Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “HPB Vocations”
Vocations News: Coping with COVID-19 and Come and Sees Yes, 2020 has been quite a year. We managed to get in a couple visits with inquiring women before COVID became a byword and seeming harbinger of all that could go wrong with the year 2020. By lockdown in March it was hoped a few weeks would be sufficient to dispel the …
Many religious, male and female, wear a side Rosary with their habit. Some can be rather large, others small. While Handmaids have had some minor variations in the wear of our side Rosary, we have always had them as a necessary part of the habit, not just as an accessory but as an essential to our spiritual life. Our Founder …
If you are a lifelong Catholic and encountered religious sisters over the years, you may have noticed that in some communities that the color of the veil can signify whether the sister has been professed or not. Not infrequently over the years, Handmaids have been asked about our white veils by others assuming they are speaking to a novice or …
The scapular of a professed Handmaid of the Precious Blood bears a Trinitarian emblem worn over the heart and features a white dove (the Holy Spirit) hovering over a golden chalice (a living chalice of the Precious Blood: a priest) on a field of red outlined in blue to honor Our Lady. It’s a visual hint of our mission in …
When we take our final vows, part of the ceremony is receiving and wearing a crown of thorns. A real one. We use pyracantha (otherwise called, very appropriately, firethorn) to fashion the crown. Since our veils are white, symbolizing the Eucharist, the Mother Prioress tries not to draw any blood either through the thorns or when pinning the crown to …
Did you know our profession rings, while simple, were designed by our Founder to incorporate two hearts and a chalice and that we all have the same words inscribed inside them? The hearts pay tribute to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary while the chalice reminds us of our mission in the Church to offer …
Occasionally you may hear of someone “counting up years” in a cemetery. There is a story of one priest visiting a convent graveyard in which the sisters date of profession of vows was included on the tombstones so he added them all together as he walked the graves praying for their souls, thanking God for their steady perseverance and he was …
Sacred silence. A great settling enfolds the monastery. Cell doors close. Offices are dark. Computers are off. Phones are silent. Compline has rounded out the monastic day and nocturnal adoration begins. It’s extraordinarily intimate as one by one in each house a nun takes a private hour of adoration in the oratory. Close to the altar, kneeling before the monstrance, …
[Originally published September 2018] When we upgraded our website a few years ago, a photo was purchased for our use of a man with his head bowed and knuckles in his eyes and we added the caption: Our Priests Carry Not Only The Full Weight of Our Burdens But Their Own As Well. Today, in these days of renewed …
[Originally published August 22, 2018] Too often we neglect to see Christ in His Priests, blinded as we can be with righteous anger and rage as we react to the sins of some of our priests in whom it is hardest to identify Christ. Rightfully we demand accountability and justice and strive to have it carried out but too often …
[Originally published in August 2018] We don’t post much on what people would call current events or news. 1. We don’t follow it as others in the world do though we know what is necessary to know and 2. It can devolve into divisive viewpoints that deflect attention from the real problem. But we are hearing from people who have …
YES, THEY HAVE TAKEN OUR LORD… [Originally shared Holy Week 2017] Sometimes well meaning Catholics tell us they are envious of our monastic lifestyle. Usually it is because they misunderstand the level of spiritual combat it entails daily. But when we hear of “holy envy” regarding our experience of Holy Week and the Triduum, it might be justified, but not …