Sister lets us pick our special Mission for 2016 Every 6th of January, in honor of the first "missionaries", the three Magi - because they went out of their way to search for the newborn King and after having found him and paid homage to him, went back to their own countries and proclaim [...]
Last January 2 of this new year, the Himig Pilipino, a choir composing of Filipinas residing here in the Netherlands and in nearby Germany, came to carol us, as was their custom every Christmas. It is their joy, they said, to sing for us. It is also our joy to listen to them; and [...]
Sister's remains in the chapel just before Holy Mass Leave-taking. In German it is "Abschiednehmen" which simply means "goodbye." Life indeed is a welcome and goodbye. Just as we were welcoming the new born King, our God-with-us, the Immanuel, we bade farewell to our Sister who was called by God into eternity last December [...]
As I have mentioned in my Blog entry of December 18: "Nativity Set" that we have so many Christmas Cribs in the house, I would like to give you a short tour. Some of them are in the work rooms of the Sisters. Some are improvised and self-assembled, made out of old Christmas cards, some where [...]
It's Christmas! The excitement and joy is felt the whole day of December 24. In the evening, at 7:45, our Crib procession began in the Founders' room, where we all gathered together. Three SVD priests came: Fr. Herman Puhl, the main celebrant, Fr. Tony Pates and Fr. Renato Gnata, both members of the Arnold Janssen Spirituality [...]
We had today a taste of Polish Christmas tradition. After our "Agape" after the midnight Mass, while four of us were still lingering by the crib in the corridor, our Polish Sisters passed by with a wagon full of goodies. They invited us to join them. Curious to know what they were, we followed them [...]
Today, our 88 year old Dutch Sister Mary Elisabeth, was born into eternity at 1:15 in the afternoon. Just as we are all preparing for the Birthday of Christ, God has called our Sister into new life in eternity. She had been sick for quite sometime and had suffered dementia. After a few weeks of being bed ridden [...]
Fr. Egide Muziazia, an SVD from Congo, stationed here in St.Michael's Missionhouse in Steyl, taught us today a Christmas song in French, his main language, and a "Kyrie" in the native Swahili. He wants us to sing them on the second day of Christmas when he will celebrate Holy Mass with us - and surely he will accompany us [...]
Today, December 8, 2015, Pope Francis pushes open the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica, formally launching the Holy Year of Mercy, at the Vatican. During his homily, he highlighted the primacy of grace. “Were sin the only thing that mattered, we would be the most desperate of creatures,” Pope Francis said. “But the promised triumph [...]
We have beutiful Advent traditions in the cloister. One of them is singing Advent hymns and listening to touching stories read before us about Advent or anything that generally speaks of God's goodness and love, of man's trust and hopes, of faith journeys, forgiveness, etc. During Sunday recreation, we gather around the Advent wreath with lighted candles. [...]
