Sunday Snippets: Nuns, Monks, and Saints





This week, I’m joining up with other Catholic bloggers at RAnn’s place for Sunday Snippets where we share our posts from the previous week and answer a weekly question.

Question of the Week:  Any nun (sister) stories to tell?

My Answer: I attended Catholic schools for twelve years where I was taught by the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame. Our Sisters were formally addressed as "Mother." They were a wonderful community -- so dedicated to their work. I remember my freshman homeroom and religion teacher -- Mother St. Madeline -- who was so full of energy and enthusiasm and loved to do fun things. I should mention that the first year of high school, I attended an all-girls school, which became co-institutional the following year. One day, in homeroom, she decided to have a hairdo contest and asked the class to vote on who had the most improved hairdo in the classroom. I secretly thought she did this for my benefit, as I had just gone to the beauty parlor to have my hair cut and styled for the first time. Prior to that, My mom cut my hair at home and I styled it myself. Sure enough, I was one of three nominated and won the contest hands down. That certainly boosted my (insecure adolescent) self-esteem and made her one of my favorite teachers.

Now that I have finished writing my book, Seven Saints for Seven Virtues, which you can pre-order now from Amazon, I have been getting back into my former blogging habits and am enjoying getting back into the swing of things. In December, I will be celebrating eleven years of blogging! It seems like yesterday!

On July 11, the Monks of St. Benedict from Atchison, Kansas appeared on EWTN and I post about the history of their abbey HERE. In case you missed them, I list dates when the show will re-air. I watched them as did my husband, and we thoroughly enjoyed the program. They share some wonderful insights into their community on the show and air some great vocation videos.

Speaking of monks, did you know that there are Trappist monks in the United States who are now brewing their own brand of beer? European monks have followed this tradition for centuries, but this is the first Trappist brewery in the U.S.

On Friday, we celebrated the feast of St. Benedict of Nursia, the great founder of Western Monasticism, the patron of Europe, and the brother of St. Scholastica. What an amazing saint he was! He left the decadent city of Rome and headed for the hills to live his life as a hermit. He also survived assassination attempts (they liked using poison in those days). You can read the details in his Second Book of Dialogues. He is patron of practically everything, so invoke him often, especially for a happy death, which he experienced.

On Thursday, I reviewed the biography of another amazing saint -- St. John Paul the Great. Saint John Paul the Great: His Five Loves by Jason Evert is a must-read, so be sure and check out my review. This week, I also posted on John Paul II's secret and his thoughts on vocation.

This week, we also honored two groups of martyrs -- St. Augustine Zhao Rong, priest, and companions, Chinese martyrs, and the Damascus martyrs.

Ever wonder what holiness requires of us? This saint has the answer.

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