Welcoming a new postulant on the feast of John the Baptist

The birth of John the Baptist is one of the earliest feasts in the Church calendar, and one we celebrated this year with an extra helping of joy. In the Gospels, we read that John the Baptist leapt for joy in his mother’s womb when he heard Mary’s voice, and welcomed Jesus (Lk 1:39-44). As a community, we “leapt” for joy as we welcomed Mariel to begin her year of postulancy! Originally from the Philippines, Mariel comes to us from of Our Lady of the Mountains parish in Whistler, less than an hour away. We welcomed her in a beautiful ceremony in our Chapter hall before praying second Vespers of the feast together.

 
 

After his birth, John the Baptist would spend the rest of his life “crying out in the wilderness, ‘Prepare way of the Lord!’” (Lk 3:4). This vocation to the wilderness, and to giving one’s life as a living sign of Christ, makes the saint particularly beloved by many monastics. On this year’s feast, shortly before welcoming Mariel, we also welcomed a new icon of John the Baptist for our chapel. Painted by one of our sisters, it depicts the saint with his hands raised in prayer and longing for God. In the upper left corner, a miniature hand of Christ blesses the saint for his ministry. The ring finger of this hand is not missing, but is folded towards the palm in a traditional iconographic gesture of blessing.

 
fullsizeoutput_38ff.jpeg
 
Sr. Marie Thomas Lawrie
In prayer, we remember
 
 
“A voice is heard in Ramah,   
mourning and great weeping,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
 because they are no more. ”
— Jer. 31:15

As we commemorate the solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ today, the members of the community of Queen of Peace Monastery are heart-broken with the horrific news about the 215 children found buried at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. 

Like Mary, the mother of Jesus at the foot of the cross, we are sorrowfully and silently present to the suffering of our First Nations brothers and sisters. Mourning with them, we share their grief and are deeply hurt and betrayed by the deplorable conduct that led to this and other tragedies.  We add our voice in asking for “full transparency” with regard to archives and records regarding all residential schools in Canada.

The Queen of Peace community celebrated the Eucharist Sunday June the 6th in remembrance of these children and their families.  Always, but in a particular way throughout these coming months, we will offer ongoing prayer for the healing of the survivors and for all those persons who have been traumatized by the injustice of colonialist policies and residential schools with their devastating consequences.

Our community is humbly grateful for the privilege of living in the ancestral territory of the Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation). We have been deeply touched by the welcome we have received, and continue to be nourished and formed as we listen and learn from Squamish: the people, the land, the Salmon and the Cedar.

+ The sisters of Queen of Peace Monastery

For more information about the 215 children and the developing efforts to restore and honour their memories:

  • Updates from the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc, the “home community” of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School: https://tkemlups.ca/newsroom/

  • Expression of Commitment from Archbishop Michael J. Miller CSB to First Nations governments and all Indigenous communities, families and citizens (June 2, 2021):
    https://rcav.org/first-nations

Sr. Marie Thomas Lawrie
Joyous Pentecost
 

“Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live!” (Ezekiel 37:9)

 

A joyous Pentecost to you all! Summer is here ahead of schedule in the Upper Squamish Valley, and we’re looking forward to seeing even more of our vegetables sprouting in the garden. At last count, we have appearances of potatoes, gladiolas, spinach and asparagus, with squash and zucchini still incubating indoors. Up on the mountain behind our monastery, the shrubs and kinnikinnick are growing and full of flowers. We’re also pleased to report that a sister spotted our first bear of the year about a month ago, at the end of April.

Every year, between Ascension and Pentecost, we join Mary and the Apostles for a beautiful silent retreat. During this time we pray for a renewed outpouring of the Holy Spirit into our hearts, the Church and the world. Whereas Christmas and Easter have Octaves prolonging the feast (eight days of celebrating the same Office as the feast itself), this third big solemnity of the year is prolonged by the liturgical season of Ordinary time (which is really anything but ordinary). The first Pentecost launched the first community of the Church, described in a reading that is very dear to Dominicans:

“All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”
— Acts 2:44-47

Having celebrated intensely the mysteries of our salvation in the liturgy of the past several months, Pentecost now sets us loose to live out the consequences of Jesus’s Incarnation, death and Resurrection in our daily lives. Most of all: “Love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). And so, we try to do!

Before our retreat began, though, we have a few beautiful daily things to catch up on. The first is that one of our sisters finished a project of building a planter box for our back cloister. The trellis is for sweet peas and perhaps, one day, a climbing rose.

 
 

The second was a novitiate hike further up our valley. “Up” may be the operative word, as the trail was a pretty steep climb in some sections (not pictured, because it took the camera sister both hands to climb!). It was worth it, though, with an incredible waterfall at the top and viewpoints along the way. As monastic father St. Anthony the Great said (paraphrasing): Monks need play occasionally in order to be strong to serve God. Nuns too!

 
 

Finally, we are so grateful for the first customers who ordered our soap. We’re working away at crafting more and, in the meantime, are now offering free shipping on all Canadian orders of $100 or more. If you haven’t checked out our soap yet, you can find it here. God bless!

 

Grinding herbs for a new batch of soap.

 
Sr. Marie Thomas Lawrie