Today begins our first full day at Queen of Angels. We rise early for Morning Prayer at 6:30. Mass follows at 7:00, and we join the community for breakfast afterwards. Sr. Marietta has asked to meet with us at 8:30 to give us an orientation and our assignments. I am to help at Shalom Prayer Center in the office, and Tom is to report to Sr. Teresa to work on the grounds unless Sr. Mechtilde needs him to help in the kitchen.
When I arrive at Shalom, Sr. Dorothy Jean is in a meeting, so she asks Sr. Hilda to show me how to answer the phone and use the copy machine. I do the few tasks she has set, and already I am making out receipts for items purchased in the Gift Store.
Over the course of the morning, I empty a refrigerator of Monastery Mustard so new display shelves can be brought in, rearrange the rosary display to give the items more prominence, sort through donated volumes for the used book section, and begin the tedious task of cutting labels of Sr. Dorothy Jean’s email address into tiny lines to cover up the old email on her business cards. There’s half a box to do, and I get through half of that in the lulls between other work.
I go to Noon prayer, but Tom doesn’t come. When I go into the dining hall for lunch, I learn that he has been in the kitchen all morning. As I go through the food line, he is at the stove, grilling quesadillas. We eat together and then return to our separate assignments.
In the afternoon, I get to know Sr. Gertrude better. She is responsible for the business arrangements for the retreats and other groups using Shalom Prayer Center. She has arranged the mustard and jams on the new shelve unit, and I get my laptop to design new labels for the shelves. I man the office solo while the nuns have a party for one of the sisters.
Tom comes over during his break. He begins a tab in the Gift Shop after I point out some titles I think he will like. He gets The Cloud of Unknowing and Thomas Keating’s Open Mind, Open Heart. Then Sr. Julia wants to make a call to the main house, but I don’t know how. She thinks I’m the new receptionist, but I tell her that it’s my first day. Together we figure out how to connect her call. I end the day by labeling the shelves. On Monday, I will begin to organize and label the Used Book section at Sr. Dorothy Jean’s request.
Tomorrow there is a retreat that Sr. Dorothy Jean suggested I might like to attend. She encourages me to talk with Sr. Dorothy. She explains that this is a monthly meeting for “Prayer of the Heart,” an ancient prayer practice that is similar to Centering Prayer. Tom has been doing Centering Prayer in the mornings after reading about it. We are both interested and plan to attend.
When I arrive at Shalom, Sr. Dorothy Jean is in a meeting, so she asks Sr. Hilda to show me how to answer the phone and use the copy machine. I do the few tasks she has set, and already I am making out receipts for items purchased in the Gift Store.
Over the course of the morning, I empty a refrigerator of Monastery Mustard so new display shelves can be brought in, rearrange the rosary display to give the items more prominence, sort through donated volumes for the used book section, and begin the tedious task of cutting labels of Sr. Dorothy Jean’s email address into tiny lines to cover up the old email on her business cards. There’s half a box to do, and I get through half of that in the lulls between other work.I go to Noon prayer, but Tom doesn’t come. When I go into the dining hall for lunch, I learn that he has been in the kitchen all morning. As I go through the food line, he is at the stove, grilling quesadillas. We eat together and then return to our separate assignments.
In the afternoon, I get to know Sr. Gertrude better. She is responsible for the business arrangements for the retreats and other groups using Shalom Prayer Center. She has arranged the mustard and jams on the new shelve unit, and I get my laptop to design new labels for the shelves. I man the office solo while the nuns have a party for one of the sisters.
Tom comes over during his break. He begins a tab in the Gift Shop after I point out some titles I think he will like. He gets The Cloud of Unknowing and Thomas Keating’s Open Mind, Open Heart. Then Sr. Julia wants to make a call to the main house, but I don’t know how. She thinks I’m the new receptionist, but I tell her that it’s my first day. Together we figure out how to connect her call. I end the day by labeling the shelves. On Monday, I will begin to organize and label the Used Book section at Sr. Dorothy Jean’s request.
Tomorrow there is a retreat that Sr. Dorothy Jean suggested I might like to attend. She encourages me to talk with Sr. Dorothy. She explains that this is a monthly meeting for “Prayer of the Heart,” an ancient prayer practice that is similar to Centering Prayer. Tom has been doing Centering Prayer in the mornings after reading about it. We are both interested and plan to attend.
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