connections

Our Novitiate House is a small house on the property of the groovy east coast headquarters. To be more accurate, it's not just on the property but is connected to the "big house." The big house has an infirmary and assisted living for our more senior Sisters.

Originally the big house was the Novitiate and our house was used as an orphanage. I think my fairly large room was once part of the dormatory. I imagine they crammed quite a few boys into this room. Later the small house was converted to rooms for living and offices. The east coast province offices were here at one time. Most recently a group of sisters lived here for 20 years!

Now it's the Congregation Novitiate House. It's a great space. We each have our own rooms. There's a small library, chapel, living room, dining room & kitchen. It's built like a fortress and so you can't hear much ... which is good for our prayer & solitude. We are our own small community. We cook our own meals (each taking turns) and have our own prayer time together.

But we are still connected to the big house. A few times a week we head over for liturgy with the Sisters. I use the exercise room on their side and often run into a Sister or two in the hallway. And this afternoon, we're invited for Sunday dinner. I think that's going to be a regular occurance. It will be great to get to know them all better. Such wise, experienced and gentle souls ... not to mention funny!

We're also connected to the big house in other ways - like our HVAC system. On Sunday mornings like this one, I wake up very early to the smell of bacon from their kitchens! Their kitchen is on the other side of the big house, but it must share a ventilation track with my room!