Let it Snow

With over 60 centimeters of snow last week, winter is still going strong in the Squamish Valley. As the prophet Daniel says, "Ice and snow, bless the Lord!"

One of our guests made her first-ever full-sized snowman—and Lotte decided to "help." Fortunately (or unfortunately), Lotte has a fondness for carrots, and—well, you can see what became of nose #1.

On January 21st, a number of us traveled to St. Mary's in Vancouver to celebrate the closing of the 800th Jubilee of the Order of Preachers with a Mass celebrated by Archbishop Michael Miller. After the Mass, there was  a reception with many of our local Dominican friars, active sisters and laity.

On Candlemas (the Feast of the Purification of Our Lady and the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple, February 2), we had the blessing of the candles and a procession.

After the most recent round of snow, some of the novitiate organized a sledding party. There was just one problem: there was too much snow! Our initial attempts at going...anywhere...were stymied by the sheer amount of powder.

We haven't just been snow shoveling and celebrating, though. Our novitiate is still sharing in a monastic history class once a week (via internet videoconferencing) with Our Lady of the Rosary Monastery in Summit, New Jersey. Starting in mid-January, we had the treat of welcoming Fr. Terrence Kardong, OSB (a Benedictine monk of Assumption Abbey in North Dakota) for a series of lectures on John Cassian's Conferences and Institutes, which we also shared with Corpus Christi Monastery in the Bronx. To find out more about those classes, and one way that the prudent use of technology has actually enhanced our cloistered life, check out a lovely blog post written by Summit entitled, "Cloistered Nuns and Technology." My favourite part of these shared classes is not only having the opportunity to receive high quality formation courses without having to leave the monastery, but being able to "meet", talk, study and laugh with sisters in formation in our monasteries on the other side of the continent. It's a real gift of community.

Finally, for the record: cookie sheets do not make good snowboards (not enough curve at the tip). However, the sight one morning of a certain novice (aherm, myself) trying to ride down the switchback during a shovelling break provided some good amusement for the sisters with south-facing cell windows.

Until next time—peace!

--Sr. Marie Thomas