Some kind of wonderful

A busy weekend and a busy week coming up. ..(it’s always good to have something going on!)

On Saturday, about 65 Orphan Train descendants met for their annual get-together. The morning speaker was Sandy Thalmann from Rochester, MN. She is an adoptee, social worker and professional genealogist. I found it to be a very enlightening talk. Then the entertainment in the afternoon was provided by a group of young Irish Dancers from St. Paul. I was impressed at how fast they could move their feet and keep the top part of their body so still.

Saturday evening we had the “Transitus” Prayer Service which is always the night before the Feast of Saint Francis. The Transitus is a commemoration in drama, readings and song of the time of Saint Francis’ death. The Chapel, in semi darkness, and the words of St. Francis make for a powerful time of prayer. Afterward all were invited to the dining room for almond cookies—Saint Francis’ favorite cookies made by his friend, Lady Jacoba. (Since the chapel was too dark to take pictures, I took a picture of the cookies instead.)

Bishop Don Kettler was the presider at our 8:30 a.m. Sunday Mass. In the afternoon he had a fund-raising event at the Falls Ballroom.

And in the afternoon we had an Open House celebrating Consecrated Life. About 80 people came to have tours and to visit with the sisters. For at least four guests it was the first time they have ever been to St. Francis Convent. At 3 p.m. all were invited to the special Holden Evening Prayer that we use on special occasions. It was a very nice afternoon.

Tuesday afternoon we have registration for our four-day “Discerning Our Future” Community meetings that start at 6:00 p.m. Please keep us in prayer. Thank you.

This coming Sunday is Associate Commitment Day. I’ll have more about that next week.

Peace and All good.

Sister Mary Lou

The legacy continues

The radio guy just said that today will be the warmest day of the week. What joyful news!?! It is 9:30 a.m. and it is still minus 4 degrees.

Last Friday the Franciscan Sisters hosted the Chamber of Commerce Friday Morning Coffee event. With the 6 to 8 inches of new snow last Thursday/Friday the number of guests was much smaller than usual. One thing that was sure, was that no one who came had a problem finding a parking place! We were very pleased to have had at least 35 guests, many of whom were Sisters—and we live right here.

The biggest event this week, that I know of, is the celebration of the Founding of our Little Falls Franciscan Sisters Religious Community 123 years ago. Bishop Donald Kettler will be here to celebrate the 11 a.m. Mass with us.

March 2nd is the 110th Birthday of Dr. Seuss, author of Cat in the Hat, Red Fish Blue Fish and many other books for children and adults. I thank God for authors and story tellers who help us use our imaginations and stimulate our thinking.

The statue of St. Francis in the courtyard is up to his neck in snow. Come spring, come.

Have a good week. Stay safe and healthy.

Peace and blessings,
Sister Mary Lou

If These Walls Could Speak

Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary—Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray us, the needs of the people of our Country and our governmental leaders that they work for the Common Good.

A beautiful fall day is ours, this day. We had a couple inches of rain the past weekend. I was in Browns Valley yesterday. They had lots of rain in the western part of our state…ditches full of water and wet fields, too. I saw many flocks of migrating black birds and lots of birds lined up on the high-line wires. I am grateful that we didn’t get the snow they had in the Black Hills. Pictured are some scenes from around campus.

Thursday evening we had the Transitus Prayer Service in our Chapel. The Transitus is a service that remembers the death of St. Francis and the messages he gave to some of his followers before his death. It is such a prayerful and inspiring presentation. I did get a couple pictures of a few of the actors. Thank you for a great prayer experience.

Our feast of St. Francis was wonderful. We had Morning Prayer together in Chapel followed by a delicious brunch. Many Associates and Secular Franciscans joined us for a festive Mass with a beautiful homily given by Sr. Elise. The extra voices made for great music. In the evening we were treated to a spectacular concert by The Rose Ensemble. This group of about a dozen performers sang us a history of American Blue Grass music. We look forward to their coming back again. The acoustics in our Chapel is great and musicians like to perform there.

Saturday’s big event was hosting the 53rd Orphan Train Reunion. The 100+ attendees came from CA, FL, AZ, MN and many points in between. The program presenters sang songs telling stories of Orphan Train riders and showed slides of many Orphan Train riders. The presenters, from Texas, also did a Program to sold-out crowds, on the 3rd and 6th of October at the Union Depot in St. Paul. The table decorations were train engineer caps with a kerchief similar to what they wore around their necks. A railroad lawyer and engineers have now gotten interested in the history of the Orphan Train Riders and have provided much useful history to the Orphan Train leaders and riders.

Yesterday’s St. Cloud Times had a very nice article on the St. Francis Music Center’s Sestri (“Sisters” in Bohemian) choral group. The group of approximately 20 Sestri members, sing Slavic folk songs in the native languages. Celo V’ec directs the chorus.

Last week, too, was Sr. Jeanne Winter’s funeral. Here are a couple pictures from her memorial boards. Note the card made with pheasant feathers. She also did lots of tatting—an art I have not yet learned. I need someone to show me how to do it.

Some 300 pounds of cabbage were cut up and are now in the crock jars fermenting into sauerkraut. Thank you, Larry for all the cabbage you donated to us. I will think of you each time we have sauerkraut for meals for the next year. If I remember correctly, Sr. Ruth said she made 48 gallons of kraut.

Next week (Sunday afternoon through Wednesday) we will be having Community Meetings and all the Sisters from far and wide will be here. Please keep us in your prayers. The first ones will start arriving tomorrow. It is always good to have everyone here. Lord, give safe travel. Thanks.

Peace and blessings,

Sister Mary Lou

The gift of Jubilee is a time to reflect and remember

A Jubilee Reflection 

The gift of Jubilee is a time to reflect and remember what has been, what is and what is yet to come.

Last week I was reading a book authored by Pope Francis.

He says: We need to remember our beginnings…
-Our beginning in God

-Our beginning of our Christian Life

-Our beginning of our Vocation and

-Our beginning of our Ministry.

It is with gratitude that I think of my beginning in God which came about because of the love of my parents, Emma and Louie, for each other. It was their care and love that nurtured me and my siblings in our growing up years…showing by example how to love and care for one another and for God’s creation. I am grateful for my family that was and is mine. I ask blessings on all who have cared for me in my formative years…my parents, grandparents, family members, pastors, teachers, etc.

I think of the Beginning of my Christian Life. Because of Baptism, and through the other Sacraments, I/we are members of God’s Family…the gift of Faith and the ability to Hope for the blessings of God in this life and in the next! WHAT A BLESSING! It is God’s free gift to us given because of God’s great love for me/us…not earned or merited, but freely given. God has sustained me in my weakness, trials, fears and challenges. For this I am grateful.

I think of the gift of my Vocation. I am grateful for my call to be a Franciscan Sister of Little Falls. If I had to do it over, I’d still and always be a Franciscan Sister of Little Falls. This Way of Life after the Way of St. Francis and St. Clare, has been and is so good for me. To have the support of all the Sisters who have been my companions these many years has indeed been a blessing. These have been years of giving and receiving the graces given by a God who loves each of us greatly.

The Gift of Ministering as a teacher and principal in the Catholic Elementary Schools had so many blessings in the students, teachers and parents that were and continue to be part of my life. Yes, there were challenges and tough spots, but we've weathered the storms and became better people because of it. The ten years of going with 6th Graders and their parents to the Environmental Learning Center at Isabella, MN stand out in my memory as wonderful times. These were weeks of outdoor and environmental education in the North Woods of Minnesota, north of Duluth.

Through the years, I have become so much more aware of the beauty of creation, the beauty of the earth—its farm lands, the mountains, the lakes, the rivers, the forests, the animals and birds. It is so easy to take all this for granted. Now I say, “Thank You” to God in letting me see and hear and be part of this wonderful world.

All is Gift..Jubilee is such a gift of affirmation and love. I am grateful for what has been. I look back on the past with joy. I celebrate the present with laughter and love. I anticipate the future with a heart full of hope.

May the Lord enrich your life with every good thing and may Jesus’ love renew and strengthen you.

Thank You for being part of my Jubilee.

Peace and blessings,

Sister Mary Lou

“It’s a Blessing to Celebrate the Good Things

God is Doing in Your Life.”

Praise be to God for the rain

Praise God for the 1¼ inches of rain we received over the weekend.  Things were starting to look pretty dry.  I am amazed at how full of leaves all the trees are already.  I have two outside my window that always take a long time to get started, but they are catching up really fast now.  I can’t imagine living in a place where there are few or no trees.

Last week was a busy week.  Monday evening our Franciscan Community Volunteers shared with us some of the activities they have been involved in the past 8 months in the St. Cloud area.  These three women and two men have been a great blessing for our Church and the areas of their volunteer labors this past year.  Now they are taking applications for next year’s group of volunteers.

Tuesday, the Feast of St. Isidore, we had the blessing of lawns, gardens, fields and the orchard.  We gathered outside the east convent door after Mass where Fr. Dalseth blessed the water and lead the prayers.  Then, Sisters Ruth and Helen took the water to sprinkle the lawns gardens and orchard.  Lord, give us a good growing season and protect us from violent storms. 

Tuesday evening we had a great Volunteer Appreciation party. Kathy did a marvelous job of making us believe we had taken a trip to Hawaii.  St. Francis Hall was decorated as I’ve never before seen it decorated.  Beautiful!  LOTS of Volunteers and Sisters ate Hawaiian foods, listened to Hawaiian music, enjoyed a skit and the dancing that followed.  Thanks, Kathy to you and your helpers for making it such an enjoyable night.

We had two gatherings to show our appreciation to two employees who will be leaving us.  On Tuesday it was for Jennifer, who will be moving to Colorado.  She’s been a blessing for all she’s done in both our Volunteer and Health and Rec Departments these past 8 years.  Thank you, Jennifer.  As a gift Jennifer received a set of St. Francis pictures drawn by Sister Jean.

Wednesday we honored Sandy.  We will all miss Sandy, too.  She’s been with us for 21 years taking care of our sick and elderly Sisters.  She got a pack of balloons—one for each year she’s been employed here.  Sandy will be receiving a statue of St. Francis for her garden.  Thank you, Sandy for being a faithful and loving friend.

Thursday evening several of us Sisters went to Maple Island Park (a few blocks north of the Convent) for the Take Back the Night event honoring the many women, children and men victims of sexual and physical abuse.  They had a garden of little paper flowers to represent the 305 victims the Hands of Hope group helped this past year.  Patty Wetterling  was the speaker.  She speaks from her heart as she tells of the many programs in place now that were not there when her son Jacob was abducted 23 years ago, and never found.  Then, 65% of abducted victims were found.  Now it is 97%.  For the 3% it is still an awful thing.

May is Senior Citizens Month—that includes almost everyone living here at the Motherhouse in Little Falls.  Wednesday afternoon we will celebrate us “oldies” with a Banana Split Party.

The puzzlers finished another hard puzzle of coins.  It took quite a while to accomplish the task.

This coming Sunday we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost.  May the Holy Spirit guide and direct you in all you think, do and say.  Wear red, too.

Peace and blessings, 

Sister Mary Lou

Two months from today is Christmas!

Do you have your shopping done and the cards sent out? Not me.

Last Sunday was World Mission Sunday—a day to remember and support Missionaries throughout the world who spread the Word of God. Let us support missionary activity through prayer and economic aid. Sister Joel put up a nice ambiance reminder and then also used the altar hanging we received from Africa. We’ve had many Sisters serve in the foreign missions since our first venture of “To Peru in 62.”

Sunday afternoon was special because about 15 KC’s came to the Motherhouse and served cake and ice cream to all of us and our guests. What a nice treat. They have been doing this for at least the last 10+ years. Thank you, gentlemen. We are grateful.

Tomorrow we will have a Farewell get-together to thank Sister Donna for her 36 years of service in the Community Relations Department. That’s a lot of typing and writing of the weekly Community News Letters. Thank you, Sister, for all that time and work spent at the computer.

Thursday evening we will have the Take Back the Night program and shirt display in the St. Francis Gym. This program helps make us aware of the extent of domestic violence. At the in-service I attended this morning we were told that 1 of 4 women are assaulted by their partner and 12 were killed in MN last year. She also talked about the ways children are affected by domestic violence. Hands of Hope, a local group, helped over 300 people last year. Let us work and pray for an end to this abuse.

Tuesdays and Thursdays we’ve been watching a series of ½-hour DVDs to let us know about the changes in the Roman Missal that will be taking place the First Sunday of Advent. These have been informative.

Last week many Sisters were helping clean grapes for juice and jelly.

And last week, too, they finished stuffing envelopes for our Christmas Appeal. Here are the boxes all ready to go to the post office in a couple weeks. Thank you, volunteers.

The Music Center will have two Music Recitals Sunday afternoon—at 1 and 3 p.m. in Room 242 at St. Francis Center.

Last Saturday I attended the SFO Fall Gathering at the St. Paul Cathedral. It’s been many years since I visited the Cathedral. It is such a beautiful Church. While on my way to the basement meeting room I came across a plaque of St. Justin on the wall. Since I received the name “Justin” on my Reception Day, that saint is still special to me. The meeting was good and the high-point was Mass in the main Church.

God bless you. Sister Mary Lou