October 16, 2004

YAY for Nashville!

Feastday of St. Teresa of Avila

Well dear reader, I'm back from Nashville! I'm going to try to be as thorough as possible,but if I leave somethings out please forgive me,I'm just trying to remember everything!

So,I arrived on Friday the 8th after my plane was delayed for an hour in Detroit (boo!). I was greeted by Sr. Mary Emily and Sr. Maria Ivana. After the plane being delayed and all, I was overjoyed to finally meet them! We drove back to the motherhouse and they asked me about how I had found out about Nashville and all that. Seeing the motherhouse was very impressive, let me tell you! I also got to see all of the progress that has been made on the new section. When I got inside Sr. Mary Emily and Sr. Maria Ivana led me up to the guest bedroom and told me the basic schedule for Saturday. There is a bell at six o' clock and then you have 25 minutes until another bell rings which tells you there is five minutes to get to chapel. At first I never thought I would be able to get ready with that kind of pressure, but it really is no biggie.

Saturday morning I went down to chapel and was just blown away by the Divine Office. It was just so beautiful and like nothing I had ever observed. It seemed like a great way to start the day! After morning prayers was Mass, which was great. The sisters only recieve the Eucharist, which I was not expecting, but I caught on ;) Breakfast was next on the list, and it was great. I kept making jokes about becoming a 300 lb. nun because they eat so well! After breakfast, Sister Mary Emily and I had a walk and talk around the grounds. As we were coming to the front of the motherhouse we saw some of the sisters piling into their van to go to a Great Books lecture. They asked if I wanted to tag along, so I did. Before they go anywhere, the sisters pray to their Gaurdian Angels, Our Lady of the Way and St. Dominic. It was so nice to see that! Anyway the lecture was really good. It was all about how to incorporate classic works into the curriculum. It was also nice because I was able to really talk to the sisters and see Aquinas (the college the sisters own & run) Then it was back to the motherhouse for lunch. I can't remember what I had, but I'm sure it was good. After lunch I changed shoes and went on a rosary walk with the postulants (including Sr.Julie & Sr.Emily!) and the novices. What happens is you walk in two lines and one line begins the prayers and the other finishes. It was a really cool setup. The funny thing was that we kept getting mixed up as to which line was saying what.....it was great to look around and realize that no one knew any better than you did! After the rosary walk was a vigorous game of softball. Anyone who knows me knows that softball is NOT my game, so when I went up to bat and was getting nowhere I told them to put someone else in or else we were going to be there until Vespers! LOL. Sometime during softball, Sr. Catherine Marie pulled me aside and wanted to know how things were going. We had a good conversation about my expectations and what suprised/comforted me about Nashville. She is such a mother type, it's just great! I think after softball was rest followed by evening prayers and dinner,but my brain isn't functioning. We also had recreation at night, which was a blast all of the nights I was there. For the first night I think I just hung out with Sr. Juile and Sr. Emily. I think after recreation was Compline. That is where the sisters do the Salve procession. It was just beautiful to see the sisters bow to each other as they walked down the aisle. After Compline, the postulants had study hall for an hour, and all of the sisters enter Profound Silence. I went off to bed right after because I didn't wanna be sleepy the next morning. Okay I think I'll post about the rest of my visit tomorrow because I am one sleepy girl!

God Bless & Good Night!

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