Summer Newsletter 2020

Bethlehem Monastery of Poor Clares

Summer, 2020

“…and this be our motto: In God is our trust!”

 

Our dear Friends,

 

            Some issues of this newsletter ago, we opened with an exclamation of wonder over the progress being made in our new construction.  “What hath God wrought!” one of us was reported to have said when viewing the appearance of a wall where a few hours before there had been only framing.  It has been tempting to begin this issue in somewhat the same way, but with a slight alteration: “What is God up to?”  We know He has a purpose in everything; that nothing ever merely happens.  Jesus Himself said that not even a sparrow falls to the ground without our heavenly Father noticing.   And that is why we trust Him, even when things get rough.  As His very small children, we are sure our Father knows what He is doing and has everything under control.   And what have we been up to these past weeks?

 

                 Back in March , when we last wrote to you, we here in Virginia had recently entered Phase I of the great Lock-down attempt to stem the tide of the Corona virus pandemic and our chapel was still open for Mass and private prayer.  Shortly after that, however, to our great sorrow and yours, it became necessary for us to post the announcement of its temporary closing.  So it was that on the 15^th anniversary of the dedication of our monastery and the opening of our monastic church, our public chapel was empty and would remain so for the duration .   It was with truly great joy that we were able to reopen our doors on May 17^th, at first to a few and then to more and more as word got around.  But that is getting ahead of our story.

 

                Our Holy Week, like yours, was much more subdued than usual as we put into practice the recommendations issued by our Bishop for the various ceremonies.  For instance, while we had the blessing of the palms on Palm Sunday, we had only a short entrance procession rather than our usual longer one; only Father venerated the Cross on Good Friday, and the ceremony of the renewal of our baptismal promises at the Easter Vigil was also somewhat simplified.  We cannot be grateful enough to our Father Francis Simeone for once again leading us through the Sacred Triduum, nor to our faithful chaplain, Father Gerry Pryzwara, who celebrated Holy Mass for us every day during the Major Lockdown.  Someone remarked that this year Holy Week and Easter must have somewhat resembled the very first one back in 33 A.D.  Except that we knew the end of the story, and they did not.  Surely the return of the Alleluia at the Easter Vigil after the glorious ringing of our bells  presaged the return of a  more open way of life, but that would not be for some weeks yet, weeks that would hold many adventures of their own.

 

                At this point, we would like to thank each and every one of you for your loving concern for us and for your generosity in making sure we did not lack anything.  We are deeply grateful, and have been keeping you all in our prayers, especially during Holy Mass, praying that all the graces available from the actual Masses being celebrated would flow in a full stream into your hearts and your lives. 

 

                The month of Mary’s month of May brought the joyous event of the renewed consecration of our country to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  We were very much united in spirit with the ceremony, but various circumstances demanded we schedule our own community consecration a month later, on June 1, feast of Mary, Mother of the Church.  We are sure that, with the love of a Mother and Handmaid, she has embraced our nation, our diocese, our monastery, and each one of her children to draw us closer to her Son. A number of us prayed the prayers privately throughout the month, however, as a personal cry to the Father for His mercy and protection in the violence that had erupted in so many places.  Our annual Rosary procession on May 13^th, feast of Our Lady of Fatima, thus became our own march for peace as we moved through the halls from shrine to shrine set up for the occasion, praying her rosary and singing hymns in her honor. We ended with the crowning of her image by our youngest novice, Sister Immaculée.

 

                Then it happened.  You remember: the great “unplanned” event. Our last major one was in November when our Sister Joseph’s newly installed pacemaker slipped out of place, necessitating an unexpected open heart surgery.  This one wasn’t quite as life-threatening, but it was still pretty dramatic.   

After our noon meal on May 20, while many of us were at the dishes, two Sisters thought they heard a cry for help coming from our infirmary area and ran to investigate.  They found that our dear Sister Mary Agnes had fallen and was unable to get up because of the intense pain.  Paramedics got her to the hospital, where it was discovered that Sister seemed to have broken her hip.  Surgery the following day revealed that the bone was actually only cracked rather than broken, so the operation did not last as long as originally projected, but Sister still had a long stay at the hospital followed by a time in rehab.  Thanks be to God and the good care she received from devoted doctors, nurses, and therapists, Sister was able to return home on June 4, and has been making remarkable progress ever since.  At this writing, Sister still has a good amount of healing to do, but she is well on the way to full recovery.

 

                Sister’s return to us was not the only happy event of June, however, for the month began with our own ceremony of renewal of consecration to Our Lady on its first day, as mentioned above.  A couple of weeks later, on June 12^th, we gathered in our chapter room to hear the Glad Tidings that our dear Sister Mary Francesca would make her first holy Profession on August 27^th, feast of St. Monica, mother of St. Augustine, and one of the great Pray-ers of the Church. We are looking forward to having our Bishop Barry Knestout with us as presider at the Mass and ceremony.  The following day, June 13^th, we celebrated the feast of St. Anthony of Padua with special observances of the 800^th anniversary of his entrance into the Franciscan order.  Mother blessed a large statue of our saint and we carried it through the halls chanting an official litany in his honor. Afterwards, it remained for the rest of the day on a specially decorated stand in the narthex behind our choir.

 

                However, St. Anthony’s is not the only great anniversary we are celebrating this year.  2020 marks also the 200^th anniversary of the founding of the Diocese of Richmond.  The Lord gave us a unique opportunity to participate in its observance during the last week of June when then-Deacon Anthony Ferguson made his pre-ordination retreat in our guest quarters.  His ordination to the priesthood on July 11^th coincided with that anniversary.  As of this writing, we are looking forward to his first Mass with us and receiving his first priestly blessing on July 17^th.  Other things we are looking forward to at this writing are the 30^th anniversary of Holy Profession of our Mother Abbess Mary Therese on July 16^th, and the 60^th anniversary of our dear Sister Mary Pius on August 5^th.

 

PLUS -- as you may have noticed from the insert included with this letter – our solemn Novena in honor of our Holy Mother St. Clare, which will run from Sunday,  August 2^nd to Monday, August 10^th, concluding with her Solemn Mass on Tuesday, August 11^th at 8:00 a.m.   We invite you to join us for the novena prayers, which will follow our 8:00 Mass each morning, if not in body then certainly in spirit.  We will be entrusting all your intentions to our Holy Mother, whose requests her divine Spouse will surely not refuse if they are in accord with His plans for your greater good.  For most assuredly throughout her lifetime, her prayer and that of her Sisters was:  “In God we trust.”

 

Due to the limited space available in our chapel, we invite you to join us at least in spirit for

SUMMER  EVENTS of 2020

 

August 2-10                            Novena in honor of our Holy Mother St Clare         Prayers follow 8:00 morning Mass

              

August 5                                     Diamond Jubilee of our Sister Mary Pius                         Mass at 8:00 a.m.                                                                                                

 

August 11                                    Solemnity of our Holy Mother St. Clare                          Mass at 8:00 a.m.

 

August 27                                First Profession of our Sister Mary Francesca                     Mass at 9:00 a.m.