Insights from the Life of a Franciscan Sister

[sr.christinaosf]

I am opening a new thread, at the advice of viewers here.  I will use this to post new articles that I think might be of interest to you.  They are taken from "Our Franciscan Fiat," the blog for our community of Franciscan Sisters of Dillingen.  

 

Day by Day…a prayer in weakness

By Sr. Christina M. Neumann

Once in a while I get “poetic” and feel drawn to express my thoughts in written verse. Tonight was such an occasion.  Most often it is in the form of prayer-poems, as in the case of the musings below:

Day by Day

Dear Jesus, you know I’m weak,
That I don’t reach the good I seek.
I often fail in what I do,
And am not always true to You.

I have ideals of what I should be,
But sometimes fail quite miserably
Please give me strength, and wisdom, too,
So I can do what I should do.

I cannot make it on my own
So please, never leave me alone.
Left to myself I’m sure to fail;
But, your grace in me can prevail.

What I ask, dear Lord, today
Is that you’re with me on the way
That in my weakness, you’ll give the power
For my need, at every hour.

I am reminded of St. Paul’s words*
When his own struggle had occurred,
How You had said “my grace suffices”
And were with him in his crisis.

With You near Jesus, I too can boast
Of my weaknesses, and make the most
Of my struggles day by day
Trusting you’ll carry me on the way.

*See 2 Corinthians 12:9

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[sr.christinaosf]

A family that prays together…

From OUR FRANCISCAN FIAT

Sisters in Chapel at our Provincial House in Hankinson, ND

If you’re like me, you probably heard the old adage as a child: “A family that prays together stays together.”  The point was that frequently making the effort to pray together as a family strengthens family ties and gives a solid foundation to relationships that cannot be easily broken.

For some time, I’ve thought about writing an article about the value of communal prayer in our religious community, and this old saying seemed an appropriate one to introduce the topic.  As a matter of fact, our Constitutions say, “We want to be sisters to each other.”  Who are “sisters” but members of the same “family”?

Praying together, and having everyone present, is very important to me and I am not alone.  Our Constitutions lay out that we pray lauds and vespers (morning and evening prayer) as a rule in common.  I do make every effort to facilitate our ability to pray office together.

Due to scheduling issues at our reception desk, at times we are not all able to be there for our evening office together.  (One of us has to answer the phone over the supper hour if a staff person is not scheduled.)  At St. Anne’s we are a very small convent community so the absence of one member is even more pronounced.  I am grateful that, in the last couple of years, this has been diminished with some schedule changes that occurred.

We also have Eucharistic Adoration in our chapel and so often times our praying “family” is extended by the presence of visitors who join us.  Praying the prayers of the church in common is truly a beautiful thing!

[beatitude]

That prayer in weakness reminds me very much of the hymn 'Lord, for tomorrow and its needs' by Sister Mary Xavier. I usually sing it if I pray Lauds. Do you know the one?

I don't have much experience of liturgical prayer in common. When I did a live-in with a Carmelite monastery, I was conscious of how terribly unmusical I am and worrying that my, erm, distinctive singing style was ruining prayer for the sisters (especially when one sister came to me at the end of Vespers and asked if it would help me to have sheet music to read from!). But I like gathering to pray with a small group of friends. I wish I could do that more often.

How much solitary prayer do your sisters have? Do you have any particular devotions that your community practises?

[sr.christinaosf]

I was not familiar with that hymn, though I think I have heard it quoted.  

As for your question about "solitary prayer," we are to do a half hour of meditation and another half hour of other private prayer (so 1 hour daily).  Plus, we pray night prayer (very short) - at our house here we do that privately.  

"Particular devotions"...I'm not quite sure if I know exactly what you mean.  We have some common prayers we do together before/after the office (morning offering, consecration to Mary, Guardian Angel prayer - in the morning), (prayer to St. Anne, Franciscan blessing, prayer to St. Joseph, prayer for respect for life, and prayer to St. Michael in the evening) - these evening ones (except the Franciscan blessing) are more particular to our local community at St. Anne's.

We have special devotion to Mary, St. Francis, St. Joseph, St. Elizabeth of Hungary and other Franciscan Saints. Devotion to the Eucharist, the Incarnation, and the Passion are very important.

I hope this answers your questions.  

[TheresaThoma]

I love your comment about community prayer. I was working with a Catholic group for a while and we prayed morning prayer and evening prayer together plus Chaplet of Divine Mercy. The tradition came from the founding members who asked a priest for advice during a rough spot. He simply asked "Do you pray together daily?"  They started to and everything became easier! I also noticed that you really do notice when someone is missing.  No matter how many others we had if the core group wasn't there then it just felt off.

[sr.christinaosf]

This morning my commitment to common prayer was again tested since I ended up working last night.  Oh well...it makes life interesting.  Actually, I enjoy doing it overall.

[sr.christinaosf]

Another word to the wise - don't try to chant the alleluia verse when you're reading at Mass and you're going on an hour of sleep.

[sr.christinaosf]

What’s in a name? – the importance of the name in scripture and in our own lives

JUNE 24, 2015 / OUR FRANCISCAN FIAT / 

 

Sr. Christina M. Neumann

As we read the Bible, at Mass or on our own, we might notice the importance of the “name.”  Often when an angel appears to someone to announce an important birth, he tells the mother/father-to-be what name should be given the child.  This is the case today when we read of the events leading to the birth of St. John the baptist.  (Actually, in today’s gospel we read of Zechariah naming his son, but it had been Gabriel who instructed him in this name choice.)  Also, when God called a person to special service, He sometimes changed their name (as in Jacob/Israel, Saul/Paul, and Simon/Peter).

This trend is often continued when one enters religious life.  In our community, when we enter the novitiate, we either maintain our baptismal name as our name in religious life or are given a new one.  Customarily, we are able to offer three suggestions. We always take Mary or Marie as part of our religious name.

When I was preparing for novitiate, the local pastor liked to threaten me that he wanted to give me a difficult, tongue-twisting German name like “Gertentrudis” or something.  I am grateful that I was able to keep my baptismal name of “Christina” rather than acquire a name after that fashion.

One of our Sisters, Sr. Sara Marie, celebrates her “Name day” today; I had hoped she might share the story of her religious name and the connection made between the Old Testament matriarch, Sarah and St. John the Baptist, whose feast we honor today.  However, since that was not possible, I will share a little history of my own name.  Growing up, each family member had a plaque on the wall with our name, its meaning/translation, and a scripture verse.  Mine, “Christina,” had the subtitle of “follower of Christ” denoting its meaning.  What a name to live up to!

We are all Christians, “followers of Christ.”  This is a call to each of us every day; we want to live up to this challenging, humbling call.  In order to do this, let us pray in the words of the psalm given on my name plaque: “Lead me, O Lord in thy righteousness; may my way straight before me.”

Edited June 24, 2015 by sr.christinaosf

[sr.christinaosf]

Hit the ground running!

JUNE 27, 2015 / OUR FRANCISCAN FIAT / 

What an interesting day!

When it rains, it pours might be a little bit more appropriate title today.

Sr. Rebecca and I went down with Msgr. Vetter to the priests’ ordination in Fargo this morning.  It was a privilege to be able to attend.  I was grateful to those here who filled in a little to make it possible for me to go (e.g., Kathy doing sacristy work, Betty doing ‘reading hour’ for our residents, and Sr. Elaine giving our receptionist her morning breaks)

But, when I returned, I was informed that we had received two big bags of rhubarb.  I am the main person in charge of recruiting and coordinating residents for cutting up the donations of rhubarb (and other produce that come in).

I was scheduled to be at work at the reception desk in less than an hour and tomorrow is Sunday (not a good day for ‘rhubarb parties’).  So, I figured, “I might as well do it now because who knows when I’ll get another good chance.”

It got close to 3:30 (when my shift was to begin), and Sr. Rebecca offered to fill in at the desk so I could finish.  Just as we were finishing up, I sliced my finger and it began to bleed.  The rhubarb was nice and red already so I didn’t need any extra color. Oh well, I cleaned it out good, got a band aide and returned to the activity room where we hold our produce-processing endeavors.

I was very grateful that another resident (besides those who had already graciously helped cut) came down around then and lamented the fact that she hadn’t been here earlier to help.  I let her know that she was not too late and assigned her to wiping the tables and cleaning the floor, which she gladly did.  I was not looking forward to having to do this with my finger as it was.  (I don’t enjoy soggy band aides or water in open wounds.)

As if this was not enough adventure for one day, we were under a tornado watch and part of our county was actually in a tornado warning.  We had to stay tuned to weather reports on TV for a while.  Thankfully, the worst of it passed us by.

We did get some rain, though; on behalf our residents’ little garden and of the farmers, I am grateful for that.

 

[vee]

if possible could you cover your cut hand with a finger cot or even wear a disposable vinyl or latex glove?  That way you can keep your cut clean and dry but still do messy work.  Glad to hear the weather was only a watch for you and nothing worse.

[sr.christinaosf]

Never heard of a finger cot.  I took off the bandage and have it open to the air now.

[vee]

a finger cot is like a medical glove in the variety of materials it comes in but is for just one finger at a time.  Now you know they exist

http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/walgreens-finger-cots-assorted/ID=prod3490318-product

 

[sr.christinaosf]

Thanks for the info.  Have a good day!

[sr.christinaosf]

Too bad I don't have a "finger cot" - I just caught my little wound on something and it started bleeding again.  The nurse put band aides on it so now it's protected but hard to type.  

[sr.christinaosf]

I've updated our header image on Our Franciscan Fiat:https://ourfranciscanfiat.wordpress.com. What do you think? 
Also, do you have any other comments or suggestions on the blog?  Is it too plain looking?  I can only do so much with the template I'm using.  Thanks!