He enters His Dovecote.

Corpus Christi procession
at the
Redemptoristine Monastery
in Brazil.

(click on the photos to see them larger)

The Elevation
This is a typical Redemptoristine view of Mass.
The nuns have a strict grill which St. Alphonsus gave them
consisting in a plate that is pierced with holes.
The nuns may draw near the grill and peep through.
This photo is somewhat blurred at the edge of a hole in the lattice.

The nun's eye view.
Of her Beloved Lord in the Blessed Sacrament
the enclosed Redemptoristine nun can say:
"Behold he standeth behind our wall,
looking through the windows,
looking through the lattices.
Behold my beloved speaketh to me:
Arise, make haste, my love, my dove,
my beautiful one, and come."
(Canticles 2:9)

Station at Our Lady's Grotto within the enclosure.
Panem caeli dedit eis, Alleluia, alleluia.
Panem Angelorum manducavit homo. Alleluia, alleluia.
He gave them Heavenly Bread, Alleluia, alleluia.
The Bread of Angels was eaten by men. Alleluia, alleluia.
(Terce. Short Response.)

Procession within the holy border walls.
Posuit fines tuos pacem, alleluia.
Et adipe frumenti satiat te, alleluia.
He has granted peace in thy borders, alleluia.
With the best of wheat He fills thee, alleluia.
(None. Versicle.)

The procession of the Hidden Manna.
Vincenti dabo manna absconditum,
et nomen novum, alleluia.
To him who overcomes I will give the Hidden Manna,
and a new name, Alleluia.
(Laudes. Ant. V.)

Our Lord enthroned in the Choir.
Cibavit nos Dominus ex adipe frumenti:
et de petra, melle saturavit nos.
Our Lord has fed us with the best of wheat,
and with honey from the rock he has filled us.
(Matins. Ant. VIII)

The Redemptoristine nuns take a fourth vow.
It is the vow of Enclosure.
Their enclosure is such that on every day of the year,
except today,
they do not easily or clearly see Our Lord because of their
enclosing lattice;
the plate pierced with small holes.
Enclosed souls feel this deprivation keenly.
They offer this austerity as a sacrifice
to obtain the conversion of sinners
and the salvation of the most abandoned souls.

Christ enthroned from where His doves cry out.
Ex altari tuo, Domine, Christum sumimus:
in quem cor et caro nostra exsultant.
From Thy altar, Lord, we receive Christ,
for Whom our hearts and flesh cry out.

(Matins Ant. IX)
"Behold he standeth behind our wall,
looking through the windows,
looking through the lattices.
Behold my beloved speaketh to me:
Arise, make haste, my love, my dove,
my beautiful one, and come."
(Canticles 2:9)

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In the Madres' Monastery Garden.

Photos from the garden of the Redemptoristine Madres
in
São Fidélis, Brazil.

(click on the photos to see the larger versions)

There are beautiful trees within the enclosure.

The Madres have a persimmon tree.

Plucking some of the persimmon's fruit.

The quiet joy of looking at the fruit you have grown.

I suspect this photo of
the persimmon fruit in the same dish as the bananas,
is because the persimmons are often picked
and then sealed in a bag with very mature bananas
to hasten their ripening.


The persimmon is an astringent.
An astringent (from adstringere meaning "to bind fast") is a chemical compound that tends to shrink or constrict body tissues; in a fruit such as the persimmon or quince it gives the dry, puckering mouthfeel caused by the tannins found in it.

The tannins denature the salivary proteins, causing a rough "sandpapery" sensation in the mouth; if eaten before it is rip the persimmon gives a sensation akin to that of an oral anaesthetic that numbs the tongue and mouth.

May God bless our Madres and send them holy vocations!

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Réquiem ætérnam dona ei Dómine

Please pray
for the father
of
Mother Maria Auxiliadora da Divina Providência
who died Monday 5th July.

Yesterday,
in the church of the Redemptoristines,
Requiem Mass was sung with the body present.
The nuns assisted from the monastery side of the grate.

Today,
on Papa Stronsay with the community present
Requiem Mass was also offered for the repose of his soul;
the other Mass, on Stronsay, was offered for the souls in purgatory.

Réquiem ætérnam dona ei Dómine;
et lux perpétua lúceat ei.
Requiéscat in pace. Amen.

Eternal rest grant to him O Lord
and let perpetual light shine upon him.
May he rest in peace. Amen.

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The Redemptoristine choir.

Mother of Perpetual Succour
enshrined in the Monastery choir.

The four Redemptoristines.
~ Vowed to Enclosure
in order to live a life of prayer and penance
for the Church
and its most abandoned souls. ~

The choir formation for the recitation of the Divine Office.

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