Feast of Saint Clare, 2007
Dear Sisters and Brothers in the Lord,
God give you peace! The time since our Easter letter has flown by quickly. When we last wrote, the greening all around us was just beginning, reminding us of the love of God who has given us all good things. One of the very special "good" things God has given us is the gift of all of you. Your presence in our lives graces and blesses us. We are grateful for who you are and for the resources you share with us. Your generosity at Easter has enabled us to attend to some maintenance needs around the monastery. We were able to have our smoke detectors checked, cleaned and tested. We were also able to have the light fixtures in our Chapel checked and fixed. Many of the lights were going out too frequently. We still might have to replace the fixtures, but for the time being we feel more secure that we won't have a fire. Both of these items were major jobs and we thank you for helping us attend to these needs.
In May we had 28 Boy Scouts here with their leaders. They spent a Saturday putting wood chips on the trails in our woods. They also cleaned our cemetery area, weeded, and created a beautiful prayer space in honor of the Blessed Mother. This was a great undertaking that required a lot of physical work. Still to come are some benches they are in the process of making. These will be placed in prominent areas in the woods and around the monastery where people walking the grounds can stop to rest and pray. One of the older scouts is in charge of this whole project to earn his Eagle Scout status.
Well documented in the Process for the Canonization of St. Clare are her many healings, both spiritual and physical. With this in mind we invite you to join with us in the Novena to St. Clare, which begins on August 2nd, and to daily pray the following prayer with us: O glorious St. Clare, God has given you the power of working miracles and the favor of answering the prayers of those who invoke your assistance. We ask you to obtain for us from Jesus what we beg of you so fervently and hopefully. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We also invite you to join us for Mass on August 11th, the Feast of St. Clare, at 10AM.
Our next big endeavor will be our Fourth Annual 5K "Run for the Nuns" to be held on October 6, 2007 at Harbor Point in Winton Woods Park. The festivities will begin at 8:30 AM with the Blessing of Animals, in honor of St. Francis, followed by the actual Run/Walk. We hope to see you there for a morning of great family fun! For more information, click on the "RUN" section of our website or call 513-825-7177.
As we bring this letter to a close, we again say "Thank You". We hold you in our hearts and in our prayers. May the summer sun, which warms our earth, also warm your hearts with the love God has for each of you.
Sister Doris, OSC and all the Sisters