July 21 - The corn is a little more than knee high...

It’s been quiet on our news page, perhaps because most of our sisters are in the garden, working on our hydroelectricity project (as one friend of the community put it, “did you know that you’d learn to mix cement when you entered the monastery?”) or generally spending as much time outside as possible. Squamish is part of Canada’s coastal rainforest, which the Canadian Wildlife Federation calls “one of the wettest non-tropical areas in the world,” so when the sun is outside, so are we!

 
 

We do, however, have three exciting “indoor” pieces of community news that we’d like to share with you.

First, we ask you to join us in praying for the new Master of the Order of Preachers elected on July 13, fr. Gerard Timmoner. Originally from Daet, Philippines, he most recently served as Socius of the Master of the Order to Asia and the Pacific. As the 88th successor of St. Dominic, fr. Gerard serves as the principle of unity in our Order. The nuns and the friars make profession of obedience to him, and he will spend much of the next nine years travelling throughout the world to build communion and spread the holy preaching.

 
Photo credit: Order of Preachers

Photo credit: Order of Preachers

 

Next, our spring newsletter is posted online and almost entirely mailed out. If you’re a print or email subscriber, you should receive your copy soon; if you’re not a subscriber, why not sign up here for our next edition in late fall? In the meantime, you can enjoy it below:

 
 

Finally, we are hosting a vocation weekend in September for women discerning religious life. If you or someone you know are interested, you can find out more about our monastic life, and contact our novice mistress here.

 
 

May God continue to bless you, and may the holy leisure of summer holidays (at least for those in the northern hemisphere) give you time to slow down and reflect on what is most important in life. Enjoy the sun, and don’t forget a monastic staple: the sunhat!

June 1 - Come, Holy Spirit
 

“Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven?
This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven,
will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11)

Today we celebrate the Ascension of our Lord, trusting that “where He has gone before in glory, we are called to follow in hope”! In the 40-odd days since Easter, part of the novitiate sisters’ Paschal joy has been working outdoors to plant this year’s vegetable and flower garden (peas, dahlias, corn, potatoes and more). They also set out the hummingbird feeder for some hungry customers, and went for a day hike further up the valley to see some epic views of waterfalls and the Squamish river.

We will be on retreat this week in preparation for Pentecost. Please join us in praying for the Lord to send forth His Spirit, into our hearts and into our world.

“May the God of hope
fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him,
so that you may overflow with hope
by the power of the Holy Spirit. “ (Rm 15:13)