J.M. + J.T.

A Letter from Mother

Dear Friends of Carmel,

Greetings in this autumn month of October! The composition of the traditional Carmelite hymn called Flos Carmeli (Flower of Carmel) is attributed to Saint Simon Stock, the English Carmelite of the 13th century to whom Our Lady gave the Brown Scapular. The hymn begins: Flower of Carmel / blossoming vine / splendor of heaven / Mother divine / none like to thee… Usually the “blossoming vine” is thought to refer to Our Lady herself, but after the luncheon held in Auburn on October 10th to benefit our monastery, we think the “blossoming vine” is the Auxiliary! How gracious all of you were to turn out in such full force, or support the effort in other ways if you couldn’t be there! The Sisters and I are deeply grateful for your “blossoming” membership and you support of our community, and we want you to know that we hold each one of you dearly in our prayers, and do not forget you before the Tabernacle when we go to visit our Blessed Lord.

Although it is Fall here, for our friends below the Equator, it is Spring. Perhaps some of you have come across the story of Sister Cecilia Maria of the Holy Face, OCD, a Carmelite from Santa Fe, Argentina, who died on June 22 of cancer. Her joy and serenity in the face of a terminal diagnosis has inspired many. You can read her story, In Spanish and English, at https://ceciliamariadelasantafaz.wordpress.com/. Scroll down below her Vocation Testimony to find the interview with her prioress, Mother Magdalena.

If some of you ever wonder about the hard trials in your lives, the perplexing downward spiral of situations around us, take heart from a few words of our Holy Mother Saint Teresa of Jesus. She said, “We have always seen that those who were closest to Christ our Lord were those with the greatest trials. Let us look at what His glorious Mother suffered and the glorious apostles” (Interior Castle, VII: 5). So you see, trials are a way of Our Lord showing you how much He trusts you and how close you are to Him! At least, we can try to see them that way!

We give thanks, with you, for the bounteous blessings lavished upon us by our good God, and we nuns hold you Auxiliary brothers and sisters as some of the choicest blessings He could have given us.

With our gratitude and prayers,
Mother Mary Bethany, OCD, and Sisters

From the Auxiliary

Dear Auxiliary Members,

What a great luncheon we had! We sold over 200 tickets, and the Knights of Columbus from St. Joseph and St. Teresa Parishes were undeniably great in helping with set up, cooking the fabulous spaghetti, and setting up the bar. Truly, this event would not have been possible without their help. Fortunately for us all, they are committed to helping us next year! We also had the Squires and Youth Groups from these parishes to help with the serving. The young people were so helpful; again we could not have done this without them.

Many people helped with this event, contributing raffle prizes and auction items, making the quilt and selling quilt tickets all over the county, going to parishes and to drum up support and selling dinner tickets. Special thanks go to those who handled the décor, the raffle and auction, the set-up and clean up, and the promotion and selling of the quilt all summer. For those of you who could not make it to the luncheon, I am attaching the Program we used. Be sure to note the sponsors and supporters on the back page. But there are so many people who helped to make this a great event, and you know who you are. I cannot name everyone here, but rest assured that I have you all in my prayers and the Sisters do, too.

We held a debriefing meeting recently and made notes on the mistakes we made and the things we did well. Everyone agreed that a spaghetti luncheon was an excellent idea, and we would like to do it again next year. We hope to improve our advertising, the way we sell the tickets, and several things about the luncheon such as the speed with which we serve the food. We apologize to you if you did not get any ice cream! The machine was just a little too slow to keep up with demand.

So many wonderful raffle and auction items were donated, and some people got some terrific deals this year! I am thinking about the wine tasting for 40 people that went for a steal of a price, and the box seats at the new downtown arena for 16 people to attend Disney on Ice. Wow! A lot of people went home with some great bargains!

If you didn’t get to attend this year, you’ll have to join us next year. It was such a great event, and we raised a great donation for the Sisters’ operating fund. You can always donate to the Sisters. Please use their P.O. mailing address on the letterhead.

Looking ahead, we are also planning on hosting our popular series of Prayer on the Mountain again this coming Spring. Please watch for our January Newsletter to get the dates and topics. Also, if you would like to help or take the lead on making another quilt this winter, please contact me at carmelitehelpers@gmail.com. The quilt raffle netted over $1,000 for the Sisters this last year! And, we had so much fun making it. Send me a note if you want to help make another quilt for next year!

In Christ,
Patty MacEgan

Newsletter #9 - Flower of Carmel