Happy New Year!
Happy New Year! Here in the monastery, just a few nuns were up to ring in the start of 2023. One sister had been keeping the 11pm-12am guard in adoration, and another arrived at 12am to replace her. A few more woke up to the fireworks, and promptly went back to bed. We are too tired from Christmas Midnight Mass to want to stay up til midnight again a week later!
We start off the new year by gathering in our chapter hall to draw patrons for the year. This year, our community drew St. Louis Bertrand as our patron. We’ve posted about him before, and you can read about him here. Each sister also draws a patron and a prayer intention for the year.
New Years day (which is also the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God) is a free recreation day, so many of the Sisters gathered in the community room to enjoy lively card and board games. This year’s games of choice were Settlers of Catan and Kings in the Corner. Most games have a player limit which is smaller than the number of interested sisters, so we often group ourselves into teams, which adds to the fun. You have to try to strategize with your teammate without letting everyone else hear your secret plans!