9/14/11

Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross

Fall is coming. The temperatures are on the downward slope. Sr. Ruth is busy picking the last of the garden produce before the freeze predicted for tonight. Sr. Joel has been busy making pickles. In the kitchen I saw several gallons of bread and butter pickles and then outside in the courtyard, in the sun was a cart full of dill pickles.

Our Friend, Larry Anderson from Morris brought us a pickup load of vegetables Sunday…335 pounds of cabbage, pails of green peppers, and boxes of beautiful tomatoes. Next week Sr. Ruth will be make sauerkraut. Thank you, Larry, for your generosity.

Cool temperatures would have been had to believe on Saturday and Sunday at the Little Falls Arts and Crafts Fair when it was sunny and in the mid to upper 80s. For a few people it was too much heat and they needed medical attention and needed to get to cooler places.

I spent a lot of time the two days looking at and complimenting vendors on their beautiful works of art. They use their talents and creativity so well. We had a good turnout of shoppers both days. I really like this city event…and it is good to see my returning vendors on Kidder Street and Broadway each year. We had 34 vendors staying at St. Francis Center for a few nights. Many vendors stayed in St. Cloud, Brainerd, Long Prairie and other places a distance from Little Falls.

Another event on the weekend was the “We HONOR THEE” American Flag display sponsored by the Little Falls Exchange Club. There were 1,000 American flags. I had goose-bumps as I turned the corner and saw all the flags blowing gently in the wind. It was beautiful. This community project was intended to promote Americanism and to be a charitable fundraiser for “Beyond the Yellow Ribbon—Morrison County.” This program helps returning veterans and their families and alerts them to services available to them in the challenges they face when they come home.

Tonight is the first of Sister Maristell Schanen’s 11-part series of talks: Christology in an Evolving Church. The hour-long presentations are at 6:15 every other Wednesday in St. Francis Hall. Just to be present for the talks is an honor…to say nothing of the amount of wisdom she shares with us. We are so lucky.

Saturday and Sunday we have a Campus Ministry retreat at St. Francis Center. And on Saturday is also the Fall Day of Reflection. Then on Sunday, the18th, we have Donor Appreciation Day. For that we are expecting about 200 guests.

Monday we celebrated Sr. Julien’s birthday and on Thursday we will celebrate Sr. Bea Eichten’s birthday. Sr. Bea is our Community Minister. We are grateful for the lives of these two women who do so much for our Franciscan Community.

For my birthday I wanted rosette cookies in the shape of hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades {because I play cribbage every opportunity I have.} So that is what Terry made for my treat. They were yummy!

With delight many Sisters and employees were on hand to welcome two Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph (FSJ) from Kenya when they arrived at St. Francis Convent on September 8th. Sister Claudia Wandabwa and Sister Mary Idah Ajwang will be with us for two months. While here they will continue to nurture and deepen the relationship between our two communities and also learn about grant writing and development. Welcome Sisters.

This month New Hampshire is the state whose foods are being featured in the cafeteria. Some menu items for today are: McIntosh apple coffee cake, mock lobster salad, maple glazed turkey, and pumpkin mousse.

God bless and continue to care of you.

Sister Mary Lou

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