the sisters had sold...
542 various loaves of bread!
122 plates of other baked and candied goods!
81 bags of homemade 'Nun-Better' noodles
573 jars of jam, jelly, pickles, and salad dressing from the monastery kitchen and cookers!
1054 handmade items from the sisters crafting, sewing, beading, and other artistic gifts!The proceeds from this one day of wild and wonderful sales goes to support the international sisters who live with us while studying at Mount Marty College.  This is one way we strive to share our gift and blessing of education with others.

The sisters also shared our gift and blessing of bounty in preparation for Thanksgiving.  The monastery has continued the tradition of opening our kitchen and assisting the local 'Banquet' in preparing a feast for others.  The ovens were filled with dozens of turkeys that were later pulled apart by Sister Volunteers while others cut bunches (what must have felt like tons) of celery, onion, and breads to make the dressing for the feast.  By the time the Banquet representatives came with their van, our contributions to the city's Banquet were all wrapped up and ready to go.  Several sisters also shared in serving the meal and eating with the guests, but the preparation allows so many more sisters to reach out to bless those they may never know.

We will keep you and your Advent in our prayers and hope that blessings and opportunities to bless will be abundant in your new Church year.

Blessings,