Blessed Visits

 

Last Sunday, March 25th, we attended  the Divine Liturgy at St. Theresa’s Church, Brockton celebrated by Sayedna Gregory and then a luncheon following.  

Sayedna Visits Us

We were blessed to have his Excellency Sayedna Gregory Mansour visit our Mother of the Light convent in Dartmouth, last Thursday and Friday. During this overnight stay he lead us in prayer for Ramsho (evening prayers), Safro (morning prayers) and Divine Liturgy on both days.

We had visitors from Our Lady of the Cedar’s Boston on March 23 to learn more about religious life as a Maronite Servant.

MYO/MYA Regional Retreat

Over 160 youth attended the MYO/MYA regional retreat hosted at Our Lady of Lebanon Cathedral in Brooklyn, New York on March 16-17, 2012. 

Sister Therese Maria gave a witness at the young adult gathering. 

Apostolic Service - Maronite Servants

We attended the ordination of Deacon Norman Hannoush on Saturday March 10^th    at St. Anthony’s parish, Springfield . At this beautiful celebration, his Excellency Bishop Gregory Mansour ordained Norman to the order of permanent deacon.

In the handing on of the Mysteries to the sub-deacon, Sayedna gave Deacon Norman the following teaching about his ministry: “My son, be always diligent in you ministry, in the morning, the evening and at midnight. Keep a pure love for prayer and cling to fasting, which does not deceive. Approach the altar of the Lord in purity and holiness, according to his choice for you. Judge yourself, day and night, and meditate on your end, for the end is standing at the door. Remain alert and do not fall asleep. Those who stay alert are praised and those who fall asleep are put to shame. Behold, my son: today you are standing before our humble person, but tomorrow you shall stand before the awesome throne of Christ. You shall then account for all that you did before him. Now, my son, take heed of all what I told you and understand these instructions I gave to you. Here, now, I hand you to God and to his grace, and I am free of your sins.” (Quote taken from the Liturgy of the Ordination to the Order of Permanent Deacon)

On Saturday March 10^th, we attended the parish hafle hosted by Our Lady of Purgatory, New Bedford. Sr. Therese Maria joining in Lebanese traditional dancing.

Canon Law Classes

Miss Magdalene Ross, JCL a good friend of the community is teaching Sr. Therese Maria canon law during her week visit (March 6-13^th) with us at the Mother of the Light Convent.

We hosted our monthly Ramsho & Supper evening on Sunday March 11^th at 5:00PM at the Mother of the Light Convent.  We had eleven guests join us in praying the prayer of the faithful in our St. Maron chapel. Following the prayer we shared an enjoyable Lenten meal together. Our next Ramsho & Supper will be on April 15^th, if you would like to join us please RSVP by April 13 via email or phone. 

Called to Radiate the Eucharist

By Sister Therese Maria Touma

Over the last two years of my formation as a Maronite Servant of Christ the Light, I have experienced a beautiful growth in my own spirituality and love for the Eucharist. It is the center of who I am and an ongoing source of light for my path to wholeness and union with God. Our convent life of Liturgical and communal prayer has deepened my understanding of how to approach prayer, how to surrender my will to the present moment, and to carry out my day in recollection.

As Maronite Servants, the primary purpose of our mission is to give God praise by striving for holiness following the Typicon (rule) of our Congregation. We are inspired and sustained by a vowed life in community of prayer, Eucharist, and joyful communion in living the Gospel of the Lord. We offer our lives as spiritual mothers in prayer and pastoral service, working alongside our priests, praying and sacrificing for them and the needs of all our Maronite people. (Adapted from our Typicon Art. 2)

Sister and a young women pray in the convent chapel.

In imitation of Mary, we are called as servants of the Lord to radiate the light of Christ’s merciful love and hope by offering the gift of our spiritual motherhood to nurture God’s life in the hearts of children, families, and people’s of all ages through works of mercy. (Typicon Art. 3)

We live the monastic spirit of our Maronite spirituality through a contemplative-apostolic prayer life centered on the Eucharist. We find our strength and source of charity for the other in the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the heart of our worship, and the centre of our devotional life of daily adoration which we seek to nurture in our Maronite faithful. (Typicon Art. 8)

Daily, we attend Divine Liturgy and we also offer an hour of prayer in the presence of the Eucharist, entrusting to the Lord, the needs of the world, the Church and community.  We are particularly praying for holy vocations to the priesthood and to our Maronite Servant community, for generous supporters, and each day we offer our prayers and sacrifices for a priest serving in our Maronite Eparchy. Please join us in our prayer intentions. \

In living this Eucharistic life as a community, I am amazed how I have discovered more about the mystery of who I am, in his Radiant Light, and with His mercy and grace I am learning to embrace it all, the good and all that needs transformation and healing in my humanity and the humanity of those around me.  God is so good!

Help us to spread the word about our Community especially to young women. For more information about vocations email Sister Marla Marie: sister@maroniteservants.org.  Read more about our recent events and articles at RadiateHisLight.blogspot.com.

Open House - Mother of the Light Convent

by Sister Marla Marie

We were pleased to have close to 150 people visit our convent last Sunday for our Open House.  As you can see from the photos, our company was a diverse group of our friends including the Dominican Sisters of Hope who had previously owned the property. 

Our guests were first introduced to our Chapel of Saint Maron, and then they proceeded to the dining room which was set up as a display area featuring photos of before and after the renovations.  Refreshments were served by dedicated volunteers in our sunroom where our friends could sit back and enjoy each other's company.

We invite you to visit us.  Please call and arrange for a visit or a day of retreat. 

The following excerpt written by one of our visitors captures the spirit of many comments we received that day:

“Mother of the Light Convent is absolutely lovely. Thank you for your invitation on Sunday to witness the renovations, so well designed.

Our visit to the Chapel was the highlight of our tour. Watching those who were writing their pleas and seeing one young man expressing his sorrows. So very moving.

We felt much peace in our tour of the convent, especially on floor 2. The simplicity of color and décor is where we immediately sensed a peaceful aura where prayer could not be interrupted and one’s mind could not be distracted with worldly goods, only to direct our hearts and mind to our dear Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ."

Dominican Sisters Visit Us

On Saturday 25^th February, our friends, the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation visited our Mother of the Light Convent for dinner and evening prayer (Ramsho). We were so happy to share our new home and hospitality with the Dominican sisters, who are our dear sisters and friends in Christ. We enjoyed an evening together in fellowship, laughter, prayer and good Lebanese food prepared by us. 

Last June, the Sisters welcomed us in to their community for what was supposed to be a two week stay which turned into seven months due to delays in renovations here. In this time we had the unique opportunity to get to know the Sisters and share in their beautiful life in community.

As part of the evening’s recreation with the Sisters, we gave them a tour of  the convent and showed them the before and after photos of our newly renovated home. They were all amazed with the transformation and so are we!

We thank God for his blessings, for the gift of friendship, for the gift of religious life and for his ever present providence.