Feast of Saint Clare, 2009

"See, the winter is past, the rains are over and gone.  The flowers appear on the earth, and the song of the turtle dove is heard in our land."  --Song of Songs

Dear Family and Friends,

God give your hearts great Peace!

 How true these lines are from the Song of Songs.  The gift of creation that surrounds the monastery is in full bloom.  The lush green of the woods that surround us is healing and life giving.  The beautiful flowers in our courtyard and chapel garden lift the heart to sing a song of praise to our Creator God. 

 It is surprising how fast Easter goes and ordinary time comes, but here we are in the ordinariness of the Liturgical Cycle, yet preparing for the coming of the Feast of St. Clare.

We are grateful for your generosity to us at Easter.  Your goodness to us is helping us face some maintenance issues.  The shed that was destroyed by a fallen tree is almost completed.  It is a stronger structure, so hopefully it will last a long time.  Currently, we are having trouble with the main doors of our Chapel.  These are heavy fire doors, and the use of them over these past eleven years has caused some deterioration.  We looked at replacing them, but determined that would not be possible.  We decided to have them repaired.  The fire doors we have are connected to the fire system so, when the alarm goes off, the doors close automatically, which is according to code.  However, the cost of these repairs will be quite substantial. 

We were honored to have Fr. Harry Monaco here as a retreatant.  Fr. Harry is a Friar from Holy Name Province in New York.  He was ordained to the priesthood on May 16th.  He graciously gave us his First Blessing after Mass one day.

 If you are living in Cincinnati or near by, we encourage you to see the "Women in Spirit" Catholic Sisters in America exhibit at the Union Terminal Museum Center.  Some of us have had the opportunity to see the exhibit and found it very inspiring.  Sr. Doris, our archivist, worked with the archivists of the other communities here in Cincinnati on this exhibit, and Sr. Vickie designed the handout for our monastery, which is available to all who come to the exhibit.  It would make a nice family outing.

We ask you to join us in the Novena for the Feast of St. Clare.  The Novena begins on August 2nd.  At the bottom of this letter is an intention slip that we ask you to fill out and send to us so that we may pray for your intentions.  We also invite you to join us for Mass for the Feast of Clare on Tuesday, August 11th, at 10am.  A reception in our meeting room follows the Eucharistic celebration.

Our 6th annual "RUN FOR THE NUNS" will be held on October 3rd at Harbor Point in Winton Woods.  We begin with the pet blessing at 8:30am followed by the actual race.  We hope you will join us for a morning of great family fun.  For more information, please call 513-825-7177.

As we close this letter, we express to you our "GRATITUDE" for it is because of you that we are able to live our Poor Clare life.  Know that we hold you in our prayers.  May you have a safe and relaxing summer.

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