Newsletter #18 - Winter Wonderland
A Letter from Mother Mary Bethany
Dear friends of Our Lady,
Greetings from a winter wonderland! At last we have had a snowfall worthy of the name, coating the trees with white, freezing our pond, and making the driveway challenging. The Sisters took advantage of the beautiful snowscape to go sledding, and this brought to mind an illustration of the situation so many of us find ourselves in right now: the mandate to deepen our faith.
The Sisters would position themselves on the sleds at the very edge of the hill, and with “a little help from their friends” were soon careening down the slope, snow flying every which way, to the sound of joyful laughter. It seemed to show how we the faithful must go to the very edge of human reason, and with the help of the angels to propel us, go forward in faith, no matter how many times the sled turns over or we hit a bump or we even end up turning around and facing the very hill we just embarked from! And don’t forget the laughter! No matter how things appear, a sense of humor helps keep our perspective from darkening and getting the picture out of focus.
We have nothing but thanks for the support that the Auxiliary is to us. Jim MacEgan has a core of friends who do everything from cutting and stacking our firewood, to putting up or taking down our Christmas decorations, with speed and courtesy. All of you are contributing in your own way to helping our community stay afloat, and we draw much strength from your friendship. We are all in Mary’s family together, and we appreciate you mightily!
We look forward to getting our orchards and garden boxes in shape for a hearty harvest, God willing, if the bear cubs don’t despoil the trees first! We pray daily for all of you, and wish you a joyful Spring time with a holy Lent and a glorious Easter Triduum. In the meantime – happy sledding into deeper faith!
Mother Mary Bethany and Sisters
Auxiliary News
Happy New Year to you all. We have a little news to share with you this month. First of all, and most importantly, we have to change the date of the annual fundraiser luncheon to September 28.
The reason is that St. Mel’s is having their annual parish festival on October 5, and we don’t want to interfere with that! So please mark your calendars for September 28 for the Carmelite Luncheon at St. Mel’s!
The Quilting Ladies are gearing up to make the annual quilt now. If you are interested in helping to sew the quilt, please contact me through our website or by email or phone. I can send you a list of all our coming sewing dates. It’s a lot of fun and very interesting. I didn’t know much at all about making a quilt before I started helping out; now I am ready to do one on my own!
There are two events upcoming at St. Clare Parish in Roseville. The first is a Divine Mercy Conference on February 22-23. The Friday evening hours are 5:00-8:00, and the Saturday hours are 9:30-4:00 (morning Mass is at 8:30.) The speaker is Dr. Bryan Thacher and the cost is $20.00 in advance and $25.00 at the door. Contact St. Clare Parish Office at 916-772-4717 to register.
The second event at St. Clare Parish in Roseville is on March 1-2. A very special and unique relic is coming to Roseville: the incorrupt heart of St. John Vianney! The relic arrives on Friday evening, March 1, at 9:00 PM. Veneration of the relic is open all night long, and concludes at the 8:30 AM Mass on Saturday March 2. The Mass will be offered by Bishop Jaime Soto. Everyone is invited and it is bound to be an amazing ceremony. I hope you can come.
We are not planning on any special prayer days this Spring, but we do have a Day of Reflection at the Monastery on May 18 for our Board members. If you would like to join us, or if you would be interested in joining our Board, please contact me. You would be most welcome. Many hands make light work! The theme for our Day of Reflection is Intercessory Prayer (especially for the Souls in Purgatory.)
Blessings to you all for a tolerable winter and a peaceful Spring, when all our spirits can feel renewed.
In Christ,
Patty MacEgan
Carmelitehelpers@gmail.com