Motherhouse Musings

Summer in St. Augustine is full of concerts, Fourth of July fireworks, and hot and muggy weather with the occasional thunderstorm. Many take their vacations in July to enjoy the beach or the mountains or some other relaxing locale. Here at the Motherhouse, we are preparing to welcome a new sister as part of the local community in mid-July and then a new sister as our new General Superior who is also part of the Motherhouse community the last weekend in July. Our current General Superior, Sister Jane Stoecker, will be moving across the street  in late July to become director of our newly-named St. Joseph Renewal Center (the former Villa Flora-Brown Hall Renewal Center). She will reside there with another sister, S. Florence Bryan, who is arriving in August. Vacations are an opportunity to remember that we are human beings, not human "doings" and that we need time away from work sometimes to reflect on our lives and our relationships. Time to "re-create" ourselve...

April went by in a bit of a blur at the Motherhouse due to the Chapter of Affairs and Chapter of Elections being held here April 2-7 and the annual Associates Gathering  also held at the Motherhouse on April 28.  The temperatures in St. Augustine were pleasant and humidity remained low, so there were very few April showers to water the lawn and flowers. The day lilies began to bloom on April 2nd and some are still blooming. The Easter lilies waited until May to start blooming. The hydrangeas still have buds but no real blooms yet, but soon. Our work on the Chapter Planning Committee finished on April 5th. The newly elected leadership team of the Congregation will be installed on July 31st, the feast of St. Ignatius Loyola, in the Motherhouse chapel. The new General Superior is Sister Kathleen Carr. Councilors are Sisters Ann Kuhn, Suzan Foster, Stephanie Flynn,and myself, Carol Stovall, Change is in the air at the Motherhouse complex. Sister Jane Stoec...

March  March 19th is the feast of St. Joseph Spouse of Mary.  St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus Christ and spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is the patron of the Sisters of St. Joseph. He is chosen by God and in the New Testament  he is  shown as their protector. This statue (above) is in the entrance foyer of our Motherhouse in St. Augustine. Joseph is depicted holding the Christ child and lilies. Jesus is shown holding a cross.  This  second statue of St. Joseph and the child Jesus (above) is in the second floor front window of our Motherhouse. It was donated to our first sisters from France from their Motherhouse in Le Puy, France after the St. Augustine convent was built around 1876. The palm fronds are a reflection off of the glass in the window.  Today, Good Friday in the Catholic liturgical year, we join with Christians throughout the world in remembering the day Jesus was crucified and died. The paschal mystery, dyin...

F ebruary in Florida is full of sunshine while our neighbors to the North often experience gray days and snow. While we have had some cold weather this winter here in Northeast Florida, St. Augustine still has blooming flowers and green grass in many lawns. Pansies and petunias are winter blooms that survive the cold weather in most cases.       Here at the Motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Joseph we are getting ready for our congregation's Chapter of Affairs and Chapter of Elections that will be held the first week in April, right after Easter. These meetings are where we set the direction for the congregation for the next four years and elect new leaders we hope that will enable our plans to be fulfilled as far as possible.       On February 14th Lent begins, the 40-day period of preparation for Easter in the Catholic Church. The Motherhouse community has agreed to have simple meals each Thursday of Lent : soup, salad, and bread only. No d...

December 2017 In December the Sisters of St. Joseph of St. Augustine prepare for the Christmas holidays in keeping with the Advent season. We put up a manger scene in the second floor front window of the Motherhouse in place of our usual St. Joseph and the child Jesus statue. We have an Advent wreath in the chapel that is lit during Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours. Closer to Christmas we put up a nativity scene in the chapel also. We pray together a Christmas Novena that starts on Dec. 16th, nine days before Christmas. In the dining room we have our Christmas tree to the left of the fireplace.  On Christmas Eve we exchange gifts and on Christmas day we have dinner together with several  guests.  As consecrated women Religious, we celebrate with joy the birth of Jesus Christ and especially recognize the role played in the Nativity by both Mary and our patron, St. Joseph.  Last Sunday we had a special Open House of the newly r...

Thanksgiving E ach November for the past several years I have helped coordinate a Thanksgiving dinner for the sisters at the Motherhouse. We usually invite other sisters in the area to join us and the numbers vary from as few as 17 to as many 25. The last couple of years I have roasted two smaller turkeys instead of one larger turkey as they are easier to lift in and out of the oven. Other sisters sign up to prepare other foods such as dressing, green beans, gravy, rolls, etc. It is a true community meal as most of us have had a hand in the preparation and all help with the clean up afterwards.  One of the sisters who has a gift for decorating sets the tables and adorns the fireplace mantle and sideboards with festive decorations. We bring out special plates and glasses for the occasion.  As a national holiday Thanksgiving is a good reminder of what our Sunday Eucharist should be - a time when we give thanks to God for the gift of Jesus Christ as our Bre...

October 2017 As one of the few congregations of Catholic consecrated women religious with a Motherhouse in Florida, we Sisters of St. Joseph of St. Augustine, Florida are somewhat of a rarity in 21st Century Western culture. There are getting to be fewer and fewer women responding to the call to consecrated religious life in developed nations. What is consecrated life as a woman religious in the Catholic Church? I like theologian Sandra Schneider's description of Catholic religious life as "...the exclusive life-long God-quest centered in a particular kind of love of Jesus which calls some people to a life of consecrated celibacy lived in community and mission." ( Finding the Treasure , p. 364) Whereas Catholic clergy are identified by their sacramental ministry of service to the Church, Catholic consecrated religious are identified more by their public profession of the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience and by their congregation...