"See, I make all things new."
 
 

As we celebrate the feast of the Ascension, reflecting on the past six weeks of Easter calls to mind a verse from the Book of Revelation: “See, I make all things new” (Rev. 21:5). With a relatively late celebration of the Paschal mysteries this year, our feasting of the Resurrection directly coincided with the return of spring to the Upper Squamish Valley. Indoors, we celebrated the Easter liturgy (generously sprinkled with Alleluias), reflected on the beautiful readings of the season, and rejoiced in the new bouquets of seasonal flowers honouring the altar each week. Outdoors, the garden was planted, the trees unfurled their leafs, and the forest was filled once more with songbirds great and small. They have yet to be caught on camera, but this spring around the monastery seems to be graced with a wider variety of forest birds than usual, with Western tanagers and house finches spotted alongside our resident towhees, Steller’s Jays, hermit thrushes and robins. Although the unusually cold weather has put a bit of a damper on the garden, the wild plants rose to the occasion in ways both big (wild dogwood blooming just behind the monastery) and small (diminutive fairy slipper orchids hidden by our creek). In the end, the garden joined the celebration as well with a hard-won first crop of asparagus grown and harvested by one of our novices.

As we enter into a week of retreat in preparation for Pentecost, we wanted to share a few of these moments with you. You are in our hearts and prayers as we join Mary and the apostles in the upper room (Acts 1:13-14) in joyful expectation. We pray that the Holy Spirit will bring you joy and peace this season, and in the summer months to come.

 
 
Sr. Marie Thomas Lawrie
The Presentation of the Lord
 
 

A blessed feast of the Presentation of the Lord to you all, and a very happy World Day of Consecrated Life! Our celebration of the Eucharist on this feast begins with a blessing of candles to illuminate our chapel over the next year. As we sing and praise God, we gave thanks for the gift of Christ, our light, who has come to meet His people. The stories of Simeon and Anna in the Gospel of the Day remind us that hope is at the centre of our lives through our baptism and as consecrated women—the hope that our eyes truly will “see the salvation” that God offers “in the presence of all peoples.” (Lk 2:31). We are reminded that Joseph and Mary react to this unexpected encounter, not with fear or irritation, but with the gift of wonder, as the Jerusalem version of the Bible translates this passage. This year, as we processed into the chapel singing after the blessing of the candles, the snow was just beginning to fall.

Here are a few photographs of our celebration today. May we all wonder at God’s presence among us, and be alert to the unexpected moments to encounter Christ, in prayer and in the faces of our brothers and sisters. We continue to carry you and our world in our prayers this day, and always. God bless.

 
 
Sr. Marie Thomas Lawrie
"Ice and Snow, Bless the Lord" (Daniel 3:70)
 
 

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and a Blessed Epiphany to you, our friends both near and far! This greeting was meant to be posted yesterday, but one of our Christmas gifts this year has been a superabundance of snow, and after another snowfall in the night, our power went out again just before Lauds of Epiphany. As we prayed the Office by flashlights and candles, we heard Isaiah proclaim that “the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness— on them, light has shined.” (Is 9:6-7). It was a good remind to us that Christ’s birth, celebrated at the darkest time of the year in our Northern Hemisphere, truly “shines in the darkness” (Jn 1:5).

By our unofficial count, this most recent snowfall brings us to over a meter of accumulated snow since the weekend before Christmas, when we awoke to find 60 centimetres fallen overnight. Being contemplatives, a temporary inability to leave our monastery is not usually a problem; but that same day, we were expecting both the arrival of an aspirant and our final grocery order before the holidays! Since they could not come to us, we needed to be able to get to them. After Mass, every sister who could donned snow boots, parkas and toques, and began to burrow a path down to the barn where our faithful four-wheel drive was parked. Meanwhile, a kindly neighbour arrived and began to plow our kilometre-long driveway with the tractor. By mid-afternoon, the route to the main road was passible, and two sisters sallied forth to attempt the drive to town. They returned several hours later, and were greeted by both a power outage and a party of sisters with flashlights and sleds ready to cart the boxes of groceries up to the main monastery in the dark (the driveway’s final hill being impassible by car). After a good supper, the electricity returned, and we prayed the Office of Vigils for the Fourth Sunday of Advent with wholehearted and sleepy thanksgiving.

With more snow throughout the week, we were overjoyed to still welcome some brave souls for Mass on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Other guests came to quietly visit the chapel throughout the Christmas Octave, making the final “pilgrimage” on foot up our driveway’s final hill. For a few days, the snowfall even took a rest, and the sun came out to turn our fields and forest into a real winter wonderland, as you can see in the pictures below.

 

We continue to hold you in prayer as we begin this new year. With the snow, the situation of our driveway changes day by day. If you would like to visit our chapel or join us for the liturgy, we would recommend good tires, good boots and possibly a phone call in advance to check the situation. May our Emmanuel, God-with-us, bring you joy and peace.

 
Sr. Marie Thomas Lawrie