October 6, 2010

Oh, so many things to write about!

First was the celebration of the Feast of St. Francis on Monday. Our celebration starts with the Transitus the evening before the Feast. The Transitus is a prayer service commemorating the death of St. Francis. Seven Sisters, Associates and Friends do the acting out of the narrative with another group reading the dialogue. It is a prayerful time for all who attend. The Feast itself started with Morning Prayer together in chapel, followed by brunch. Next is Mass and lunch. And the day ended with Evening Prayer and a festive meal. It was a good day. St. Francis, pray for us.

 

Sunday noon we participated in the Blessing of the Animals at the little park across from the Episcopal Church. There were LOTS of dogs, two cats and a gerbil. At Brainerd’s blessing they blessed a pet snake, too.

Last Saturday we hosted the 50th Orphan Train Reunion. We had a full house with over 150 guests. The main morning event was a theatrical performance by Pippa White. In spoken narration and song, she gave a touching presentation of the history of the Orphan Train and the stories of some of the riders. Senator James Oberstar was one of the speakers in the afternoon. In the United States there are still 100 survivors who rode the Orphan Trains…Minnesota has 11 of these and six of them attended the reunion. Orphan Trains ran from 1854 until 1929. An estimated 250,000 children from the urban East Coast, predominately New York, were placed out on what has become known at the orphan trains. One of the planners for the reunion purchased a Lionel train which was given away at the end of the day. One lucky Orphan Train descendent went home with a nice toy for her grandchildren to play with when they got to Grandma’s house. Our 98-year-young Sister Justina had a wonderful day visiting with her many family and friends.

Yesterday morning when we came to prayer we had a special birth. A beautiful Monarch Butterfly spread its wings for the first time. After prayer we set the bouquet outside and during the day the butterfly took flight and left us.

Tomorrow we have the flu clinic for Sisters and Employees. I’m scheduled for 8:45 a.m. I hope you seriously consider getting a flu shot, too.

Sunday the Associates will have their day with the renewal of their commitments and new persons making their commitment. More about that next week.

God bless you.

Sister Mary Lou