A good memory!

September 8, 2014- Feast of the Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Yesterday was the Feast of St. Cloud, the patron of our Diocese. At Mass we had special readings and special prayers asking the intercession of St. Cloud on the Churches and People of our St. Cloud Diocese. St. Cloud, continue to bless us and pray for us.

As happens the first Thursday of every month we had our hour of Taize Prayer from 6 to 7 p.m. It is wonderful to see 25 or so pray-ers gathered for contemplative prayer.

Father Deo did an EnLUNCHment presentation last Wednesday noon for Sisters and Employees. He told about his ministry and life in Tanzania. Archives out up a display of items Sisters who have worked in Africa brought home. Note the ostrich egg being held by a stuffed-toy ostrich. Sr. Tonie said that one egg serves 7+ people.

After the mid-70 degree temperatures during the Arts and Crafts Fair there is going to be a big cool-down by mid-week when we can see temp of highs in the 50s and lows in the 40s…and storms Tuesday night on. Time to get the warmer clothing out of storage!

The Little Falls Arts and Crafts Fair is now a memory…a very good memory! Most all the vendors that I talked to had a very good experience…and all were very pleased with the very nice weather. (Last Wednesday we had 4 to 5+ inches of rain in the big, damaging storms that went through our area.) As a Block Host, I spent many hours at the Fair. I always enjoy seeing the wonderful, creative items the vendors make. All the beds were used in St. Francis Center by vendors who stayed here for a couple nights. By this morning the city streets are all cleaned and you’d never know we had such a big event and thousands of visitors were here over the weekend. Here are a few pictures.

Have a good week.

Peace and God bless you.
Sister Mary Lou

Wind Beneath my Wings

When I see “September,” I say to myself, “Summer is over. And school is in session.” And so it is.

This morning we had a Mass for Peace in our Chapel. Bishop Donald Kettler is having a Mass for Peace at the St. Cloud Cathedral of St. Mary today, also. The songs at Mass were all about peace and healing. With so much war and fighting and hurt in our world, it is so necessary for all of us to pray and work for peace.

At the end of Mass Yesterday, Sr. Susan lead us in a blessing for Sr. Mary Hrosikoski and Sr. Ange Mayers who will moving to our mission in Monterrey, Mexico. They will be forming community with Sisters Isabel Berrones and Sister Janice Wiechman. We wish them God’s blessings in their new home.

Our Constitutions say that when a member of the Leadership Team dies, they are to appoint a new member to the Leadership Team. Sr. Carolita Mauer died on July 13th. Sister Grace Skwira was appointed to fill out Sr. Carolita’s term of office. Today is Sr. Grace’s first day at her new job in her new office.

The mailroom is a busy place. These boxes on the cart came in today and the other pile will go out by UPS tomorrow. Once upon a time our UPS service came out of Brainerd. Then “they” switched us to the St. Cloud center. Today we are back with the Brainerd distribution center. I will need to assure Tom that it not every day we have so many boxes coming and going.

Last evening I went for a little ride around campus. Here are a couple pictures of what I saw.

The Minnesota State Fair closed yesterday after a ten-day run. We had our own fair here at the Convent. Sisters and employees shared some of their works of art. I was impressed at the beautiful items they made. Live animals were: a pony, chickens and a cat! The ice cream truck came so we enjoyed special treats, too.

This coming weekend ( Sept.6 & 7) is the 42nd Little Falls Arts and Crafts Fair. Our Little Falls Arts and Crafts Fair is one of the top arts and crafts fairs in the country according to Sunshine Artist magazine. There will be about 600 vendors…with 99 of these being new vendors. Please pray for favorable weather. Last year the 2nd day was pouring rain all day. The vendors went home…and the Fair was over.

We had a one-day Red Cross Blood Drive on Thursday. Wow! Our goal was 121 and we got 152 units of blood. They even had to turn away a couple walk-ins because there wasn’t time to take everyone. God bless all who came to share the gift of life.

Something happened in August that will not happen again for another 823 years. What was it? There were five Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in August. We won’t be around to witness the next time it happens!

On August 24th the parish of St Bartholomew in Maracay, Venezuela, started a Jubilee Year to celebrating its 50th anniversary. Nine of our Sisters: (Sisters Rita Barthel, Ruth Nistler, Joan Gerads, Agnes Soenneker, Jean Yoerg, Maurita Bernet, Audrey Loher, Cheryl Biever, Loretts Denfeld) served in that parish from 1967 to 1986. During Vatican Council II, in the early 1960s, our Bishop Peter Bartholome (1953-1968) met the Bishop of Venezuela who said, “I desperately need help.” It was after that that St. Cloud Diocese started sending missionaries to Maracay, Venezuela. Father James Minette and Father Mark Willengring were two of the first priests to start the new parish.

I’ve been praying for students and teachers these days. May you all have a wonderful year.

Peace and blessings,
Sister Mary Lou