Sister Regina is a fictitious Handmaid who appears almost every week on this site, on our Facebook page, and in our Twitter feed. She gives those outside the cloister an idea of what life within the monastery can be like. Click any cartoon to see a larger image.
Sister Regina the cartoon is not published during the seasons of Advent, the Christmas Octave, Lent, or the Easter Octave to not only allow the Handmaids to more deeply enter into those times of more intense prayer, but also to encourage others to do so as well.
The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. If you had everything you needed and wanted - could you hope for anything more? Would that mean you had no troubles? Having hope doesn`t mean having no problems. It means you can trust the One to handle your problems and never abandon you in them. You shall not want for what? You shall not want for his presence, his love, his safety, his protection and guidance. The Good Shepherd didn`t say we wouldn`t have trouble (he said just the opposite) but we would always have him and he is the One who has overcome the world. This is the Shepherd we want with all our hearts.
xperiencing the beauty of a person transformed by Eucharist can lead them to experience the beauty of the Person of Jesus Christ truly present in the Eucharist. There is a very good argument for the pursuit of Truth by the way of beauty. Because many people, convinced there is no such thing as truth, will nonetheless be drawn to the wonder of beauty and that can lead them closer to God. Not everyone is going to experience a tangible, life-changing encounter the moment they are in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament the very first time. Perhaps they have little knowledge or experience of the practice of Eucharistic adoration. Maybe they are distracted by the various elements of Catholic devotion and may feel too uncomfortable. But what if their introduction to this ancient form of prayer was through a person already deeply living in contact with his Real Presence in such a way that its effects were manifest in every other aspect of their lives? The Eucharistic Revival is not limited to processions and holy hours. But it is rooted and grown from there by the very devotees themselves. His love reflected in them will be an attracting force. To "polish" our own mirrors up to reflect Our Lord in our lives means we need to spend time with him in this way, kneeling at his feet, as it were, like Mary who chose the better part. #sisterreginacomicstrip...
What’s in a name? Everything. For our purposes, we will say that names count for everything. They tell us, among other things, precisely who we are praying for. A quick glance at the Bible indicates that God takes names very seriously. Think of Isaiah 43:1 "I have called you by name; you are mine." or Is 43:6 ff "Bring back my sons from afar...everyone who is named as mine, who I created for my glory, whom I formed and made." Apply these words to priests and see the link between naming and possessing: being called and possessed by God! We are named because we are God`s. So too with priests. When we install a name plaque in the Mary, Mother of Priests, Tribute Garden we aren`t so much honoring individual men; we are honoring God, who called each of them to be his special possession, his anointed ones as priests.
Each name plaque, each name, each life, each vocation, each man is unique and different yet infinitely, personally precious in God`s eyes as his co-workers in his vineyard. Each name mounted is, as it were, a permanent prayer request "Remember me in your prayers, I beg you!" This "me" has a name. His name matters. Names count. The extra burdens priests carry in their lifelong imitation of Christ Crucified for the sake of others, demand our faithful and continuous prayer support.
Names count. The individual name can be unique, but his Cross is universally fashioned to follow the footsteps of the High Priest.
If you would like to pay tribute to a special priest you are grateful to God for; consider making a donation and submitting his name to the Mary, Mother of Priests, Garden. To learn more, visit this link.
PS Even if you are unable to donate, we will still pray for that priest. They all deserve our prayers! https://nunsforpriests.org/mary-mother-of-priests-garden/ #sisterreginacomicstrip #tributegarden...
This week the liturgical season of Ordinary Time begins on January 10th, most appropriately with "Week One", of course. But we`ve chosen to run a Nativity cartoon with Shadow eyeing the cozy crib. [He has, in fact, been an almost perfect gentleman-cat regarding the decorations and cribs save for his deadly interest in poinsettia plants. This accounts for our meal time processions of poinsettia plants to and from the refectory tables from their `lock up` where he can`t get to them.] But, back to the cartoon. Why a Nativity cartoon if Ordinary Time is upon us?
Because it`s a wonderful custom to keep the Nativity scenes up until February 2nd, the Feast of the Presentation. It not only keeps Christmas in our hearts but our eyes on the Incarnation. While the world hastily throws out trees and garlands and moves forward to the next retail spike, we can continue to live by the Church`s ancient rhythms intended to bring us only closer to God. #sisterreginacomicstrip...
Gertrude gets her nom de plume and enters cartoon-land in the Sister Regina comic strip as Shadow’s new side-kick: SUNBEAM. We had plenty of suggestions, some more than once, but this one had a ring to it as we flesh out the feline dynamic duo of the squirrel wars. Here’s just some that were submitted:
Samson
Sunny
Lily
Rose
Sunshine
Misty
Lightfoot
Flame
Sunbeam
Light
Cuddles
Trudy
Gertrude is steadily growing, gaining weight and trying out various speeds racing around the cell she occupies after her toys, insects, and anything else she wants to chase. Despite her small size she can hit the ground with an impact that sounds like a human and, despite our best efforts, we smile in distraction as we detect her barreling across the floor just above the Mass Chapel. More than once a Handmaid has heard various thumps and bumps and wondered if a plumber or other contractor might be fixing something in the cell above Chapel and then realize, “Oh, its just Gertrude…all 7 pounds of her.” Look out wood-eating rodents!
Meus maxime mortificatsio est vita communis. In English, “My greatest mortification is community life.” Saint John Berchmans
While that can be true, so can a surprising contrast, “Community life is my greatest joy.”...
5
1
Website note: September 2020 – We switched to posting Sister Regina’s Comic Strips on Instagram, but you can still enjoy her past comics in the archive below.
Humor helps. A cartoon from the not so distant past.
