A Feastday of Celebrations

Greetings,

"The Good News of the Lord has gone out to all the world through the words of Peter and Paul"
~ Antiphon at Lauds.

Today, we celebrate and rejoice on this feast of the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul.  Actually, we all celebrate...the Church celebrates not only the feast of these two great saints, but also honors her new Archbishops.  During the Mass, the Pope calls forward the 'new' Archbishops and places a pallium over their shoulders; a reminder of their role as shepherd.  The two great basilicas Saint Peter and Saint Paul Outside the Walls also commemorate their patrons on this day.

Our monastery celebrates not only the feast, but also remembers this as a day of professions in our history and our Golden Jubilarians are honored today as well.  From 1952 to 1967, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul marked a day of new life, new teachers and  preachers in the community.  On the eve of the feast, the postulants were invested as new novices.  The next day the current novices professed their temporary monastic vows to being their juniorate...AND the those sisters who had completed their temporary vows (juniorate) professed their perpetual monastic profession.  Today is a great day of story-telling about receiving their new names, quick changes of habit or veil, and the joy of their celebration with family and friends. 

This morning our community also celebrates our Golden Jubilarians; sisters who are marking their 50th anniversary of Benedictine life in our family.  They have seen much change and served the monastery and Church through various works.  Yet through it all, continued to preach the "Good News of the Lord"in our Benedictine family in love.

"Love bears all things, and will never come to an end. Alleluia.

three things last forever:  faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love.

Love bears all things, and will never come to an end. Alleluia." ~ Responsory at Vespers.

Blessings and Happy Feastday,

Hymns & Gardens

Greetings,

It may sound like an odd combination, Hymns & Gardens, but this morning they joined in praise of God.  The hymn at our morning Liturgy of the Hours came from St. Hildegard of Bingen's explanation of creation's beauty praising God.  The poetic translation from Sr. Theresita Schenk gives a marvelous background to our increasingly lush (and well-rained) gardens and grounds.


Lettuce, dill and herbs, and tomatoes too!

"The Blowing Wind"

The blowing wind, the mild,
     moist air,
exquisite greening of grass
     and trees.
And in their beginnings and
     in their endings
they give to God their
     loving praise.







More tomatoes in the foreground with sweet potatoes
and melons in the back.  The peppers and eggplant,
still canned for protection from rabbits
and gophers, dot the middle.

All God's creation is awakened
by the resounding melody,
God's invocation of the Word,
Word manifest
     in every creature. 


The orchard produce soaks in the sun and rain.

The blowing wind, the mild,
     moist air,
exquisite greening of grass
     and trees.
And in their beginnings and
     in their endings
they give to God their
     loving praise.

Plums and apples and apricots, Oh My!

Glance at the sun, the moon
     and the stars.
Gaze at the beauty
     of earth's greening.
What great delight
     God gives to humankind
with all these things,
     gracious gifts of God.

What began as a few vines for the cultivation
of a newly 'retired' sister quickly grew...her 26 vines
now provide homemade grape juice and
jellies for the sisters at the monastery.

The blowing wind, the mild,
     moist air,
exquisite greening of grass
     and trees.
And in their beginnings and
     in their endings
they give to God their
     loving praise.

The sisters' lawns have also grown green, lush...and oh so
tempting to the local rafter or gang of turkeys.

We invite you to take a moment today to reflect on the poetry of St. Hildegard and experience the beauty of creation where you are.  Hopefully, you too will see and celebrate the praise of God in the wind and greening and skies!

Blessings,

Dakota "Horizons" and Daniel's Cantical

Greetings,

The Cantical of Daniel calls upon all of Creation to bless and praise the Lord.

"Sun and moon, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.
Stars of heaven, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever...
...Nights and days, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.
Light and darkness, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.
... Lightnings and clouds, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.
Let the earth bless the Lord,
praise and exalt him above all forever.
Mountains and hills, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.
Everything growing on earth, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.
(Daniel 3: 62-63, 71-76)

 This photography artist's images illustrates how the plains, prairies, farms, and Badlands of South Dakota praise the Lord...

Blessings,

Monastery Mystery Six Revealed

Greetings,

This beautifully carved wall-hung clock now presides over our meetings and celebrations in the Chapter Room.   I cannot find the origin of this clock, but I had a marvelous time seeking out it's history. 

Interviewing our elders seemed the best way of determining this history of this mystery item.  One sister, a wisdom figure and former prioress, believes it might have been given to the monastery in the 1920's as a gift.  The earliest she can remember others referring to it was the late 20's or very early 30's.  After consulting with a few other elders at the card table, they all believed it had hung in the main hallway of the original monastery by the front entrance. 

The sisters also agreed that it was a treasured item from the beginning.  The wood-carved exterior was always dusted and polished to a rich shine.  The winding of the clock was (and still is) done by hand; Sister Peter, the monastery's resident clock-tinker and Jane-of-all-trades was the only one to wind it for decades.

After the monastery's front buildings were rebuilt at the end of the 1990's, the clock was restored to a place of honor in the Chapter Room.

Blessings,

The Feast of the Sacred Heart



This Sacred Heart of Jesus mosaic blesses us from the
walls of the Monastery Chapter room.  It was designed
by one of our own artisan sisters and created (at the time)
by each sister placing a tile of the mosaic.

 Happy Feastday!

Today, we celebrate our monastery's patronal feast on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. We will begin our celebration with the Liturgy of the Hours at Lauds and Mass in Chapel; the Psalms and antiphons all echoing reminders of the Christ's great love for us poured out through his Sacred Heart.

"Let us love one another with fervent love, endure one another's infirmities; patiently serve and obey one another, and prefer nothing whatever to Christ." ~ Vespers Antiphon

We end our celebration of our feast with an act of dedication to the Sacred Heart at Vespers:

God of all creation, and God of our hearts, on this feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we remember the love with which you first loved us.  We remember the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ who brings us to birth and feeds us with the blood and water flowing from his side, pierced on the cross. 
Inspired by the Spirit of Love, we desire to give our hearts to you, and to make the heart of Jesus our own.  Through his most Sacred Heart we consecrate to you our monastery, the life and work of each member of this community, and our beloved sick.  We ask you to receive this offering, which we make through Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit, one with you forever and ever.  Amen. 

Coinciding with our feast, all of our Benedictine family has gathered at the monastery for our spring Community Days and Chapter meeting. Please keep us in your prayers as we celebrate and discern throughout this weekend.  Three times a year the prioress calls us all from postulant to diamond jubilarian to meet and discuss the needs of the community.  St. Benedict explains the reason for this in chapter three of The Rule of Benedict. 

Whenever any important business has to be done in the monastery, let the Abbot call together the whole community and state the matter to be acted upon. Then, having heard the brethren's advice, let him turn the matter over in his own mind and do what he shall judge to be most expedient. The reason we have said that all should be called for counsel is that the Lord often reveals to the younger what is best.

Let the brethren give their advice with all the deference required by humility, and not presume stubbornly to defend their opinions; but let the decision rather depend on the Abbot's judgment, and all submit to whatever he shall decide for their welfare.

Blessings,

Monastery Mystery Six-and-a-half

Greetings,

Even the postulant was stumped after searching the monastery high and low for connections to the first photo! 

However, I am willing to add another detail from our mystery item that highlights it's beauty and grace. 

I'll even give you a hint to look up in the Rule of Benedict:  RB43: 1 and RB 47: 1 might keep you from getting lost on the tour.  If you're ready to offer your best guess, simply click on the comments below to "LIKE" us on Facebook to add your guess there.

Blessings,

Celebrating the End of Advent

Greetings,

Last night we began our celebration of Sr. DeChantal's life with a wake service at vespers.  Already, the altar was dressed in preparation for her funeral today.  At lauds we continued our prayer for Sister and all who loved her, and it was noticed that many of the sisters had already dressed in preparation for her funeral later this morning.  Yes, they were wearing the proscribed black jacket and dress or skirt, but it was the prevalence of purple that was most noticeable. 

Sister enjoyed the color purple.  After changing out of the habit, her closet became a veritable rainbow of purple and violet.  This morning at lauds, many of the sisters were remembering and celebrating Sister and wearing purple beneath their jacket or in their skirt.  Nature also joined the celebration.  The wild phlox that grows on the bluffs of our monastery hill burst into full bloom this week.  Sister Sacristan has gathered them up to beautiful bouquets in the sanctuary and around the altar.

All this purple, the color of Advent, to commemorate her 104 years and to honor her over 80 years of monastic profession.  We celebrate with her the end of her long Advent and the joy of her life with Christ.

Blessings,