Ask the Postulants Episode 6

Our Apologies... and what we've been up to!

Hello! Yes, we ARE alive! :)
Apologies for not updating our blog or youtube channel in the last TWO MONTHS! (Where has the time gone?)
...but seriously, we DO have good excuses!
In the last two months we've:

...found out that we're going to Mexico for the month of August for an immersion course in Spanish! (Be sure to pray for us!)

...Bishop Rice came and gave a talk in our newly renovated conference center! 

...Consecrated ourselves to Jesus through Mary with a group that met here in our BookCenter using the book 33 Days to Morning Glory. Our consecration Mass was celebrated by Bishop Herman on the feast of the Visitation. It was such a beautiful evening seeing over 40 people consecrate themselves to Jesus through Mary! After Mass we had those same 40 people plus the Bishop celebrating with a reception afterwards when the tornado sirens went off! Praise God, everyone eventually got home safe!

...We took (AND PASSED!) our finals for the classes we were taking!


... JUST got back from Covecrest LifeTeen Summer Camp! What a BEAUTIFUL experience! There are some pretty epic pictures on LifeTeen's Facebook Page. (We were on "Summer Camp 2013 Week 2- Covecrest Tiger") It was such a privilege and a blessing to be able to journey with 250 high school students for a week.

Fearless! 

Carly gave a beautiful talk on prayer!

The 40ft waterfall at the camp!

We were on the belay team for
the high ropes course! 

.....AND WE FOUND OUT THAT WE WERE ACCEPTED INTO THE NOVITIATE! So that means we will move to Boston (Our provincial motherhouse) this fall and begin Novitiate in October!

...and in a little over a week we're headed off to Arizona for Sr. Maria Kim's perpetual profession!

Well, that's a glimpse of our life at the moment! 

Keep praying for us and know that we are praying for you! 

Ask the Postulants Episode 5

All creation stops in anticipation...

The Annunciation is probably my most favorite Marian Feast Day! 

This morning on reflecting on the Gospel for today (Luke 1:26-38). As I prayed through meditation, I wasn't struck so much by a word or phrase, but rather by a space.
In your missal, it will read "...for nothing is impossible with God." Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord..."
There. Did you catch it? That space between Gabriel's question and Mary's response THAT was the epicenter of my meditation today. That one stroke of the keyboard holds the entire weight of the universe. Once Gabriel poses the question, all of creation holds it's breath, everything stops in anticipation of this young woman's response to this earth-shattering question. No matter what Mary's response, it will change everything forever.

It is in THIS moment, this beautiful, silent, grace-filled moment that the most epic "yes" ever spoken was formed.
This space, this moment, this breath, is the precursor to the moment when our humanity was forever changed.

"Holy Mary, whose supernatural grandeur hung on a simple fiat, pray for us sinners who are always exposed, between healing and relapse, to the intoxication of words. Protect our lips from useless exaggeration. Make our voices, reduced to essentials, always begin from the realms of mystery and bringing forth the perfume of silence. Turn us, like you, into the sacrament of transparency. Help us, finally, so that in the brevity of a "yes" spoken to God, we might throw ourselves into the boundless sea of His love." 
(Prayer from "Mary: Human and Holy" by Bishop Antonio Bello) 


-Chelsea 

Holy Week Vocation Retreat

Ladies, Looking for a Holy Week Retreat? 
Come n Visit The Daughters of Saint Paul in Boston Mass -- this was one of my most grace-filled retreats I've attended. Holy week is HOLY after all ;)
:)