Light Has Come

As some of you may know, we have the tradition of doing what we call candle dances.  If you are not familiar, what we do is hold candles and choreograph movements to a song.  It is done in the dark and it is the movement of the light that is watched.   Each year we do one for our Christmas parties for our hospital mission partners, day care center staff and fellow Sisters.  This year we chose the song, Hallelujah (Light Has Come).  It is sung from the perspective of Mary. 

As you enter into this Fourth Week of Advent, may your heart be open and attentive to the Light that comes to set you free.  Let His Light shine in and through you.  He is near.

Veni Si Amas

Veni Si Amas!  What does that mean?  "Come if You Love!" 

Are you a single, young Catholic woman who is seeking God's Will?  Are you in need of a retreat?  You are invited to join us for our next Veni Si Amas Retreat this January 5-8, 2012.  We've added a day to the weekend just for you.  Check out the details:

Who: Single, Catholic women ages 17-30
When: January 5-8, 2012
Arrive Thursday at 6:30/7:00pm and Depart Sunday at 9:00am
Where: St. Francis Convent, Alton, IL
Registration: Fill out this adult or teen form
Questions:  Please contact Sr. M. Consolata at 618.463.2757 or vocations@altonfranciscans.org

Come spend a weekend with the Lord and let Him speak to you! 

Introducing another novice!

I am Sister Mary Francis.  I am 21 years old and originally from St. Louis.
On August 15th of this year, the Feast of the Assumption, I, along with my fellow postulants, received the habit and new religious name, becoming a novice in our community.  The joy I had as the bishop gave me my name is unexplainable.  This name, given to me by Christ, calls me to be set apart totally for Him for "It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me."  I hope to live this life under the guidance and example of our Blessed Mother and St. Francis of Assisi.

When the idea first came up to take my name after such a saint I was more than a little hesitant.  St. Francis had a deep love for our Crucified Lord.  When he gazed upon the cross he saw more than anything else the total, self-emptying love of Christ for a broken and fallen humanity.  He longed to return that love, emptying himself of all earthly desires and clinging to the Gospel.  He desired that the world around him also know of this love, a love seemingly lost in a world of chaos, "that Love may again be loved."

I was hesitant because here was this great saint and there was little me.  The more I read and reflected the more I began to see bits and pieces of how I could begin to imitate such an exemplary saint.  Simply put, I have come to give my life to the God who first loved me.

Now as a novice, I am deepening my understanding of my vocation, striving to answer the question, "What does it mean to be a Sister, a spouse of Christ, rooted in the heart of His bride, the Church, and devoted to the service of His people?"