Centennial Blessings

On May 13, 2017, I was able to experience the Holy Father’s Eucharistic Celebration in Fatima from my sick room as it aired on EWTN. The faith, joy, and prayerfulness of the pilgrims were so touching and it made me desire to take on the spiritual experience with an open heart. I was not able to see the whole celebration because of the early hour at which it began and the fact that it coincided with our own convent Mass being celebrated. After Mass, I quickly returned to watching EWTN. Most of it was over and they advertised a replay later at 11:00am. Sr. M. Lucia, who entered the convent with me and was celebrating her nameday, also wanted to watch it, so I invited her to join me.

The day before, while praying the rosary along with the pilgrims gathered in Fatima, I had the inspiration to invite her, along with Sr. M. Jacinta who also celebrated her feastday on May 13 to join me to pray together. It worked out that 2:00pm would be the best time. We had EWTN on mute but still visible. As we were starting the rosary, Pope Francis exposed the Blessed Sacrament. As we were praying the 5^th Joyful Mystery, our Holy Father walked over to the section where all of the sick and infirm were seated and blessed each section with the Eucharist. What a true blessing! It was so wonderful to be a part of this Fatima Celebration in the Heart of the Church, my Mother.

- Sr. M. Theresita

Comments

Journey with Mary: Sacrificial Love of Spiritual Motherhood

Recently, I found a reflection I had written during my first retreat as a postulant. The last conference that had been given was on Spiritual Motherhood. As I approached the 4 th Station where Jesus meets His Sorrowful Mother, this is what struck my heart: What is the sacrificial love of a mother? It is the self-sacrifice made to love her children. Mary’s self-sacrifice to be there with Christ, her Son, in His passion was the selfless love that united her with Him. Her heart was pierced with 7 swords in the agony of watching her beloved Son endure a cross that He did not deserve, but which He embraced for the love of the Father and mankind. Could she not have said to Jesus, “You don’t have to do this, there are other ways. Do you know how much pain You are causing me and those who love you?” She knew He could have chosen any other way t...

Welcome to our Family, Postulants!!!

Today, on the Feast of the Birth of Mary, our new postulants entered the postulancy of our American Province of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George! We thank God for the gift of these vocations. Pictured above - on their very first full day in the convent - are (from left) Ashley Vola, Samantha Goodson, Miranda Edgar, Jennifer Clark and Erin Leis. Welcome, Postulants! We Sisters are grateful that you have accepted Christ's invitation to belong totally to Him in our Franciscan community, and we support you wholeheartedly with our prayers and help! If you would like to send a word of welcome and encouragement to these new postulants, we will pass the greetings along to them. Just leave them as a "comment"!

To Gaze upon Christ

This Lent the Lord has put on my heart the awareness of gazing upon Christ. In our Franciscan congregation, our spirituality flows from John 19:37 “they will look on the one whom they have pierced.” With this spirituality, we gaze upon the pierced side of Christ and receive from His pierced heart His love and mercy. Then we may go forth to give what we have received. Throughout this Lent, this action of gazing has been foremost in both my spiritual reading and in prayer. It also brought to mind a graced trip to Assisi in 2014, by which this “gazing” became so real to me. While in Assisi, there are many things to see and let soak into one’s soul. The first place where I was moved to gaze was in the side chapel in the Basilica of St. Clare in Assisi, where the Crucifix from which Our Lord spoke to St. Francis is now housed. What an awe-filled moment it was to kneel before this Crucifix and to gaze into the e...

1 Franciscan Way

Search This Blog