Thank you SAINT ANDRE!

Oct 17

Written By admin

Today we rejoice with the Church as 6 new saints are added to the liturgical calendar! Especially dear to many are Saint Andre Bessette of Canada and St. Mary MacKillop, Australia's first canonized saint!

Here at the monastery we have a special reason to celebrate the canonization of Saint Andre Bessette. When Sr. Mary Cecilia entered she came to the US from Canada under tourist status while awaiting the R1 status. We were told it would take about 6 months. In early November we learned that it would take more time than that. What to do? We decided that she and Sr. Mary Catharine should make a pilgrimage to St. Joseph's Oratory in Montreal to ask the intercession of St. Joseph and St. Andre and thereby extend her "tourist" stay with us.

So, on the 16th of November they drove up to Montreal to spend a few days, staying with the Dominican family there. After a day visiting beautiful Notre Dame and Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel they went back to St. Joseph's Oratory on the 17th. They spent the evening praying and visiting everything there including the museum about St. Andre. That night they lite candles in the votive chapel asking the intercession of St. Joseph and St. Andre for Sr. Mary Cecilia to receive her R1 status soon!

The next day they headed up to Bertheirville to for a quick visit to our Dominican Monastery there. The Sisters were thrilled to have them visit as they aren't exactly on the way to any other Dominican monastery so rarely have other nuns visit them. Then early the next day after Mass they headed back to Summit arriving after a long 10 hour trip, much of it through pouring rain.

On December 1st Sr. Mary Martin received a letter with the news that Sr. Mary Cecilia received her R1 status. The date on the document? November 18th! The day after their pilgrimage to St. Joseph's Oratory!