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In mid January, we had
the great joy of a visit from 2 of our MFVA
Friars from Alabama. Fr. Joseph and
Br. Leo spent a week here at Our Lady of
Solitude. We had a wonderful visit.
Fr. Joseph is very close to the heart of our
Foundation - as he has been a constant
support and source of encouragement for us
from the very conception of the Foundation
over 3 years ago. Below you see him
wearing a BEAUTIFUL new vestment. But
this is not just any new vestment...it is
the first of (hopefully) many new vestments
sewn by Sr. Marie St. Paul (under the
tutelage of her teacher Joan Herp).
We are all so proud of
Sr. Marie St. Paul for the successful
completion of this undertaking. Not
only does she make our habits, our headwear,
and now vestments, but she also serves as
communal book-keeper and overseer of the
building project. Needless to
say...she's kept very busy. Yet we are
so grateful that she squeezed in time to
make such a beautiful vestment! |
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Such a task truly
is in keeping with our Franciscan
tradition which upholds not only
that the Lord deserves the very
best, but also deeply honors,
respects, and loves the Holy
Priesthood.
Our more immediate
Foundress, Mother Marie St. Claire,
had a great love for the Priesthood
and always encouraged the Sister to
pray without ceasing for Priests! |
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“To
devote ourselves to Jesus in the
Eucharist, to the Church, to the
interests of the glory of God, to
the extension of the Kingdom of Our
Lord, these are our duties. And do
not say that, because of our
humility, it is too great a
vocation. As adoring souls, we must
lead all souls to Jesus, but
principally the souls of Priests.
In our holy Constitutions, in
effect, we are told that we must not
be content with our own
sanctification, but we must make it
our business to pray for the
missionaries. All those who have
the care of souls should be the
object of our supplication. To
reach sinners, holy Priests are
needed; to direct chosen souls, holy
Priests are needed; and for us too,
for the fervor of our little
Community, holy Priests are needed.
Finally, who will give us Jesus in
the Sacrament of Love if not the
Priest?” - Mother Marie Ste. Claire |
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To
the left are some of the January
highlights from Our Lady of
Solitude. The first 2 photos
are from the Epiphany blessing of
the house. We were blessed to
have a newly ordained visiting
priest from Alexandria, LA - Fr.
Blake Deshaultelle - with us for the
blessing. The next photo is of our
resident monkey...Sr. Augustine
Marie. It is hard for her to
walk by a tree without wanting to
climb it. She doesn't have
many opportunities to climb trees
here in the desert...climbing a
cactus wouldn't be much fun.
So, during a stop over in Sedona,
she eyed a nice large tree...and
before we knew it she was on her way
up!
On the bottom is a photo with
some other very special visitors:
Fr. Joseph Mary, Fr. Philip Kraft
(from IL), and Br. Leo Mary.
We have been blessed with a lot of
priestly visitors. It seems
that word is getting out that Our
Lady of Solitude is a wonderful
place of retreat.
If you are
a priest wanting to make a retreat
in a desert solitude, check this
out! |
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