In preparation for the lovely ceremony of the taking of the habit of our canonical novice, Sister Mary Margaret, the third Kiwi in the community (dare I say soon to be outnumbered by Australians and Americans– at present we have 3 Kiwis, 3 Aussies, 1 Filipino, 1 South African and 3 Americans) we had our annual retreat preached by Fr Joseph Pfeiffer. It was a very spiritual yet funny retreat on the Gifts of the Holy Ghost, the seven vices and the last 7 words of Our Lord based on talks given by Bishop Fulton Sheen. Father also incorporated the topic of womanhood which I am sure we all found very useful. We had 3 conferences a day and Father was available after most conferences for consultation and there was always a line up to see him – it was well worth the wait.
The community with Father Pfeiffer after the ceremony.
With the ceremony approaching we had many practices with the altar boys to perfect it and yet the cutting of the hair was still almost forgotten – even after we went to great lengths to find a beautiful silver platter. Otherwise, the ceremony went smoothly with Father being very careful to cut Sister’s hair, (no shedding of blood this time), the longest plait yet in the community. It will be sent to the family who were unable to attend. The Sisters always enjoy the evening when they have the fun of perfecting the priest’s hair cutting skills.
Father Pfeiffer cutting Sister’s hair.
After the cutting of the hair the Sister is dressed in the veil. She then returns to the altar steps to choose between the crown of roses and the crown of thorns….
After the beautiful Solemn High Mass we had a pizza lunch with the parishioners on our convent grounds under a lovely gazebo donated by a kind couple and set up by the Sisters that morning. A volleyball net was also put up and the children challenged the Sisters to a match, well a few matches thinking they would win. We were given the little ones to give them more of an advantage and we will not state the outcome here!!
Sister cutting the cake.
Sister has now entered on her spiritual journey with Mother Micaela and her hidden talents of cooking, writing rhymes and drawing have come to light.
