Archive for the ‘Celebrations’ Category

A VISIT FROM AFAR
Father Patrick Chisanga, OFM, Conv. visits us from Zambia.  He is the newly elected minister of the Zambian Province of the African Martyrs.

Good morning, friends,

Please note the change of time for Eucharist on Saturday, August 27, 2011.  Fr. Kevin  McDonough will preside at 7:30 am.

We hope that you can join us.

Your  Sisters at St. Clare’s

Some views around the Chapel for the feast.

It is the feast of St Clare of Assisi, friend of Francis and of all the brothers and sisters who love the Lord and follow the Gospel of Jesus.  You are invited to join us for the celebration.

We begin with the Office of Vespers at 5:00 PM August 10.

At 7:30 PM we celebrate the Transitus of Clare, a special para-liturgy remembering the life and death of Clare, and her special presence with us today.

Lauds is at 8 AM and the Eucharist at 9 AM, followed by refreshments and conversation in our hospitality area.

Easter, 2011

The story began in a garden, the garden of Eden. The story continues in the garden of Gethsemane, and up the hill of Calvary and down to the garden of the Resurrection.  The garden is a place of encounters, for unexpected meetings.  In the Scripture Readings of the Lenten/Easter Season we move through garden settings where God meets God’s people. In each chapter of the story we are invited to step into the setting, find our place, and engage our hearts with our own contribution to the story.

This Easter card pictures the garden setting at the back of our chapel.  Before the Lord’s Passion there was the Passover meal, a familial gathering at which Jesus introduced the great sacrament of the washing of feet. “If I do not wash your feet you will have no part with me…as I have done so must you do.” (John 13)

Here at the monastery on Holy Thursday we have three stations at the back of the Chapel, with three pottery pitchers and bowls, each with a stack of towels nearby.  Everyone is encouraged to wash another’s feet and to have his or her feet washed in return.  The accompanying songs reflect Christ’s love for us and our love for one another.  In that love we pray with you,

Christ is Risen!

Easter light fills the world as Christ’s presence is revealed

in love, service and compassion.

Your Sisters of St. Clare

www.stclaresrochester.org

The story began in a garden

Be sure and check out the link to Advent Reflections on the lower left hand side of the screen.  They are good for the whole Christmas season.

Secular Franciscans from St. Bonaventure Parish help get our yards read for winter.

Meet our new friends, Dr. Godfrey Mungal, dean of the engineering school  at Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California and Executive Assistant to the Dean, Christine Woodward.  You notice the name of the university and the city which takes its name from the school.  Santa Clara Mission was founded in 1777 by Spanish Franciscan missionaries.  In 1850 Jesuit missionaries continued the work at Santa Clara and began a school.  From this small beginning the Jesuits, alumni and friends have built the school into one of the premiere universities on the west coast.  Sr. Diane Short from Cincinnati Poor Clares and Sr. Beth Lynn from the  Poor Clares in Minneapolis were out to Santa Clara in October to prepare for a retreat for students and faculty from the University.

Easter, 2010 

Peace to you and yours!

When we lose a loved one in death, it can seem as if the warp and woof of our lives is unraveling. That was what the disciples of Jesus must have felt when a cruel death had claimed the life of their Lord. But on the Mother of all Sundays, the day of Resurrection, Jesus was back among those same disciples to show them – and us – new life.  His return from death taught the disciples – and us – about the eternal weave where nothing unravels, where there is hope for life unending.

This supports us in our lives, varied as they may be. We share life in its many forms; we enrich one another as we live more and more deeply into this Mystery that Jesus opens for us. Thank you for the many ways in which you share your lives and treasure with us. We join you in the prayer you make for your many needs. In the General Intercessions of Good Friday, we prayed for “the poor and disadvantaged, the humiliated and the weak, the unborn, the aged, the little ones of the earth, the homeless, the hungry, those without work, the sick and dying with their caregivers, those imprisoned in any way, the dehumanized and abused, the bereaved.” These are only some of the prayers we make as we gather many times each day to pray with and for you, for our world and Church.

This year’s early springtime in Minnesota enriches our “alleluias” of the Easter Season. The tulips, forsythia, daffodils, hyacinths, plus the returning birds of many songs and colors join us in the praise of our great God who fashions us all. Be abundantly blessed in all your comings and your goings, in your days and in your nights.  And please keep us in your prayer.

Your Poor Clare Sisters in Bloomington