Category Archives: News

Cloistered life, News

Habemus Prioram = The Dominican Nuns at the Monastery of the Infant Jesus in Lufkin, TX, Elect New Prioress

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On July 12,  under the Presidency of Most Rev. Joseph Strickland of Tyler, the Dominican nuns of Lufkin, Texas, elected a new prioress: Sister Mary Margaret, OP.

Sister was born in Aurora IL and originally entered the Dominican Sisters of Springfield IL. Shortly before her final vows she discerned her vocation to the cloister and came to Lufkin in 1972. Previous to being elected prioress, Sister Mary Margaret was Sub-Prioress and in charge of the Print Shop. Sister is very talented artistically, as well as practically and spatially (i.e., she would have been a good engineer). Sister is also the Liturgist and principal organist. So please pray for her, she has her hands full! And pray for all the nuns as well. The rest of the community now awaits their new work assignments for the next three years.

They also express deep thanks to Sister Maria Guadalupe who concluded her six years of totally selfless service to the community. God reward you, Sister!

News

Visitation Sisters Offer Free Ebooks to Help With Discernment

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Many young men and women struggle with discerning their God-given call in life. Will it be marriage, the consecrated life, or the single life? Added to this is a general confusion regarding what one’s vocation is all about.

You can get help and direction with three ebooks published by the Visitation Sisters of the Second Federation. They are free to download and do not require an email.

1.  Straightening the Wayward Path: Online Chats About Discernment

The ebook answers these questions:

  • Can we sense from our own interests where God is calling us?

  • What is the best way to pursue this path?

  • How can a spiritual director help me?

2. Discerning with Saint Jane: Finding Your Place in God’s Will with the Foundress of the Visitandine Order – A Novena of Reflections

In this nine-day novena of reflections, you will find a saintly guide – St. Jane de Chantal, co-foundress of the Visitation order – to walk with you on your discernment journey.

3. “Living Jesus” in the Visitandine Spirit – The Spirituality of St. Francis de Sales and Other Salesian Thinkers

The wisdom of St. Francis de Sales, carried forward by his spiritual descendants over the centuries, is available in this easy-to-read collection of 25 essays.

The articles in this third ebook first appeared as newsletters sent by the Sisters of the Visitation. They span a diverse range of topics such as suffering, the love of the Sacred Heart, and vocations.

All three ebooks are available free, in eight different formats, at Visitation Sisters Ebooks on Smashwords.

 

Cloistered life, News

Letter Announcing Closing of the Carmelite Monastery – Hague, ND

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J.M. ♰ J.T.                                                                                   April 2019

Carmel of the Holy Face of Jesus Discalced Carmelite Nuns
2051 91st. St. SE
Hague, ND 58542
Phone: 701-336-7907

Dear Friends and Benefactors of Carmel,

Praised be Jesus Christ! When we first came to the Diocese of Bismarck 5 years ago, we enthusiastically set about arranging things so that we could remain for at least 100 years and all of you have been so supportive and generous in helping us. One of the first things we did was to establish the boundaries of our enclosure area which is very important to cloistered contemplative religious. A privacy fence and a chain link fence were put up and many trees were donated and planted. With all the proper permissions we began planning for a monastery that would house all the nuns that would soon be entering. We even obtained 2 mobile homes — one to temporarily serve as a Novitiate and one for a Guest House. God was blessing these efforts and we thought that God was answering the prayer that all of you have been saying with us for the permanent establishment of the Carmel of the Holy Face of Jesus.

Yet, a very short time ago, we have been faced with the possibility that maybe the answer to this prayer is no — such are the mysterious designs of God’s Will. We are not obliged to understand why things turn out the way they do but just to cooperate with them when His Will becomes apparent. So it is with great sadness that we are writing to inform you of the decision that has been made by our Superiors to close the Carmel of the Holy Face of Jesus. (The voice of our superiors is a most sure sign of the Will of God.) We do not have the required minimum number of nuns to remain open. With the Instruction for contemplative nuns (Cor Orans) which was issued from our Superiors in Rome in May of 2018, the minimum number of Professed Sisters required in order to be able to have a Novitiate and receive new members is 5. We have only 4 and our Monastery in Alexandria, South Dakota (from which we originally came) does not have any other Sisters to send to us. It is on this account that we are having to return to South Dakota.

Though the closing of the Carmel of the Holy Face of Jesus comes as a great disappointment to us and to all of you, we need to rely totally on our Faith in God that He is working some marvelous wonders of sanctity through this sudden turn of events. Trusting in the Goodness of God who has provided so bountifully for us these past 5 years, we cannot stop trusting Him now. Trusting in the Lord does not mean that if we pray the right prayer long enough and fervently enough that God will change His mind and let us stay. Trusting in God means believing that God is working through these circumstances to accomplish His loving plan for each one of us and that obeying our superiors will be the best thing for us… even if we don’t understand right now why it has to happen this way. Fortunately, as you have heard from us many times before, our main objective in establishing a monastery here was not just to build a monastic structure for ourselves – we have wanted to build faith in the hearts of individuals, of families and of parishes throughout the diocese of Bismarck and all of you who write and call from across the United States and beyond. This has been our main goal and we will continue to strive to fulfill it just the same, but from a different geographical location. There are no state boundaries where God’s love is concerned. You will ever have a special place in our hearts and prayers. We cannot but marvel at the bounteous Providence of God that we have experienced through the goodness and kindness of each one of you from the very day of our arrival in Hague up to this present moment, and we ask our most loving Father to abundantly reward each one, filling you to overflowing with His choicest blessings, as indeed we know He will.

There are, of course, a number of practical matters that must be taken care of in this process:

1) Mass stipends: Many people have sent us requests for Masses and our remaining time here will not be sufficient to have them all offered in our Chapel. Any Masses that are left will either be entrusted to our Chaplain, Fr. Leonard Eckroth, or sent to the priest at the Bismarck mission in Kenya.

2) Perpetual Enrollments: Those who have been enrolled in the perpetual prayers of the Sisters of the Carmel of the Holy Face of Jesus will now be added to the enrollment register in the Monastery of Our Mother of Mercy & St. Joseph in Alexandria, S.D., to which we will be returning. Please be assured that those perpetual prayers WILL CONTINUE to be offered!

3) Donated items: If anyone has donated something to the Carmel of the Holy Face of Jesus which is of sentimental value to themselves and they would wish these items to remain in a convent here in North Dakota please contact us as soon as possible, no later than June 15th. (701-336-7907) All those who have generously given to us will now be considered benefactors of our Sisters in Alexandria as well and will remain in our grateful prayers.

4) Building Fund: We had already contracted with our architect for the design/development of phase one before we received the news that we might be returning to Alexandria, and since the decision was not yet definitive, the work proceeded as agreed upon. Thus, all “donor designated” funds that were set aside for the building project have in fact been used toward planning for that intended end. If our present situation, so different from the hoped-for results of your generous gifts, presents a difficulty for those who donated to the building project, or for any other of our donors, please contact us and we will see what we are able to do. All the remaining funds of the Carmel of the Holy Face of Jesus will now provide for us at the Monastery of Our Mother of Mercy and St. Joseph in Alexandria, SD.

5) Present correspondence: Due to the many preparations needed for our return to Alexandria (which is scheduled for late summer), we will be unable to continue our correspondence beyond necessary business. Please be assured of our continued prayers for ALL of your intentions, despite our inability to respond by letter.

6) Future correspondence: For those of you who would like to continue participating in Carmelite Novenas and in requesting prayers throughout the year, you may contact us at the following address:

Carmelite Monastery
P.O. Box 67 a
Alexandria, S.D. 57311

You may also call in prayer requests at: (605) 239-4382.

We give thanks to our Father in Heaven for the countless blessings He has showered on us during our time in North Dakota and we ask Him to continue to bless all of you for your kind charity towards us. We ask you to join us in praying daily the enclosed Prayer for Vocations to the Contemplative Life, entreating Our Blessed Savior to renew and increase the contemplative life and, thereby, His whole Mystical Body, the Church. May our good Jesus grant that through an abundant outpouring of His Holy Spirit in our day, true contemplative vocations would abound, making it possible for the Diocese of Bismarck to one day have her own contemplative monastery.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make His Face to shine upon you,
and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up His Countenance upon you,
and give you peace.
Num. 6:24-26

Gratefully in Jesus, Mary and St. Joseph

Mother Mary Baptist of the Virgin of Carmel, O.C.D. and Community

 

Cloistered life, News

Carmelite Monastery in Launceston, Tasmania, Joins St. Joseph Association

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The Carmelite Monastery in Launceston, Tasmania, recently received approval from the Holy See to join St Joseph’s Association of Carmelite Monasteries in the US.

The Carmels that are part of this Association choose to live a traditional interpretation of the Rule given to them by St. Teresa of Avila.

The principal aims of the Association are:

In all the member monasteries of the Association, papal enclosure is observed, the full Carmelite habit is worn, and the traditional austerity of the Order is joyfully embraced.

Sprinkled into this blog post is artwork done by one of the Carmelite nuns in Launceston, Sr. Christina Mary of the Incarnation. She was tremendously encouraged by Pope Saint John Paul II’s Letter to Artists and continued on with her artistic works after entering religious life.

Launceston Carmel was founded from the Carmel in Adelaide, Australia, in June 1948 in the town of Longford, Tasmania. (Do you know that Australia was originally called by the early explorers “the Great South Land of the Holy Spirit”?)

The community moved to the present monastery built in the hills of West Launceston in April 1975 at the request of the then Archbishop Guilford Young to be nearer the priests and people. The parish priests in Launceston offer daily Mass which a small regular congregation also attend.

Carmelite Monastery
7 Cambridge St
Launceston TAS 7250
Australia
email: tascarmel1@gmail.com

News

Unveiling Newly Overhauled IRL Website!

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On this Feast of St. Benedict, the Institute on Religious Life is pleased and excited to announce that our newly re-designed ReligiousLife.com website went LIVE on Friday, June 28th, the Solemnity of The Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Designed by the Catholic Website Design Experts at Solutio (a very talented and very faithful web development group based out of Kansas) we hope you’ll agree that it is visually appealing and easy to navigate but more importantly content rich for discerners to religious life seeking information about the IRL’s affiliate communities as well as for those currently in religious life seeking resources and opportunities for ongoing formation.

We hope that our affiliates and friends will enjoy this new website and frequent it often for updates and information from the IRL. We invite and encourage all also to visit CloisteredLife.com and ReligiousBrotherhood.com to see the updates for both websites.

Affiliate communities: Please stay tuned for how you can contribute your current high resolution pictures, news, videos, and other content to serve as a window to the public about your communities and attract young people who are in the discernment process!

Liturgical Year, News

A New Idea for a Missalette: “Sing a New Song” by Rt. Rev. Abbot Marcel Rooney, O.S.B.

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Sing A New Song, published by A-R Editions, Inc. in Middleton, Wisconsin, is a Catholic worship resource combining new music settings for the Entrance and Communion Antiphons of the Roman Missal with the Readings and Psalms of the Lectionary for Mass to provide a comprehensive and reusable resource for the Mass. The music settings are arranged and composed by Right Rev. Abbot Marcel Rooney, O.S.B. (former Abbot Primate and President of the Orate Institute), creating melodies accessible to average parishioners.

The masses are organized by the Roman Calendar, with Liturgical Years A, B, and C each represented within a separate volume. These hard-cover volumes have the benefit of being as long-lasting as the Roman Missal and Lectionary, eliminating the need for annual, soft-cover resources. The books include: The Order of Mass; music settings for the Order of Mass; antiphons, readings, and psalms for each Proper Mass; antiphons, readings, and psalms for additional masses; and over 150 selected traditional hymns

There are 4 principles upon which this new work is based:

Theological Principle   – The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (# 14) stated this: “Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to that full conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy…”

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal gives directives for the implementation of how we are to do this.  We may take as an example, the Entrance Antiphon in the Missal.  Since we have generally lacked music appropriate for the singing of this Antiphon (and it is intended to be sung, not merely recited), most liturgical leaders have fallen back on the habit of singing hymns for the Entrance to Holy Mass.  The good thing about that practice is that it succeeds oftentimes in involving many of the congregation in this opening element of Holy Mass.  But it is not the tradition of the Roman Church.  We have always reserved opening various liturgies with hymns to other liturgies, e.g., the Liturgy of the Hours.  Holy Mass always had an Antiphon and Psalm for this opening element.  This new Missalette is intended to address this lacuna of the last fifty years, and in a way that makes it possible for the largest number of people to participate as we begin Holy Mass.

Musical Principle  –  The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of the 2nd Vatican Council stated this in #116: “The Church acknowledges Gregorian chant as especially suited to the Roman liturgy;  therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place in liturgical services.”   The Antiphons in the Missalette Sing a New Song are all based in Gregorian chant.  The composer has sung the chant for decades and his musical and prayer formation has been affected by the chant very profoundly.  The reader will note that each Antiphon even has the number of the Gregorian mode in which it is composed.  The author has provided a simple set of melodies embodying the eight ancient modal melodies and it is indicated at the beginning of each Antiphon.  The cantors verses will be sung in that mode, then, maintaining the spirit of the Antiphon itself.

Pastoral Principle – As has been stated already in regard to the directives of #48 of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, the people are to pray and sing the Antiphons provided by the Church. The music composed for the Antiphons in this Missalette embody the belief that the people’s part should be kept to a small part of the original Antiphon, so that they can indeed participate fully.  The composer has had the opportunity to try out these Antiphons in  typical small town parishes, and with outstanding results, as regards the enthusiastic participation of the people, who pick up the melodies after only one or two repetitions.

Practical Principle  – It is a concern for anyone who cares about the environment, that as a normal practice our parishes, taken as a whole, are throwing away every year thousands and thousands of missalettes, and then buying new ones in time for the 1st Sunday of Advent.   One of the values of this Missalette is that the Sundays are not dated by the given year’s calendar, but by the liturgical year’s calendar.  That means that they can be used over and over again. This Missalette will be published in separate editions for the A-Year, B-Year, and C-Year.  That means that the greater part of the expense of the Missalette will be born only in the first three years a community uses them.  At the end of the year, the sacristan can box them up and save them for reuse three years later.  This will mean a very great saving for budgets, as also a saving of the environment.

To learn more about Sing A New Song, call Lance Ottman at 608-203-2569. Or click here.

 

 

News

Holy Resurrection Monastery Welcomed as a New Affiliate!

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Holy Resurrection Monastery is a self-governing monastery sui juris under Catholic Canon Law.  There are currently five stavrophore (fully professed) monks, together with four rassophores (novices), and one postulant.  In 2011 they relocated from California to a monastery in the village of Saint Nazianz, Wisconsin (the town is named after one of the greatest Eastern saints, St. Gregory the Theologian, known in the West as St. Gregory Nazianzen).

Here, they strive to live the monastic life of prayer, work, and hospitality while contributing to the spiritual lives of their friends and neighbors (whether Eastern or Western Christians), especially through dedication to practical ecumenism. Abbot Nicholas is also responsible for overseeing the nuns of Holy Theophany Monastery, a dependency of Holy Resurrection Monastery.

In early 1995, several faithful Byzantine men came together and were initially received by His Grace, Bishop George (Kuzma), Eparch of the Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Van Nuys, California.  In 2005, at their request and with the approval of the Holy See, they were received under the holy omoforion (jurisdiction) of His Grace, Bishop John Michael (Botean), Eparch of the Romanian Catholic Eparchy of St. George in Canton, Ohio.  Bishop John Michael’s diocese covers the entire territorial United States and was recently extended to include some Romanian Catholic communities in Canada.

Speaking of Abbot Nicholas, he gives excellent reflections on what the Eastern churches can bring to the West.  Here is a sample from one of his homilies:

“…about the Byzantine Tradition I can say this. Mystery for us is not about just what we do in church, it is how we see everything, how we see reality. Every Christian is part of the hidden life of the Sacred Trinity. Every Christian is a mystic. Being a mystic means being a liturgical being, nothing more. Everything we do is, or ought to be, at least wrapped in the mystery of the direct experience of God. I can’t say this enough . . this sense of mystery is not just a feature of how we do church or how we do mass or how we do liturgy. It colors even how we see sin . . . not so much as a moral crime, but as a failure to worship, not the exercise of a defiant human will in opposition to God, not an exercise of freedom, but a failure to be who we deep down in our hearts want to be.”

Their liturgical services (Divine Liturgy as well as the Divine Office) are in English with some Greek, Romanian, and Slavonic sprinkled throughout. Visitors are welcome to come on private retreats alone, as couples, or in small groups.

Holy Resurrection Monastery
300 S 2nd Ave
PO Box 276
St. Nazianz, WI 54232
Telephone: (920) 881-4009
Email:  monks@hrmonline.org

News, Women's Communities

Sister Servants of the Eternal Word – New Affiliate!

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The Sister Servants of the Eternal Word are a new community of religious women in Irondale, Alabama, founded by Mother Mary Gabriel in 1987 with the apostolate of retreats and catechesis.  Before founding their community, Mother Mary Gabriel was a Dominican Sister of the Congregation of St. Cecilia in Nashville, Tennessee.  She taught and administered schools at both the elementary and high school levels and served as vicar of her community, all of which prepared her for the joys and the crosses that are inevitable when beginning a new foundation.

Recognizing that there is a great need in our time for catechesis and also for places that foster greater union with Our Lord through prayer, their community presents retreats in their Casa Maria Retreat House, offering formation in the Catholic Faith within the context of beautiful liturgies and Eucharistic devotion.  The truths of the Faith are authentically taught and ample opportunities are offered for reception of the sacraments and prayer, including daily Mass and the Rosary, as well as time for private prayer.  They also operate a bookstore, providing educational and inspirational Catholic materials and religious items.

The members of the community wear the habit as a visible sign of consecration and as a witness to the life of poverty.  Their habit reflects their Franciscan and Dominican heritage, consisting of a long white tunic with a brown cape, scapular, and veil.  They wear a rope cincture with three knots on their right side symbolizing their three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience (as worn by St. Francis) and a fifteen-decade rosary at their left side in honor of the Dominican tradition of praying the Holy Rosary.  They also wear a crucifix on a cord around their necks, so that, as Mother Mary Gabriel has said, “No one can look at us without thinking of Christ.”

They are eagerly awaiting the completion of the fourth and final phase of their building project, which will most importantly include their long-awaited large chapel. With 20 sisters in permanent vows and 5 in temporary vows, they will welcome the larger space in which to worship Our Lord.

Mother Mary Gabriel passed on to her eternal reward on July 23rd, 2017.  When she was asked about her numerous accomplishments, studies, and her earned degrees, she simply replied, “The letters after your name are worthless without the ‘st’ [Saint] before it.“

Cloistered life, News, Women's Communities

Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey Welcomed as a New Affiliate

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The IRL is pleased to welcome Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey as a new Affiliate Member. The Abbey is a cloistered, monastic community of 20 nuns of the Cistercians of Strict Observance (Trappist), striving to follow Jesus Christ through a life of prayer, silence, simplicity and ordinary work.

The Abbey was founded in 1964 when 13 nuns left the Mount Saint Mary Abbey in Wrentham, MA, to found an new community near Dubuque, Iowa.  Situated on a bluff overlooking the  Mississippi River, the nuns support themselves though the Trappistine Creamy Caramels they make themselves and sell by mail.

Seven times a day the nuns gather in the Abbey to sing God’s praises. All of their liturgies are open to the public. Four small guest houses are available for individuals or small groups wishing to make a private retreat in a beautiful, peaceful setting.

Stay in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything.

– Sayings of the Desert Fathers

Cloistered life, News, Women's Communities

Sr. Mary Wilhelmina, OSB, first Prioress of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, Dies at Age 95

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From the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles….
+PAX
Dear Family, Friends and Benefactors,
Mother Abbess and the Sisters humbly request your prayers for the soul of our beloved Sister Mary Wilhelmina of the Most Holy Rosary, osb (née Mary Elizabeth Lancaster) who passed away peacefully at 8:35 PM on Wednesday, May 29th, 2019 having been strengthened by the Last Sacraments and the entire community surrounding her in prayer. It seems Our Lord could not have granted a more consoling departure from the community, who loved her so dearly.
Sister became unresponsive on Saturday morning. Nevertheless, several times she joined in as best she could while the Sisters sang Marian hymns and prayed the Rosary between Sunday and Wednesday. She also briefly smiled at the Sisters gathered around her.
On May 29th, the feast of the Ascension having begun with First Vespers, the whole community assembled at 7:00 PM in Sister’s cell while Mother Abbess read to Sister Wilhelmina and all of us the various notes of assurance of prayers, along with prayer requests from family and friends. At this time Sister was not actively conscious, though it cannot be doubted that she indeed was taking all to heart. After singing some more of her favorite Marian hymns, the community chanted Compline in her cell. As Mother Abbess was giving the traditional sprinkling of holy water to the community, peacefully and without a struggle, Sister Wilhelmina breathed forth her last breath immediately after Mother Abbess blessed her with holy water, as the Sisters finished the antiphon Vidi aquam.
Sister Wilhelmina once was asked who was her favorite Benedictine saint, she replied, “St. Bede the Venerable, of course! I became a Benedictine on his feast you know.” 1300 years ago on this very feast, St. Bede the Venerable also expired peacefully as the evening Offices were being completed. Though it was Rogation Wednesday, according to Liturgical accounting he is said to have died on the Ascension, since First Vespers of this feast had been chanted, and it was an hour after sunset. Following not only in her beloved saint’s footsteps in the love of the Divine Office and our Blessed Lady, our dear Sister Wilhelmina followed him even in the manner of death.
Sister’s final words were “O Maria” on Tuesday afternoon, as the Sisters sang one of her favorite hymns: “Hail Holy Queen Enthroned Above.”
Sister Wilhelmina has long been the treasure of the community, both by right as our first Prioress and through her exemplary conduct as a Bride of Christ. We are deeply saddened at the loss of her beautiful example. Sister Wilhelmina recently celebrated her 75th anniversary of vows and her 95th birthday, so we remain deeply grateful to God for her persevering fidelity and faithful service.
Many years ago, our first chaplain asked Sister Wilhelmina “why did you become a religious?” Her instantaneous reply was: “because I was in love with Our Lord.” It could be easily said even in her declining years that she never fell out of love with Him. Let us unite in loving prayers that the love she bore for her Divine Bridegroom likewise bears her directly to His embrace.
All are invited to pay prayerful respects at the wake, which will begin immediately in the Chapter House at the Abbey until the Funeral Mass. Traditionally, a silent wake is kept so that the community may take turns praying the psalms, so we do ask that all talking cease upon entry into Chapter House on the southeast side of the church. The Funeral Mass (Requiem) will be offered in the Abbey church at11:00 AM on Friday, May 31st. Sr. Wilhelmina will be buried at the Abbey cemetery immediately following Mass. All are welcome to the reception to follow in the basement of the Abbey Church.
Thank you for your many prayers for the soul of dear Sr. Wilhelmina, and for our entire community. May God bless and reward you all.
In Corde Mariae,
Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles