General Chapter Concluded

Our General Chapter concluded this past Sunday.  Our M. Rebecca and Sr. Christine will be arriving home today!

Here is a link to a 2 minute video that gives the feel of the General Chapter.  It was held in Assisi, Italy.http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=OZ23k6C_zno

Cistercian General Chapter Is In Session

back row center M.Rebecca                            front row right Sr. Christine

simultaneous translation in the aula

Once every 3 years the abbots and abbesses of each monastery along with delegates from each region meet.  We are unique in the church because the monks and nuns are in the same order.  There is wonderful collaboration between the houses and the regions of our order. Mother Rebecca is attending along with Sr. Christine who was voted the nun delegate for the American region. Our General Chapter is being held at Assisi, Italy.

Labor Day

This morning at Chapter we had the first presentation of our looking back to our beginnings as we celebrate our 50^th Jubilee Year.  Sr. Gail, formerly known as Sr. Bernard dressed in our pre-Vatican II habit.  Then she read a prose/poem written by Sr. Mary Ellen of Wrentham about the founding of Wrentham, our founding house.  Sr. Gail got very choked up while reading about some of the foundresses of Wrentham whom she knew well.  Later,we celebrated Labor Day by beginning our Candy Season.  From Labor Day until the beginning of December we make our candy full time.  When December comes we are busy sending out packages to our customers for Christmas.  This is a special time of year for us.  Most projects stop and only necessary work such as laundry, cooking and cleaning are done because it is all hands on deck to produce the candy which supports us.  It’s special because we work closely together in this endeavor.

Today we had a special Terce in our little prayer room and a special coffee break where we partook in eating some of our own candy.  The biggest hit as always was the Hazelnut Meltaways.  If you haven’t tried them you should.  They are soooo good.  We love the caramels too!