Do you find it refreshing that St. Francis suggests prayer in such a simple way?2. Do you ever feel that your prayer life needs to look as close as possible to that of a cloistered nun for it to be meaningful?3. Adapting prayers according to our life circumstances: What does this tell us about what is at the core of having a relationship with God?4. Reflect on this verse from Matthew 9:13 “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’” 5. Returning to St. Thérèse (from last week), co
Oct 11, 9:25 AM
VisitationSiste: 5. Returning to St. Thérèse (from last week), consider this quote by her: “For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.”
6. St. Francis tells us that the “chief thing” that he asks is that we continually recollect ourselves and lift up our hearts to God throughout the day. Why is this so important, and how can we do this?
Oct 11, 9:25 AM
VisitationSiste: Sun chat Oct 11 730pm est
Oct 11, 6:43 PM
Guest5264 (Guest): Good evening Sister…signing in as a guest..Anne here
Oct 11, 7:13 PM
Sr Susan (Guest): Hi Anne!
Oct 11, 7:20 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): Hi Carroll
Oct 11, 7:22 PM
Carroll V (Guest): Good evening! I am working tonight, so I will look forward to reflecting on chat and being with you next week. Have a blessed week!
Oct 11, 7:23 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): OK! Thanks for stopping by!
Oct 11, 7:38 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): Quiet tonight!
Oct 11, 7:44 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): hello viewer It is very unusually quiet here tonight!
Oct 11, 7:48 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): you are welcome to sign in
Oct 11, 8:00 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): Hello Carol Anne! No one showed up for long tonight Very strange
Oct 11, 8:00 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: Hi Sr. Susan Marie
Oct 11, 8:00 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: How odd it’s just us
Oct 11, 8:00 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): I thought maybe the computer was not working
Oct 11, 8:00 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): But it is Thanks for coming by!
Oct 11, 8:01 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: My formation hour just ended and I always like to pop in
Oct 11, 8:01 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): Very unusual maybe because of the holiday
Oct 11, 8:01 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): What yera formation are you in now
Oct 11, 8:01 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): year
Oct 11, 8:01 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: I keep forgetting tomorrow is a holiday. Probably because I don’t get it off
Oct 11, 8:01 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): Our Sr Jennifer was accepted as a novice and she is in retreat
Oct 11, 8:02 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: I just finished year one of temporary profession
Oct 11, 8:02 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: Praise God, that’s wonderful!
Oct 11, 8:02 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): Beautiful!!
Oct 11, 8:03 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: We are reading The Cloud of Unknowing
Oct 11, 8:03 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): Ah- very moving book- It is the type you can read over and over.
Oct 11, 8:04 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): That book applies to our prayer life, fits right in with the question about prayer!
Oct 11, 8:04 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: I think I’ll be doing that. It is a masterwork of contemplation
Oct 11, 8:05 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): That one and Brother Lawrence’s always remind me of each other- The Practice of the Presence of God
Oct 11, 8:05 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: Yes, we just did chapters 37 and 28 where he talks about having one word to help us, because contemplation is really non verbal
Oct 11, 8:06 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): Like a mantra?
Oct 11, 8:06 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: I haven’t read Brother Lawrence
Oct 11, 8:07 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: No, a word to recall us to contemplation when our thoughts become unruly
Oct 11, 8:07 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): We are listening to a tape in the refectory and the priest talks about just being with the Lord in prayer, saying nothing but listening to Him in silence
Oct 11, 8:07 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: Yes, that’s what it is
Oct 11, 8:08 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): heart to heart
Oct 11, 8:09 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): I find when I am on retreat I can pray anywhere but when normal and abounding duties press me then the Blessed Sacrament is Who I need to be with, Jesus in the Tabernacle or Monstrance
Oct 11, 8:09 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: And we listen more than we speak because He is right behind the veil and is Holy
Oct 11, 8:10 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): I usually don’t hear anything per se yet I have Peace and that is His presence to me
Oct 11, 8:10 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: When we flee the ordinary silence can enter. The trick is to bring it back with us when we return to the world
Oct 11, 8:10 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): I am not an overly emotional person so “surges” of the heart like St Therese are not typical for me, yet do occur sometimes
Oct 11, 8:11 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: Me too. Very seldom do I hear anything. Sometime a hymn will come to mind or an image of Him that I’ve seen
Oct 11, 8:12 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: I can have too many surges and have to be careful that it’s not just me getting sentimental
Oct 11, 8:12 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): Most recently I had thoughts which I wondered if they were from the Lord- re our children in the school. They are not attending Mass because of the virus and it came to me perhaps we should have an enthronement of the Sacred Heart in each class
Oct 11, 8:13 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: Oh, that sounds like Him! He would want to be where the children are
Oct 11, 8:13 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): Sometimes it is hard to know if it is me or Him
Oct 11, 8:13 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): That’s a confirmation from you, then. Thanks!
Oct 11, 8:14 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: I know what you mean. It’s holy, prayerful and would bring children closer to Him. But who thought it first?
Oct 11, 8:14 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): Has to be the Lord
Oct 11, 8:15 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: What if each class helped with their own enthronement?
Oct 11, 8:15 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): Yes that way they would be engaged
Oct 11, 8:16 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): But I would need to enlighten their teachers first
Oct 11, 8:16 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: And it would be unique to each child
Oct 11, 8:16 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): Because how much do they know about it- I don’t really know
Oct 11, 8:16 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): The children would have that engraved on their pure souls
Oct 11, 8:17 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: Yes, the teachers would have to be evangelized first in order to not block the fliw
Oct 11, 8:17 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): Our older alums, in their 50’s, remeber so much about what they learned in religion- a real love was given to them by the Sisters
Oct 11, 8:17 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: At an age where it really becomes a part of them they never lose
Oct 11, 8:18 PM
Oct 11, 8:18 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: Secular schools just can’t do this. I don’t know how you manage all the regulations these days
Oct 11, 8:19 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): The principal worked very hard to meet it all and the teachers too
Oct 11, 8:19 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: I worry so about all of you. What is going to happen to all if us without Sisters like you?
Oct 11, 8:21 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): God will raise up some- but when?? Many vocations in Africa but USA???
Oct 11, 8:22 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): I think new congregatioons are doing ok It’s the older ones that struggle
Oct 11, 8:22 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): How is your congregation doing?
Oct 11, 8:22 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: We are getting seekers into the Domestic Expression, but few to the monastic side too
Oct 11, 8:22 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: The Spirit is really moving
Oct 11, 8:23 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): Do you think this is the move of the Holy Spirit?
Oct 11, 8:23 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): Yes you answered bbefore I asked!!
Oct 11, 8:23 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): With persecution on the horizon, perhaps there is a reason for the abundance of Domestic expressions
Oct 11, 8:24 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: I do. I think we had become, as laity, far too lax in our own formation, only worrying about the rules and doing what we were told
Oct 11, 8:24 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): Usually monasteries are the first to be pillaged and closed in persecution times
Oct 11, 8:25 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: I travel a lot for work, and every where I go I hear stories about havens set up for when it will be necessary to flee
Oct 11, 8:25 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): if you read what happened in Russia in the last century, monks and nuns went to live with families etc when monasteries closed That is a domestic expression too
Oct 11, 8:25 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): I have not heard about these havens
Oct 11, 8:25 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: It is, and it may come to that, already so many fires and desecrations
Oct 11, 8:26 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): Martyrdom too?
Oct 11, 8:26 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: I wear my tau at work. It inspires the most interesting conversations
Oct 11, 8:26 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): what do people ask
Oct 11, 8:26 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: No one is speaking of red martyrdom yet
Oct 11, 8:27 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: About why the tau, why the Holy Spirit, hey did you know we’re in the end times, oh and get ready to flee
Oct 11, 8:29 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): Well as St Francis said, keep lifting up our hearts to God and no matter where we are or what happens, we are with Him
Oct 11, 8:30 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): I have to go now but I am so glad you came tonight! Let’s keep praying for one another!
Oct 11, 8:30 PM
SrSusanMarie (Guest): God bless!
Oct 11, 8:30 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: Amen! I generally reply along those lines. And wow, you’re the tenth person to ask me that! Sometimes they even let me pray for them
Oct 11, 8:30 PM
Carol Ann Chybowski: tHank you Sr! God bless you too!