The Blessed Virgin Mary, especially under her title of Our Sorrowful Mother, has been central to Passionist life throughout our history. It was she who gave the habit to St. Paul of the Cross, and it was in her Roman basilica (St. Mary Major) that our Holy Founder first made the “Passion Vow.”
Read MoreThe last weekend of July, some girls from Steubenville, Ohio came for a “junior” vocation retreat. The “Wildflowers,” as they call themselves, are a girls’ middle/high school youth group that combines faith with outdoor adventure, and it was a joy to host them for the weekend!
Read MoreOver the past two months, our Helmings crew has been hard at work, becoming more and more efficient with each section of roof completed. With the public areas all but finished, they have turned now to the monastery roof proper. Tile saws, drills, dump trucks, and heavy boots tramping overhead have become a familiar sound in the cloister these days!
Read MoreOur mulberry tree has one problem: all of its lower branches were mistakenly cut off several years ago. This means that we are unable to reach most of the fruit, even when we resort to pulling down branches with a garden hoe! So we resign ourselves each year to seeing the birds enjoy the biggest, tastiest berries … Until this year, that is!
Read MoreWe welcome with joy our newest aspirant, Hannah, who on Pentecost Sunday entered formally into this period of deeper discernment with our community! Women in our aspirancy program continue to live in the world for at least 12 months, but they also come for live-in visits to the monastery and begin taking classes with our Novice Directress, Sr. Mary Veronica.
Read MoreJesus is the Son of God, the all-holy One, and we find Him weeping at the tomb of a friend, passionately decrying abuses of the Temple, and – in this Sunday’s Gospel – being “moved with compassion” at the sight of those in need.
Read MoreAttention all discerning women! This Saturday, July 17, the Passionist Nuns will be participating in an exciting virtual vocation event called Behind the Veil #3, and it is not too late for you to register! We will be one of four communities of consecrated life being featured. Best of all, this is a FREE event!
Read MoreIf you’ve ever clicked over to our Passionist Year calendar, you might have noticed that it is not always the same as the universal Church calendar. Some of our feasts are unique to Passionists, and others we celebrate with greater solemnity. In her maternal wisdom, the Church nurtures the spiritual patrimony of our Congregation by allowing us to keep special feasts connected with our specific charism: devotion to and grateful remembrance of the Passion of Jesus.
Read MoreGod does not ask us to “fix” our own weakness, but to bring our brokenness to Him, humbly admitting that we can do nothing without Him. It is at times like this, when we are faced with the reality of our own weakness, that He calls us to take the sometimes-scary step of total trust in Him
Read More…This story shows God’s utterly personal love. Jesus is fully attentive to both situations, seeing the individuals rather than just the task to be done. In His Divine wisdom and providence, He uses this situation for the benefit of both.
Read MoreAs of June 26, our secondary domain name (passionistnunsblog.com) will expire. That means that those of you who have us linked under “bookmarks” or “favorites” in your web browser will need to update those links! After this week, passionistnuns.org will be the only web domain for the Passionist Nuns of Whitesville, KY!
Read MoreWhen we are “anchored” in Him, though He may not always take away the storm, we are able to maintain peace of heart even as the wind and waves rage. Saint after Saint testifies to the fact that the Lord wishes to bring us to this deep peace, which paradoxically becomes more obvious when we are undergoing external or even emotional/spiritual distress. God Himself is our “harbor,” and by dwelling in Him we can weather any storm.
Read MoreIt is actually an act of God’s infinite mercy to humble us when we begin to rely too much on ourselves. He does not cast us from our self-made thrones simply to leave us in misery; rather, He does this so that we can become one of the lowly whom He raises high. The Lord wants our happiness and glory with all His Heart, but He knows that we as creatures can only achieve this fulfillment on His terms.
Read MoreOne of the special graces of our 8-day retreats is the chance to be more attentive to the little things, to the small and ordinary, yet beautiful and amazing, ways that God shows His love for us. One of the Sisters on our first retreat tried to capture this “retreat-vision” by taking a camera with her on one of her Sunday afternoon walks and snapping photos of the details that caught her attention.
Read MoreLast week, our Cherish the Flame fundraising campaign reached an exciting milestone … thanks to the generosity of so many friends and benefactors, we have officially reached the 50% mark! We are all filled with gratitude to God and Good St. Joseph for bringing us this far — and with hope for the future!
Read MoreThey are men and women, young and old, religious and laity. They lived in different centuries, spoke different languages, were called to different forms of service and sacrifice in Christ’s Kingdom. One thing, however, binds together this diverse group: in their unique ways, these holy men and women shared in the precious gift of the Passionist Charism.
Read MorePassionists deeply treasure our holy habit, a gift to our Congregation from the Mother of Sorrows herself. Our Lady appeared to St. Paul of the Cross clothed in a black robe, and she pleaded with him to found a congregation that would wear the same “garb of mourning and penance,” keeping her company on Calvary.
Read MoreWe recently began a much-anticipated portion of our roof replacement: the chapel! The unique design of our worship space has given our dedicated roofers quite a challenge: there are no fewer than nine roofs of different shapes and sizes atop our chapel! However, Helming Brothers Co. has been up to the challenge, making it look almost easy.
Read MoreWe no longer live a merely earthly existence, since Christ has claimed our souls for His Kingdom through the Sacrament of Baptism, but we still await the fulfillment of this reality in the world to come. So while we do not yet experience the Beatific Vision, we nonetheless are connected to Heaven in an amazingly intimate way.
Read MoreThe readings for this Sunday are all focused on the mystery of love – God’s love for us, and our love for Him and for our neighbor. Such a seemingly basic topic is actually the profoundest mystery of our Christian religion. After all, as our Second Reading reminds us, “God is love”!
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