Ash Wednesday

"Turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel." We heard those words as we were signed with a cross of ashes on our foreheads today at Mass.

The heavy fog that surrounded our monastery this morning could be a fitting image for the beginning of Lent — the liturgical season in which we are to see things as they really are and to focus more clearly on the areas of our lives that we have compromised — areas where our vision has become blurred or fuzzy — and to focus on improving the quality of our spiritual life.

(See Sister Kristine Anne Harpenau's reflection for Ash Wednesday.)

Each week we have a mini quilt show in our monastic dining room. Sisters Geneva Stumler and Dolorita Libs, coordinators of quilts and quilting for our Summer Social, put finished quilts on display for a few days so the sisters can enjoy and appreciate the artistry in the work. Their goal is to have at least 40 quilts to raffle at the social on July 14.

Sister Dolorita Libs marks a quilting pattern while Olive Hagedorn, Alfreda Hedinger, and Shirley Remke work on a patchwork quilt. These three quilters from Ferdinand come to the monastery every Monday afternoon to work on whatever quilt is in the frame. Quilt artisans from other areas of southern Indiana come regularly to make quilts for the social. Some of the sisters help quilt and also make quilt tops. The sisters are grateful for all who are contributing their time, expertise, and supplies for this project.

Two of our Peruvian sisters are learning more than English during their short stay with us.

As they gather for an evening of fun and celebration of birthdays, Postulant Gail Hamilton, left, and Novice Kimberly Ann Mandelkow, far right, teach Sisters Felícita Rentería and Marilú Córdova how to play JENGA, a wooden block tower building game. Sisters Felícita and Marilú, members of our monastery in Morropón, Peru, South America, have spent the past month with us, learning more English and becoming better acquainted with our monastery and the sisters. They will return to Morropón on February 17.

Reconnecting with our roots. Television journalist Marion Mayer-Hohdahl, a native of Germany, came to Ferdinand this week to videotape a segment for a television program to be broadcast on Austria’s national television station. The program will feature the town's and the monastery's connection with Germany and Austria. Mayer-Hohdahl videotaped scenes at the monastery and interviews about our German/Austrian roots. Ferdinand was established in 1840 for German immigrants by Rev. Joseph Kundek, a Croatian/Austrian priest, who named the town after Emperor Ferdinand of Austria. Our monastery was established in 1867 to teach the German immigrants in this area. 

With a portrait of Emperor Ferdinand of Austria in the background, Marion Mayer-Hohdahl interviews Sister Mary Dominic Frederick, monastery archivist, about the history of the monastery and its connections to Germany and Austria. The portrait, by a 19th century Austrian painter, is from an anonymous donor and was presented to the sisters by Austrian Archduke Markus Habsburg when he visited Ferdinand in 2003. Archduke Markus is the great, great, great nephew of Emperor Ferdinand.