Easter 2000
Bethlehem Monastery of Poor Clares
Newport News, Virginia
www.poor-clares.org
Our dear Friends, near and far,
Although we have written to many of you since the beginning of the Great Jubilee Year in gratitude for your own communication and support, this is the first seasonal newsletter of the millennium. The great doors at St. Peter's have opened, and the whole Church, in the person of His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, have passed under its lintels. As we write, so many new friends have been added to our mailing list, and old friends remain firmly in place. Several have a new eternal address and, as their names are inscribed in the book of life, they turn to gold in our Poor Clare memory. Several times daily we pray for them: "May You see fit, Lord, to bestow eternal life on all those who have done good to us for Your sake." We especially pray for the three priests of our diocese who have entered through the great door of eternal jubilee. And we earnestly ask God for generous and courageous young men to walk in their great footsteps.
As we enter our choir hall, leading to the Hall of the King, a large Vatican Calendar is posted listing all the events for the Jubilee Year. Following this closely we can say we have taken part in all the special jubilees thus far: the jubilee for children on the feast of the Epiphany; the jubilee for deacons, for the Roman Curia and the great church Unity Octave, all in January. February 2 was the jubilee for consecrated life, our Jubilee! We participated, from our cloister, in the three day preparation for this day with a special sung Vespers on Sunday, a special penance and renewal day on Monday, and a day of Eucharistic adoration on Tuesday. On the feast of the Presentation, our Ordinary, Bishop Walter F. Sullivan, presided over the ceremony of the blessing of candles and the Eucharistic celebration, assisted by our Pastor, Msgr. Michael McCarron. Throughout the year special jubilees will be celebrated by the Church. February 11, feast of our Lady of Lourdes, was the Jubilee of the sick and health care workers. February 18, feast of Bl. Fra Angelico, was the jubilee of artists; the Feast of St. Joseph - the jubilee of craftsmen; and the feast of the Annunciation --Jubilee of Women. We look forward to the jubilee of priests in May, the International Eucharistic Congress in Rome in June, Jubilee of families and World Youth Day in August, the Jubilee of the elderly in September, with many more besides. Everyone from athletes to entertainers is given a special day to celebrate.
Our plans to build a new monastery for the glory of God continue to unfold in His time, and in His ways. We have not been back to Mt. St. Francis since our land blessing last October 3, but we know site and geotechnical engineers have been doing studies toward a full site plan with recommendations for the building foundation requirements. Our architect has worked diligently on floor plans and renderings of the exterior of the monastery. As we worked with him (drawing our fifth revision of floor lay outs), it seemed that the "little by little" steps in this long process found us, all of a sudden on a late February day, further than we thought. The dream was captured! We are now in the process of simplifying, of pulling in, and of aligning our project with the capped budget we set for ourselves. The monastery pictured below will soon be smaller by about 8,000 square feet! We are grateful to have a contractor who believes in what he calls "value engineering" and an architect who is willing to work extra hard to give us "more for less."
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