Photos of Sister Mary Christine RIP

 

It has been a very eventful spring at Bethlehem Monastery and I am just getting around now to returning to this long-neglected blogosphere!  First on my list to share is more photos of our Sister Mary Christine and our experience of her passing from this world to the next.  Today is her nameday, the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi).  This year she celebrates with the Lord in an eternal mode.  We who continue on our pilgrim way cannot help but think of her this day.

Here is a photo taken some years ago when she was in better health:

Here is another, more recent photo, showing Sister Mary Christine attempting to blow on a party favor.  She did not usually like this sort of thing!

This is a view of her bird feeder, attached to her window.  The small finches gave her great delight during her last days.  They stopped coming after her death.

It is our custom to decorate a deceased Sister's place in choir as well as her place in the Refectory (where we eat our meals) and her place in the Chapter Room (where we have community gatherings).  Here are some photos of our decorating that not only commemorate our Sister, but express our hope in the Resurrection.

This photo is taken on Holy Thursday, one of Sister Mary Christine's favorite days when we adore the Eucharistic Lord at the Repository after the evening Mass of the Lord's Supper.  The next photo shows the Repository.  Sister's chair is on the left.

Here now is Sister as she lies in her casket while we take turns keeping vigil with her until her funeral that took place on Easter Tuesday.  Also to be seen is our youngest Sister, Postulant Nayeli.  She begins her religious life as Sister Mary Christine ends hers and begins her new life in eternity.

Here at last is Sister's final resting place marked out and ready for the gravediggers to excavate her grave.  She lies beside our first abbess, Mother Mary Rosaria who passed from this life about 20 years ago and joins our 3 other Sisters who have persevered to the end.  In time, the rest of us will likely be buried here too, one after the other to await the angel's trumpet blast that will awaken us on the last day!