White Christmas! Not So Typical! - Handmaids of the Precious Blood

We recently shared a post on what a typical monastery Christmas is like. But what was it really like this year? It was a WHITE CHRISTMAS!!!!!! That’s a shout-able event.

Why? Because it was a rare event experienced maybe only once every 10-15 years or more…a White Christmas of 5 to 7 inches of snow that meant no Midnight Mass, or Christmas Mass, or Saint Stephen’s Day Mass! In fact, Callaway Ridge wasn’t fully passable until the afternoon of Dec 27th. Since as yet we are not all under one single roof, it meant two full Christmas celebrations, one for each house of Handmaids not so much sheltering-in-place as rejoicing-in-place while the beautiful snow fell! We share some scenes of the beauty around us even as we continue to thank the Father for the most beautiful Gift of all: His Son. We finally could receive him again at the Holy Sacrifice on the Feast of the Holy Innocents. Alleluia!

: Christmas Eve: Evening Prayer I, Psalm 147’s line “He showers down snow white as wool…” came to life as we chanted it looking at the winter wonderland outside the oratory window.

: Over 5 inches in just a couple hours!

: Cor Jesu Kitchen Porch

: Great room at Cor Jesu decked out for Christmas and snow packing the west windows twenty feet up!

: Snow sticks to the second floor windows flanking the west facing chimney at Cor Jesu.

: A view north toward the Priests Garden

: Skies clear after the snow

: Mater Dei House atop Callaway Ridge

: Priests Garden at dawn on a White Christmas

: Our Lady wears a blanket of snow

: Deer out for frolic on Christmas morn

: Initial sledding attempts

: We tried. About 2 on a scale of 1-10 and only about 10 feet ‘sledded’ with ease. But fun anyway!

: A simple creche in the Oratory where we pray together and adore the Lord in Cor Jesu Monastery…a wintry wonderland seen through the window next to the God of Wonders.