THE SAINTS COME MARCHING IN

Well, sort of. No one is quite sure when it started but a Halloween party is a tradition in our monastery. Some years we come in costume and some years we "stay" in costume, i.e. our habits! Last year everyone had to come with symbols of a saint and the community would guess which saint the sister was. Sr. Mary Daniel got the prize as "most creative" coming with a poster of a rose surrounded by lima beans! (St. Rose of Lima). Sr. Virginia Mary was the "most humorous": she stuck an old wig on her head and held an apple (Eve). Some were just plain lazy: Sr. Mary Catharine walked around with 2 olives on a plate. Her saint: St. Lucy!

Halloween wouldn't be complete without the requisite ghost story always provided by Sr. Virginia Mary our legendary story teller. Sr. Maria Agnes and Sr. Maria Veneranda will often keep us spellbound by their stories of their days as active Dominican Sisters on the missions in the south of the Philippines. They lived in a convent that was possessed! So how would you like to spend your night with your bed being turned around, marching feet going by your cell and face cloths found dripping water in the morning?Needless to say, both sisters have a great devotion to holy water!