Reflections from a Franciscan Sister

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Thanks - you too!
Prayers would be appreciated for our upcoming rummage sale and for all the needs of our home!
 
In case your not familiar with our blog, I thought I’d copy in the info. from our ‘about’ page.

n starting this blog, it was our hope that we could connect more with people who are already friends of the community as well as with others who may be interested in Religious Life. The inspiration for the title of our blog comes from a couple of passages in our Rule and Constitutions (quoted below).

“Fiat” is the Latin word for “Let it be,” which is often used to refer to Mary’s response, her “yes” to the Angel Gabriel at the Annunciation. We, as Franciscan Sisters of Dillingen, are called to echo this loving, obedient “yes” every day of our lives. This is alluded to in the passages quoted below:

“Let the brothers and sisters keep the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ, ever before their eyes…according to the exhortation of St. Francis who held Holy Mary, Lady and Queen, in highest veneration since she is the virgin made church. Let them also remember that the immaculate Virgin Mary, whose example they are to follow, called herself the handmaid of the Lord.” (#17, Rule of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis)

“Mary, who shared in the work of Redemption through her “Yes” to the Father can help us to speak anew and to live each day our “Yes” to our vocation.” (Dillingen Franciscan Constitutions: 2.17)

Here, I hope to share with you some of what it means, on a day to day basis, to be a Franciscan Sister of Dillingen in our Hankinson Province.

I would also welcome your feedback or even questions.

Have a wonderful day, and to quote our Franciscan Rule again, may “the Lord give you peace!”

Sr. Christina Marie Neumann, OSF (sr.christinaosf@gmail.com)
 
Catholic vocation is simple, if you have the calling, just follow the Holy Spirit to eternity!
 
We’re getting ready to celebrate the feast of our patroness, St. Anne.

This evening, I was working on our July newsletter (which I try to publish at the end of the preceding month). We have a week of dress up theme days, which are lots of fun, including sports day, miss-match day, etc.

We also usually have a little dance for our residents. We have the special memorial Mass as well.

If anyone else has any fun ideas, please do share them. Thanks.
 
Something’s Brewing!

0220threatening20cloudsresizedHolidays can be a different sort of time here, around St. Anne’s. There is often a certain quietness, with less phone calls, less staff on duty, less activities, no mail and no financial transactions from residents’ accounts. (We try to still make things special for our residents; for example, I led a patriotic sing-along this afternoon and served homemade cookies.)

The quietness and serenity all seemed to end, however, late this Fourth of July afternoon. It wasn’t without reason that our aide and I remarked to one another that there must be a full moon or ‘something in the atmosphere.’

For starters, one of our ladies, a bit confused, thought she needed to get home to take care of her kids. We had to bring her back in TWO times within the hour.

Next, one of our gentlemen was getting impatient. The dining room staff were not calling them in for supper as promptly as he had hoped. He even suggested tapping on the dining room window to hurry them along.

To top it all off, there were issues with our Adoration Chapel. Working at our front desk, I was informed by a gentleman that no one had come for the next hour. (We often have trouble with this happening on holidays. Earlier today, in fact, I had needed to recruit one of our residents to fill an hour.)

To make a long story short, with the possible trouble with absences on holidays and an impending storm, we simply decided to discontinue exposition/adoration for the remainder of the evening and night.

After getting off the phone with a few people, having done my part in contacting adorers about cancellations, I breathed a prayer of supplication that we would not have too severe of weather here.

It had been wild enough without having to get residents down to the dining area for safety. Visions of running around with a list of names, ensuring everyone was down stairs and accounted for did NOT appeal to me. Hail was predicted so I also feared for the lives of the little plants in our residents’ vegetable garden.

I just got back in from sprinkling some Holy Water!
 
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