Handmaids' News Blog
Yes, gardening is good for the soul and a raised bed is good for the back. Earlier this year the Formation Group began working two raised beds just outside Saint Joseph Hermitage. We are happy to share that the first (rationed) harvest was enjoyed by the community recently and featured sugar snap peas. They were flavorful and delicious and cooked …
We completed our year long celebration of our Diamond Jubilee since our foundation on May 25th. But the festivities weren’t entirely over. On May 26th Bishop Stika joined us for a special Mass and meal, surprising us by bringing along His Eminence Justin Cardinal Rigali, Archbishop Emeritus of Philadelphia. As this fell shortly after Postulant Shannon entered our Novitiate with …
After Vespers I for the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus we had a community holy hour focusing on this great truth of our Faith. We renewed our individual consecrations to the Sacred Heart and found, like the Litany the USCCB is asking us to pray in reparation for blasphemies on display at this time, that the consecration’s …
Handmaids of the Precious Blood will be joining in the World Priest Global Rosary Relay for Priests on the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Friday June 16th at 4:30pm praying the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary. Consider joining with thousands of other prayer warriors for priests during this live global Rosary that will span the globe. You …
The Bishops of the United States of America have requested the Catholic faithful pray the Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in reparation for ongoing blasphemies against Our Lord, Our Lady, and the Church. They have asked especially for this to be done on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, June 16th. We gladly join in this reparation and …
If the Holy Spirit seemed eager to claim his beloved one on the Solemnity of Pentecost, he seemed just as eager to arrange for her beautiful farewell. Bishop Stika came to celebrate her Mass of Christian Burial on Friday June 2nd, 2023. But before that could happen, we would have to improvise a Chapel in our Chapter/Refectory/Reading Room while also …
We rejoice with the universal Church and the Diocese of Knoxville that three more priests have been ordained on Saturday June 10th! May God reward them for their generous response to his call to the altar and may Our Lady, Queen of the Clergy surround them with her loving care as they embark on their ministry in God’s vineyard. We …
Much to our surprise, the Holy Spirit orchestrated a beautiful gift for our Handmaid family by calling his Bride, Sister Mary Magdalen of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, to his side at last on Pentecost Sunday. With two Sisters praying by her side, “Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, I love you!” in her hearing, she peacefully breathed her last. We thank …
We celebrate our Foundation Day every year on May 25th. That was the date of Pentecost Sunday in 1947 when Father Gerald Fitzgerald began the Handmaids of the Precious Blood. He was guided by the Holy Spirit to help priests and his spiritual daughters were to become spiritual mothers of priests and aid in their sanctification through lives of prayer, …
On Wednesday May 17th, Postulant Shannon was clothed as a Handmaid of the Precious Blood and formally received her name in religion as Sister Francis Clare of the Eternal High Priest. The ceremony took place before Our Lord in Chapel prior to Benediction and Mass and we share some photos from the special day as she received her blessed habit, …
As we continue preserving our archives we are again indebted to so many who have helped us acquire the boxes, binders, garment bags, photo sleeves etc. In transferring items from old cardboard boxes to solid plastic we’ve have the misfortune to find a few casualties be it fabric mildew, moth damage, or mice nests (sans mice) which we are working …
Our formation group spends a lot of time helping to keep their sisters fed and the kitchen humming along. But that doesn’t mean it’s only work-work-work. As with all duties any of us undertake, it begins and ends with prayer but there is also room for some light-hearted fun. It didn’t seem right, especially during the Easter festivities, to serve …