Merry Christmas! It has been a busy time at Cor Jesu Monastery since our last Newsletter.
Hope and Joy
The Jubilee Year of Hope may end in 2026 but our hope does not. When one has hope, confident hope in eternal salvation through Christ, then one can more easily choose joy! Handmaids’ final profession rings are engraved with “JOY Semper”. Our Founder, Father Gerald, gave us a charism of joy in all that God wills.
New Novice
And, as it was, his will manifested itself as Postulant Sarah entered the Novitiate and donned the habit, receiving the name, “Sister Joy Marie of Divine Mercy”. She’s always joyful but now, even more so.
Chapter of Elections
On the Feast Day of Our Lady of the Rosary we had Mass in our Chapel celebrated by Bishop Mark Beckman followed by our Chapter of Elections. Sister Rose Philomena was elected the new Rev. Mother Prioress. Immediately following the election the Bishop and all the Handmaids of the Precious Blood gathered in Chapel where our new Mother took the Oath of Office and renewed her vows of Chastity, Poverty, and Obedience. All the Sisters renewed their vows as well. Afterwards we enjoyed a lovely visit and meal with our local Shepherd. Later the Council members were elected. These Sisters will assist Mother in the governance of the Community for the next six years.
As we do at every Chapter of Elections, we renew our gratitude to our Sisters who have born the burdens and also the joys of service to their Sisters as Mother Prioress. The entire Community remains indebted to our Sisters Sarah Michael, Marietta, and Jonpaul who have given their lives, not only to Jesus as Religious, but to their spiritual daughters over a period of three decades. May God reward them abundantly in this life and in the next.
Temporary Chapel Move
While the new Holy Family Capital Campaign has begun, we still need to address a gradually shrinking Mass Chapel as our numbers are expanding. In the interim we have moved the Mass Chapel to Cor Jesu, the largest building on the property. This meant moving the refectory, chapter room, recreation room, reading room, sacristy, sewing and other supply areas someplace else. We could not have done it without the help of Knights Jimmy Dee and Ron Henry accompanied by a contingent of University of Tennessee Knights: Ryan Burns, John Knighton, Zachary Schulmeister, and Ben Watson. They were especially helpful in raising a five foot solid wood Sacred Heart statue onto the large mantle.
Formation Group Skit
In the Fall we developed a little play, written and choreographed by the formation group, on the life of the Servant of God Sister Blandina Segale, S.C. based on the book At the End of the Santa Fe Trail. Sister Blandina featured heavily of course, but also a cowboy on a stagecoach, an tight fisted clerk, Sister Blandina’s sibling Sister Justina (also a Sister of Charity), Archbishop Lamy of Santa Fe and Billy the Kid. Black caps, black plastic, cake boxes, paper bags, cardboard, a mop, and turkey feathers lent themselves to the improvised props. Music and a touch of monasticised “line dancing” added to the performance.
This carries on a long time tradition in our religious family of plays, some of which are original and others that would be recognized in the outside world. Over the decades Handmaids have performed versions of Fiddler on the Roof, My Fair Lady, Amahl and the Night Visitors, the Little Prince and the Wizard of Oz. Others were written by Handmaids on lives of the Saints like St. Juan Diego, St. Maximilian Kolbe, and St. Francis of Assisi.
Annual Retreat In Honor of Nicea at 1700 Years
Even our educated Russian Blue Gunther joined us for the retreat conferences on the 1700 year anniversary of the First Council of Nicea
Just prior to our Chapel move, we enjoyed our yearly retreat, this time focusing on the Nicene Creed. 2025 is the 1700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicea which formulated what we profess at Mass each Sunday.
Repairs and Improvements
As usual we had our fair share of necessary home repairs and improvements. The addition of “Cupertino”, our stair chair, in Cor Jesu will help a few more knee caps to kneel longer by climbing up and down a little less. We also, living in a large log cabin, had to rework the entire gutter drainage system to ensure water from the roof would drain to the lowest level where we wanted it to go away from the structure. Due to multiple blockages heavy rains would produce vertical gushing upward from any escape point resembling European fountains more than downspouts. So new drains at the bottom of the downspouts were trenched and laid in leading to a nearby ravine. The wood will be much drier now.
Almost unbelievably, only if we doubted the providence of God and his undeserved gratuitousness with us, we were treated to the third opportunity to see naked eye aurora in East Tennessee. Despite cold windchills (for Tennessee) the formation group and other Sisters came out to watch the sky turn red and even detect the motions of the bands across the northern tree line. Wow. God is WOW!
For our dear Sister Mary Genevieve of the Will of God on her 92nd birthday we treated her to pecan pie, a favorite for her. After so many decades of faithful service to Our Lord as his Handmaid, she deserved the sweet treat.
Hello from the cats. Gertrude struck a glowing look with the sunset lighting up the foliage behind her as she walked in the breezeway giving her a look similar to Gunther’s double coat sheen. He continues to win the “pretzel” contest with what he insists is a comfortable way to sleep. It looks anything but.
