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

August 30, 2010

Saturday was the anniversary of the “I Have a Dream“ speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. We have a ways to go to reach the ideal he spoke of. I like his quote saying, “The time is always ripe to do right.” Let’s go for it. Dr. Valeria Elverton Dixon says, “The words spoken on August 28th, 1963, remain our charge, to speed up that day when ALL God’s children will be able to sing, ‘Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.’”

Saturday a number of us went to The Crosier Communiy in Onamia, MN to celebrate the 50th Jubilee of Religious Profession of Fathers David Gallus and John Hawkins and Brother Robert Mandernach. Congratulations. It was a great afternoon and evening.

At our Sunday Mass yesterday, we had the commissioning of our five new Franciscan Community Volunteers (FCV). They will be serving the marginalized in the spirit of Saints Francis and Clare at the St. Cloud Children’s Home, Hands Across the World, Boys and Girls Club, Place of Hope and at Lutheran Social Services. Thank you, young people, for the good works you will be doing.

Our one-day Red Cross Bloodmobile stop last Thursday, was a GREAT success. Basically it was for type O blood, but they took all blood types. Our goal was 85 and we had 92 donations! Thanks to all the donors who came. Our next drive is November 3, 4, 5th. Mark your calendars.

The other day, as I was going home after work, I got a picture of Steve Januschka as he was heading out to mow some lawn area. He is a wonderful groundskeeper and does a great job of keeping the lawns and flowers looking good on our campus. With all the rain this summer he has not had to do as much watering, but had done a lot of lawn mowing. Thank you, Steve for the way you model generous service.

God bless him! Yesterday Larry brought us another 400+ pounds of cabbage. Tomorrow is sauerkraut-making-day in the Convent kitchen! They will be a busy crew. I’ll have a picture next week.

Yesterday the parish in Flensburg had a party to celebrate Sr. Bernarda’s 75th jubilee. After Mass they sang a blessing on her and had a pot-luck brunch with lots of goodies and a big cake with two pictures on it—one of her wearing the habit and one from now.

Today is the death anniversary for our Sister Rufina, “the Bee Lady.” She knew the art of bee keeping and provided lots of honey and beeswax for the convent. She would ask, “Have you seen a white bee?” When you said, “No” she would invite you to come to the candle shop and she’d remove the lid of a super and show you a white painted “B”. And then we’d all laugh.

Next Monday we celebrate Labor Day. Let us thank God for the ability to work…and let’s keep in prayer the many people who are looking for work and would love to have job.

And then the next day school starts for many students and teachers. May you all have a good year. I can hardly wait to go over to Lindbergh School and read to Mrs. Hanson’s first graders. I really like that volunteer job.

Then the Saturday and Sunday after Labor Day are the days for 38th Little Falls Arts and Crafts Fair. We are expecting about 600 vendors this year. We have 29 vendors staying at St. Francis Center and Sr. Christelle says we have three rooms yet available. I will again be a block hostess and look forward to meeting the vendors on my two blocks. Please pray for favorable weather. See some of you there…I hope.

The puzzle-putter-togetherers finished this puzzle last week. It was titled “One Hundred Chickens and One Worm.” I’ve looked and I still haven’t found the worm. I’m wondering if it isn’t inside some chicken!

God bless you. Keep safe and healthy.
Do something good for yourself and for someone else.

Peace.
Sister Mary Lou

September 16, 2009

Peace and all good. It has been a busy week and I have lots of things to write about.

For me the big event was the Arts and Crafts Fair held in the downtown area of Little Falls, MN. I love the Arts and Crafts Fair. I am a Block Host for south Kidder Street and one block on west Broadway. As Block Hosts the 80 of us volunteers are the liaison between the vendors and the Chamber of Commerce. On Friday evening we are there to see that vendors get set up on their correct 10 X 10 foot spot and have their license number displayed on the upper left hand corner of their booth. On Saturday and Sunday, I am around to check on how things are going and to look around at all the crafts. For me, it is a joy to see returning vendors and to meet the new ones. I generally check out the entire Fair. Because of my little battery operated cart, I can get around to all places. There are so many beautiful things to see…and so many nice people to meet. On my way home Saturday noon, in a four block stretch on our 3rd Street block I saw vehicles with the following license plates: CA, MN. IA, MT, CO, SC, ND, SD. DA, WI. That gives an idea of where shoppers and vendors come from. From what I heard, vendors had good sale days. Because of the pea-soup fog Saturday morning, the crowds didn’t get there until about 10 a.m. ….but they came! And they purchased!

On Sunday the Crosier Brothers and Priests had their BIG celebration in St. Cloud at the Cathedral and at the Civic Center. We were pleased to have 8 Sisters of St. Francis of the Holy Cross from Greenbay, WI, as our guests at St. Francis Center. Their Order was founded by Crosier Father Edward Francis Daems, 125 years ago. The Crosiers were celebrating their 800 anniversary of their founding and their 100 anniversary of serving in Minnesota. A Crosier priest comes to the Motherhouse each Friday to preside at our morning Eucharist. Congratulations. May God continue to bless and care for you, our Crosier Brothers.

The other evening as we were coming home from the Dairy Queen, traffic both directions was stopped. The reason: about 25 ducks were crossing the road from the river to someone’s lawn across the road. It makes me happy to know that wildlife is protected and cared for.

Last Friday there was a meeting for the District 5 Dietary Managers in St. Francis Hall. They had a very busy agenda. The 25 guests from Central Minnesota had several talks: Sister Latona did a presentation on preparedness for the H1N1 flu. Mary Beth Overland talked about conflict resolution. Sue Grossbauer reminded the dietary managers about the importance of safe care and use of eggs so as to prevent salmonella poisoning. And Ruth Land gave information on carb (carbohydrate) counting for diabetics. Terry Bernardy, our Dietary Manager edits the Newsletter for the state.

The 1000 piece The Olde General Store puzzle in the mailroom was completed the other day. Soon it will be taken apart and a new one started. It is great seeing so many Sisters sit for a few minutes (or longer) and work on assembling each new puzzle.

This coming Sunday is Donor Day. I know we will be having many guests for Mass, lunch and the program. We are grateful to all who support our ministries in any way. Our list of donors is long and we appreciate each one. Each is part of our serving God’s people. Thank you.

Enjoy these last days of summer. We’ve had six days of 80 degree temperatures this past week. The only rain we received was 12/100s of an inch just as the Arts and Crafts vendors were getting ready to assemble their booths. And on the farm program yesterday I heard the man say, “Possible frost the end of next week.” Oh, My!

God bless you,
Sister Mary Lou