<\/div>\n
(Yes, that title has been carefully
\nconstructed to get more Google hits. Just in case you were wondering.) <\/span><\/div>\n
\nconstructed to get more Google hits. Just in case you were wondering.) <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I realize we\u2019ve been neglecting you
\nterribly. Apologies all round. But the reason is, as always, that word that
\nstarts with \u201cB\u201d and rhymes with \u201cdizzy.\u201d I feel a bit dizzy myself after this
\nwhirlwind semester, but seeing as I handed in the last assignment, for the
\nmarkers to do with as they please, just 2 days ago, I have been revitalized
\nwith that priceless sense of liberation and am going to devote myself to our
\nfriends on the interwebs for a bit. <\/span><\/div>\n
\nterribly. Apologies all round. But the reason is, as always, that word that
\nstarts with \u201cB\u201d and rhymes with \u201cdizzy.\u201d I feel a bit dizzy myself after this
\nwhirlwind semester, but seeing as I handed in the last assignment, for the
\nmarkers to do with as they please, just 2 days ago, I have been revitalized
\nwith that priceless sense of liberation and am going to devote myself to our
\nfriends on the interwebs for a bit. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n![](\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-xBHazfpb-zk\/UbsOsjpmk0I\/AAAAAAAADlE\/O2eX--S890s\/s640\/Study.jpg\")
<\/a>Liberation has played a major part in our
\nsemester \u2013 well, for those of us who took the History subject on the French
\nRevolution, at any rate. Don\u2019t worry. We\u2019re not wearing red caps or singing the
\nMarseillaise or starting bread riots or anything like that. We also did
\nTheology and Literature; for the latter, the postulants and second-year novice
\nwere treated to poetry, while we first-year novices studied fourteenth-century
\nliterature. We are now all brushed up on The Dialogue of St Catherine of Siena
\nand St Vincent Ferrer\u2019s Spiritual Treatise, which, besides being most
\ninteresting from a literature point of view, give excellent guidance on the
\nspiritual life. I can highly recommend them. <\/span><\/div>\n
![](\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-xBHazfpb-zk\/UbsOsjpmk0I\/AAAAAAAADlE\/O2eX--S890s\/s1600\/Study.jpg\")
<\/a>Liberation has played a major part in our\nsemester \u2013 well, for those of us who took the History subject on the French
\nRevolution, at any rate. Don\u2019t worry. We\u2019re not wearing red caps or singing the
\nMarseillaise or starting bread riots or anything like that. We also did
\nTheology and Literature; for the latter, the postulants and second-year novice
\nwere treated to poetry, while we first-year novices studied fourteenth-century
\nliterature. We are now all brushed up on The Dialogue of St Catherine of Siena
\nand St Vincent Ferrer\u2019s Spiritual Treatise, which, besides being most
\ninteresting from a literature point of view, give excellent guidance on the
\nspiritual life. I can highly recommend them. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
We\u2019ve also been having classes on the
\nPassions, as drawn from the Summa, from Fr Belisle, which have been extremely
\ninformative, not to mention entertaining. (Did *you* know that St Thomas
\nhimself recommends \u201cSleep And Baths\u201d as effective remedies for a sorrowful
\nheart? Go have a look in the Summa if you don\u2019t believe me! Clearly, St Thomas
\nwas a saint of good, old-fashioned common sense\u2026)<\/span><\/div>\n
\nPassions, as drawn from the Summa, from Fr Belisle, which have been extremely
\ninformative, not to mention entertaining. (Did *you* know that St Thomas
\nhimself recommends \u201cSleep And Baths\u201d as effective remedies for a sorrowful
\nheart? Go have a look in the Summa if you don\u2019t believe me! Clearly, St Thomas
\nwas a saint of good, old-fashioned common sense\u2026)<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
That\u2019s about it for Education. That brings
\nme to Easter. Holy Week and Easter in the Convent are extra special, and you\u2019ll
\njust have to experience it for yourself to find out what I mean, because I\u2019m
\nnot good enough with words to describe it satisfactorily. In fact, one of our
\npostulants made it an even special-er week (see, it\u2019s true I\u2019m not very good
\nwith words! What *is* the right word for \u201cmore special?\u201d I think I\u2019m turning
\ninto Dr Seuss\u2026) by arriving on Spy Wednesday, just in time for the Sacred
\nTriduum and all its deep solemnities. <\/span><\/div>\n
\nme to Easter. Holy Week and Easter in the Convent are extra special, and you\u2019ll
\njust have to experience it for yourself to find out what I mean, because I\u2019m
\nnot good enough with words to describe it satisfactorily. In fact, one of our
\npostulants made it an even special-er week (see, it\u2019s true I\u2019m not very good
\nwith words! What *is* the right word for \u201cmore special?\u201d I think I\u2019m turning
\ninto Dr Seuss\u2026) by arriving on Spy Wednesday, just in time for the Sacred
\nTriduum and all its deep solemnities. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I take my hat off to her \u2013 the Breviary is
\nso different for those three days, leaving green-around-the-ears novices like
\nmyself terribly confused most of the time, that I can\u2019t imagine how bewildering
\nit must be if you\u2019ve not been much acquainted at all with the Breviary before.
\nActually, the Breviary is markedly different for a week or two afterwards as
\nwell, causing not a little amount of stress to creatures of habit like me,
\nespecially when the aforesaid creature is being Chantress. (Being Chantress is
\na lovely job in Office, but it means you have to be completely on top of what\u2019s
\ngoing on at all times, and this can be hard for a Bear-Novice of Little Brain
\nto keep up with, especially when there are dozens of extra \u201cAlleluias\u201d where
\nthere were none before. I am thankful for the Community\u2019s patience.)<\/span><\/div>\n
\nso different for those three days, leaving green-around-the-ears novices like
\nmyself terribly confused most of the time, that I can\u2019t imagine how bewildering
\nit must be if you\u2019ve not been much acquainted at all with the Breviary before.
\nActually, the Breviary is markedly different for a week or two afterwards as
\nwell, causing not a little amount of stress to creatures of habit like me,
\nespecially when the aforesaid creature is being Chantress. (Being Chantress is
\na lovely job in Office, but it means you have to be completely on top of what\u2019s
\ngoing on at all times, and this can be hard for a Bear-Novice of Little Brain
\nto keep up with, especially when there are dozens of extra \u201cAlleluias\u201d where
\nthere were none before. I am thankful for the Community\u2019s patience.)<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I digress. Easter is lovely in the Convent.\u00a0<\/span>Now I come to Excursions. We were so intent
\non our study that we held off until Ascension Thursday to go somewhere, but it
\nwas well worth the wait. The Mornington Pensinsula was graced with our presence
\nfor the day, and once again, the good God gave us perfect weather. It is so
\ntrue that He looks after His little ones!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\non our study that we held off until Ascension Thursday to go somewhere, but it
\nwas well worth the wait. The Mornington Pensinsula was graced with our presence
\nfor the day, and once again, the good God gave us perfect weather. It is so
\ntrue that He looks after His little ones!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n![](\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-5rkKtLOGRs8\/UbscA52yUgI\/AAAAAAAADmc\/agST85gemVI\/s640\/Outing+a.jpg\")
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/div>\nWe also went to Hampton for Mass and the
\nprocession in honour of Our Lady which happened to fall on Mothers\u2019 Day, which
\nI thought was a most fitting thing. Then we went to a nearby beach to have our
\nlunch, something which is always nice to have outside. (\u201cBeach\u201d is used
\nsomewhat euphemistically. It was more of a rocky outcrop in a bay with a patch
\nof sand, as the pictures will show, just so you\u2019re not expecting vistas of gold
\nstretching into the horizon or anything like that). I had to smile when a
\nlittle girl all dressed in pink came running to get a closer look at us, her
\nunbounded excitement finding expression in a heartfelt \u201cAwesome!!!!\u201d when she
\ngave pause to her flight to drink us in. The holy habit really does speak to
\npeople, despite what some of our modern friends think.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n