Late Spring Visits
So much has been going on since the dedication of our new wing!
Towards the end of May the novices for St. Joseph Province stopped by with their Novice Master, Fr. Michael Dosch, for a visit on their Provincial Tour. We enjoyed hearing about their journey to the Order and their novitiate year. At the end of our visit the brothers sang for us and Father gave us a blessing.
On June 3rd we had the joy of welcoming two brothers who were recently ordained and came to say Mass for us and give us their blessing. Fr. John Paul Kern, OP, and Fr. Joseph Martin Hagan, OP, of the St. Joseph Province of the Order of Preachers were ordained to the priesthood on May 25th along with four other friars. At the end of Mass Fr. John Paul and Fr. Joseph Martin gave us their blessings and then joined us in the parlor for a visit. As has become our custom, we gave them our handwoven confessional stoles as an ordination gift.
On Pentecost we had a visit of a different sort: the heart of St. John Vianney! This past year the Knights of Columbus have been orchestrating the Relic Pilgrimage of St. John Vianney’s incorrupt heart. The tour began in November of 2018 and is just finishing now in June of 2019. Dominican Father Jonathon Kalisch organized its stop in Summit. It wasn’t available for veneration by the public, but just spent a few short hours in our choir with the nuns. Fr. Jonathon was accompanied by a photographer from the Knights of Columbus magazine Columbia who took pictures of the sisters venerating the relic. Sisters were able to touch rosaries and holy cards to the reliquary. When we visited with Father in the parlor he spoke to us about St. John Vianney, his heart, and its pilgrimage. Thousands and thousands of people showed up to venerate the relic as it made its way through the country. Particularly poignant were stories from parishes that take St. John Vianney as their patron. We were so grateful that Fr. Jonathon thought of us and for the opportunity to venerate the heart that loved so fiercely with the love of Christ.
On June 1st four of our sisters hopped a plane for Texas for the Monastic Theological Studies Program…more on that in a coming blog post!
