It's been a busy July...

Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Franciscan Feast of the Canonization of Saint Francis, July 16, 1228, two years after Francis’ death

Here I am again! I wrote a blog on July 2nd and then forgot to forward the attachment to Kari. In that blog I said I’d be gone July 3 – 8 for a meeting of Secular Franciscans in Skokie, IL, north of Chicago. The meeting is called a “Quinquennial” (“Q” for short) because it happens once every five years. It was an excellent gathering. There were over 600 Franciscans in attendance. Sister Ilia Delio, OSF was one of the many speakers. My heart is filled with gratitude for having had the opportunity to attend.

We had a retreat for 50 Sisters here from July 7 – 13. Sister Jolynn Brehm, FSPA was the presenter. Those who attended, really appreciated the input and prayer times.

The big news of the past weeks was the sudden and unexpected death of Sister Mary Maristell Schanen , age 93, on Friday July 6th. We’ve known her health was failing these past couple months. But, her sudden death came as a surprise to all us. I had her as my Sophomore English teacher at St. Francis High School in 1950—51. She was a Franciscan Sister for 63 years. Sr. Maristell’s funeral was Friday, July 13th. Because of her many mission experiences, she had friends everywhere.

Friday night/Saturday morning was the 19th Annual Morrison County Relay for Life event held at the Community High School track and the Community Middle School. There were 34 teams and 389 walkers. Last year they raised over $146,000. This year they raised over $150,000. WOW! That is a LOT of money! The 2012 Committee and teams are to be commended for their work. The Franciscan Sisters donated cookies for the walkers. There was not a sound from the bleachers during Steve Emblom’s talk about his ongoing journey with cancer. The 10 p.m. talk by Greg Zilka was held inside the Middle School…again, very intent listening to the story of his journey with cancer. The Luminaria Ceremony and lighting of the MANY Luminiaria bags was not held because the bags got soaked in the 5:30 p.m. downpour. Later the skies cleared and the walking outside continued. One hundred eighty-five persons died of cancer in Morrison County last year.

Last evening, 15th, Sestri, a Woman’s Slavic Chorus gave a beautiful concert in our Chapel, to a very receptive audience. I got to chapel about 6:40 and there were only two of us there. By 7 p.m. the place was full. The 18 ladies sang 16 songs from the countries of Macedonia, Bulgaria and Croatia. Celo, the director, accompanied them on a drum for a few songs. “Sestri” means “sisters.” They will be doing a concert at Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis on July 29th at 3 p.m. If you are in the area, go attend a great musical experience.

On July 14th, MANY of our Sisters were part of the 300 Sisters at St Ben’s for the Conference for Women Religious of Region 11 LCWR. The title of the two talks by Professor Richard Gaillardetz was, “Renewal of Our Call as Members of a Vatican II Church.” He is presently the vice-president of the Catholic Theological Society of America. We all came away very enriched by the content of his talks and our small group discussions. A day well spent.

Thursday we will host a large reunion group of nurses and students from the now closed Breckenridge School of Nursing and St. Francis Hospital. Each year a number of nurses have had this reunion. This year it is being held here at St. Francis Convent so some of our Sisters who taught there can also visit their students, classmates and co-workers.

Girls Camp, the last week of June, was another great success. Thirty girls attended and had a wonderful time. And it appeared that the staff also had a good time. Sister Sharon’s cooking is always a treat.

This lovely statue of Jesus and the Children was donated Kevin Brown and will soon find its way to the Peace Garden.

The Community Gardens are beautiful. Lots of garden produce out there and some has already been harvested. With the heat and lack of rain, it is good that there is water available for the gardeners’ use.

Yesterday I attended the graduation party for the wife of a teacher I hired 24 years ago when I was principal at St. Michael’s Parish School in St. Michael, MN. She worked to get her husband and two children through collage and now went back herself to get her degree in Business Management and Elementary Education. I am so proud of her…and Mike is still teaching at the Parish School.

I don’t know what the high temperature got today. It was still 95 when I was outside at 6:30 p.m. Anyway, I thought of Father Ray Donnay’s short seven word sermon on a very hot summer Sunday morning some years ago; “It’s hot. Hell is hotter. Be good.” I say: “Amen” to that.

Let us pray for needed rain and for protection from storms and violent weather.

Peace and blessings, Sister Mary Lou

September 21, 2010

The last day of summer… bright and sunny this morning…and a tinge of fall in the air. We all like the sun and dryness…especially farmers who are trying to harvest corn and soy beans. On Sunday, our friend, Larry, from Morris, brought us more garden vegetables. Thank you, Larry. Some day soon we will again have a meal of stuffed green peppers.

 

I was on a journey most of last week attending a Secular Franciscan Order (SFO) meeting in Beaverton, OR. I was thinking about all my modes of travel—car, bus, wheelchair assistance in the airport, plane, train and van. Travel was good. People are so helpful. It was a good week. I learned many things and now have some more questions…and new resource folks to help.

Lots of activities were going on around here, too. Saturday, we had 82 guests for the Sisters/Associates Retreat Day with Franciscan Father Patrick Foley as presenter. From what I heard, all were spiritually energized from the events of the day: the talks, the Mass, the good meal and all the visiting.

On Sunday we had 160+ guests for our Donor Appreciation Day activities: Mass, dinner, and program by the Franciscan Community Volunteers. Those five young people have a lot of enthusiasm for the volunteer jobs they are doing. Thank you, Donors and Volunteers for all you do to spread the Word of God.

Another Sunday activity was the Solidarity in Mission Eucharistic Liturgy honoring Father John Kaiser, MHM at the Cathedral of Saint Mary in St. Cloud, MN. Our Bishop, John F. Kinney, and Bishop Philip Anyolo, bishop of Homa Bay, Kenya, concelebrated the Mass. Father Kaiser, originally from our Saint Cloud Diocese, was a missionary in Kenya for MANY years. He was martyred in Kenya ten years ago.

Sarah, a lady from Thunder Bay, found our name on the internet. She came for a retreat weekend. I heard she had a very good time during her stay here. I think she will come again for another visit.

Last Tuesday the Secular Franciscans of the St. Francis Fraternity here in Little Falls, celebrated their 75th anniversary. Congratulations.

Last evening”they” finished the flower puzzle. It was a hard one and took about three weeks to complete. Work started this noon on the next puzzle.

Sunday the KCs will come to serve cake and ice cream to the Sisters. God bless you for sharing your time and treat with the Sisters. We appreciate it.

Pax et Bonum (Peace and all good.)

Sister Mary Lou