Desert Nun News

Capacity to Love

2012-01-17T19:26:00.000-07:00

"Sanctity is the only cure for the vast unhappiness

of our universal failure as human beings."

- Caryll Houselander

For all of you who prayed for the success of our recent Duc In Altum retreat: THANK YOU! Your prayers were heard and answered in marvelous ways. Unfortunately the days passed too quickly and kept me very busy...so busy that I forget to take one single photo. Oi! But take my word for it, from start to finish, the retreat was blessed and anointed.

Seeing those young ladies engaged in the great work of prayer and discernment was inspiring. Seeing the Holy Spirit so active and alive brought an influx of hope to my soul.

On our first Duc in Altum retreat I noticed something really beautiful: In the midst of this silent retreat (silent, save for recreation at dinner), there was a bond that developed among the retreatants. I attributed this bond to the fact that most of the retreatants already knew each other.

Well, that theory was blown out of the water last week. Again, we had the Duc in Altum and observed the silence (save for dinnertime) and most of the ladies did not know each other; and yet, I witnessed a similar bond being formed among the retreatants. It was both obvious and tangible.

I found this pattern very interesting and it got me thinking. My reflections led me to this conclusion: Love grows in silence - both our love for God and, perhaps more mysteriously, our love for neighbor. Each of these young women were keenly aware that they were not alone on this retreat, that they were supported by the presence of others on a similar journey. Each seemed to be lifting the other up in prayer. And it was there, in that silent support and care, that this bond began to be formed. It was reinforced during the dinner recreations where human interaction and shared experience brought such joy.

When striving for deep intimacy with God, inevitably we come to a deeper love of His creatures and all of His creation.

Sometimes I hear or read about these outrageous stories about how unfulfilled a priest or religious is because they can't marry. My response? What hogwash!

True fulfillment is borne, first and foremost, in our INTENSE and ALL-CONSUMING love for God. If a priest or religious is unfulfilled, I would dare to assert that perhaps it is because they have not tapped into true intimacy with God, and thus cannot know authentic and ardent love for neighbor. It is not because they can't marry. Otherwise you would never find an unhappy married person. Fact is, no matter what vocation you are called to, in order to be truly fulfilled there is a degree of intimacy with God that must be present in the soul.

I believe the great writer, Caryll Houslander, would agree with me from what I read in her quote below:

Sanctity is a genius for love. This is why the saint never complains of not being 'fulfilled'. No matter what the circumstances of his life are, the saint loves to his fullest human capacity not only supernaturally, though this is what really matters, but naturally too; and it is on the degree of his capacity for objective love, and on nothing else, that the fullness of any man's life depends.

Houslander goes on to say that: "It does not depend upon circumstances or chance, on whether he is gifted or not, on whether he has a happy or a melancholy temperament, on whether he is rich or poor, married or single, on whether he has a magnificent vocation or a humdrum one, or whether he travels the world over or is restricted to the same few streets for the whole of his life, on whether he is good looking or plain, on whether he is healthy or unhealthy..."

So you may be wanting to ask: THEN UPON WHAT DOES SANCTITY AND HAPPINESS DEPEND???

"...it depends upon one thing and one thing only - whether he has or has not the capacity to love."

WOW!

Dear Lord,

I humbly ask that You increase,

ever more and more,

with each passing second,

my capacity to love!

Amen.

What can I bring Him?

2011-12-27T21:54:00.001-07:00


What can I give Him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb, If I were a wise man, I would do my part, Yet what I can I give Him, give my heart? (From Christina Rossetti's In the Bleak Midwinter)

St. Francis, we know, was a great lover of Christmas!
We know he was interceding for us - obtaining many Christmas graces.

When I think of that first Christmas, I am struck by the littleness of the greatest event of history. In the town of Bethlehem, in a stable, surrounded by farm animals (living near a dairy farm, we have an inkling what this entails!), Our Savior was born of the Virgin Mary. Good St. Joseph begged for lodging but there was no room at the inn. The swaddling clothes, the star, the angels' Gloria, the announcement to the humble shepherds...each detail blows my mind!

I am struck as well by all that must have been passing through Our Lady's heart. I wonder if she thought of the angel's gentle invitation and her own response of love..."YES, Be It Done As You Have Said..." And the Word was made flesh.

The Christmas Gospel is proclaimed during Matins

This was our first Christmas in the new Chapel. Our very dear friend and spiritual father, Fr. Fred Adamson, celebrated the Mass at Night. Knowing that the winding, dark, rough dirt roads leading to our remote desert dwelling pose some travel inconvenience, we did not expect more than a handful of people at the Christmas Eve Night Mass. As we prayed Matins before Mass, I kept hearing the chapel doors open...again and again. Shortly before Mass began, I snuck a peak behind me...and was quite floored to see a beautiful crowd of people. This was witnessed again as Mass began and we sang Adeste Fideles...and a CHORUS of voices joined in on the refrain: Venite adoremus, O Come, Let Us Adore Him...

With our Chapel filled with people, I cannot help but believe that Our Lady allowed me to share a bit of her own surprise when the shepherds appeared at the entrance of the little cave that housed the Redeemer of the world. They had come to adore her Newborn Son.

My Lord and My God

For some reason memories of the past 7 years flooded my mind on that beautiful night. I thought of when we received, from the Lord, that gentle invitation to begin a new foundation of PCPAs in Phoenix, AZ. I thought of our questions and of our eventual response of love. I also thought of how easy it would have been to NOT say "YES". I thought of how easy it would have been to turn back at any given point in the journey. The uncertainty, the struggles, the colossal planning, and bills, and our own poverty - yes, there were times that beginning this foundation seemed next to impossible. There were times that building Our Lady of Solitude seemed way too big...with us being way too small.

And yet, here we are - Christmas 2011 - with a beautiful new Chapel filled with people...welcoming into our midst the Babe of Bethlehem. On Christmas Eve, Tonopah felt like another Bethlehem, the lights on the dome of our Chapel like the Star that settled above the crib, and our congregation like the shepherds that came to adore.

One of my favorite Christmas movies is the classic Jimmy Stewart, It's a Wonderful Life. I believe it was the message of this movie that I experienced this Christmas Eve. It's a message that we all need to take to heart, whether we are beginning a new Foundation, or a new family, or just living out our little life in a little way. Our YES makes a difference. Our YES echoes the great YES of Our Lady at the Annunciation. Our YES to God brings Him anew to the Bethlehem of our souls through grace.

The Sisters and I wish you all a very Merry and Wonderful Christmas...

Sr. John-Mark's 1st Profession of Vows

2011-12-13T12:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Sr. John-Mark Maria of St. Peter the Apostle became a professed Poor Clare of Perpetual Adoration.

It was a simply splendid Mass - such JOY, just pure joy. Fr. Don Kline (Sr. John-Mark's cousin) celebrated the Mass, with Fr. John Lankeit preaching the homily. Other concelebrants included Fr. Eugene Florea, Fr. Matt Henry, Fr. John Muir, Fr. Paul Sullivan, and Fr. Theilo Ramirez. Karen Williams and Roberta Klodt provided help with the music. The Ladies of Solitude prepared a delicious reception for everyone.

Sr. John-Mark's parents, 2 aunts, and friend Bonnie flew in from OH for the occasion. The Church was nearly filled to capacity with friends from near and far. A large group from St. Henry's in Buckeye was present, along with a great show of students and friends from ASU. Old friends and new joined us as Sister publicly professed her Vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience as an Extern Sister.

Below is a video of some of the highlights that we captured on film. More pics will follow. Our good friend and photographer, Rita Lee, had camera in hand - so be sure to check back soon to see her shots.

The only 'glitch' of the day was the weather. It was an uncharacteristic cold, rainy, windy winter day in AZ. However, despite the fact that the tables and chairs for our outdoor reception were blown all over the place as Mass went on, the glitch really wasn't a glitch at all. You see, it's a long standing tradition that the Lord upholds that when one of the PCPAs is professed or invested, it rains. Mother often said that it was a sign of all the graces being poured down upon the Church and the world. If that is the case, then let me tell you...Yesterday was a truly GRACE-LADEN day. As I watched the rain come pouring down, I could only say to the Lord: "Yep, it's Your Tradition!" I felt a bit like Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof as he sang: TRADITION...TRADITION!

The sun kept trying to peak out of the clouds, but only succeeded to do so as Sister John-Mark professed her Vows. We didn't see this from the Mass Choir, but what we heard from 'the people in the pews' is that as Sister said the words of her Profession formula, a ray of sunlight came bursting in through the stained glass windows. Yes, the Son was shining!

Our congrats to Sr. John-Mark Maria! - to a radiant, committed, zealous bride of Christ...congratulations!

All she has, all she is, all she could be...

2011-12-03T11:39:00.001-07:00

Today begins the Novena in preparation for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe...and the First Profession of Holy Vows of Sr. John-Mark Maria. Please join our community in praying this beautiful Novena, adapted from a prayer by Bl. John Paul II.

Click Here to Download the Novena

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE, PRAY FOR US

I wish you could see my desk...actually, I'm really glad you can't see my desk! It is cluttered with sheet music, rite books, our Constitutions, the new Missal, the ceremonial for the profession, and the beginnings of the worship aid for the public, materials to make Sister's Vow Card...and her Profession Cake, and so on and so forth. Today is hopefully the day when I will be able to finish some of these preparations and begin others!

It is very exciting to witness Sister's joy in the face of this commitment and deeper dedication to Christ! And all that it entails. The richness of the Rite of Profession is evident in the beautiful verbiage of all prayers. I wanted to share with you the Preface of the Mass of Profession from the new translation of the Missal:

"...He is the unblemished flower, Who sprang from the root of the Virgin and declared the pure of heart blessed, teaching by His way of life the surpassing worth of chastity. He chose always to hold fast to what is pleasing to You and, becoming obedient for our sake even until death, He willingly offered Himself to You as a perfect and a fragrant sacrifice. He consecrated to a fuller service of Your majesty those who for love of You leave all earthly things and promised they would find treasure in Heaven..."

This sums it all up so beautifully, does it not?

The collect of the Mass is as follows:

"O Lord, Who has inspired this our sister with the resolve to follow Christ more closely, grant her, we pray, a blessed end to the journey she now begins, so that she may be found worthy to offer You a perfect gift of loving service..."

What will Sister do on Decemeber 12th? She will vow to God all she has (poverty), all she is (chastity), and all she could be (obedience).

Just recently, Sister admitted to a few butterflies fluttering around :) - right along side a growing excitement. Let us keep her in our prayers as the big day approaches, and especially as she enters into her retreat of final preparation before Profession of Vows.

VENI SPONSA CHRISTI!

New Translation of the Roman Missal

2011-11-20T21:56:00.001-07:00

It's hard to believe that today is the Solemnity of Christ the King - the last Sunday of Ordinary time! This feast always brings to mind one of my favorite polyphony pieces we used to sing at Our Lady of the Angels Monastery (we don't dare try it here with so few voices!): JESU REX ADMIRABILIS. The words of the hymn are attributed to St. Bernard of Clairvaux:

Jesu rex admirabilis (Jesus, King most wonderful,)
Et triumphator nobillis (Thou Conqueror renowned)
Dulcedo ineffabilis (Thou Sweetness most ineffable)
Totus desiderabilis (In whom all joys are found)

Today also marks the last Sunday that the 2nd edition of the Roman Missal will be used at Mass. Next Sunday begins the implementation of the new translation. Hooray! It's a much anticipated day! I wanted to provide some good resources to those who are wanting to learn more about the translation. Below is a video that offers a wonderful explanation (kudos to Fr. John Muir and LifeTeen who put this video together). Below are also some links that you may find helpful as well.

USCCB Site
Chant Cafe
Roman Missal Resource

EWTN is offering a special (THY WORD) to highlight some wonderful presentations on the New Translation of the Roman Missal by Cardinal Burke and others. Don't miss it on Tues, Nov 22 at 11 p.m. ET, and again on Sun., November 27th at 6 p.m. ET

The Desire for Something More

2011-11-12T18:17:00.001-07:00

"Part of being young is desiring something beyond everyday life and a secure job, a yearning for something really truly greater. Is this simply an empty dream that fades away as we become older? No! Men and women were created for something great, for infinity. Nothing else will ever be enough. Saint Augustine was right when he said: "Our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you." The desire for a more meaningful life is a sign that God created us and that we bear his imprint." - Pope Benedict XVI

On Friday, November 11th, ASU Students came to Our Lady of Solitude to make a day of prayer, led by Fr. John Muir and Fr. Paul Sullivan. The day consisted of Mass, the recitation of Divine Office, times of personal prayer, opportunities for the sacrament of reconciliation, brief spiritual talks, and fellowship over a shared meal. The day concluded with a Eucharistic Holy Hour/Healing Service with Benediction. Outside of lunch, the day was wrapped in silence and stillness.

For my part, I felt like a bit of a Martha - running around here and there, getting everything ready, making lunch, doing this and that and the other thing! What struck me, while in the throes of my own Martha-like frenzy, was the silence and reflection and contemplative attitude of a large group of college students. Some students walked the grounds, in silence. Others plopped down here or there to read or pray, in silence. Many found their place in the chapel, adoring the Lord,...in silence.

And, accompanying the silence, there was a tangible sense of hope.

This brings to mind a quote from Josef Pieper, one of my favorite philosphers:

"A particular form of nonsilence has always been regarded as a kin of despair: talkativeness, babble, the unquenchable frenzy of idle talk. When, however, talk of this kind, which one encounters truly everywhere in the workplace and the marketplace as a constant temptation, when such deafening talk, literally bent on thwarting listening, appears to be connected to HOPELESSNESS - it is to be asked, then, should there not be in silence, in listening silence, necessarily a drop of HOPE?"

Pieper further asserts that in keeping the silence, we are exercising hope.

Sadly, in our day, we sometimes find - among the young and the not so young - many subtle forms of despair. And accompanying despair, we find deafening, maddening, consistent noise. But on Friday, in the faraway desert solitude of Tonopah AZ, there was a lot of silence...and a lot of hope.

Being with young people, especially the kind of young people we encountered here on Friday, brings a wave of hope to the heart. At the conclusion of the Holy Hour/Healing Service, Fr. Muir brought the Blessed Sacrament to each person. Each of us had his/her moment with the Lord. Seeing the young people approach the Lord, FILLED WITH HOPE, was a sight for sore eyes. It was proof that the words of Pope Benedict are 100% correct: "Part of being young is desiring something beyond everyday life and a secure job, a yearning for something really truly greater."

Perhaps these college students were indeed exercising their hope by this day of silence. And, by the power of their witness, the Lord was exercising my hope as well.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)

"The world reveals itself to the silent listener and only to him; the more silently he listens, the more purely he is able to perceive reality." - Pieper

"Just as he once encountered the young Paul, Jesus also wants to encounter each one of you, my dear young people. Indeed, even before we desire it, such an encounter is ardently desired by Jesus Christ." - Pope Benedict XVI

"Following in the footsteps of the people of hope - composed of prophets and saints of every age - we continue to advance toward the fulfillment of the Kingdom, and on this spiritual path we are accompanied by the Virgin Mary, Mother of Hope."
- Pope Benedict XVI

ASU Students at the conclusion of their Day of Prayer at Our Lady of Solitude

All You Saints of God, Pray for Us!

2011-11-01T19:18:00.000-07:00

We were blessed to have a visit from the Missionary Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe!

The Solemnity of All Saints - what an awesome day! The Sisters and I just finished our Feast Day dinner and festivities. It's our tradition, on this day, to choose a Saint to be our patron for the year. With only five of us here, we've gotten in the habit of choosing SEVERAL Saints each year to make it interesting!

This year, we each chose 6 different Saints from different historical eras. Beginning with Apostolic times, then Church Fathers, Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, and finally Modern times. It was a bit like bingo! Each sister chose a number corresponding to a page number for each era. Then I read a description of the Saint from a Lives of the Saints book to see if we could guess who he/she was. It was a lot of fun and the end result is that we have 6 new patrons for the upcoming year. It was interesting to read the different descriptions of the Saints and try to figure out why they chose that particular Sister to pray for. Yes, that's right: why THEY chose!!! We don't choose the Saints, THEY CHOOSE US! In my devotion to the Saints, I am more and more convinced of this truth.

As the day winds down, and we inch closer to All Souls Day, let us remember to pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory - the Church Suffering! Eternal Rest Grant Unto Them, O Lord, and Let Perpetual Light Shine Upon Them. May They Rest In Peace. Amen.

Each year we enter the St. Henry's Chili Cook-Off. This year our chili name was: Lord of the Harvest - a butternut squash and chicken sausage chili. We won 'Most Unusual Chili' - not sure if that was a good thing or not! :)

We were blessed, AT LONG LAST, to have a visit form our good friend Fr. Blake, from Louisiana. It's been several years since we last saw him - but it is amazing that between friends it is as if no time has passed!

A great big thank you to all of our Phoenix Priests who make HEROIC sacrifices to be sure that our Sacramental needs are cared for. Our dear Priests make many early morning treks to our far-away little slice of heaven in Tonopah to offer Mass for our Community. Their generosity will not go unrewarded!

A Fall Foto Blog

2011-10-12T19:05:00.001-07:00

There has been so much going on here at OLS that I've decided to tell all the stories via photos!

Unfortunately one event when totally unphotographed by the nuns. Yes, much to my chagrin, I didn't take one single photo at the beautiful Mass of Thanksgiving celebrated by Bishop James Wall on September 24th. To be honest, I was so excited that I forgot the camera! So for those who attended, if you have any good shots, email them to us at vocations@desertnuns.com It was wonderful to have Bishop Wall here - celebrating all the good things the Lord has accomplished here in Tonopah. I fondly remember the first time he came to see the property back in 2006 - when it was first given to us. Just a barren piece of desert... Look what the Lord has done! - through the generosity of so many of His children. It truly was a Mass of THANKSGIVING!!!!

At other some of our other events, though, I had camera in hand! To begin: October 1st was our first ever Solitude and Service Day - part volunteer day, part day of prayer. Providentially, this day fell on the Feast of St. Therese. Surely she was interceding for all our participants...and helping them to find God's peace in the vocational/discernment journey! It was a great success and lots of fun. Below are lots of photos to enjoy:

Solitude and Service Day kicking off in the parlor

Work time! The girls got Nun Run postcards and mailings ready to go!

While others helped Sr. Mary Fidelis plant some flowers

Angela planting a bougainvillea

Tara and Brianna planting Arizona Yellowbells

Lunch time in the Karol Kottage

Another view of Lunch time in the Karol Kottage

On to our next series of festivities which surrounded the celebration of the solemnity of Our Holy Father Francis. On October 3rd, the vigil of the Feast, we remembered the death of St. Francis - reading an account of his passing, enjoyed a wonderful homily by Fr. Imbarrato (on retreat from NM), prayed first Vespers, and concluded with the veneration of the relic of St. Francis.


Phyllis and Cory venerating the Relic of St. Francis at the conclusion of the Transitus

The next day we were blessed to have three Priests at Mass for the celebration of St. Francis. Fr. Imbarrato celebrated as Fr. Jesus (from Phoenix) and Fr. Gordon (working in DC at the Apostolic Nunciature). It was truly a glorious Mass!

Finally the glorious day ended with the St. Francis animal blessing! What fun!!!! Our two terriers are not very well behaved, so they had to get a separate blessing! And boy did they need it - as anyone who has met them will agree ;)

Our neighbor: Genie!

Fenrir the Corgy and Shea the Shar-pei

Rocky and Twinkers!

Sr. John-Mark Maria ECSTATIC that guinea pigs - her favorite animals - were present for the blessing!!!

Is everything sad going to come untrue?

2011-09-20T20:27:00.000-07:00

Tonight at dinner, the Sisters were talking and enjoying each other's company. We weren't talking about anything of great import. Nor were we solving the world's problems. We were just enjoying each other. And laughing.

Sr. Marie Andre was sharing Winston Churchill's famous quote (which sums up her whole being): "Keep calm and carry on." Sr. Marie St. Paul broke in with a twist on the saying which she recently saw when reading up on her newest hobby...knitting: "Keep calm and carry yarn." And the Sisters laughed - myself included (especially as a novice-Crocheter). And the laughter seemed so beautiful to me. I wanted to bottle it up!

I was reminded of an excerpt from Tolkien's The Return of the King (It's particularly appropriate that I quote this as Frodo and Bilbo's birthday is on September 22nd). Sam awakes after the horrors of Mt. Doom and sees Gandalf, after thinking him dead. I'll let Tolkien take it from here:

But Sam lay back, and started with open mouth, and for a moment, between bewilderment and great joy, he could not answer. At last has gasped: 'Gandalf! I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead myself. Is everything sad going to come untrue? What’s happened to the world?'

'A great shadow has departed,' said Gandalf, and then he laughed and the sound was like music, or water in a parched land; and as he listened the thought came to Sam that he had not heard laughter, the pure sound of merriment, for days upon days without count. It fell upon his ears like the echo of all the joys he had ever known. But he himself burst into tears. Then as sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring and the sun will shine out the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laughter welled up, and laughing he sprang from his bed.

'How do I feel?' he cried. 'Well I don’t know how to say it. I feel, I feel' – he waved his arms in the air – 'I feel like spring after winter, and sun on the leaves; and like trumpets and harps and all the songs I have ever heard!'

I don't know about you, but whenever I read this passage, I can't just read it once. I want to go back and read it again, letting it soak in. And again, letting it penetrate any sadness that may be clinging to my heart. And again, for the pure joy of it all!

As I type this blog, Fergus (one of our westies) is glued to Sr. Esther Marie's lap (not literally, of course) - he is hoping that she will never want to get up. Sometimes I think if Ferg could talk, he would say: "Just pet me, love me, feed me those yummy treats and never leave me...and I promise to be good!"

Like Ferg, when we experience joy, there is an undeniable yearning to hold on to it, to never want it to end. More and more, I am convinced that this desire is borne from above - but it is not merely the desire for a passing joy, but for the joys that do not pass...it is a desire for the eternal, a desire for God. It is the desire for the unending joy of Heaven, when there will be no more tears, or weeping, or separations, or suffering. Tolkien's dear friend, C.S. Lewis, takes this thought a step further saying: “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”

At the risk of 'over-quoting', I want to conclude this blog with an excerpt from "Poem of Hope" by Marietta Martin. When I read these words, my thoughts turn to the 'Grey Havens', to Heaven, to Jesus and the fulfillment of all desire:

One day there will be no more unexpressed words of love,

There will be no more stifled desires,

There will be no more silent presences: all the voices will be heard,

The veil which the music lifts will never more be lowered,

There will be no more inaccessible space, and the spool of time will unwind in the present,

All the sister particles of souls will join together.

The sunsets will be explained,

Beauty will lose its anguish,

Creation will be the clear word of divinity,

One day, like a beautiful voyage toward the beloved dead.

Our friend, Brittany Allen, snapped this awesome photo in July. Isn't it stunning!!!

Unique and Unrepeatable

2011-09-03T16:34:00.000-07:00

Since moving to Tonopah last year, and now having a Chapel open to the public, each day seems to bring new friends into our life. Seeing the broad span of visitors that come to see this little 'slice of heaven' makes me realize how each human person is unique, unrepeatable, and infinitely LOVED by our good God.

Just this morning, I was walking out of the Chapel after making a Holy Hour and a mini-van pulled up. It was a beautiful family from India, who now live in Surprise, AZ. The mother of the family was all smiles and greeted me with great excitement. They finally made it to Our Lady of Solitude...after being lost for 2 hours. My heavens, I reflected later, don't know if I would have been still smiling!! I was so happy to be able to bring them into the Chapel where the Lord was waiting for them, ready to greet the weary travelers...and give them many graces I'm sure.

Yesterday, after our mid-day prayer, one of the Sisters saw 2 trucks pull in. As the Chapel was locked up, I went over to let our visitors in. They were 4 rough and tumble hunters, who came to see the marvels of the Lord here in this out of the way place. Even in their camo, the Lord could spot them right away and...again...bestowed on them many graces.

One of my favorite visitors was a man who drove a truck that towed some construction equipment. When I went out to sign for it, the man started talking to me about the Lord. He explained that he was not Catholic, but loved the Word of God. He went on to share a bit about his experiences of God's Divine Providence, the power of His Word, and the goodness of His Love. I went back into the house with a renewed sense of wonder!

Just this week, we were blessed with another visitor: Fr. Sean from Ireland...now living in France. Father is a newly ordained priest with the Missionaries of the Holy Eucharist. He was in town doing a mission at St. Joan of Arc in Phoenix and decided to recharge his spiritual battery here in this desert solitude and Eucharistic haven. We were blessed to receive Father's first blessing and also hear sermons that highlighted the heart of our life as Eucharistic Adorers.

And finally, another visitor came...and she's decided to stay!! Yes, as you see to the left, the newest Chapel appointment arrived in all her glory. This beautiful and unique statue of St. Therese was donated to us by Mrs. Vitale. The Little Flower will now find a home in the back of the Chapel where people can pray and implore the intercession of this powerful saint.

St. Therese is a favorite saint of many of the nuns. Her unique and unrepeatable love for the Lord inspires us to seek to love Him in the full totality of our being, with our own unique and unrepeatable love.

And her great devotion to praying for priests is something we try to imitate as well. So let us pray with her:

‘O Holy Father, may the torrents of love flowing from the sacred wounds of Thy Divine Son bring forth priests like unto the beloved disciple John who stood at the foot of the Cross; priests: who as a pledge of Thine own most tender love will lovingly give Thy Divine Son to the souls of men.

May Thy priests be faithful guardians of Thy Church, as John was of Mary, whom he received into his house. Taught by this loving Mother who suffered so much on Calvary, may they display a mother’s care and thoughtfulness towards Thy children. May they teach souls to enter into close union with Thee through Mary who, as the Gate of Heaven, is specially the guardian of the treasures of Thy Divine Heart.

Give us priests who are on fire, and who are true children of Mary, priests who will give Jesus to souls with the same tenderness and care with which Mary carried the Little Child of Bethlehem.

Mother of sorrows and of love, out of compassion for Thy beloved Son, open in our hearts deep wells of love, so that we may console Him and give Him a generation of priests formed in thy school and having all the tender thoughtfulness of thine own spotless love.’

BE TRANSFORMED

2011-08-27T15:17:00.002-07:00

"I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship. Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect."
Rom 12:1-2

World Youth Day has come and gone. All the pilgrims have returned to their homes. For us here in the monastery, our days have returned to normal - the TV is off and it's back to business! Yet, I am surprised (and grateful) that the thrill of those days of pilgrimage (or virtual pilgrimage) remain. So many images that we saw flash on EWTN (Our Holy Father's delight as he drove in the Pope-mobile through the crowds, the young people cheering, chanting, dancing, and celebrating life!, and those same young people kneeling on the wet and muddy ground in adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament) are embedded in my memory, as are the words of our Holy Father. The underlining current of his words can be summed up by quoting St. Paul - in his letter to the Romans: DO NOT CONFORM YOURSELVES TO THIS AGE, BUT BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWAL OF YOUR MIND!

Keep that thought in mind as your read Pope Benedict's words to French pilgrims:

You have brought with you profound questions, and you are seeking answers. It is always a good thing to keep seeking. Above all, seek the Truth, which is not an idea or an ideology or a slogan, but a person: Christ, God himself, who has come into our midst! You rightly wish to plant your faith in him, to ground your life in Christ. He has always loved you and he knows you better than anyone else. May these days so rich in prayer, teaching and encounters help you to rediscover this, so that you may love him all the more.
Read more: http://www.ewtn.com/wyd2011/speeches/welcomeCibelesYouth0818.asp#ixzz1WGlDOae1

And again at the Prayer Vigil, Our Holy Father reiterates:

If you abide in the love of Christ, rooted in the faith, you will encounter, even amid setbacks and suffering, the source of true happiness and joy. Faith does not run counter to your highest ideals; on the contrary, it elevates and perfects those ideals. Dear young people, do not be satisfied with anything less than Truth and Love, do not be content with anything less than Christ.
Nowadays, although the dominant culture of relativism all around us has given up on the search for truth, even if it is the highest aspiration of the human spirit, we need to speak with courage and humility of the universal significance of Christ as the Saviour of humanity and the source of hope for our lives. He who took upon himself our afflictions, is well acquainted with the mystery of human suffering and manifests his loving presence in those who suffer. They in their turn, united to the passion of Christ, share closely in his work of redemption. Furthermore, our disinterested attention towards the sick and the forgotten will always be a humble and warm testimony of God's compassionate regard.

Read more: http://www.ewtn.com/wyd2011/speeches/prayerVigil0820.asp#ixzz1WGnSEQOi
Through the graces of this past World Youth Day, and the graces of each moment we spend united to Christ in prayer, may He continue to transform us by the renewal of our mind...

Pope Benedict XVI, We Love You!

2011-08-19T22:10:00.004-07:00

The relic of Our Holy Mother Clare which was venerated at the Transitus Celebration on Aug. 10th.

"Gospel radicalism finds expression in the mission God has chosen to entrust to us: from the contemplative life, which welcomes into its cloisters the Word of God in eloquent silence and adores His beauty in the solitude which he alone fills, to the different paths of the apostolic life, in whose furrows the seed of the Gospel bears fruit in the education of children and young people, the care of the sick and elderly, the pastoral care of families, commitment to respect for life, witness to the truth and the proclamation of peace and charity, mission work and the new evangelization, and so many other sectors of the Church’s apostolate." - From Pope Benedict's address to Women Religious, Aug 19, 2011

Sr. John-Mark Maria reading the account of the death of Our Holy Mother Clare

I don't know about you but the Sisters and I are enjoying TO THE FULL the festivities of World Youth Day - living it in union with Our Holy Father and all the young pilgrims from across the globe. In a particular way, we are praying for the young people from the Diocese of Phoenix who are there in Madrid...and supporting their journey with our prayers and sacrifices.

The Holy Father is not mincing any words! He is speaking directly to the heart of the youth...directly to all of our hearts. From the strength of his words, I'd venture to say that he sees a nobility in the heart of the young pilgrims and is engaging them in the pursuit of holiness. These are his words from the welcome address:

"Indeed, there are many who, creating their own gods, believe they need no roots or foundations other than themselves. They take it upon themselves to decide what is true or not, what is good and evil, what is just and unjust; who should live and who can be sacrificed in the interests of other preferences; leaving each step to chance, with no clear path, letting themselves be led by the whim of each moment. These temptations are always lying in wait. It is important not to give in to them because, in reality, they lead to something so evanescent, like an existence with no horizons, a liberty without God. We, on the other hand, know well that we have been created free, in the image of God, precisely so that we might be in the forefront of the search for truth and goodness, responsible for our actions, not mere blind executives, but creative co-workers in the task of cultivating and beautifying the work of creation. God is looking for a responsible interlocutor, someone who can dialogue with him and love him. Through Christ we can truly succeed and, established in him, we give wings to our freedom. Is this not the great reason for our joy? Isn’t this the firm ground upon which to build the civilization of love and life, capable of humanizing all of us?"

Our Holy Mother Clare is often referred to as a Shining Light...her light was shining upon us as we celebrated her Feast Day!

Pope Benedict's words to the Women Religious carried particular import for us here at Our Lady of Solitude...being the young religious that we are (getting older by the minute...but still young at heart! Smile, Smile). The one phrase he spoke sums up our life here in Tonopah, Arizona: adores His beauty in the solitude which He alone fills...

Sr. Esther Marie with our two new friends: Addison and David

To conclude, the Sisters and I thank you for your prayers for our communal retreat earlier this month. It was a truly blessed 8 days of joy, peace, prayer, and spiritual nourishment. Our special gratitude to Fr. Marco Testa who came all the way from Toronto Canada to lead the retreat. Having known Father for many years now, our friendship with him was deepened as we now received anew the benefits of his teaching and wisdom about the spiritual life...all with such joy! His anecdotes kept us smiling (and sometimes downright laughing)...and his devotion was a great witness to the 'hundred-fold' of fidelity and love.

Our farewell to our retreat master, Fr. Marco, as he heads back to Canada...very early in the morning! Thank you, Father, for a glorious retreat!!

As World Youth Day continues, let us keep our prayers coming for all those in attendance - for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit! The B-16 Generation is ALIVE and WELL!!!

Our Holy Mother Clare, Pray for Us

2011-08-02T13:26:00.000-07:00

"What a great and worthy exchange - To leave the things of time for those of eternity, To choose the things of heaven for the goods of earth, To receive the hundred-fold in place of the one. And to possess a blessed and eternal life."

The Novena to St. Clare begins today (Providentially, the novena begins on the very day when the Franciscan world celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of the Angels and the Portiuncula Indulgence).

You can download the Novena here: Novena Prayer to St. Clare . Also, please email your prayer intentions for the Novena, so that we can join your intentions to ours as we ask for the intercession of Our Holy Mother Clare!

This is the perfect opportunity to announce that by Papal Degree honoring the 800th Anniversary of the Founding of the Poor Clare Nuns, a plenary Jubilee Indulgence may be gained (until August 11th, 2012)

by all the faithful: once in a Poor Clare church (which includes Our Lady of Solitude Chapel, in Tonopah, AZ) on any day freely chosen; on every occasion they take part in devout pilgrimages as a group to the aforesaid holy places
if they devoutly assist at jubilee celebrations: on the Feast of St Clare (11th August 2011 and 2012) as well as on the Feast of the Seraphic Father St Francis (4th October 2011), during the tridua immediately preceding these feasts, and on other days to be properly determined (to be announced in the future).

Additional requirements to gain the indulgence include spending some time in quiet meditation concluding with the Creed, the Our Father, and invocations to Our Lady, St. Francis and St. Clare. The usual conditions to gain an indulgence must also be met within 8 days: Sacramental Confession, Eucharstic Communion, and prayer for the intention of the Pope. In the next year, events will be planned to celebrate the 800th Anniversary and to encourage as many faithful as possible to gain the indulgence. To read the full degree, click here. We are profoundly grateful for this outpouring of love from Pope Benedict XVI, in offering this indulgence!

Finally, our Communal retreat begins on Aug. 3rd and concludes the evening of the 10th - in preparation for the celebration of St. Clare's Solemnity. The Sisters and I appreciate your prayers for a fruitful and blessed retreat. Our retreat director came to us all the way from Toronto, Canada: Fr. Marco Testa. Our retreat will conclude with the celebration of the Transitus of St. Clare - a celebration that is open to the public...so please join us at Our Lady of Solitude Chapel on Wednesday evening, August 10th, at 6:30 p.m. The transitus celebration includes 1st Vespers of the Solemnity of Our Holy Mother Clare, the reading of the account of her death, a brief reflection by Fr. Marco, a litany in her honor, and the veneration of her relic.

The Mass of the Solemnity of St. Clare will be celebrated on August 11th at 8 a.m.

Also, be sure to check out the Construction Blog - some beautiful new stained glass was installed and the blog is chock-full of photos!

Come away to a lonely place...and rest for awhile

2011-07-12T10:58:00.004-07:00

Dear Blogging Family,

It's been a long while since I posted a blog! Time just marches on... Thankfully I am able to steal a few moments today to share with you a very important part of our life here at Our Lady of Solitude: Priest Retreats!

Upon moving to Tonopah, we were able to build a small retreat house for priests: Karol Kottage. It is a modest 5 bedroom house complete with all the amenities (laundry, full service kitchen, library, and lots of silence and solitude). Thankfully, the diocesan priests of Phoenix have been making good use of the house (and we pray that they continue to do so and more!) for their monthly days of prayer and retreat. We've also had priest visitors from around the country - some old friends and some priests who found us online and decided to 'come to the desert'. We thank the good Lord for old friends and new friends alike!

Karol Kottage provides priests with a place to 'come away and rest for awhile' with the Lord. Their presence is a great help for our community as well, since we do not have a permanent chaplain. Priest retreatants are asked to offer the nuns' conventual Mass each morning.

An important part of the charism of the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration is prayer for priests. Without the priest we would not have the Blessed Sacrament. Our foundress, Mother Marie de Ste. Claire, once said the praying for priests and praying for more priests is 'essentially a Franciscan mission.' And it is one that we take quite seriously!

I recently came across a excerpt from a heartfelt letter that Cardinal O'Malley wrote to his priests:

As priests, we must be men of prayer in a world that exalts activism. Nothing prepares us as well to announce the Good News, as a life of prayer and friendship with Christ. A prayer life survives best when there is a plan, a rule of life and the support and good example of our brothers. Then we can share the fruits of our contemplation with our people. That is the greatest service we can give them. ...Too often we are like Jonah, a reluctant prophet, or Simon of Cyrene, shouldering the cross under duress. We must learn to bear one another’s burdens. When we share the burden, it is lessened, when we share the joy, it is doubled. Our priestly fraternity is Christ’s plan to make the Good Shepherd present to God’s people. Tabor is shared so that Gethsemane can be shared. - from the blog of Sean Cardinal O'Malley

Let us continue to pray for our priests and the heavy burdens that they carry. It is our hope and prayer that Our Lady of Solitude will provide a place for priests to encounter the Lord in prayer, on Tabor, in the desert, and most especially in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

Help us spread the word to Priests you know about Retreats at Our Lady of Solitude:

Click here to download a Priest Retreat Flyer (.pdf)

To remind you of the efficacy of intercessory prayer:

"The day was long, theburden I had borne seemed heavier than I could longer bear and then itlifted - but I did not know some one had knelt in prayer; had taken me toGod that very hour, and asked the easing of the load, and He, in infinitecompassion, had stooped down and taken it from me. We cannot tell howoften as we pray for some bewildered one, hurt and distressed, the answer comes, but many timesthose hearts find sudden peace and rest. Some one had prayed, and faith,a reaching hand, took hold of God, and brought Him down that day! So many, many hearts have need of prayer. Oh, let us pray! -St.Maximilian Kolbe

Summertime, summertime, sum, sum, summertime!

2011-06-13T14:38:00.000-07:00

Yes, when it reaches 105 in our little neck of the woods, then we know it's officially SUMMERTIME! Another sure sign that summer is here is that the flys are out in force, testing even those with Job-like patience! To all of you who are going on summer vacation, ENJOY! And know that we are praying for your safety in travel and we are asking the Lord to grant you a time of relaxing renewal!

Here at Our Lady of Solitude, we had our Summer Mass of Thanksgiving with one of our dearest friends: Fr. Fred Adamson. On Saturday, June 11th, he offered a Mass of Thanksgiving for this miracle in the desert! It was a day of great joy for all of us. Reflecting back upon our 6 years here in the Diocese, Fr. Fred has been with us each and every step of the way - offering advice, fatherly support, and the gift of his friendship. He was there at the very first meeting with had with Bishop Olmsted in 2004 when we were still only praying (and hoping and dreaming) of this foundation. Surely these hopes and dreams have been supported by his prayers for these years.

We have one more Mass of Thanksgiving scheduled with Bishop James Wall on Saturday, September 24th (more events to be scheduled in the future). Be sure to mark your calendars. All are welcome to attend.

Enjoy the photos below from the Summer Mass of Thanksgiving...

Von Hildebrand's Transformation in Christ

2011-06-04T14:54:00.001-07:00

A meditation from Sr. Mary Fidelis on Von Hildebrand's TRANSFORMATION in CHRIST:

One of my favorite books to come back to again and again is Dietrich von Hildebrand's Transformation in Christ. Here is a sampling of the chapter titles: Contrition, True Simplicity, True Freedom, Holy Patience, Holy Mercy, True Surrender of Self. But the first chapter that must be read and ruminated before any of the others are undertaken is: THE READINESS TO CHANGE. This is the prerequisite necessary for any transformation.

Von Hildebrand states very confidently: "All true Christian life must begin with a deep yearning to become a 'new man' in Christ, and an inner readiness to 'put off the old man' - a readiness to become something fundamentally different." What a challenge! Sometimes when facing my own faults or character flaws, I work on changing this or that. Such work usually bears little lasting fruit, because it's still caught up in the self, it's not about letting our Lord accomplish His work of sanctification.

Yes, to allow my character as a whole to be transformed by Him...this is a challenge indeed. And this is what is meant by a READINESS TO CHANGE, a readiness for a fundamental change. TRANSFORMATION!

Think of this idea of TRANSFORMATION as a spotlight shining out from the Heart of Christ. It's His love that radiates this light. But we must allow the Light to rest upon us. The light can be startling, as it circles the globe searching for ready hearts. It can be scary to allow this light to rest on us because all of our flaws are exposed. Sometimes we may think: "Let me fix some of these flaws first, then I will bask in the light of God's love." Ah, but that's not how it works. It's never about US accomplishing - it's about us corresponding to the transforming love of Christ. It's about this LIGHT doing the work of TRANSFORMATION. It's about us simply bearing a READINESS TO CHANGE, a willingness to allow the light to rest upon us, a willingness to be fundamentally transformed!

Also the Pentecost Novena is in full swing! Let us beg for a share in all the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit. VENI SANCTE SPIRITUS!!!

(below is my favorite translation of the Veni Sancte Spiritus - so good to meditate on as we prepare for Pentecost!)
Holy Spirit, Lord of light,
From Thy clear celestial height
Thy pure beaming radiance give.

Come, Thou Father of the poor,
Come with treasures which endure,
Come, Thou Light of all who live.

Thou, of all consolers, best,
Thou, the soul's delightsome Guest,
Dost refreshing peace bestow.

Thou in toil art comfort sweet,
Pleasant coolness in the heat,
Solace in the midst of woe.

Light immortal, Light Divine,
Visit Thou these hearts of thine,
And our inmost being fill.

If Thou take Thy grace away,
Nothing pure in man will stay;
All his good is turned to ill.

Heal our wounds; our strength renew;
On our dryness pour Thy dew;
Wash the stains of guilt away.

Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
Guide the steps that go astray.

Thou, on those who evermore
Thee confess and Thee adore,
In Thy sevenfold gifts descend:

Give them comfort when they die,
Give them life with Thee on high;
Give them joys that never end.

Amen.

Local Mass of Thankgiving Snapshots

2011-06-01T10:33:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, May 28th, Fr. Billy Kosco celebrated a local Mass of Thanksgiving at Our Lady of Solitude for those from the Tonopah/Buckeye area. It was a joyful day spent giving thanks to God for choosing Tonopah as the place for our monastery. Here in this 'out of the way' place Our Lord is very near! He is reining gloriously from His new Eucharistic Throne.

Fr. Billy pointed out that monasteries are called to preserve authentic culture and tradition. They are to provide a sense of permanence in a changing world. It is our firm hope that Our Lady of Solitude will provide this, through our community, for the diocese of Phoenix.

Our local friends truly are great gifts to us. Through the instrumentality of Fr. Billy, the "Ladies of Solitude Guild" of St. Henry's Catholic Church was created. Under the leadership of Wesley Rodermund, these wonderful women are dedicated to assisting our community in many different ways: taking several hours of Eucharistic Adoration, cleaning the Church, running errands, and just about anything else you can think of! For the local Mass of Thanksgiving, they provided refreshments after Mass. We are grateful for these inspiring ladies.

Enjoy the photos below of the festivities from this Mass and reception!

Note that the next Mass of Thanksgiving is on June 11th at 10 a.m., celebrated by Fr. Fred Adamson. All are welcome!

EWTN Youtube of Chapel Dedication!

2011-05-13T18:36:00.002-07:00

To all those who made inquiries: as far as I know, EWTN is not offering a dvd of the dedication for purchase. However, if that changes we will let you know. In the meantime, here is the youtube version. ENJOY!
Click here to read the text of Bishop Olmsted's homily

Plank Owners

2011-05-08T21:22:00.001-07:00

ON MAY 7th, 2011 - OUR LADY OF SOLITUDE CHAPEL WAS SOLEMNLY CONSECRATED. ALLELUIA!!!

A friend of ours whose husband is a naval captain compared the dedication of the Chapel to 'a ship coming to life'. And this is a very good comparison. The rite of the dedication of a church is rich with symbolism and beauty.

For about 18 months we've seen this building in a its various stages of completion. The last 6 months since living here, we traipsed in and out of the chapel - moving stuff, cleaning, giving tours, etc. The chapel, though beautiful, was still just a building. It did not yet have life. The True Presence of the Lord was not yet present.

At long last, that came yesterday - during the rite of dedication and the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Let me walk you through some of the highlights and struck me to the heart:

Haydon Building Corp hands over the plans to the Bishop who in turn gives them to the Nuns

As the people began filling up the Church, there was a great excitement. Perhaps, ANTICIPATION is a better word. It was like a faint pulse was felt in the heart of the Church. There were signs of life.
Then the Bishop entered with a retinue of servers, deacons, and priests. The pulse got stronger.
The Readings were proclaimed and the Word of God - alive and active - was heard in this Church for the first time. The pulse sped up. The heart pumped more blood to its members.
The relic (St. Gaudiosa, martyr) was placed in the altar. Such a grace to realize that the saints who LIVE with God in heaven are very much present to us even to this very day.
Then the Bishop anointed the Altar with sacred chrism. Each wall of the Church was anointed as well. Strength and life-breath continued to grow.
Bishop Olmsted anoints the Altar with Chrism
The anointing of the walls of the Church by Fr. Mark Mary
The altar was prepared for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass by the nuns, then all the candles in the Church were lit. It was like the light of life could be seen by all. As this was done, the choir chanted:
O Light born of Light, Jesus, redeemer of the world,
with loving-kindness deign to receive suppliant praise and prayer.

Thou who once deigned to be clothed in flesh for the sake of the lost,
grant us to be members of thy blessed body.
The Preparation of the Altar by Sr. Mary Fidelis and Sr. John-Mark Maria
The Lighting of the Dedication Candles by Br. Francis Edkins, CFR

The Mass continued as usual after the lighting. We were blessed to have many priests in attendance, some traveling as far as from Canada to be present for this special event.

The Concelebrants

The culmination of this breathing of life into the lungs of our chapel, into the sails of our ship, was accomplished when Our Lord came among us in the Most Blessed Sacrament. With the disciples of Emmaus we cry out: STAY WITH US LORD. And he did.

Exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament after Mass

When a ship comes to life (aka planking), at its first commissioning, the crew members are called Plank Owners. So we, the founding nuns of Our Lady of Solitude (the Plank Owners, so to speak), are especially grateful to have witnessed this 'ship's coming to life'.

Sr. Marie Andre expressing her gratitude after Mass

6 years ago, as we left our Monastery in Alabama to establish this new Foundation it was with one driving motivation: TO ESTABLISH A NEW THRONE FOR OUR EUCHARISTIC KING. On May 7th, as those reredos doors were opened at the end of Mass and the Lord of Glory took His Throne, that was accomplished - and it was accomplished in a mighty way.

Fr. Parks in Adoration after the Dedication

We are grateful that, unlike Moses, we were able to see the Promised Land - not from a distance...but so near to us. And that now we are able to live in His Presence. We see Him reigning in our beautiful Chapel as King. May He reign forever in our hearts as well.

Our benefactress and dear friend Mrs. Connie Vitale

There are so many thank yous to say, but that will have to wait for another blog as this one is already growing long. Enjoy the photos - more to come and more details to come as well.

A HUGE thank you to EWTN and the crew who came to AZ to film

Public Mass Schedule

2011-04-30T20:39:00.000-07:00

At long last, Our Lady of Solitude Chapel will be dedication on Saturday, May 7th, and thereafter will be open to the public. The actual Dedication Mass, due to very limited room in the Chapel, is by invitation only! But have no fear, EWTN is televising it LIVE - so set your TiVo and be sure to tune in.

There will be other opportunities to share in festivities!

We are considering May 7, 2011 through May 7, 2012
as a YEAR OF THANKSGIVING for the WONDERS of the LORD which He has wrought at OUR LADY OF SOLITUDE

Share in our joy, by joining us for one of the special events
we are planning to celebrate:

Saturday, MAY 28, 2011 - Mass of Thanksgiving for LOCALS celebrated by
Fr. Billy Kosco, Pastor of St. Henry Catholic Church, Buckeye, AZ
at 10 o'clock in the morning
Saturday, JUNE 11, 2011 - Mass of Thanksgiving celebrated by
Fr. Frederick Adamson, Vicar General of the Diocese of Phoenix
at 10 o'clock in the morning
Saturday, September 24, 2011 - Mass of Thanksgiving celebrated by
The Most Reverend James S. Wall, Bishop of Gallup
at 10 o'clock in the morning
Please email us if you are interested in coming and we will email you directions to the site!

Also, Sunday, May 8th will begin - officially - Our Lady of Solitude Chapel being open to the public. We've recently posted a schedule of Mass times for the next two weeks. Be sure to check it out if you would like to join us.

BLESSED John Paul II, We Love You

2011-04-30T20:34:00.000-07:00

As we were packing up our things and preparing to begin this new foundation 6 years ago, the Lord called Pope John Paul II home. It seems like only yesterday that we heard that our beloved JPII had taken a turn for the worst. We all remember where we were when we heard that he died. For many, they never knew another Pope - so long (and blessed) was his pontificate. He embraced the whole world with his apostolic heart. And at the hour of his death, it seemed as though the whole world embraced him through their vigils of prayer and watching. But that was six years ago...

How quickly these years have gone by! What a six years they have been! For our merry little band of nuns - these six years have involved much planning, praying, preparing, and building! Oddly enough (or I should say PROVIDENTIALLY), a big event in the history of our Community (Chapel Dedication, May 7th, click here for more details) is colliding with a historic event surrounding John Paul II. Tomorrow, as we know, is his beatification! Since his death, the world has been on a journey with him. Deepening our understanding of who John Paul II was both in history and in his interior person...and the depth of his union with Our Lord.

Incredibly enough, we now find ourselves witnessing - in our own life time - his beatification.

It is no coincidence, of course, that his beatification falls on Divine Mercy Sunday. His love for St. Faustina and the message of mercy was like a flame that lit the world with love for this great Gift! There is so much for which to be grateful.

I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. - Our Lord to St. Faustina

Read more: http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/mercy/feast.htm#ixzz1L4HZjV2z

The Humanness of It All

2011-04-24T21:27:00.003-07:00

Our THANKS to our dear friend, Fr. Fred Adamson, for celebrating Holy Week and Easter with us!!!

There is something in the human heart that rejoices in solemnity - the pomp and circumstance that properly marks certain liturgical feasts and life-moments. Simultaneously, there is also something in the human heart that rejoices when such solemnity is visited by a subtle 'humanness' that makes it all the more approachable. One without the other can be either too intimidating or, on the other hand, too mundane.

Our BLAZING Easter fire!

Here at Our Lady of Solitude the Lord seems to always strike a balance of the two. Take our Easter Vigil Mass for instance, which we celebrated at our in-house Chapel (the main Church is not being used until it is dedicated on May 7th). Midway through the awesome Liturgy of the Word that recounts so eloquently salvation history, the fire alarm started blaring like a fire alarm has never blared before! To add to the drama, the dogs started howling like westies have never howled before! When the fiasco finally quieted down, we all just smiled...and the glorious celebration of Mass continued.

Here is another example to illustrate my point: we are preparing for Mercy Sunday next week, right? Praying the Novena and Chaplet of Divine Mercy in preparation always brings me great consolation and peace. So I was devoutly praying my Chaplet when I literally was dive-bombed by two flies They even resorted to trying to fly up my nose and into my mouth when I took a breath. (We live near a dairy farm and the fierce battle of the flies goes all summer) Finally, to keep my sanity, I went into the sacristy and got a fly swatter. Now I was armed with two weapons: chaplet in one hand and fly-swatter in the other. I chuckled at the contradiction: praying "have mercy on us and on the whole world" as I mercilessly try to kill the fly that was making my life miserable. Yes, the humanness of it all.

With Our Lord and Fr. Fred after Easter Morning Mass

Earlier this week Sr. Marie Andre gave her annual Holy Thursday exhortation to the community. In it she spoke of the call to fidelity to God and His Will. She also spoke of the call to give up our attachment to having things perfect. There is no such thing this side of the kingdom. Perhaps another way of saying this is: the call to embrace the 'humanness' of situations. Easier said that done!

This morning I meditated on the passage from St. John's Gospel where Mary Magdalene weeps near the empty tomb. Then Our Lord approaches and asks her why she is weeping. So consumed with her grief, she fails to recognize Him! "Mary." It wasn't until she heard her name that she realized this was no gardener. It was the the Master. There is an awesome painting of this scene (my favorite by far) where Our Lord is depicted wearing a gardener's hat and holding a shovel. Yes, the humanness of it all.

Further on St. John's Gospel recounts another very human scene where Peter says: "I'm going fishing." He and six others fish all night and catch nothing. Then, from a distance they see someone on the shore and hear a voice call to them: "Children, have you caught anything?" He did not immediately recognize the Lord either. Perhaps he was distracted by both the fruitless night of fishing and the intense trauma of the days before. Do you think that, maybe, he was disgruntled by the spectator telling him how to fish? Or did he begin to recognize the voice and the command, the figure that stood at a distance on shore? Could it really be the Lord? True to fashion, Peter follows the Lord's direction and casts the net over the right side of the boat. And they pulled in a huge catch of fish. Coming ashore, they found their fish breakfast already cooking on a charcoal fire. Perhaps the Lord delights in the humanness of it all too.

Our God became man like us in all things but sin. He experienced love, joy, hunger, sadness, disappointment, and the manifold imperfections of those He called to be His own. And in the messiness of human existence, He taught us how to live and love and find Him in the heart of it all, in the humanness of it all.

Fr. Fred's STUPENDOUS homemade coconut cake!

In these fifty days of Easter, we celebrate Jesus' Resurrection from the dead. We celebrate the
triumph of life over death. We celebrate the love strong enough to overcome sin and death and every power that be. We celebrate the sacrifice that brought our freedom, the ransom that paid our price. And in the midst of the solemnity of it all, we will meet - again and again - our charming Lord...Who ventures to meet us in the humanness of it all. There in that very real place of vulnerability and hope, He calls us by name. We hear Him say: "Children, have you caught anything?" He is risen as He promised, Alleluia!

"This, that, and the other thing..."

2011-04-14T10:14:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a 'this, that, and the other thing' newsy blog!

1.) On May 5th, EWTN's Life on the Rock, Doug Barry will unveil his basket for largest out of state fundraiser! Yay. Sr. John-Mark will do a phone interview on the show. Don't miss it!

2.) Jeff Fuentebella's 1400 AWESOME Nun Run Photos are up online and ready to be enjoyed. Be sure to check them out soon (Part I and Part II). And THANK YOU Jeff...you are amazing!

3.) I don't know if you've checked out the stained glass window page or not, but Padre Pio and John Paul II are both fully donated for and recently sent to production. A great big THANK YOU to all those who made this happen. We will be putting St. Anthony and St. Therese up soon - so that donations can begin for them.

4.) The Chapel Dedication is quickly approaching on May 7th. Because of our very limited amount of space in the Chapel, this is an 'invitation-only' event. However, in order to have all of our friends and Our Lady of Solitude Family share in this joy, we have arranged for several days when a Mass of Thanksgiving will be offered - extending the celebration far beyond May 7th. Here's what is on the agenda:

Local Mass of Thanksgiving (for Tonopah and Buckeye residents) - May 28th at 10 am - celebrated by Fr. Billy Kosco
Mass of Thanksgiving with Fr. Fred Adamson - June 11th at 10 am
Mass of Thanksgiving with Bishop James Wall - September 24th at 10 am

If you are interested in attending one of these events, please contact us and we will email directions and more information.

5.) Everyone is asking: OK, after the Chapel is dedicated and open to the public, what is the Mass schedule and what time will the Chapel open and close, etc. All of this is being discussed and discerned and will be posted as soon as possible! Keep checking back here or on the main website for details as they are decided.

6.) Last but CERTAINLY not least is the fact that amidst all of this busyness and preparations for the Dedication, things will slow down dramatically for us as we enter into Holy Week. This is a time of retreat for us - and for the whole Church. It's a time to enter into the Passion and Death of Our Lord, awaiting with Our Lady the Resurrection of her Son. The silence and solemnity of Holy Week brings us back to the one thing necessary: LOVE. We see in Christ the Love that gave all, that held nothing back...not even a drop of His Blood. He gave all for our salvation.

In Pope Benedict XVI new book JESUS of NAZARETH, the following quote struck a cord within my own heart and it is my hope that it helps in your prayer this Holy Week:

"Jesus' agony, his struggle against death, continues until the end of the world, as Blaise Pascal said on the basis of similar considerations (cf. Pensées VII, 553). We could also put it the other way around: at this hour, Jesus took upon himself the betrayal of all ages, the pain caused by betrayal in every era, and he endured the anguish of history to the bitter end."

Shadow Runner Video

2011-03-26T10:48:00.001-07:00

Enjoy this video of the 2011 Nun Run Shadow Participants! Video and photographs of the onsite event will be coming soon!!!!!

Want to see race results?
Onsite Results
Shadow Results

Nun Run 2011 - WOW!

2011-03-18T19:50:00.000-07:00

Sr. John-Mark rejoicing that the 10K is behind her!!! Way to Go Sister!!!

Hello faithful blog followers! Here I am back in the saddle again after fighting a nasty flu that descended on me the afternoon of the Run. I am just now getting to feel a bit better and well enough to update you all on this past Saturday's monumental NUN RUN.

For everyone who was there you know what an absolutely perfect day it was from start to finish. Our wonderful super photographer Jeff Fuentebella will be uploading his awesome photos soon and we will share the link!

Here are a few photos to enjoy as we await the rest:

Rick Lee and Fr. Kline - our Nun Run Announcers!

Bishop Nevares and Sr. Esther Marie with 2 of our young runners!

Nothing like the finish line!!!

Way to Go, Ladies!!!

The Nuns on Channel 12 Hero Central!

2011-03-09T09:37:00.002-07:00

Fox and Friends!

2011-03-09T09:29:00.000-07:00

Enjoy this Fox and Friends Video of the spot that aired this morning on FoxNews. A great big thank you to FOX for helping us publicize not only the NUN RUN, but also our fund-raising drive for the new Monastery!

In other news, Alaska signed up this morning. That leaves only MT, UT, and HI! Come on, we want every state to be represented and we are so close to this goal!!!!!!

Last minute registrations are pouring in! If you are planning on coming to the Run and haven't yet registered, why wait? :) Register today!!!!

SET YOUR TIVO

2011-03-08T11:18:00.000-07:00

OK everyone - Tomorrow is not only Ash Wednesday (happy lent everyone, a more spiritual post about this holy season will be forthcoming!), but it is also the day on which the Sisters will appear on Fox & Friends.

This is the latest that we have heard: The Show runs begins 6:00am EST. And they do not time delay - so that means it comes on at 4 am here in AZ. Now the Sisters are slotted to appear at 6:30 EST (which unfortunately is 4:30 Arizona time). So set your TIVO and be sure to watch it when you get out of bed. And say a prayer that the Lord will bear much fruit for His Kingdom and for the construction of the monastery through this appearance!!

Hero Central - Schedule Change!

2011-03-07T22:10:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone! There's been a slight change regarding the air time for Lin Sue's Hero Central spot on the Nun Run. It will air on MARCH 8th at 10pm on Channel 12 News. Be sure to tune in! Lin Sue's last feature with the Sisters last year was truly wonderful.

Be sure to check this out!

2011-03-05T09:33:00.000-07:00

Hey there everyone! Just a very quick post to share a great (and humorous) video with you. Doug 'Rocky' Barry's training video is on the Nun Run Blog. Be sure to take a few minutes to watch!!!

Nuns in the News - on TV and Radio!

2011-03-04T14:39:00.000-07:00

OK - so the Nun Run is now only one week and one day away! It's not too late to register!!!! With South Carolina, Vermont, Delaware, and Rhode Island joining the fun, we now only have 4 states yet to be represented: UTAH, MONTANA, HAWAII, and ALASKA!!! Spread the word to anyone you know in those states to sign up today :)

We have some big news. The press is taking this story and running with it (no pun intended!) Next week will find the Nun Run in the News. Be sure to mark your calendars and, if you can't watch live, be sure to set your tivo for the following shows:

- Monday, March 7th: Fox 10's morning show 9:35 and 9:55 a.m. live remote segments with Corey; The Bishop's Hours on Immaculate Heart Radio (1310 am) at 10 a.m.

- Ash Wednesday, March 9th: Fox News NY Fox & Friends slated for 8:45 a.m. EST (depending on the news of the day, the nuns could appear anytime between 6 am EST and 9 a.m. EST - for those here in AZ, that translates to 4 am and 7 am)

- Thursday, March 10th: The Bishop's Hour Encore Presentation at 9 p.m.; 12 News Hero Central at 10 p.m.


all of this media coverage is due in large part to Kim and Nancy. Thank you, ladies! You are the best!!!!

A good STATE of mind as March 12th approaches

2011-02-26T18:59:00.000-07:00

OK - so we are in a really good STATE of mind as registrations come pouring in for Nun Run 2011! Be sure to register soon. For all you shadow runners/walkers, be sure to register no later than March 2nd to ensure that you get your t-shirt and race number mailed to you in time for race day on the 12th.

The Nun Run Challenge has been heeded by some (and to those some, we send a shout out of THANKS and YAHOO and WAY TO GO) - and we now proudly announce that the following new States that are on the Nun Run Map:
Idaho
Kentucky
Maine
Mississippi
Nebraska
South Dakota
Wyoming

OK, folks, Nun Run is only 2 weeks away and we only need 8 more states to be represented to make it an 'all-American' event in every sense of the word. So to all of you in the following states, please sign up soon!!!!
Alaska
Delaware
Hawaii
Montana
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Utah
Vermont

Then each state in our country will have be represented in the 2nd annual nun run!!! We will keep you posted on the Nun Run Challenge progress!

A NUN RUN 2011 CHALLENGE

2011-02-19T21:29:00.001-07:00

The following is NUN RUN 2011 CHALLENGE: It is our firm hope that each state in our country will be represented in NUN RUN 2011! As of February 19th, representatives from 36 states have registered as shadow participants!

WE DO NOT AS YET HAVE ANYONE REGISTERED FROM THE FOLLOWING STATES:

Alaska

Delaware

Hawaii 

Idaho

Kentucky

Maine

Montana

Nebraska

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Utah 

Vermont

Wyoming

In case you aren't familiar with what it means to be a shadow participant: the gist of it is quite simple: Register for the Nun Run as a shadow participant! Then a race shirt and race number will be mailed to you. Then you can take part in the run or walk wherever you are! You can email us photos from your run and your race times and they will be posted on our website. As shadow participants, you can take part in the 10K Run, 5K Run/Walk, or the 1mi Walk!

No matter where you are, you can be part of Nun Run 2011!

Pass the word around to your family and friends - especially those living in the states mentioned above. Let's see if we can get every state in our beautiful country 'running so as to win'!

God bless America!

USA Today and Sirius Radio!

2011-02-16T10:11:00.001-07:00

The Nun Run continues to make the news! USAToday blog picked up the story a few days back. Check it out!

Also, Mark Your Calendars:

We will be speaking on the CATHOLIC CHANNEL on SIRIUS XM RADIO - The Catholics Next Door with Greg and Jennifer Willits on Wednesday, February 23rd at 11:20am EASTERN (9:20 am Arizona time) to talk about Nun Run!

And please keep us in your prayers as we prepare for the Nun Run. Hope to see you there!!

"Start spreading the news...NEW YORK, NEW YORK!"

2011-02-14T19:05:00.000-07:00

We just got an email from our (awesome, fantastic, dynamic and wonderful) media connection, Kim Cecere - and look where the Nun Run is being advertised now! Yes, PRNewswire picked up the press release about the Run and put it on the giant marquee in TIMES SQUARE!

We can hardly believe it, so...

"Start spreading the news...NEW YORK, NEW YORK!"

Do you want to be apart of it!

Then sign up for Nun Run Today ;)

The Sisters are HOME!

2011-02-12T11:44:00.000-07:00

To all of you who viewed EWTN's Life on the Rock...didn't the Sisters do a wonderful job! We're so proud of them. Miss the Show? No worries...here's a link to watch on EWTN's YouTube channel

We had a wonderful response from the show - over 2500 hits on the website in 2 days! It actually overloaded our server. So if you were having problems getting through to our site or registering for the Nun Run, we are so sorry. All is well now. So please revisit the site and register today for the Nun Run!

In addition to being on Life on the Rock, Sr. Marie St. Paul and Sr. Esther Marie spent some wonderful days with our Sisters at Our Lady of the Angels Monastery. What a great few days to catch up and enjoy the company of our beloved Sisters in Alabama. In the slideshow below, you can enjoy photos of some of the sisters there.

Desert Nuns on EWTN's LIFE ON THE ROCK!

2011-02-08T09:58:00.000-07:00

Be sure to tune into EWTN on Thursday, February 10th at 8 p.m. Mountain time (10 p.m. Eastern) to see Sr. Marie St. Paul and Sr. Esther Marie on Life on the Rock.

The Sisters will be talking about the upcoming Nun Run on March 12th and the Chapel construction progress! You won't want to miss this one!!!

A Bit of This and a Bit of That

2011-01-28T11:39:00.001-07:00

This is a little bit of a potpourri post. Just wanted to fill you in on a bit of this and a bit of that! Things here in Tonopah are good, but BUSY! Why? Because we are gearing up for the 2nd Annual Nun Run 2011. Sr. John-Mark Maria and Sr. Esther Marie have been putting lots of time, effort and heart into making Nun Run 2011 a great success.

I hope you have registered for the Run!!! The Nun Run will be held at Kiwanis Park in Tempe. (Photo to the left) This is a pretty central location for all you native Phoenicians! So no excuses!!! :) Come out and join in the fun.

If you are not here in town, then consider registering as a shadow participant (a race shirt will be mailed to you) and run wherever you are. There are so many ways to get involved.

Sr. Esther Marie is now doing the Nun Run Blog. And it is lots of fun. Be sure to check it out!

The latest and greatest about the Nun Run are the incentive prizes for Fundraisers! Everyone who becomes a Nun Run Fundraiser and raises $150 or more, will receive an Fleece Blanket with embroidered nun run logo. It's pretty awesome! So become a Nun Run Fundraiser today!

Also, we are still looking for sponsors for the Nun Run. If you company is interested in supporting this cause and receiving some great publicity, contact Sr. John-Mark Maria!

In other news, we were blessed to have Fr. Kevin Hanlon here with us. Father is a real live missionary - a Maryknoller who served many years in Japan. He is back in the States now, continuing his work in the mission at home. Each year Father makes his annual retreat with us. With his wonderful homilies and presence, we feel as if we are all on retreat. Truly the Lord has blessed us with wonderful friends to accompany us along the way of His Love.

February 2nd is World Day for Consecrated Life. Pope John Paul II (soon to be BLESSED John Paul II) inaugurated this special day in 1997. There are 3 primary reasons for its establishment. Below they are laid out for you - taken directly from the message from JPII for the first World Day in '97:

In the first place, it answers the intimate need to praise the Lord more solemnly and to thank him for the great gift of consecrated life, which enriches and gladdens the Christian community by the multiplicity of its charisms and by the edifying fruits of so many lives totally given to the cause of the Kingdom.
In the second place, this day is intended to promote a knowledge of and esteem for the consecrated life by the entire People of God.
The third reason regards consecrated persons directly. They are invited to celebrate together solemnly the marvels which the Lord has accomplished in them, to discover by a more illumined faith the rays of divine beauty spread by the Spirit in their way of life, and to acquire a more vivid consciousness of their irreplaceable mission in the Church and in the world.

Here at Our Lady of Solitude, all of us are gearing up for this day with special devotion! Communally we will renew our commitment to Christ and His Church - "celebrating together solemnly the marvels which the Lord has accomplished." In your own way, according to your own state in life, be sure to celebrate this World Day for Consecrated Life - by giving thanks to the Father for the gift of Religious Life. Let us join in praying for vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life.

Though miles apart...

2011-01-20T14:23:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in the previous blog, Sr. Marie Andre and I recently traveled to Our Lady of the Angels Monastery in Hanceville AL for a formation conference. Traveling in the middle of January is always a little dangerous with winter weather. However, when you are traveling from Arizona to Alabama, you just don't give it much thought. Little did we know that we would arrive in AL amidst record breaking winter conditions!

Through rain, sleet, ice and snow, we arrived safely at the monastery for the formation conference...albeit a bit late! In addition to the wonderful meetings that filled our four day visit, we were able to meet the new Sisters who have joined since our coming to Phoenix. This was a great blessing indeed! Sharing 'Foundation stories', sharing fond memories of years past, and just catching up on all the Lord is accomplishing in our monasteries, this time provided wonderful moments of fellowship and encouragement.

To read a bit about the actual conferences, check out Our Lady of the Angels blog!

front row: Sr. Marie St. John (AL), Sr. Isabella (AL), Sr. Mary Fidelis (AZ), Sr. Grace Marie (TX). back row: Sr. Maris Stella (AL), Sr. Veronica (AL), Sr. Marie Andre (AZ)

As we were saying our final farewells, we posed for one last photo! from left to right: Sr. Fidelis, Sr. Jacinta, Sr. Chiara, Sr. Maris Stella, Sr. Imelda, Sr. Paschal, Sr. St. John, Sr. Edith, Sr. Andre, and Sr. Veronica

Before heading home, we were able to spend the evening with Sr. Mary Fidelis' parents (Charles and Peg Beach) and Sr. Esther's mom (Adele Gilbert), and Fr. Anthony Mary, MFVA. It was a family reunion from start to finish!

Another Birdday!

2011-01-17T19:32:00.002-07:00

A great big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Sr. Marie Andre who celebrated her birthday on January 16th!

To the right, you see Sr. Esther Marie being attacked by the Westies as the birthday song begins! Oddly enough, they have done this since they were puppies. They get so absolutely rambunctious whenever that song is sung! We don't do so well correcting the behavior as we all get a kick out of their wild westie behavior! Barking and running around like little terrors...we figure it's their unique way of saying: HAPPY BIRTHDAY! :)

Sr. Marie Andre and Sr. Mary Fidelis just arrived home from a visit to Our Lady of the Angels Monastery in Hanceville, AL. It was wonderful to see Reverend Mother Angelica and the nuns! I hope to post photos from the visit soon. So be sure to check back.

The last few weeks have brought many visitors to see the marvels of the Lord in Tonopah Arizona. People from near and far have been emailing to request a tour of the new chapel. It's awesome to witness the enthusiasm and excitement and genuine interest of so many! If you would like to stop by for a tour, just email us to arrange a time: desertnuns@msn.com

We have also had some winged visitors! For Sr. Mary Fidelis, this provides hours of entertainment and excitement, as she loves to bird watch! Enjoy these photos of the smallest and the largest of them! At Christmas (thanks to the kindness of Sr. Mary Fidelis' grandmother), we put up a hummingbird feeder. Within a few days, we had our first nibbler. And he hasn't left the feeder ever since! The only time he is more than a few feet away is when he is chasing other hummingbirds away. We've named him Harry! He is a ruby-throated hummingbird - beautiful to behold. He dive-bombs us as we refill the feeder!

On Sr. Andre's birthday, we went outside in the morning after Divine Office to behold this majestic hawk perched on the top of Chapel, on the tip of the Cross. He remained there for quite some time. He's been spotted there before, just hanging out and getting a good view of things from his 75 ft. perch. We still haven't settled on a name for the him yet! We hope he becomes a regular visitor.

Seeing the majesty of the hawk and the audacity of the hummingbird, brings to mind St. Francis' sermon to the birds. I'll conclude with an excerpt:

My little sisters, the birds, much bounden are ye unto God, your Creator, and always in every place ought ye to praise Him, for that He hath given you liberty to fly about everywhere, and hath also given you double and triple raiment; moreover He preserved your seed in the ark of Noah, that your race might not perish out of the world; still more are ye beholden to Him for the element of the air which He hath appointed for you; beyond all this, ye sow not, neither do you reap; and God feedeth you, and giveth you the streams and fountains for your drink; the mountains and valleys for your refuge and the high trees whereon to make your nests; and because ye know not how to spin or sow, God clotheth you, you and your children; wherefore your Creator loveth you much, seeing that He hath bestowed on you so many benefits; and therefore, my little sisters, beware of the sin of ingratitude, and study always to give praises unto God.

Epiphany 2011 with Fr. Anselm

2011-01-02T19:00:00.000-07:00

Then entered in those Wise men three
Full reverently upon their knee
And offered there in His presence
Their gold and myrrh and frankincense.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel!

The Feast of Epiphany is among my favorite days of the liturgical year. On the EWTN website, I read a wonderful article by Fr. Alban Butler. Here is an excerpt I hope you enjoy:

The holy men, with an unshaken and steady faith, and in transports of spiritual joy, entered the poor cottage, rendered more glorious by this birth than the most sumptuous stately palace in the universe, and finding the Child with His mother, they prostrate themselves, they adore him, they pour forth their souls in his presence in the deepest sentiments of praise, thanksgiving, and a total sacrifice of themselves. So far from being shocked at the poverty of the place, and at his unkingly appearance, their faith rises and gathers strength on the sight of obstacles which, humanly speaking, should extinguish it. It captivates their understanding; it penetrates these curtains of poverty, infancy, weakness, and abjection; it casts them on their faces, as unworthy to look up to this star, this God of Jacob; they confess him under this disguise to be the only and eternal God: they own the excess of his goodness in becoming man, and the excess of human misery which requires for its relief so great a humiliation of the Lord of glory. St. Leo thus extols their faith and devotion: "When a star had conducted them to adore Jesus they did not find him commanding devils, or raising the dead, or restoring sight to the blind, or speech to the dumb, or employed in any divine actions; but a silent babe, under the care of a solicitous mother, giving no sign of power, but exhibiting a miracle of humility."

Each year on the Feast of the Epiphany, following our monastic tradition, the house is blessed. We were excited to have Fr. Anselm with us this year for the blessing. He is a Dominican priest and scholastic - so the Latin prayers of blessing were beautifully chanted and enunciated! Thank You, Fr. Anselm. Each room has its own prayer of blessing - from the choir to the enclosure door, from the corridors to the cells, from the kitchen to refectory. As Father sprinkles the house with holy water, the Sisters scurry about placing the Epiphany blessing on the lintel of each doorway: 20+C+M+B+11. The blessing concludes in the Chapel, with the recitation of the following prayer. It is a good meditation on the courage and generosity of the Magi and a petition for a share in the same:

Dearest Lord, teach me to be generous,
teach me to serve you as I should,
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labour and ask not for reward,
save that of knowing that I do your most holy will.

For more information about the Epiphany blessing for your home, check out this link.

Our First Tonopah Christmas

2010-12-27T16:52:00.003-07:00

Merry Christmas from all of the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration!

Our Monastery Christmas: Fr. Fred Adamson celebrating Midnight Mass, Carols in the Chapel, and Veneration of the relic of the Crib of Jesus.

There are moments in life when just for a moment time seems to stop, all of creation seems to hold its breath, and the silence sings praises to our God! That sums up our first Christmas here in Tonopah!

We were blessed to have Fr. Fred Adamson celebrate both Midnight Mass as well as Christmas morning Mass for our Community. He has been a beloved friend and father to our Community, from the very beginning and faithfully on from there!

Christmas Eve festivities began in the Main Chapel as Sr. John-Mark played Christmas carols on the organ - and we sang along! Sister is teaching herself to play the organ (thank You Lord for musically gifted Novices!) And she is doing a wonderful job! This was the first time we sang together in the Chapel - the acoustics are phenomenal! As Sr. Esther Marie pointed out, our voices were swept up to the top of the dome then delivered to the rest of the Church! As we are not using the main Chapel for any liturgical services until its consecration in May, we headed back to our in-house Chapel for the veneration of the relic of the Crib of Jesus and the chanting of Divine Office, which is then followed by the celebration of Mass. I must say, after 15 Christmases in the Monastery, I still feel like a little child - giddy with Christmas joy - as we begin to sing the processional song for Mass! The hope-filled Advent cry of "Come Lord Jesus" is fulfilled on that Holy Night as we hear in the beautiful Christmas Hymn, Hodie Christus Est:

Today Christ is born. Today the Savior appeared.
Today on earth the angels sing, archangels rejoice:
Today the righteous rejoice, saying:
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people
of good will. Alleluia.

We received an outpouring of love from so many friends and family - to make our first Tonopah Christmas quite unforgettable! Sweets and treats appeared in our P.O. Box, as well as on our doorstep. Steve Talbot, our dear friend and construction superintendent, made us a crowning jewel for the in-house Chapel. You will see it featured in the photos above. It is a beautiful Throne to hold the Monstrance for Eucharistic Adoration! We are confident that St. Joseph had a hand in all of it - the craftsmanship is wonderful. Surely our Infant King will shower blessings on him and all those who prayed for us and sent gifts and cards.

Our beloved friend Donna from Chicago surprised us by sending deep dish Chicago pizzas for Sr. Mary Fidelis' birthday just a few days before Christmas! Much to Sr. John-Mark's chagrin (who was trying to keep the deep dish delivery a surprise), Sr. Fidelis was there when the UPS truck delivered the goods! Sr. Esther Marie crowned the birthday goodies off with a homemade Yulelog birthday cake.

We continue to celebrate Christmas each day of the Octave! Please know that as we visit the manger, we carry your needs and intentions with us and present them to the Babe of Bethlehem - asking Him to bless you and your families with an outpouring of His Love.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

A Promise is a Promise

2010-12-07T19:25:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, December 4th, Fr. Matt Lowry arrived in Tonopah AZ with a few car loads of college students from Northern Arizona University. They accepted the invitation to COME AND SEE the marvels of the Lord in this far away place of solitude and prayer. After three hours in the car and a jostling ride on about 5 miles of dirt roads, they came at long last to Our Lady of Solitude.

This was our first full-fledged group retreat day - complete with Mass, a tour of the Chapel, lunch, confessions, personal prayer time, and concluding with Benediction. The students had a chance to chat with some of the Sisters - and we had a chance to get to know these faith-filled young people. It was a wonderful day from start to finish. It made me think of Pope Benedict's words to youth:

Make space for prayer in your lives! To pray alone is good, although it is even more beautiful and fruitful to pray together, because the Lord assured us he would be present wherever two or three are gathered in his name (cf. Mt 18:20).

A great big SHOUT OUT OF GRATITUDE to the awesome NAU students for spending their Saturday in prayer together with us! Come back soon!!!

If you know a group of young people that would be interested in making a COME AND SEE Vocation Discernment retreat, email us at desertnuns@msn.com

Fr. Matt Lowry, Sr. John-Mark Maria and some NAU students!

Adoration and Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament in our in-house Chapel

This past week was splendid! We were blessed to have Fr. Mariusz, CFR and Br. Francis, CFR with us as they took some time for retreat. What a great Advent grace to have such good friends and role models in our midst.
During their stay, on the Second Sunday of Advent, we had the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart in our new home. What a beautiful ceremony! Have you had an image of the Sacred Heart enthroned in your home? If not, click here to read more about the ceremony! There are many graces attached to such a devotion. One of the 12 promises of the Sacred Heart, as recorded by St. Margaret Mary is:

"I will bless those places wherein the image of My Sacred Heart shall be exposed and venerated."

The Lord is faithful to His promises. There was such an outpouring of grace and peace that came upon our new home as Jesus was enthroned anew as King of our home and King of our hearts.

Fr. Mariusz reading from the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart ceremonial

As part of the ceremony of the Enthronement, the priest blesses the house. Here the Sister process behind Father and Brother

And this leads me to this one final thought: Advent is a time of hope that God's promises will be fulfilled! I pray that your Advent leads you to a greater realization of His Love. Trust Him...for He is a promise-keeper!

"He has promised to men that they will be like God; to mortals he has promised immortality; to sinners, righteousness; to the lowly, glory." - St. Augustine

O Come, O Come Emmanuel!

2010-11-30T10:51:00.000-07:00

This blog is going to be a bit of a mish mash of this and that! So, on your mark, get set, let's blog!!!

Wish List: Firstly, as you may have noted, we recently posted a wish list. More recently, we added a link to the Moon Valley Nursery site, with a customized Wish List of some of the larger landscaping needs! Here is the link: Moon Valley Wish List

November Birthdays: Sr. Marie St. Paul celebrated her birthday on November 19th and Sr. Augustine on the 25th (Thanksgiving Day). Happy Birthday to you both!

Thanksgiving: Our first Thanksgiving in Tonopah was a very happy one! Fr. Bob Reddy and Fr. Mike Holmes from Canada joined us for the festivities (for the 14th consecutive year...such faithful friends!). There was much to be thankful for indeed! With a touch of nostalgia, we reflected on the many years we have been together - journeying toward Tonopah! And now, at long last we are here... It was indeed a beautiful Thanksgiving.

Advent: Last but certainly NOT least, is that the season of longing and expectation has begun: ADVENT. It is such a powerful and packed liturgical season - so rich in imagery, challenges, preparation, and joy. As we journey with Our Lady and St. Joseph through Advent, be assured of our prayers. MARANATHA - COME LORD JESUS!!!

Enjoy this little gem from Pope Benedict XVI. I hope it serves as spiritual nourishment for you during this holy time. It's one of my personal favorite Advent quotes of all time:

"Advent is concerned with that very connection between memory and hope which is so necessary to man. Advent's intention is to awaken the most profound and basic emotional memory within us, namely, the memory of the God who became a child. This is a healing memory; it brings hope. The purpose of the Church's year is continually to rehearse her great history of memories, to awaken the heart's memory so that it can discern the star of hope. It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in all of us memories of goodness and thus to open doors of hope."

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-23T12:00:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that it is already Thanksgiving! We hope and pray that you and your family have a very blessed day of gratitude and joy. We will be celebrating our first Thanksgiving in Tonopah. Since entering the Monastery (for many of us that was about 15 years ago), we have celebrated Thanksgiving with our dear priest friends from Canada. This year is no exception. Fr. Bob Reddy and Fr. Mike Holmes are here to help us celebrate our first Thanksgiving in our new home. And there is so much for which to be thankful.

A hearty THANK YOU to all who asked that we post a wish list of our needs. Great idea!!
Below is a list with links attached. Thanks so much for your generosity!

Trees, Shrubs, Flowers, Top Soil, Fruit Trees and other Landscaping needs
Gift Cards to Moon Valley Nursery or other Nurseries for Landscaping needs
Gift Cards to Wal-Mart
Gift Cards to Frys Grocery Stores
Gift Cards to Lowe's
Gas Cards from Chevron

YES...We Have Moooooved In

2010-11-15T22:06:00.002-07:00

Sr. Augustine Marie and Sr. Marie Andre standing inside the door of our new dwelling: Angelica House - named of course after our beloved Mother Mary Angelica

Well here we are in Tonopah Arizona! We've been here about 2 weeks, which is hard to believe! Time flies when you are unpacking boxes!!! It seems like it has just been the blink of an eye. We've adjusted quite well to life in the country. As the title of this blog implies: we are very close to a dairy and the mooing of the cows reminds us of this...as well as the unique cattle smell that wafts across the desert! :) I grew up in the country surrounded by corn fields! So all the familiar sights and smells bring me back to my childhood! Tonopah really is a lovely little spot on God's beautiful earth. It's a very simple beauty, crowned with the surrounding mountains. Kind of a like a desert shire...if such a thing could exist.

Our dear friend Rob bringing the last of our patio furniture from Black Canyon City :)

Fr. Fred Adamson came out to offer Mass for us yesterday. He asked us the question: What has been the greatest surprise since moving here? We certainly have had a few surprises - like a sidewinder on our patio. But after some reflection, what came to my mind wasn't that, but rather, it was SILENCE that came as the greatest surprise. The kind of quietness that is so quiet you can hear it. The kind of silence that makes you want to sing...

Statue of St. Joseph in Chapel Parking Lot

Fr. John Greb and the wonderful people of St. Joseph's parish in Phoenix donated an organ to our Chapel. Father drove it out here a few weeks back. Sr. John-Mark, our musically talented novice, is teaching herself how to play. She plugged the organ in and let her fingers do the walkin'. As Sr. Marie Andre said, it sounded as majestic as St. Peter's Basilica (perhaps we are just a little partial)! I was outside walking the dogs when I heard the sound of the organ burst through the doors of the chapel. Sr. Esther Marie was singing along to "O Come Divine Messiah" - it really was glorious. This music in the midst of the great silence made me long for Heaven where song and jubilation weave with silent awe and adoration to make a symphony of praise!

I look forward to when all of you - blog readers both near and far - can come to experience a bit of the glory of the new Our Lady of Solitude Chapel yourselves! And that day will come...soon...but not quite yet. The Chapel will open until the Spring. However in the meantime, if you would like to make a visit to see the Chapel, please email Sr. Andre (desertnuns@msn.com) to arrange a time and to get a map.

Sr. Marie St. Paul with a big smile on her face: "We made it!"

Since moving on October 28th, quite a few friends and family have visited - including Fr. Anthony Mary, our long time friend and MFVA Friar. He was here when we actually moved in and was the first priest to stay in the new priest retreat house named: KAROL KOTTAGE (after Pope John Paul II)! If you are a priest and interested in making a retreat, please contact us for more details!

Other visitors included local friends, Sr. Augustine's father, Sr. John-Mark's parents, Sr. Fidelis' brother and his family, our dear friend Donna from IL, Kit from the Institute on Religious Life, Fr. Bob from Canada and others. It's been wonderful to have our friends and family here with us as we take these first steps on Tonopah soil.

More details and photos to come soon. Thanks to so many of you who have prayed for this transition. Rest assured that your prayers are bearing fruit in our lives...as we trust our prayers are bearing fruit in yours...

As a reminder: our new address is

Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration, P.O. Box 639, Tonopah, AZ 85354

Fr. John Muir offered the first Mass in our private in-house Chapel on October 31st.

Singing hymns of thanksgiving that Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament came to dwell with us. And so begins our life of Eucharistic Adoration in Tonopah, Arizona!

New Beginnings

2010-10-29T08:04:00.000-07:00

YES...It's finally happened! We've moved...or are in the very concrete process of moving. Suffice it to say that as of November 1st, we officially will be Tonopah residents. (Insert cheering, screams of excitement, joyful hoorays)

Please make note of our new address:

Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration
Our Lady of Solitude Monastery
P.O. Box 639
Tonopah, AZ 85354

(note: our website and email info remains the same)

More to come soon! Once we get settled, we will be sure to post lots of photos, news-bits and the like! Thanks for your prayers as we make this transition!

St. Therese and the Priesthood Reflections, Part IV

2010-10-27T11:32:00.001-07:00

Final Reflection on St. Therese and the Priesthood.

Love Is Poor

In the Sermon on the Mount, Our Lord exclaimed: “Blessed are the Poor In Spirit…theirs is the Kingdom of God.” As St. Therese made spiritual childhood her own, so she made her own poverty of spirit. She aspires to be nothing more than "a poor little child" who looks to her Father for everything and who obtains everything from Him because of this same poverty. She cultivates this poverty and wants to keep nothing for herself, not even her merits and her good works.

"There is only one way to force the good God not to judge at all, and that is to present one's self to Him with empty hands.” I am a firm believer that there are times in all of our lives when Our Lord gives us a taste of the clay of which we are made. We experience our littleness and our poverty. Truly, Without Him We Are Nothing. Easy to say – but the actual experience of this can be painful.

I have learned from Priests this very Theresian truth: LOVE IS POOR. Currently we don’t have a permanent chaplain. So the diocesan priests of Phoenix make many sacrifices to care for our Sacramental needs – traveling great distances to offer Mass for the Sisters. Recently one of our newly ordained priests gave a homily that drove home this point: LOVE IS POOR. He was preaching on Elijah and to the widow in Zarephath. We all know the story. Elijah asks for something to eat. She says that she does not have enough flour. Elijah responds: Don't be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land.' In Father’s homily he spoke about how when we feel ‘empty’, like we don’t have enough…we need to give the VERY LITTLE that we do have to God. We can’t keep anything back for us. In this condition of poverty, emptiness, vulnerability, need: we see the power of God at work.

This newly ordained priest touched on a lesson that is so needed in our day: LOVE IS POOR. In this state of poverty there is no mistaking the work of God. Weakness is not an impediment to intimacy with God; it is a stepping-stone. Littleness is the very condition necessary for God to show His greatness. Priests experience this so often – as the Lord uses the little they have (so to speak) in mighty ways.

In the life of St Therese we learn of the following story which drives this point home:

“Sister Marie of the Eucharist wanted to light candles for a procession. She had no matches; however, seeing a little lamp that was burning in front of the relics. Alas, it was half out; there remained only a feeble glimmer on its blackened wick. She succeeded in lighting her candle from it, and with this candle, she lit those of the whole community. It was therefore the half-extinguished little lamp which produced all those beautiful flames…nevertheless, it would always be the little lamp which would be first cause of all this light. How could the beautiful flames boast of having produced this fire, when they themselves were lighted with such a small spark?” Love is Poor…

Love Remains

In this final portion of this reflection: I want to focus in on the 5^th Luminous Mystery of the Rosary – The Institution of the Holy Eucharist and the Priesthood. JESUS CHRIST TAUGHT US THAT LOVE REMAINS…

So who is a priest? Pope Benedict XVI said: “I reaffirm with conviction and deep spiritual joy that the priest is above all a man of the Eucharist.” Both the Holy Eucharist and the Priesthood teach us that the Love of Jesus Christ is Present, Truly Present right here, right now. Both teach us that LOVE REMAINS.

Saint Therese has a very Eucharstic soul. She is a Eucharistic Saint. We see in her a desire to remain close to us, just as Jesus desires to remain close to us. LOVE REMAINS. Her love for God is so great that it overflows in torrents upon souls. She promised not only to look down upon us from Heaven, but to COME DOWN. In a way, she promised to REMAIN with us….and over 100 years later, we see that she kept her promise. She is truly a Eucharistic Soul.

My life is centered around adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament. My desire is to remain with Him always. He is my dearest friend, my faithful spouse, my mighty redeemer. Therese too wished to remain with Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament. When she was 14 years old, she sent her gold bracelet to the chaplains of Montmartre so it could be melted into part of a great monstrance - a gesture that clearly expressed Therese’s desire to keep watch day and night close to Jesus in the Eucharist. As an aside, the monstrance was built and placed in Le Sacre Coeur in Paris where Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament is adored perpetually - day and night - to this day. LOVE DOES SUCH THINGS…because LOVE REMAINS close to the BELOVED.

In a letter to her sister Celine, Therese said: “Celine, I feel that Jesus is asking us to slake His thirst by giving Him souls, souls of priests above all…We are so small a matter yet Jesus wills that the salvation of souls should depend on our sacrifices, our love. He is a beggar begging us for souls.” This thought was woven throughout her entire life, right up until the moment of her death. She kept nothing for herself. She understood that her vocation was to pray for priests. She went so far as to offer up her last Communion for an ex-priest, Fr. Hyacinthe Loyson, a Carmelite. She never kept anything for herself. ‘Everything I have, everything I merit, is for the good of the Church and for souls.’

Let us ask St. Therese to intercede for us, to teach us how to become intercessors for Priests. Let us ask her to teach us to pray. She did not take Jesus by the hand. She took Him by the heart. Perhaps this is the lesson she wants to teach us today.

St. THERESE, PRAY FOR PRIESTS

St. Therese and the Priesthood Reflections, Part III

2010-10-18T09:54:00.005-07:00

St. Therese and the Priesthood Reflections, Part III

The Nuns with Br. Francis, our spiritual brother, and Barbara Campbell, mother of Sr. Andre and Sr. St. Paul

Love Unites

Love unites souls. Revisiting St. Therese’s definition of Love: “Love is uniting my will to God’s Will.” we realize why we are so united to those who share our faith journey. There is also a unique spiritual union present between those for whom we intercede. As women, who are "pre-programmed" for motherhood, I believe this bond is similar to the bond a natural mother experiences for her children. When we pray for someone – whoever they may be – we take them into our maternal heart. Love unites souls.

When speaking of the genius of spiritual motherhood and intercession, I want to hearken back to the simplicity of St. Therese. Sometimes we can make things very complicated: prayer included. Toward the end of her short life, her superior entrusted Therese with 2 spiritual brothers to pray for. She wondered how she could properly care for their spiritual needs in prayer. Indeed, when we are called to be a spiritual mother, we experience the joys, responsibilities, and burdens of motherhood. Therese says that she wanted to ask for both of these souls and the souls of all her spiritual children what they needed. But then, if she went into detail about it, the days would not be long enough…and she adds so candidly: “and I fear I would forget something important.” So in true Theresian fashion, she says: This is too complicated! She turns to Jesus and He shows her a better way.

What is the better way, the simpler way, the more effective way? As with all things, she turned her eyes from self toward JESUS. And she sought the answer in Him:

Sr. John-Mark Maria with Fr. Paul Sullivan and Phoenix Seminarians

She says: “He made me understand these words of the Song of Songs: “Draw me, WE shall run after you in the odor of your ointments.” O Jesus it is not even necessary to say: “When drawing me, draw the souls whom I love!” This simple statement, ‘Draw me” suffices; I understand, Lord, that when a soul allows herself to be captivated by the odor of Your ointments, she cannot run alone, all the souls whom she loves follows in her train; this is done without constraint, without effort, it is a natural consequence of her attraction for You. Just as a torrent, throwing itself with impetuosity into the ocean, drags after it everything it encounters in its passage, in the same way, O Jesus, the soul who plunges into the shoreless ocean of Your Love, draws with her all the treasures she possesses. Lord, You know it, I have no other treasures than the souls it has pleased You to unite to mine; it is You who have entrusted these treasures to me, and so I dare to borrow the words which You addressed to the heavenly Father at the Last Supper: “Father I will that where I am, these also whom you have given me may be with me.”

Love unites. She uses the words of Our Lord at the Last Supper to express her own love for the souls entrusted to her care: “Lord, let those you have given me be with me where I am.” Love unites. As our union with God grows, so will the effectiveness of our intercession for souls. If we truly wish to be champion intercessors for Priests – and so win salvation for many, then we must first allow the Lord to be the champion of our hearts.

Love Empowers, Love Understands

2010-10-08T09:47:00.003-07:00

St. Therese and the Priesthood Reflections, Part II

Fr. Joseph Mary, Br. Paul, and Br. Justin helping Sr. Esther celebrate her birthday on Sept. 19th

Love Empowers:

There is an amazing phenomenon amongst priests. I am sure it has been the case for quite a while, but its something that just struck me recently: Priests LOVE St. Therese. So many of my priest friends turn to her as to a sister and friend in all their needs. There was a time when St. Therese was looked upon by some as ‘saccharine’, ‘overly sentimental’, and 'childish'. WHAT A MISUNDERSTANDING of this strong and amazing and REAL saint - who knew and embraced reality! With the help of some wonderful authors and devotees, the true spirit of Therese is being seen in all its splendor! So many priests and faithful turn to Therese as a powerful intercessor, a tough guide, and a spiritual warrior.

Why are the priests of the 3^rd millennium so devoted to St. Therese? Why is she termed the greatest saint in modern times? I believe a key to unlock the Therese trend is to realize that LOVE EMPOWERS. Many priests (and many faithful for that matter) know – through her words and through the experience of her intercession – that Therese LOVES them. And this LOVE EMPOWERS them to incorporate her doctrine of spiritual childhood into their own lives.

On her deathbed, Therese said: “ I believe my mission is about to begin, my mission of making souls love God as I love Him, my mission of teaching the little way to souls. If my desires are fulfilled,” she says, “I shall spend my heaven in doing good upon earth. She continued later, “I will send down a shower of roses.” A Sister asked her: “Will you look down?” “No.” Therese answered, “I will come down.” Continuing in the same vein she said to her sister Marie: “I will begin my mission. I will come down to aid missionaries and to obtain the baptism of pagan children before they die.” Her sister Pauline told her they would put a palm branch in her hand after her death. Therese responded: “Yes, but I will have to let it slip from my hands b/c I will use them to shower graces.”

She has made good her promises. How many priests have experienced this love? How many priests have been transformed by this love? Therese’s mission is caught up with the mission of priests.

To know the love of a saint is to get a glimpse of the love of God. To know the love of this saint is to grow in a desire to make her Spouse known and loved. It is a LOVE that EMPOWERS. Therese says so plainly: “How great is the power of prayer. Like a queen who has free access at all times to the king, and can obtain all she asks.” Yes, Therese understood so well that LOVE EMPOWERS!

Love Understands

St. Therese understood both the dignity and the humanity of priests. Throughout her entire life, St. Therese fostered a deep love for the Priesthood. In 1887, when she was 15 years old, she went on month long pilgrimage with a group of people including her father, sister Celine and several priests. In Story of a Soul she says the following: “I understood my vocation in Italy…I lived in the company of many saintly priests for a month and I learned that, though their dignity raises them above the angels, they are nevertheless weak and fragile men. If holy priests, whom Jesus in His Gospel calls ‘salt of the earth’, show in their conduct their extreme need for prayers, what is to be said of those who are tepid? Didn’t Jesus say too: ‘If the salt loses its savor wherewith will it be salted?’ How beautiful is the vocation which has as its aim the preservation of the salt destined for souls!…To be apostles to the apostles. We are to pray for them while they are preaching to souls through their words and especially their example.”

If we want to follow in the footsteps of our beloved saint, then we must imitate the realism of Therese. She teaches us that we must respect the dignity of the Priest, to love the Priest, to intercede for priests. To be an aqua duct of grace for priests is to affect more souls than just the priests. There is a great multiplication factor when we pray for priests. We support and strengthen just one priest through our prayers, then he in turn is a powerful instrument for many, many souls. Then it goes on from there...these 'converted souls' touch the lives and hearts of others...and on and on! If we love souls, then we will be drawn to pray for priests.

G.K. Chesterton once said of St. Francis of Assisi: “He was a lover of God and he was really and truly a lover of men, possibly a much rarer and mystical gift.” The same can be said of St. Therese. She loved souls. She lived for souls. Why? Because she loved Jesus and wished to imitate His own love for souls: The Word becoming Flesh, living in poverty, laboring, experiencing fatigue and hunger, being betrayed and denied by those who were closest to him, dying to save us, remaining with us in the Most Blessed Sacrament... St. Therese understood the Heart of Christ. She understood the heart of men. Love understands.

Such a love inspired the following words to her spiritual brother, Fr. Maurice Belliere: “When I shall have arrived at port, I will teach you how to travel, dear little brother of my soul, on the stormy sea of the world: with the surrender and the love a child who knows his Father loves him and cannot leave him alone in the hour of danger…The way of simple love and confidence is really made for you.”

Sancte Pater Francisce

2010-10-03T13:33:00.003-07:00

Written by Sr. Marie Andre on October 3, 2010

Our Lady of Solitude Chapel's encaustic tile of St. Francis' encounter with Our Lord: "Go and Rebuild My Church"

One of the many things I admire in our holy father Francis is his ability to be himself. He could be who he was: simple and humble and perhaps even be looked upon as being outlandish, especially at the beginning of the founding of the Friars Minor! And yet, that did not matter because he truly was in love with Jesus. He saw and met the Lord in his neighbors, in nature, in the words he preached, but most importantly in the Eucharistic Presence.

He realized his life in Christ was the end. And our holy father Francis did not preach just by words but by his life. He made his life to be the imitatio Christi, the re-presenting of Christ, the re-living of Christ in the most literal sense. Just as he had been the model of action earlier in his life, our holy father Francis became the perfect example of contemplation on Mount Alverna when he received the stigmata. In the words of St. Bonaventure: “Francis tasted the hidden manna, and with Christ rested in the tomb, dead, as it were, to the outside world.”

It seems impossible to achieve the heights of holiness that St. Francis achieved, and yet he did so through his littleness and humility and the grace of God. Just ask St. Therese of Lisieux! She and the Poor Man of Assisi will tell you it is a relief for we weak and sinful children of God to discover that we are loved unconditionally by Jesus, just the way we are. Dr. Conrad Baars says that Jesus always adjusts His perfect love to our imperfect state. Let’s keep it simple: if we have grateful and enthusiastic hearts, we can turn away from ourselves and turn toward the One who is our Way, our Truth and our Life. And St. Francis will be there with us, encouraging and praying for us along the way...

Love Expands the Heart

2010-09-30T14:31:00.005-07:00

"I feel I shall be more useful to you in heaven than on earth…I really count on not being inactive in Heaven. My desire is to work still for the Church and for souls.” -St. Therese to Fr. Adolphe Roulland

St. Therese and the Priesthood Reflection, Part I

Today marks the anniversary of the death of St. Therese in 1897. Tomorrow we celebrate her Feast Day. Here at Our Lady of Solitude she is among our most beloved friends. Reflecting on the life and love of St. Therese leads one to reflect on her life and love for priests. In her honor, I want to offer a little reflection on what it means to be a true intercessor for our priests. Throughout the month of October, I hope to offer other reflections on St. Therese, as well as some thoughts on Our Holy Father Francis. But let's start here for now...

Love Expands the Heart

Expanding and contracting: 2 divergent terms. Love expands. Sin contracts. Love sets the world on fire. Sin snuffs out the wavering flame. Each day we face a spiritual battle between love and sin. In a unique way, the priest – an altar Christus – is at the forefront of this battle. In Persona Christi, he forgives sin and plants love anew in the soul. But such an uprooting and planting does not come without a cost.

As intercessors for our priests, it is our job to fight our sometimes small and insignificant battles faithfully – all for love. Our Blessed Lord takes the spoils of such battles and uses them as armor for his Priests.

Such selfless love expands our hearts. Such selfless love sees in every moment an opportunity to draw closer to Christ. St. Therese teaches us that “the most trivial work, the least action when inspired by love, is often of greater merit than the most outstanding achievement. It is not on our face value that God judges our deeds, even when they bear the stamp of apparent holiness, but solely on the measure of love that we put into them.”

She goes on to say: “I am glad to recognize that when we love God our heart expands, and we can give incomparably more tender love to those who are dear to us than when our love is selfish and barren… Love is fed by and develops from sacrifice. The more we deprive ourselves of natural satisfaction, the stronger and the more disinterested our love becomes."

There are several stories of Therese using seemingly insignificant daily occurrences. In the convent garden, she would walk with energy and vigor, saying that she was “walking for a missionary.” Such an attentive love pleases the Heart of Jesus. Such an Other-centered existence expands the heart and makes it capable to pure love. And as St. John of the Cross says: “The smallest movement of pure love is more useful to the Church than all other works put together.”

Let us resolve anew to offer sacrifices for priests – selflessly offering the big and small things in life for the fruitfulness of their priestly ministry and their personal sanctification. This will not only expand their hearts, but ours as well.

St. Therese, Pray for Us...

Blessed John Henry Newman, Pray for us

2010-09-20T21:30:00.004-07:00

Written by Sr. Marie St. Paul on September 19, 2010

Br. Francis with 2 of his paintings: Servant of God John Paul II and BLESSED John Henry Newman!

At 1:30 am this morning, four dedicated nuns cuddled up on the couches of the living room to watch with slightly bleary eye the Beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman. Thanks to EWTN and their great coverage, the sisters and I have been avidly accompanying the Holy Father these past three days during his visit to Scotland and England.

What a beautiful and grace-filled visit! We’ve watched with great joy the crowds greeting the Holy Father with loud cheers and heard his words calling not only the faithful of Great Britain but all of us “to look into our hearts each day to find the source of all true love. Jesus is always there, quietly waiting for us to be still with Him and to hear His Voice.” The Holy Father in his inimitable way always points his flock to Jesus.

But I digress…we’re celebrating the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman, beatified by the Holy Father himself in Birmingham, England! What an honor for that great and heroic man who endured so much during his lifetime. Reading about the influence of Cardinal Newman and his Oratorians on JRR Tolkien piqued my own interest to learn more about the Cardinal. Following Fr. Bassett’s suggestion that one of the best biographies on Newman was written by Meriol Trevor, I first read her two volume work about ten years ago. The Cardinal’s friendship and example have enriched my life immensely! He is truly a beautiful soul.

One of the tidbits that particularly touched the sisters and I during the Holy Father’s visit was seeing the photos of Blessed John Henry’s dearest friends hanging in his little chapel to the right of where he prayed. Friendship was a key element to the formation of our new Blessed. This morning, Sr. Fidelis and I discussed the importance of spiritual friendship and the reality of Christ's love any good friend brings to one’s life, whether they reside on this earth or in Heaven. They too, as the words of the Holy Father do, lead us to Jesus.

Many depictions of Blessed John Henry Newman have been circulated during the Holy Father’s visit, but I want to share with you one of the best portraits that I’ve ever seen, lovingly painted by Br. Francis Edkins, CFR (a photo of the painting is seen below!).

Blessed John Henry Newman, pray for us!

Touch of the Eternal

2010-09-14T21:57:00.000-07:00

"The Cross is the most profound condescension of God to man . . . The Cross is like a touch of eternal love upon the most painful wounds of man’s existence"

(Pope John Paul II, Dives in Misericordia)

THE PHOENIX - to the right you see the cloistered portion of the reredos with an awesome wood-carved Phoenix.

Before moving to the great Southwest about 5 years ago, I never gave much thought to the symbolic meaning of the Phoenix. Sure I knew it was a bird that rose from the ashes, but I never gave it a second thought. But that was yesterday and yesterday is gone!

In case, like me, you've never given the Phoenix much thought nor made the Christian symbolic connection, allow me to share what I've learned: The Phoenix is a mythical creature with beautiful gold and red plumage. At the end of its life-cycle the phoenix builds itself a nest of cinnamon twigs that it then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes. But that's not the end of the story. The Phoenix would then rise from the ashes in victory.

Thinking of the today's Feast, the Triumph of the Cross, it's not hard to see the correlation between the Cross and Resurrection AND the 'death of the Phoenix' and it's rising in victory.

Our Beloved Lord is the King of Kings - robed in gold! He is also the King of Martyrs - robed in red. The fire of His Love set the world aflame, as He hung upon the Cross. His death brought life. But at first glance, everything seemed to be reduced to ashes...

Yes, with only a cursory look, the Cross looked like defeat. But that wasn't the case, was it? We know the end of the story. We know that our salvation was won upon that mount.

We remember the garden, the Gardener, and Mary Magdalene: "Mary!"- "Rabboni!" "Go and tell me brothers..." The Lord is risen as He promised - Alleluia. We know the Victory was won...The Phoenix rising from the ashes gives us all hope. It reminds us of our ultimate hope - The Tomb is Empty...Alleluia!

(Check out more pics at: http://medievaldreams2reality.blogspot.com/2010/09/more-pics-at-long-last.html)

Finders Seekers

2010-09-07T21:42:00.001-07:00

Those who have found in Jesus the truth, joy and beauty which give meaning and direction to their lives will naturally desire to bring this grace to others. Undaunted by the presence of difficulties, or the enormity of the task at hand, they will trust in the mysterious presence of the Holy Spirit who is always at work in the hearts of individuals, in their traditions and cultures, mysteriously opening doors to Christ as "the way, and the truth and the life" (Jn 14: 6), and the fulfillment of every human aspiration.- Pope Benedict XVI

How can a cloistered nun open the doors to Christ? How can she bring Him to others? I spoke with a man this weekend who posed this very question. He asked, "What is your apostolate?" When I explained that we were contemplative nuns whose main work is perpetual adoration, he looked at me with much sincerity. Nearly inaudibly he said: "It takes a lot of faith to believe that your prayers bear fruit for the Kingdom - especially since you can't see the fruit." This man summed up the hidden life of a contemplative. It is a life of faith.

A cloistered nun opens the doors to Christ through her prayers and sacrifice - through the faithful living out of her humble and hidden life. She brings Him to others by bringing others to Him - through her work of intercession.

As the Sisters and I are entrusted with building a new Eucharistic Throne for our Bridegroom, we have before us a unique opportunity to open the doors for Christ, to bring Him to others. Our Lady of Solitude Chapel will sit there upon the desert sands, as if it were a ship sailing on the boundless ocean. Majestic. Awesome. A reminder that we are pilgrims, and that God is unchanging.

When the doors are opened, and the new Eucharistic Throne is unveiled, the Sisters and I will have the immense JOY of opening the doors to Christ for all those who visit. We have found Him in Whom our hearts find rest. Now we want to bring that grace to others.

Like Pope Benedict XVI said so beautifully in the quote above, we strive to remain undaunted by the presence of difficulties or the enormity of the task at hand. Continually we are faced with our weak humanity. Weak knees, weak stomachs, trembling hands, pounding heart...And yet, we keep pressing onwards. Why? Because He is worth it! Bringing others to Him is worth it! Bringing Him to others is worth it! In such matters there can never be any counting of the cost!

Sr. Fidels' mom, Peg, with Sr. Augustine - standing in front of the newly erected reredos

Alexander, our amazingly talented wood carver, going over the plans

Alexander showing the cloister Mass choir grille to Jill and Sr. Esther Marie

Ta Da! The reredos with statues! WOW. More pics to come. Isn't it awesome?!?

WOWZERS!

2010-08-26T15:01:00.001-07:00

The reredos are being installed. And it is beautiful to behold! Check out this link for more photos! Will keep you posted as progress continues!

Sharing the Joy

2010-08-24T11:31:00.001-07:00

Fr. Muir, Ruth, and Joe posing for a pic in the Chapel with Sr. Augustine and Sr. Fidelis

Whenever I see a rainbow, I must share it with someone! It's just too beautiful to keep for myself. The Sisters are accustomed to my proclamations: "Come outside, there's a rainbow." "Come outside and see the sunset." "Come outside and see the moon." "You've gotta see how the fig tree is growing." Come and see...it's a constant refrain for me! Given it has a scriptural link, I can get away with dragging my sisters outside to see all the miracles of the desert sky and landscape.

This COME AND SEE attitude flows over to our desert oasis in Tonopah. Taking friends out to see the chapel progress brings us great joy. "Come and see what the Lord is accomplishing!" Witnessing their eyes light up, hearing the exclamations of joy and wonder, feeling the excitement grow - it's all such a testament to the Providence of God at work in this deserted place.

Sr. John-Mark's reaction EACH TIME she goes to visit Tonopah is the best on record: immediately her eyes fill up with tears and she says: "I just can't believe this." I think it's what each of us experiences - it just comes flowing - so freely - from the heart of our white-veiled Sister. And it's good to see.

Sr. Jean Steffes seeing the Chapel progress for the first time!

Witnessing the plans progress from one grace-laden YES, to a piece of graph paper and a lot of dreams (and opinions...with 6 strong-willed women, what do you expect?!?), to the architects blueprints, to the shell of a building, to a beautiful structure, to a HOUSE OF GOD...well, it's been quite a journey.

We look forward to when we can say to all of you: COME AND SEE. That time is coming nearer - but is not here yet. Many have been asking about when the Church will be open to the public and when the date for consecration will be set. All of that is still up in the air - so we ask for your continued prayers. There are still some interior appointments that will take some time to get finished. Daily Mass will not be available until after the Church is consecrated. Please keep an eye on the blog and website for further details - as they become available. Thanks for your support, prayers, and encouraging comments. Check out the dreams to reality blog for more pics!

With all the trips back and forth from the land, with the packing, and other assorted activities that go along with moving 6 nuns, 3 cats, and 2 dogs, we've had to get some extra help with day to day work. Here is our newest employee, Sir Thomas Percy as he learns data entry from our Novice, Sr. John-Mark Maria! :)

A Beautiful Holy Mother Clare Feast Day!

2010-08-12T15:34:00.002-07:00

Our celebration of the solemnity of Our Holy Mother Clare was splendid. To everyone who sent email greetings, cards, telephone calls, and visits : THANK YOU! We praise God for the gift of our friends and extended spiritual family. We prayed in a special way for all of our Franciscan family, especially all of our fellow Poor Clares.

Our Canadian Connection of Priests have been rotating their summer holiday so as to care for our Sacramental needs for nearly the entire month of August for us. Fr. Mike, Fr. Marco, Fr. Bob, and Fr. Steven are priests from Toronto whom we have prayed for since early on in their priesthood. We are blessed by the friendship and kindness to us. Fathers, we are so grateful for your sacrifice! Our greetings go out to Fr. Jim Bussanich - part of the Canadian connection who was unable to get away from his parish for his annual visit! We miss you, Father!

And, today, we continue the Saint celebrations with St. Jane Frances de Chantal (one of my personal favorite saints! Pic to the left) . Like St. Clare, she had a "Francis" as well to guide her and journey with her along the path of sanctity. She was the spiritual daughter of St. Francis de Sales. Here is a good sampling of St. Jane de Chantal's spiritual wisdom:

“Live joyously and courageously, my dear daughter, never doubting that Jesus Christ is entirely yours.”

Getting back to St. Clare: Fr. Marco's homily yesterday was wonderful. (And our thanks to the Seminarians of the Diocese of Phoenix who served the Mass). Below you will find a transcript of the homily. P.S. When we asked Father for his notes to put online for all of you to enjoy, he gave us his hand-written homily - and what beautiful handwriting! So I had to type out the homily. As you may have noted from past blogs, I am not the most meticulous typer (I can just see my sophomore typing teacher cringe!) So bear with any typos :) And enjoy this little spiritual gem!

Homily by Fr. Marco Testa on August 11, 2010

Thus says the Lord: I will allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart. (Hosea 2:16)

These words of the Prophet Hosea speak in a very specific manner to you, Sisters, as you prepare to move to your new Monastery. They are also words that Our Lord spoke to each one of you individually as He called you to walk in the footsteps of your Holy Mother St. Clare. 'Here, O daughter, and see; turn your ear, forget your people and your father's house. So shall the king desire your beauty.'

But Our Lord is also speaking to us today, to the Church as a whole; and in St. Clare, this quintessentially Franciscan saint we are all led to the very heart of the Gospel that the Church proclaims and by God's grace endeavors to live. In the Litany that we prayed at Vespers yesterday, we asked for the grace to follow St. Clare in poverty, humility, and obedience. These virtues, abundantly evident in the life of St. Clare and of her faithful daughters, are so thoroughly evangelical that they render both the holiness and the teaching of St. Clare relevant to the Universal Church.

All of us are familiar with the mandate given by Our Lord to St. Francis to go and to rebuild His Church. St. Clare and her daughters, then and now, share in this work. Each in their own way, St. Francis and St. Clare fulfilled this mandate principally, I believe, by giving form to the first beatitude: the poverty of spirit expressed in poverty - both material and spiritual - in humility and in obedience. Poverty of spirit - this doctrine is the basic truth of the Gospel and the heart of this truth so clearly understood and taught by St. Clare is that nearness to God grows not out of fullness in righteousness but out of the receptive emptiness of our poverty. Visually, I think this means that we all come before Our Lord with empty hands. This is why the call to the desert is made to the Church and to each one of the disciples of Jesus.

By virtue of our Baptism all of us have been consecrated servants of the Gospel. All of us are called to live this poverty of spirit. And as we walk this path guided as we are by Our Lord Himself and the Saints we come to realize that the holiness for which we strive is the wholehearted openness to the love of God. There is a correlation between poverty of spirit and holiness. The greater our knowledge of our innate poverty, the greater our openness to the love of God so generously bestowed on us in Christ, Our Lord and our Brother.

Today we are rejoice in the memory of a woman whom you Sisters are privileged to call your Holy Mother. In her daughters, In her daughters, beloved of God and loved also by us, St. Clare continues to teach us that we must embrace our poverty; effectively we must abandon ourselves to Divine Providence which is both concrete and immediate; and God will indeed take care of everything.

As we now prepare to encounter Our Lord in His Eucharistic poverty, may St. Clare obtain for us the grace to live Eucharistic lives. It is with empty hands that we come before Him. May she obtain for us the grace to recognize our own poverty in the Eucharist that we may truly be His disciples. For poverty of spirit is no less simplicity of heart and our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI long ago observed that the faith of those who are simple of heart is the most precious treasure of the Church. To serve and to live this forth is the noblest vocation in the renewal of the Church.

Clare - Bright Light...Shine On!

2010-08-10T11:16:00.003-07:00

Our Holy Mother Clare, Pray for us!

Tomorrow is the Feast Day of St. Clare of Assisi (a Solemnity for Poor Clares). This year the festivities will be heightened as we are celebrating her newly installed stained glass window in the Chapel of Our Lady of Solitude. Above you can see a photo of a portion of the window. So full of light. So golden. So CLARE!!

Yes, the first 6 stained glass windows were installed on August 7th. And, let me tell you, THEY ARE AWESOME. Each one competes with the next to be our favorites! Sr. Esther Marie, after much debate, finally chose St. Clare as her favorite. It was a good choice!

I think Our Lady of Guadalupe is my favorite (to the right is the middle section prior to installation). But then again, St. Francis is so beautiful. Then there is St. Faustina - so noble. And St. Anthony - so devotional and loving. Oh yes, and we can't forget the awesome round window in the cloistered Mass Chapel of our Poor Clare genealogy - tracing our roots from St. Clare to Mother Marie de Ste Claire, to Mother Mary of the Cross, to Mother Agnes, to our own beloved Mother Angelica. Below is a photo of Sr. Esther Marie giving thanks to God for the gift of this stunning window!

Please be sure to check out the video log of the windows installation http://medievaldreams2reality.blogspot.com/2010/08/stained-glass-installation.html

I can't finish this blog without reflecting for a moment more about St. Clare.

“Place your mind before the mirror of eternity! Place your soul in the brilliance of glory! And transform your entire being into the image of the Godhead Itself through contemplation."

So many of St. Clare's quotes lead the soul to the contemplation of God, to prayer of the heart, to peace and to trust! It was said of St. Clare that: "Her life was like an arrow which took flight from the bow of her single-minded, burning desire and sped upward into the very being of the Godhead." Once she fell in love with the Lord, there was no stopping her. She journeyed - with a daring heart - ever closer to the FIRE of HIS LOVE - her eyes fixed on her Goal...yet, as a true follower of St. Francis, she gratefully received the gift of the present moment. She found her Lord along the road. She rejoiced in Him. She led others to Him. She reflected His Light.

The Poor Clares in the Netherlands wrote the following about our Foundress and Mother: "Sheer transparency: that was Clare. The light of the Divine gleaming through this woman who had emptied herself through the total gift of her life blinded all who drew near her. Pauper or Pope, it didn't matter. Hidden within the walls of her monastery, the joy that consumed her penetrated every corner of the Church. The joy of living continually in Christ's presence. For which reason she is most often portrayed holding the Blessed Sacrament."

May Our Holy Mother Clare obtain for you all the graces you most desire and need.

Monsoon Season

2010-07-24T10:33:00.000-07:00

It is definitely monsoon season in the desert. We've had cloudy skies, rain, and cool temps (OK, 'cool' is a relative term. It was under 100 degress - so that's cool). Sr. John-Mark and I were taking the puppies out last night, and she made a bold statement: "Wow, the breeze is actually cool." Again, cool is a relative term. In any case, we are enjoying monsoon season!

Rain in the desert brings much joy. For us, it is a sign of graces pouring down upon the earth. Monsoon season, then, is a time of grace!!!! We experienced some of this grace this past week. We had the great joy of having 2 of our CFR friends and brothers here for a visit: Br. Jeremiah and Br. Joshua. We are so grateful for their friendship and support!

On Thursday, July 22nd (Feast of St. Mary Magdalene), we headed out to Tonopah to show off the building site. We were joined by two of our other friends and supports: Fr. Fred Adamson and Fr. Greg Menegay!

This was one of our first visits to the land that was actually overcast. The differing shades of the stone, dome slate, and roof tile all look so different without the sun shining down on them - equally as beautiful...but different!

They began putting up the medieval-themed light fixtures while we were there. They need to be lowered a bit, but look really awesome. Check out the ceiling in the chapel - it looks wonderful. While we were there they began unpacking some of the custom made floor tile scenes. WOW. Pics coming soon :)

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Pray for Us

2010-07-20T16:42:00.005-07:00

Outside of Sacred Scripture, some of the most consoling words ever spoken were those said by Our Lady to St. Juan Diego in her apparition in Guadalupe:

“Am I not here, I, who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Do you need anything more? Let nothing else worry you, disturb you.”

In the midst of difficult or anxious moments, these words always come to mind..."Am I not here, I who am your Mother?"

Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patroness of the Americas - she is also the patroness of the Diocese of Phoenix. I am sure her loving mantle was around our new Auxiliary Bishop Eduardo Nevares as he was ordained a Bishop yesterday. The Ordination Mass, at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Avondale, was unbelievably beautiful. The procession which included 1 Cardinal, about 20 Bishops, countless priests and deacons, was something to behold! The three hour long Mass was just extraordinary. The music was awesome! Bishop Olmsted was beaming with joy. What a glorious day. WELCOME TO THE DIOCESE OF PHOENIX, BISHOP NEVARES!! May Our Lady of Guadalupe intercede for him during this time of transition!

Speaking of Our Lady of Guadalupe, we wanted to share some new photos of her stained glass window that will have pride of place in our new Chapel. This rose window was donated through the generosity of our dear friends Donna and Al Gillis. Enjoy the photos! For more pics, be sure to check out the dreams to reality blog! There are several giving opportunities for other windows. Be sure to check out the stained glass window page for more details.

Before closing this entry, I wanted to answer a very good question that a follower asked:

I have a question that maybe someone can answer for me; are the sisters just moving things to the shrine or are they themselves moving and if so, where will they live? thanks!

Yes, we will be moving to Tonopah! Currently we are still living in Black Canyon City - but in the near future, we will relocate permanently to Tonopah - living in the future retreat house (a modular home that will be on site) until funds for the actual construction of the monastery can be raised. Things still aren't finalized with our move date - but we will keep you posted! We appreciate your prayers during this hectic time :)

"We get by with a little help from our friends..."

2010-07-18T09:49:00.007-07:00

Yesterday was our first 'official' packing extravaganza! We've been doing stuff here and there - but yesterday we really got to business and did some major packing! Sr. Marie Andre made a few calls and before we knew it about 8 friends said they'd be here to kick-off the packing and moving preps. That is a great testament to friendship - when the temperature was about 110 degrees. Their energy, enthusiasm and kindness made the day a great joy - not to mention very productive! Fr. Mark Ivany is visiting from Washington, D.C. - and has been an immense help! Our thanks go out to him and to Rob, Rita, Ryan, Jesse, Jim, Tara, and Erin! Y'all are the best! Mucho Gracias...

Tomorrow is the episcopal ordination of Bishop-elect Eduardo Nevares - the new auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix. Let us keep our new auxiliary Bishop in our prayers - as he begins this new chapter in his life and this new chapter in the life of the diocese. His episcopal motto is: Serve the Lord in gladness! We are so grateful for this appointment by Pope Benedict XVI. We rejoice with our beloved Bishop Olmsted as the Diocese is blessed with this new successor of the apostles!

Have you seen the new page about the stained glass windows? They are coming along beautifully! There are new giving opportunities for the following windows: Padre Pio, Mother Teresa, and Pope John Paul II. Be sure to check it out. Help us spread the word by forwarding the link to those you think would be interested in helping out! Till next time, Sr. Mary Blogger

Visitors, Packing, Excitement

2010-07-12T11:31:00.001-07:00

For some odd reason, we get a lot of visitors in the Summer. We're so grateful - but we pity them having to bear with the Arizona heat! We feel like we are natives now - even spending some time outside in the habit in 115 degree heat. Honestly, dry heat really is much easier to bear than humidity!

Fr. John Caulfield, our ever faithful friend and new Pastor of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in the diocese of Washington, D.C., took a week out of his busy schedule to come to AZ and help us begin packing for the great exodus to Tonopah. He packed the entire library! Well, he did have a little help from his friends. Mark Reyburn, Sr. Augustine's little brother, showed us his brawn by assisting Father in this great task. Thanks Father and Mark for all your hard work!

It seems like many days are spent in the car either enroute to Tonopah or coming back from Tonopah! There's been lots of construction meetings and lots of trips to the land to 'show it off' to our friends.

Below are a few pics from some of the recent trips out there. Fr. Paul Sullivan, Vocation Director for the Diocese of Phoenix, brought some of the seminarians out to see Our Lady of Solitude Chapel! It's exciting to think that some years down the road, these young men will be ordained and will be offering Mass in this Chapel! Also seen in the photos below are our good friends Howie and Joanne. Howie was very familiar with construction and it was edifying to hear his praise of the chapel. It is built to last. As a church should be, Our Lady of Solitude offers a sense of permanence to those who step through the doors.

The dogs are getting a little worried - they can't quite figure out what all these boxes mean! They don't want left behind. Below you see Percy getting a step ahead of the game and packing himself in a box :)

Newly Ordained Fr. John Parks Video

2010-06-08T12:52:00.000-07:00

As promised, we have a few pics/video of Fr. Parks Mass at Our Lady of Solitude Monastery this morning. Hope you enjoy it! Keep Fr. Parks, Fr. Henry, and Fr. King - the newly ordained priests of Phoenix - in your prayers!

Year for Priests...Coming to a Close

2010-06-07T20:20:00.001-07:00

St. Therese, Pray for Priests

The Year for Priests is already coming to a close. It's hard to believe how quickly it went. Fr. Muir gave his final talk for this Year at the end of May. Be sure to listen to it. It is wonderful - highlighting the complementarity of consecrated souls and priests. And the need for consecrated souls to PRAY for PRIESTS. This hour long talk is a must-listen-to!

This past weekend was the Priestly Ordinations for the Diocese of Phoenix. We now have 3 newly ordained: Fr. Matthew Henry, Fr. Chad King, and Fr. John Parks. Fr. Parks will be offering Mass for us tomorrow - so look for another blog in the next few days of pics of the newly ordained.

We have prayed for and spiritually supported these wonderful young men since arriving in Phoenix five years ago. We have journeyed with them and experienced the JOY of SPIRITUAL MOTHERHOOD in seeing them ordained Priests. This must be part of the hundred-fold that Our Dear Lord promises to those who follow Him.

Even though the Year for Priests is coming to a close, let's continue to support our priests with prayers and encouragement. Below are 2 of my favorite prayers for priests. Hope you enjoy them as well!

(This prayer is one that St. Therese memorized and prayed daily)
O Holy Father, may the torrents of love flowing from the sacred wounds of Thy Divine Son bring forth priests like unto the beloved disciple John who stood at the foot of the Cross; priests: who as a pledge of Thine own most tender love will lovingly give Thy Divine Son to the souls of men. May Thy priests be faithful guardians of Thy Church, as John was of Mary, whom he received into his house. Taught by this loving Mother who suffered so much on Calvary, may they display a mother’s care and thoughtfulness towards Thy children.

May they teach souls to enter into close union with Thee through Mary who, as the Gate of Heaven, is specially the guardian of the treasures of Thy Divine Heart.

Give us priests who are on fire, and who are true children of Mary, priests who will give Jesus to souls with the same tenderness and care with which Mary carried the Little Child of Bethlehem.

Mother of sorrows and of love, out of compassion for Thy beloved Son, open in our hearts deep wells of love, so that we may console Him and give Him a generation of priests formed in thy school and having all the tender thoughtfulness of thine own spotless love.

Fr. Mark Mary, MFVA, during individual benediction. Thanks for coming to see us Father. Come back soon!!!

Almighty and Eternal God, look upon the face of Thy Christ, and for love of Him who is the eternal High Priest, have mercy on Your priests. Remember, O most compassionate God, that they are but weak and frail human beings. Stir up in them the grace of their own vocation which is in them by the imposition of the Bishop’s hands. Keep them close to You, lest the enemy prevail against them, so that they may never do anything in the slightest degree unworthy of their sublime calling.

O Jesus, I pray You to help your faithful and fervent priests; for Your unfaithful and lukewarm priests, for Your priests laboring at home and abroad in distant mission fields; for Your tempted priests; for Your lonely and desolate priests; for Your young priests; for Your aged priests and for Your sick priests.

I commend to you the priests dearest to me: the priest who baptized me, the priests who have given me the precious Body and Blood of Jesus in Holy Communion; the priests who taught and instructed me or helped and encouraged me and all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way.

O Jesus, keep them all close to Your heart and bless them abundantly both now and in eternity. Amen.

This picture has nothing to do with this blog, but I couldn't resist putting it on! It's Percy hanging out in his new bed. He's lovin' it. As Sr. John-Mark says: "They live the life of Riley!"

Your Kind Offers...

2010-05-24T16:54:00.001-07:00

As you may have guessed from our lack of blogging lately, things have been VERY busy. We've had lots of guests, lots of construction meetings, and lots of things going on. Please be sure to check out the dreams to reality blog for the more nitty gritty of construction. There are some great new shots of the progress on that blog. Stupendous to see how quickly things are getting done!

This photo was taken by Peg Beach - Sr. Mary Fidelis' mom. She has a good camera eye and captured the unique setting of our Chapel. The barren desert surroundings, and the Chapel rising up out of the desert like a phoenix! Isn't it awesome!!! Thanks Peg

We've been making LOTS of trips to Tonopah - either taking friends/family out to see the site or going out ourselves to meet with Haydon. All these trips will soon come to an end as we permanently move there. We still don't have any definite moving dates - more than likely it will be late summer. If you know of anyone who owns a moving company and would like to help, let us know!

So many people have been asking how they can help us with this transition to Tonopah. What they can get us as a house-warming gift etc. As you can imagine our needs right now are many and varied. So to everyone who has offered, THANK YOU!

Currently our most pressing need is for funding for a fence/wall around the house - as a means of security for us. So if you would like to donate toward this (or if you happen to own a fencing business and want to make a donation - smile, smile), we would be extremely grateful. Donations can be made online, via pay pal or a check can be mailed to us at: Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration, P.O. Box 92, Black Canyon City, AZ 85324 - please put "fence fund" in the memo line. Checks can be made payable to: Our Lady of Solitude Monastery.

Otherwise, our needs range from landscaping to households needs. Gift cards to Wal-Mart, Basha's or Fry's, or Lowe's are helpful. Or, if you would like to donate toward the landscaping (or if you happen to own a nursery and want to make a donation - smile, smile), we would be extremely grateful!

So to all those who asked: HOW CAN I HELP? I hope this answers your questions! We are so grateful to each and every one of you for your generosity and your desire to assist us. You will not go unrewarded!

Sr. Esther Marie, Brett Eklund, and Sr. Augustine Marie at Deer Valley Airport

A photo Sr. Esther Marie snapped from the sky!

Sr. Thomas Augustine, Sr. Mary Michael, and Sr. John Paul with Sr. Esther Marie at the building site! We are so grateful for the friendship of our spiritual cousins: the Dominican Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist!

5th Anniversary Celebration

2010-05-03T16:28:00.004-07:00

Group Shot II
Originally uploaded by Desert Nuns

On May 1, 2005, the Phoenix Foundation officially began - as we piled in the mini-van and headed West. There were many tears, as we left Mother, the Nuns, and all that was familiar to us. But there was a great excitement as well - as we embarked on the journey that Our Lord invited us to make...with Him and for Him.

Arriving in Phoenix about 5 days later (we took our time driving out here), we all knew we were coming home! And that is just what Phoenix has been for us these 5 years: HOME. Since our arrival, the diocese of Phoenix has become family to us. Interceding for the needs of teh faithful here has been our main way of explaining why a contemplative monastery is so necessary for a diocese. Email after email, phone call after phone call: so many people have entrusted to us the their needs - so that we can interecede for them as we adore Our Eucharistic King. Burdens, joys, hopes, disappointmentsP we have been privileged to share all of this with those who ask for our prayers.

It's hard to imagine life without knowing so many of the wonderful people in Phoenix - our Bishop and Priests and Deacons, the Seminarians and Religious, our benefactors, friends, all the faithful we have met at the parishes or the grocery store, the children at schools that we have visited: Our Hearts are Filled to Overflowing! So to all of you, please be assured of how happy we are to be here in Phoenix - serving the diocese through our life of prayer and adoration. We thank you for your friendship and your support.

To celebrate our 5th Anniverary, we went out to Tonopah. Bishop James Wall, our friend since arriving in Phoenix (and is now the Bishop of Gallup, NM), offered Mass. We were blessed to have 2 Franciscan Friars with us as well: Fr. Mark Mary, MFVA and Br. Francis, CFR. A few friends also joined us for this beautiful celebration. Below is a video of it that we hope you enjoy! Also, check out the photos on Flickr!

Friends and Family

2010-04-29T15:55:00.003-07:00

Even though it is beginning to get hot in Arizona, it seems like we have an influx of visitors...which makes us very happy! Below you will see photos of 2 of our beloved friends: Br. Francis Edkins, CFR and Kellie Taylor. Both of them recently got a first class tour of the building site. We can't help but show off that beautiful chapel :) Just gotta love this pic of our favorite 6 ft 8 in Friar. Smile, smile

It is the time for family visits as well. Sr. Augustine's sister and family were here in March. Then Sr. Marie Andre and Sr. Marie St. Paul's mom just left today after a wonderful visit. Sr. Esther Marie's mom and Sr. Mary Fidelis' mom and dad are coming in next week. And Sr. John-Mark's family will be coming for their visit at the end of May. It's wonderful to be able to share all the Lord is doing with our families - who offer such wonderful support and unconditional love!

Please be sure to check out the Dreams to Reality blog for an update on building progress and to see the latest and greatest of the Stained Glass Window (Beautiful - way to go Bovard Studios and Sr. Esther Marie). Below is a pic of the completed lettering for the bottom portion of the 3 windows.

5 years ago today..."Habemus Papam"

2010-04-19T16:00:00.001-07:00

Be sure to check out Dreams to Reality to see lots of new pics of the Chapel...with more to come!

5 years ago...

Let's see, five years ago today, we were at Our Lady of the Angels Monastery, preparing to come West - with all the final packing and preparations being made.

More specifically,

5 years ago today, 

the Sisters and I were huddled in front of the TV with our 35 Sisters at OLAM waiting for the white plume of smoke to come from the Sistine Chapel chimney. I think most Catholics were doing the exact same thing.

5 years ago...

Cardinal Ratzinger was elected Pope...

5 years ago...

our Church and our world received a great gift in Pope Benedict XVI.

April 19th, 2005 was a great day indeed! Seeing Pope Benedict for the first time - as Pope Benedict - as he walked out onto the balcony to be introduced to the world was so moving. I was too young to remember Pope John Paul II's election. So for me, Pope Benedict XVI is the first Pope I've seen from the beginning. I was sitting next to Sr. Marie Andre when they finally announced HABEMUS PAPAM. We have a Pope. And then they said "Joseph" and we all knew who it was. Sr. Andre screamed like she's never screamed before (or since). If you know Sister at all, you know she is pretty low key and rarely raises her voice. But she let out such a scream of delight, I feel certain that Pope Benedict XVI heard it all the way in Rome. :)

As he spoke those first words to us - as our new Holy Father - His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI (one of the greatest minds of our modern age) said so simply: "Dear brothers and sisters, after the great Pope John Paul II, the Lord Cardinals have elected me, a simple and humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord. I am consoled by the fact that the Lord knows how to act, even with inadequate instruments and above all I entrust myself to your prayers. In the joy of the Risen Lord, trusting in His permanent help, as we go forward the Lord will help us, and His Mother, Mary Most Holy, is on our side. Thank you."

It was as if the whole world held their breath, until we heard those words: Habemus Papam! We have a Pope. We have a Shepherd. We have a Father! Ah, then it seemed like the whole world - Catholics and non-Catholics alike - rejoiced that Holy Mother Church had a Shepherd once again at the helm of the ship...and what a Shepherd! Habemus Papam!

Over the course of the last 5 years, we have witnessed Our Holy Father's efforts to advance the mission of the Church in simple, brilliant, and striking ways. He has shown us, time and again, the beauty of the Face of Christ. He continues to radiant this Face to the flock of Christ.

Our beloved Holy Father needs our prayers now more than ever. With vicious attacks in the media, misunderstanding and slander on every side - it's as if those first words of his ring out again: I entrust myself to your prayers...

In his inauguration homily on April 24, 2005, Pope Benedict said the following words. Perhaps it would be good for all of us to read them in light the current state of affairs. In doing so we see how clearly he is keeping to the course set out at the beginning of his Pontificate...to feed his sheep - the nourishment of God's truth...

One of the basic characteristics of a shepherd must be to love the people entrusted to him, even as he loves Christ whom he serves. “Feed my sheep”, says Christ to Peter, and now, at this moment, he says it to me as well. Feeding means loving, and loving also means being ready to suffer. Loving means giving the sheep what is truly good, the nourishment of God’s truth, of God’s word, the nourishment of his presence, which he gives us in the Blessed Sacrament. My dear friends – at this moment I can only say: pray for me, that I may learn to love the Lord more and more. Pray for me, that I may learn to love his flock more and more – in other words, you, the holy Church, each one of you and all of you together. Pray for me, that I may not flee for fear of the wolves. Let us pray for one another, that the Lord will carry us and that we will learn to carry one another.

We love you, Pope Benedict XVI! Happy 5th Anniversary!!

You have our prayers...

stone, precast, westies

2010-04-12T14:17:00.006-07:00

This photo is deserving of a great and humorous caption!
Just looking at it, makes me smile!
Joe's posture makes me think he is giving
Sr. Esther Marie a hard time.
No...not Joe (smile, smile).

Last Thursday we traveled to Tonopah to see the construction progress and meet with our trusty construction crew. All I can say is: WOW. The progress that has been made is marvelous. The stone looks so awesome. The roof beams are going in as well (as a matter of fact, by now, they are already in). The dark stain finish looks fantastic. Standing in the sacristy there is already a roof over our heads. It's awesome. Everything is done to perfection. The precast that goes around the windows is a delightful contrast to the stonework. As I was gazing upon this beautiful structure, I looked beyond it at the mountains. I was really struck by how it so harmoniously blends in with all the desert hues.

Be sure to check out the dreams to reality link to see more photos.

I can't end this blog without sharing with you this great photo of the dogs. It's been awhile since they have been featured in any of the blogs. Percy is the most photogenic dog that you'd ever want to meet. He loves 'posing' for pics. However, Fergus is not of the same opinion. As soon as he sees the camera, he goes wild. This photo of Ferg (with Percy's snout featured in the lower right) just captures his crazy personality! I thought you might enjoy seeing it. And just to prove my point about Percy, below Ferg's crazy pic, is our posing Sir Thomas Percy!!!

Desert Nun News

Capacity to Love

What can I bring Him?

Sr. John-Mark's 1st Profession of Vows

All she has, all she is, all she could be...

New Translation of the Roman Missal

The Desire for Something More

All You Saints of God, Pray for Us!

A Fall Foto Blog

Is everything sad going to come untrue?

Unique and Unrepeatable

BE TRANSFORMED

Rom 12:1-2

Pope Benedict XVI, We Love You!

Our Holy Mother Clare, Pray for Us

Come away to a lonely place...and rest for awhile

Summertime, summertime, sum, sum, summertime!

Von Hildebrand's Transformation in Christ

Local Mass of Thankgiving Snapshots

EWTN Youtube of Chapel Dedication!

Plank Owners

Public Mass Schedule

We are considering May 7, 2011 through May 7, 2012as a YEAR OF THANKSGIVING for the WONDERS of the LORD which He has wrought at OUR LADY OF SOLITUDE

Share in our joy, by joining us for one of the special events we are planning to celebrate:

BLESSED John Paul II, We Love You

The Humanness of It All

"This, that, and the other thing..."

Shadow Runner Video

Nun Run 2011 - WOW!

The Nuns on Channel 12 Hero Central!

Fox and Friends!

SET YOUR TIVO

Hero Central - Schedule Change!

Be sure to check this out!

Nuns in the News - on TV and Radio!

A good STATE of mind as March 12th approaches

A NUN RUN 2011 CHALLENGE

USA Today and Sirius Radio!

"Start spreading the news...NEW YORK, NEW YORK!"

The Sisters are HOME!

Desert Nuns on EWTN's LIFE ON THE ROCK!

A Bit of This and a Bit of That

Though miles apart...

Another Birdday!

Epiphany 2011 with Fr. Anselm

Then entered in those Wise men threeFull reverently upon their kneeAnd offered there in His presenceTheir gold and myrrh and frankincense.Noel, Noel, Noel, NoelBorn is the King of Israel!

Our First Tonopah Christmas

A Promise is a Promise

O Come, O Come Emmanuel!

Happy Thanksgiving

YES...We Have Moooooved In

New Beginnings

St. Therese and the Priesthood Reflections, Part IV

St. Therese and the Priesthood Reflections, Part III

Love Empowers, Love Understands

Sancte Pater Francisce

Love Expands the Heart

Blessed John Henry Newman, Pray for us

Touch of the Eternal

Finders Seekers

WOWZERS!

Sharing the Joy

A Beautiful Holy Mother Clare Feast Day!

Clare - Bright Light...Shine On!

Monsoon Season

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Pray for Us

"We get by with a little help from our friends..."

Visitors, Packing, Excitement

Newly Ordained Fr. John Parks Video

Year for Priests...Coming to a Close

Your Kind Offers...

5th Anniversary Celebration

Friends and Family

5 years ago today..."Habemus Papam"

stone, precast, westies

We are considering May 7, 2011 through May 7, 2012
as a YEAR OF THANKSGIVING for the WONDERS of the LORD which He has wrought at OUR LADY OF SOLITUDE

Share in our joy, by joining us for one of the special events
we are planning to celebrate:

Then entered in those Wise men three
Full reverently upon their knee
And offered there in His presence
Their gold and myrrh and frankincense.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel!