Handmaids' News Blog
COVID-19 can’t kill Christmas 2020 COVID-19 may have radically changed 2020 but it can’t really touch what we celebrate at Christmas, or rather WHO we celebrate at Christmas. Certainly the “how” has been modified for many. So let’s remember Jesus as we share what it’s like as a typical monastery Christmas approaches. We have told you some of these customs …
Download this newsletter as PDFPlease note that this is a large PDF which will require a bit of time to completely download. It Has Been QUITE a Year and Thus Also a QUIET One!The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 changed almost everything! While for us, already cloistered, quarantine didn’t have as much impact, it did have an impact. We had several …
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 …
Thank you for the prayers! The leak was found. The water is back on and the well is producing.
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 …
On this date, May 25th, 1947, the Feast of Pentecost, the Handmaids of the Precious Blood began in Jemez Springs, NM. To celebrate our 73rd Anniversary of Foundation Day we want to share a few archive photos. We thank God for our Founder, Father Gerald, and the pioneering spirit of our first Handmaids. When you give your life to God, …
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 …
It seemed perfectly fitting that it would be during the month dedicated to the Holy Souls that one of our dearest chaplains in our community’s history was finally called home. After a long lifetime of selfless sacrifice and cheerful service the Lord began to prepare Father Gregory McCormick, s.P. for his final journey. We received news of his passing on …
Before concluding her second term of office as our Mother Prioress, Mother Marietta enjoyed one of her last ‘official’ acts as Mother in late September 2019: Taking a powered screw driver in hand and attaching the very first name plate of a priest we intended to honor in our Mary Mother of Priests Tribute Garden. Naturally, the priest in question …