2007 November, Newsletter
Tidings of Ty Mam Duw 2007
It’s Tidings time again, our annual opportunity to share with all our friends the news of the past year here at Ty Mam Duw. We are glad to say that this year has been much less dramatic for us than 2006, when we were plagued with visitations by fire, flood, and creepy-crawlies of one sort or another at regular intervals!
We got off to a good start in Advent that year with our carol service which was exceptionally well attended. The theme was God’s saving power in history, and the slides shown to illustrate it were taken from a striking series of modern mosaics on scriptural themes in the Mater Redemptoris chapel in the Vatican.
Sr Damian and Sr Agatha had made for Advent a figure of Our Lady as the “Bakerwoman”, who brings us Christ the Bread of Life. She held a hollow pottery loaf within which we could place a teaspoonful of flour when we did any act of charity towards our fellow-sisters. At Christmas it was used to bake a figure of the Christchild, which our acts of love during Advent had helped to come to birth.
Our Advent ‘sharings’ within the community took varied forms. These ranged from the serious, including one on the concept of the logos, the Word of God incarnate in Christ Jesus, to a memorably light-hearted one, which Sr Joanna based on a comment by Scott Hahn, a scriptural scholar and her chief pinup. It sported the intriguing title “Do you need contact lenses in Advent?”
This time our choir crib did justice to the season. Most of our coloured drapes had gone west in the fire last year, so the crib was erected in many tiers on plain pine stands. These proved to be very effective, especially in taking up less space in the sanctuary. One new scene was that of the angel Gabriel appearing in the Temple to the elderly Zachary to foretell the birth of his son, John the Baptist. The patriarch Jacob, asleep at Bethel, had an impressive long ladder at his head with miniature angels ascending and descending on it. Joshua was there, leading a group of small pottery Israelites across the Jordan, while on a
top tier the people of Israel were carrying the Ark of God through the desert under the guidance of the pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night.
Our Christmas Vigil comprised a series of readings by Franciscan writers on the nativity, with carols interspersing the psalm verses, and the Christchild being placed in the manger at the final hymn of praise. As usual we had made a wide variety of cribs for various places, each with a particular theme. The novitiate crib was based on God’s revelation of His holy Name to Moses, and had been inspired by a passage in Introduction to Christianity , a book written by Pope Benedict XVI in his younger days. Sr Seraphina’s meditation on God’s final revelation of himself in Jesus as the great “I AM”, the source of all life, finished with a medley of Christmas carols. The burning bush was depicted as a heart-shape, and the use of changing coloured lights in the crib made the heart-shaped burning bush seem to pulsate: the effect was further enhanced by Sr Joanna tapping out a gentle heartbeat rhythm on a drum.
Sr Amata and Sr Ruth took as their crib theme the Holy Name of Jesus. Sr Amata had written a very lovely hymn incorporating the eight “I am” sayings of Jesus in Saint John’s gospel, with as the refrain Christ’s words, “I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” She had also compiled a new Litany of the Name of Jesus, drawing the invocations from holy Scripture and from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Their crib comprised computer-drawn figures on a dark background, and Our Lady was depicted as the “Virgo Orans”, the praying Virgin, often found in early Christian art as a symbol of the Church. Our beloved “Papa Bene” featured as Saint Joseph, loving. protecting and caring for the Church in our times.
Sr Pia and Sr Elizabeth had constructed their crib on the theme of the modern folk hymn “As I went a-walking one morning in spring”, in which the Holy Family are depicted as walking through England’s green lanes “to hear of men’s troubles, to share in their pains, and to bring them the good news that they can now be free.” The figures were large articulated ones made by Sr Pia, and the reflections ended with intercessions for the many needs of the world, especially the struggles of families amidst the problems of present-day society.
We saw 2007 in with a Vigil service based on the Holy Father’s message for the World Day of Peace. It reflected on what it means to be a human being, created and redeemed by God, and on what is needed to live in harmony with others and foster justice and peace in this troubled world. Our aim was to contradict the assertion of a modern philosopher that “though God is on everybody’s side, he is ultimately on the side of the rich and the powerful who own the armies and the bombs.”
Using epidiascope pictures to illustrate the theme, we pointed out that God had chosen our insignificant sun, a Yellow Dwarf as opposed to the millions of Red and White Giant stars available, that He had chosen the people of Israel above the great and mighty empires of Assyria and Egypt, and that ultimately He came Himself as a tiny baby in a small stable to redeem us and bring us new hope and life.
Among our Christmas recreations was a simple and hilarious skit by our Dear Mother. Billed as ‘a royal tragedy’ it comprised a number of scenes, each consisting of more or less the same short sentence uttered by the four characters entering in turn. Dear Mother draped in flowing black, served as “the Curtain” between scenes. In the end, when the love of the peasant boy for the princess was thwarted by her parents, they all stabbed themselves dramatically on-stage, and the curtain had the last word, announcing that it was now definitely down.
Other short home-written plays included a folk tale of a devout white rabbit, which had been so busy praying that it had no food left in the house. When visited by an angel, sent by the Most High to test its piety, it offered itself for its guest’s dinner, and promptly jumped into the fire to be roasted. But the angel prevented the fire from harming it, and as a reward for its loving willingness for self-sacrifice, took it to live with the Man in the Moon, where it could help him shed light on the darkness of our world.
Another with a less fanciful setting featured the days of Parliamentary Rule during the Civil War. At that time the Puritans forbade by law any festive commemoration of Christmas, including the eating of mince pies - and even proclaimed Christmas Day a fast-day one year when it fell on a Wednesday! Needless to say, the recusant family in the play managed to have their mince pies all the same, and in the final scene shared the plateful with the audience!
This year, for the feast of the Epiphany, we acted out a nativity play in our shrine chapel. It was written in simple humorous verse, and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves being angels, shepherds, sheep or kings as required. (The donkey was a clotheshorse draped in grey with a suitably bemused expression on its papier-mâché face.) The play ended with a tableau round the manger on the straw-strewn floor with us all singing “Silent Night”.
Our Christmas ‘grand finale’ was a history of the papacy through the ages, told in fanciful vein, though partly based on fact! We saw St Peter consecrating St Linus as his successor while they were hiding in the catacombs from Nero. Later came Saint Damasus, the “poet-pope” who much enjoyed writing verses to be inscribed on the various basilicas he was building. His secretary, St Jerome, was decidedly fractious at being asked for Latin rhymes just when he was busy translating the Vulgate Bible. He was accompanied by his pet lion, which at one point got away from him and disposed of a Swiss guard (off-stage). Later came Pope Leo the Great, who confronted Attila the Hun. He persuaded him that it was not worth his taking over Rome as it would cost him the earth to prop up the ancient ruins and repair the plumbing! Hadrian IV, the only English pope to date, was shown trying to persuade the Cardinals to drink Earl Grey tea and take up hockey in their spare time. Pope Julius II was pictured wondering whether it might have been simpler to keep the original St Peter’s Basilica, even if the roof leaked, rather than have two artistic geniuses (Michelangelo and Bramante) fighting duels over the best way to go about building a new one. The 20th century Popes included John XXIII, helping a workman move furniture after his election. while the papal tailors were tacking together two papal cassocks to make one big enough to fit him. Pope John Paul the Great blazed briefly across the stage, as the White Tornado, possibly the “biggest, longest, youngest, oldest and most profound thing that had happened since St Peter”. Our beloved 21st century “Papa Bene” did not appear on-stage, but sent a message via his secretary asking our prayers that he might be given the power of the Spirit to lead the Church more deeply into the way of love, as well as to reform the Curia!
In late January the cloister garden pond was frozen over for a couple of days, but on the whole the weather was relatively mild and several butterflies were seen in choir. In February, after light but persistent snow for two days we did not expect many people to attend our annual St Colette Mass . How wrong we were! The chapel was packed to capacity. . Fr Francis Doyle celebrated the mass, and all those present were blessed with the relic of St Colette’s veil. A family had asked to be blessed with her veil a week before, and it was very touching to see their four small girls snuggled under the large embroidered veil in which the relic is housed, while Sr Agatha read St Colette’s blessing over them.
People who come in contact with us or visit the monastery sometimes ask what the words Poor Clare Colettine Monastery on the signboard at our entrance signifies. Saint Colette (1381-1447) was born in Corbie, France at a time of great political and religious turmoil. As a child she came to realise that the most important thing in anyone’s life is to do God’s will and carry out His plan for their life. Born of elderly parents, past the normal age of childbearing, she came to realise that God was calling her to serve Him in a special way. At the age of 21 she became a recluse, living in a small cell with a window on to the sanctuary of the local church, and devoted her life to prayer for the world and especially for those who came to her with their sorrows. Four years later she reluctantly realised she was called to play a more public part in the life of the Church by reforming the Franciscan Orders which had in many places lapsed from their original ideals and inspirations. The Holy Father granted her request to follow where God was leading her, and made Colette Abbess and Mother of all the friars and sisters of the Franciscan Order who would accept the reform.
Like Francis and Clare before her, she never forced but only invited all whom she met to return to a deeper living of the Gospel following of Christ in the spirit of Francis and Clare. She emphasised especially their call to live “without possessions” trusting in God to supply their needs, living simply, working with their hands, and above all praising Him with thankful hearts for all His goodness. She reminds us that our life together, living closely in enclosure as a loving family, is not just for our own spiritual benefit but for the upbuilding of the Church in our own troubled times. We are to pray for the world, especially in the middle of the night at Matins, a time when many people are most in need of the Lord’s protection, mercy, strength and consolation. At about midnight, after singing God’s praises, we ourselves still recite her prayer,cccs “Blessed be the hour in which Our Lord Jesus Christ, God and Man was born” and follow it with a Litany in which we remember the sick and dying, and all who long to know God’s love and forgiveness. In our own days she inspires us to live out our Poor Clare life ever more deeply, and to reawaken the faith, hope and love of others to challenge the values of our modern materialistic age with its prevailing ‘culture of death’ and widespread despair.
During Lent we began combining our daily singing of Midday Prayer with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and a time of quiet prayer. This we have continued to do so as a community whenever we can. We extend a warm welcome every Thursday from 12.00 - 1 pm for anyone who would like to come and join us in prayer for such a Holy Hour .
In March Mr Jennings was here, re-roofing the greenhouse renovating the area outside the laundry and kitchen. This has quite transformed it, and with the addition of hanging baskets of flowers it has become a very pleasant sheltered place in which to gather, especially when we work together bottling fruit or preparing vegetables for the freezer. The following week our elderly bathroom boiler in the bathroom developed a substantial leak, and had to be disconnected as beyond repair. After much drilling through walls, the hot water from elsewhere in the house was linked to the dormitory.
Our liturgy at Holy Mass has been enhanced this year with a new Gospel Book, which can be carried in procession for solemn occasions. Sr Juliana and Sr Yolanda had made a very lovely silk-painted cover for it, with an icon of Christ on both the back and the front. We also now have a substantial new lectern made from two thick branches of willow, intertwined to represent the Old and New Testaments, which complement, support and reveal each other’s hidden depths.
In March we were introduced to a new friend, Fr Matus, an Oratorian from Manchester, who now comes every month to give us a talk. His most recent ones have been on Cardinal Newman, who may be beatified in the not-too-distant future.
(In actual fact several of us anticipated his ‘canonisation’ 30 years ago as part of a recreation written for a golden jubilarian whose heart was set on the prospect! One of us played the part of Pope Paul VI, duly presenting Cardinal Newman (Mother Francesca) with a gold cardboard halo as the climax to the last scene!)
Dear Mother’s feastday in March brought with it a joyful sung Mass and a highly entertaining morning playing a series of simple games in the cloister devised by Sr Yolanda. Each team played each of 12 games, ranging from skittles to tiddlywinks tennis, solving a maze and sorting out different shaped marbles blindfold within an allotted time, with extra points gained if the task was completed in three minutes or less. Sr Juliana later gave us a fascinating talk on the Sistine Chapel, dealing not only with the figures and themes depicted in Michelangelo's famous ceiling, but also with the earlier frescos on the walls by other artists, and the way Old Testament antitypes were fulfilled in New Testament happenings.
The following morning, we were stunned to hear of the sudden death 20 minutes before at his home of our dear Father and Brother, Archbishop Ward. He and Fr Gareth Jones, who was with him when he died, had been going to come and see us the next day to tell us about their recent visit to Rome. On Monday of Holy Week three of our Sisters attended the Archbishop’s Requiem Mass in Cardiff on behalf of us all at Ty Mam Duw. This was in gratitude for his long association with our Poor Clare community. He himself recalled it last year in a thanksgiving Mass he celebrated with us on the occasion of his Diamond Jubilee as a Capuchin. He said at the time:
When Poor Clares came from Notting Hill to Flint they were received with great joy by men and women. Among them were our grandmother, our mother, uncle and aunts. They became close friends who reached out to support the daughters of Sts Francis and Clare. In 1935 our mother died in giving birth to our sister, and Margaret and I were under the care of our grandmother. In no time we began our relationship with the community then in Hawarden. Margaret was bridesmaid in the ceremonies of new novices. I was once a pageboy, but later an altar server ... Our vocations have been full lives in our Franciscan spirituality and mission. Let us offer today’s Mass in thanksgiving for the many blessings you have brought on the clergy and laity of the diocese.
In fact, had it not been for Archbishop Ward’s initiative in inviting more Sisters here from London in 1982 shortly after he became Bishop of this diocese, it is extremely unlikely that any Poor Clares would be here today! It was a consolation to us to know that he had been laid to rest in the gold vestments we had made him for his jubilee in 2003, and that among his last words was a message of affection and encouragement to our community.
The setting of the Paschal tableau in choir this year for Holy Week and Easter was a perspex cross about 12 feet high, made from an offcut left from the recent re-roofing of our greenhouse. A colourful paper collage gave it a stained-glass effect, with near the base a black silhouette of St Peter’s Basilica and the crossed papal keys symbolising the Church. The theme this year was the living out by the Church in all ages of the paschal mystery, as she shows forth the wounds, the suffering and death, and the glorious resurrection of Our Lord. The tomb in which the figure of the dead Christ was laid at the close of Good Friday resembled a threefold egg shape, formed by pasting string and tissue paper round balloons, and symbolic of the Trinity and new life. The tableau of Christ on the cross was in the form of the medieval “Mercy-seat” image, with the Father supporting His dying Son with loving tenderness, and the Spirit hovering above Him.
Part of our Easter Week celebrations was a walk round the garden at about 6.30 am singing resurrection songs. The birds were at the height of their dawn chorus just then, and the more discerning among us could even catch the sound of a woodpecker in a clump of pines, and the call of a pheasant in the adjoining field. Our walk ended outside the kitchen,where we acted out the apostles’ meeting with the risen Christ by the Lake of Galilee, and ended with a hymn with the refrain “Come and dine,” the Master calleth, “come and dine!” - which we then did, with a barbecue and grilled fish, almost as good as that the Lord provided for His disciples!
At the end of April, we had a “month’s mind” celebration of holy Mass for Archbishop Ward. It was a glorious sung Mass and Fr Gareth was the chief celebrant, together with a number of other priest friends. Fr Paschal OFMCap preached, reminiscing about his first meeting with the 16 year old John Aloysius when they were both in the novitiate at Pantasaph, and spoke of their growing friendship over the years. We had made a collage in flowers of Archbishop Ward’s episcopal coat of arms and this floral tribute was later taken back to Cardiff and placed on his grave.
May brought with it long hours working together repairing cage of black plastic netting which protects our large vegetable patch from eager pigeons. This meant that we didn’t get round to sowing our main crop of runner French beans till June. They would still have flourished despite their late start if the weather had remained normal. Unfortunately there followed the weeks of almost continuous rain which brought such floods and devastation to much of the country.
As one of our versifiers put it:
We sowed and planted in springtime,
and the seedlings raised their heads
above the ground and looked around,
and then went back to bed!
They were used to invasions of insects,
to battling with weevil and bugs -
But finding themselves underwater
and unable to swim, they gave up!
The moral of the story is “Don’t count your beans before they’ve hatched!” The one consolation was that in a life like ours, nothing done for the glory of God is ever wasted, and we can be sure there were spiritual results of our earlier labours even if not more material ones! And we have extra cause to be thankful to all who have given us vegetables and groceries this year, from Harvest Festivals or otherwise. You can be sure that you are all remembered day by day before the Lord.
In late May we had a memorable Pentecost Vigil. It was based on the pontifical liturgy being used in Rome for the occasion, and included an anointing with blessed aromatic oil in remembrance of the sacrament of confirmation. We had also incorporated a dance in which three Sisters, linked by a length of shimmery gold material, represented the Spirit hovering over the chaos and darkness of the world and our own hearts, bringing new life, love, hope,and peace to birth.
In June Dom Dyfrig Harris OSB from Belmont,came to give us several fascinating talks on iconography and the liturgy and traditions of the Eastern Rite Churches. He demonstrated the preparation of the gifts for the liturgy according to the Ukrainian Rite, and explained the use, significance and painting of icons, and of the chalice veil and other cloths used during holy Mass. Later he showed us slides of icons on various traditional themes, which he interpreted for us as a means of teaching us to ‘think iconographically’. Later in the year Abbot Stonham OSB also came to see us and gave us two interesting talks. He spoke of his own faith journey since boyhood and how he came to be a Benedictine. He has spent 20 years in Peru establishing a monastery there and only returned to Belmont on being elected as Abbot there.
Our good friend Fr Herbert Schneider OFM also arrived mid-June, bubbling with delight at being back with us again after seven years. He gave us two days of talks on our Poor Clare vocation in the light of the teaching of Blessed Duns Scotus, and saw each of us in the parlour to give us a word of encouragement. He wrote later to tell us how pleased he was at the vivid awareness of God’s presence in our midst, as evinced by our positive spirit and trust in God despite all the gruelling challenges of the previous year. He had come mainly to preside at our community elections, which took place on 13 June. Fr Gareth Jones, who much to our delight had recently been appointed Religious Assistant to our community, was also present, as was our old friend Fr Paschal OFMCap, who had been our Ecclesiastical Superior for the past 33 years. It was a joy to have them with us for such a special occasion, involving as it did the election of a new Abbess. Our dear Mother Francesca had asked not to be elected for a further term as Abbess. She has been a guiding light to us all for many years, from the days when she first came into the lives of most of us as Novice Mistress. Her manifest love of God and her steadfast commitment to the Gospel following of Christ in the spirit of Saints Francis, Clare and Colette have been an inspiration and encouragement to us all - as has been her personal courage and commitment to her calling in the face of so many challenges over the years. She continues now since her retirement from Office to be a wellspring of life and guiding light at the heart of our community. Now she is free from the constant calls on her time when she was Abbess, we are glad that she has more opportunity to delve into early Franciscan sources and share with us all her wealth of knowledge and her personal insight into the the rich depths of our Poor Clare Franciscan heritage.
Sr Damian, who had been Vicaress for a number of years, was elected as our new Abbess. She is a worthy successor to our dear Mother Francesca seeing, as Saint Clare did, her role of Mother as one of love and service of the family God has entrusted to her care.
Sr Elizabeth became Vicaress, but as with Dear Mother her new appointment has not distanced her from the more ordinary duties of life. She still has care of our two small scamps, Millie and Dollie, putting them in their spacious dog-run when workmen are around to keep them out of mischief! After some general rearrangement of workrooms later in June, we all headed for the garden to rescue our soft fruit from further damage by the rain Surprisingly enough the gooseberries had thrived in the unusual weather, and yielded a goodly crop for future jam and tarts.
We were delighted to hear that “Papa Bene” had announced that the Church would celebrate a “Year of Saint Paul” from 28 June onward to mark the 2000 years since his traditional date of birth. Several Sisters set straight to work and in a few days produced a beautiful silk-painted banner depicting the great Apostle of the Gentiles, which was to grace our choir for the duration. We then went in procession to choir with it, holding votive lights, swinging an incense thurible, carrying the Gospel Book and singing a new hymn we had written based on the Saint’s writings. The next day we discovered to our chagrin that the Holy Father had not inaugurated the Year of St Paul the previous day, but simply announced that it would take place from 28 June 2008 - June 2009. Such is life! At least it was better to be a year ahead than a year behind! We have already printed a booklet containing the lively Message version of his Letter to the Philippians, illustrated by some equally lively Ty Mam Duw cartoons, and hope to do more in that line in due course for his special year.
In preparation for the feast of Saint Clare we had two days with extra Exposition and quiet time for reflection on our Poor Clare charism. Dear Mother and Sr Agatha shared some thoughts on St Clare’s concept of work, which she speaks of in her Rule as a “grace”, a gift of God, to help us grown in His love and in the love and service of others. On the actual Feast of Saint Clare, after the singing of the Transitus, which commemorates her passing from life on earth to its fulness with God in heaven,
Dear Mother blessed new work habits for us all. These had been made by Sr Beatrix, Sr Pia and Sr Joanna over the past weeks and were placed before the altar during Exposition, each with a rose tucked into it. Dear Mother presented them to us each in turn, blessing us and all our future work when wearing them.
There was also a card testifying to our enrolment as Poor Clares and Co-workers in the Company of the Holy Trinity. It was enlivened by Sr Elizabeth’s distinctive illustrations, and ran as follows:
Employer- God:
Time and Management -God;
Company regulations: Holy Rule of Saint Clare:
Employment status -Fully employed full-time worker with day and Night Shifts
(The Night Shift is the Rosary and Matins for which we rise at 11 pm):
Tools - goodwill, effort, sufferings, limitations:
Work applied by faith, hope and love: and
the End Product - Order, communication, sanctification of persons and the salvation of souls.
Our dear Mother Francesca’s profession day later that month was marked by a journey through the scriptural Song of Songs under the guidance of Sr Juliana. She had begun her reflections on it and inviting th musicians to set parts of it to music in January 2006, when she was laid low with back trouble - and completed it just before she was rendered immobile and carted off to hospital in an ambulance. Sister began by giving a simple introduction to the various suggestions as to the identity of the Beloved in the book. Whatever the interpretation, the Song of Songs is unique in ancient literature, and has struck a chord in the hearts of men and women down the ages.
It meant a great deal to Saint Clare, who quotes it extensively, especially in the form in which it is used in the liturgy for the feast of Saint Agnes, a young virgin martyr in the early Church. In that context it is seen with reference to the love Christ offers us and our response to Him. Vespers consisted of the entire Song of Songs partly sung, partly recited, in Latin or English - a very lovely rendering which lasted a full hour and a half.
We staged a short ‘Gospel theatre’ for our new Dear Mother’s profession day the following week, involving the ad lib acting-out of three parables in simple costume. In that of the talents (Matthew 25:14 -30). Sr Elizabeth starred as the lazy servant, too cautious to face taking risks with the talent entrusted to him, and simply burying it in a plant pot (complete with plant,) which he kept safely under his bed. The other servants took risks to increase the money they had been given; one bet successfully on an outsider at the races - the other, who had obviously kissed the Blarney Stone, made his money by selling items at an exorbitant price at the local market! Perhaps it was as well that their Master on his return did not enquire how they came by their profits!
In September Dear Mother and Sr Yolanda spent a few days at a worthwhile series of conferences on novitiate formation; these were given at Penmaenmawr by an American Trappist who had spent some years as Abbot of a monastery in Brazil. By way of consolation for our Sisters’ absence we enjoyed a video of Pride and Prejudice as a special treat - and on their return they were greeted with hearty hugs, singing, and an array of Welcome Home posters and cards in the antechoir. In October our dear Marianne and her friend Greta went on pilgrimage to Lourdes, taking with them our many petitions to entrust to Our Lady’s intercession.. Their pilgrimage was a time of great grace and blessing, and when they came back they declared that they had never seen so many young people and couples there before.
On the Feast of the Holy Rosary we had a lovely outdoors procession in glorious autumn weather singing hymns to Our Lady. Outside the kitchen we unveiled and blessed a beautiful coloured pottery statue made by Sr Juliana, a replica of that of Our Lady at Mariazell in Austria, which the Holy Father visited a few months ago. At our front door, we blessed a larger figure she had also made of Mary, Mother of God - Mair Mam Duw - to whom our monastery is dedicated.
The statue shows her leaning forward with a welcoming gesture to our visitors, offering them her Son whom she holds in her arms. On the Feast of the Immaculate Conception last year we had also blessed a new statue depicting Mary Immaculate, Patroness of the Franciscan Order, which was made for a niche in the cloister. In it Our Lady is shown holding her divine Child and together with him clasping the staff with which he is crushing the head of the serpent coiled at her feet.
As always, September and October brought a flurry of creative activity as we worked at arts and crafts, made cards, cakes and jam, as well as some pottery and herbal ointments for our Autumn Fair. It was a great success and a happy occasion for us and all who came to it.
This brings us down to the time of writing, when we are looking forward to the coming of Advent with its message of hope and of God’s love reaching into our world in human form to bring us the fulness of His life. Once again we would like to thank each and every one of you who have helped us in so many ways this year with gifts in kind or financial support, and of course the spiritual support of your own prayers for us. (We heard from the Bank recently that due to changes in their system, it is necessary that any cheque sent to us, whether as payment for work we have done or as donations, should be made out to Poor Clare Colettine Community. Apparently they will no longer accept any other form of wording.) And now, come rain, come shine, we are continuing to hold you all in our hearts before the Lord along with your joys and sorrows, hopes and fears, asking Him to guide, comfort and strengthen you as He knows best in the coming year.
With loving prayers for every blessing this Christmas and through 2008 as it unfolds,
from your Poor Clare Sisters at Ty Mam Duw