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Wednesday, July 24, 2013

International Association of Lay Cistercian communities


WELCOME

WELCOME to the International Association of Lay Cistercian Communities. This site is for the use and benefit of the Lay Cistercian Communities around the world, the monasteries with which they are associated, and any person interested in learning more about the birth and development of this contemplative movement within the Cistercian Family.
We believe the Cistercian Charism is a window through which monks and nuns and lay people interact with one another. Members of Lay Cistercian Communities around the world look in this window for guidance and support, and out this window to their Cistercian lives in the world. Like a window, the Cistercian Charism sheds light on both sides of the enclosure wall.



Lay Cistercian Vocation

"As individuals, we recognize a personal call that is experienced in community as a gift from God. We define it as a call to be an active witness of Christ and his Church in the midst of the world, providing a prayerful and contemplative testimony in a life defined by the values of the Cistercian charism." (Lay Cistercian Identity [Huerta, June 6, 2008])

Lay Cistercian Life

"We are convinced that it is possible to adapt Cistercian spirituality to the lifestyle of a lay person though it is very clear that there are two different ways to live it, monastic and lay, and both are complementary. Lay people have found in Cistercian spirituality a way to live in the world with greater commitment and spiritual depth. We are unanimous in our belief that the Cistercian charism can be lived outside the monastery." (Lay Cistercian Identity [Huerta, June 6, 2008])

Bond with the Monastery and the Cistercian family

"For all the groups, it is the monastic community, represented by the Abbot (Abbess), that recognizes in them the charism and confers on them their membership in the Cistercian family, according to the nature of the bonds that unite them." (Lay Cistercian Identity [Huerta, June 6, 2008])



Attention Connais-toi toi-même
26-27 octobre 2013
Un évènement artistique et humaniste aura lieu à Notre Dame de Cîteaux

Gregorian Chants with the Sounds of Nature

Sunday, July 21, 2013

45 minutes of Traditional Gregorian chant to mellow your brain. YouTube Mix (playlist)

New Melleray Music SOME OF THE QUIET OF A RETREAT AT New Melleray

SJohn Brebeuf supports families and their kids

Balloon release surprises teen fighting cancer for third time Published: May 22, 2013 3:00 PM


by Karen Murphy Corr, Contributor
On Tuesday morning, nearly 500 brightly coloured balloons danced into the grey skies over west Abbotsford, their cheerful journey poetically intended to bring joy to a teenager fighting cancer for the third time.
Josh, a 14-year-old student at St. John Brebeuf Secondary School, was first diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma in December 2009. When the tumour grew back under his cheekbone last year, the BC Lions participated in a fundraiser at the Catholic high school to offset the costs of Josh travelling to the United States for surgery and treatment.
Unfortunately, the tumour has returned and Josh is once again undergoing chemotherapy treatments.
“He is mentally doing really wonderful.  He does not dwell much about it, so we really don't talk much about treatment until the day before when I have to start giving him his anti-nausea meds,” said his mother Cheryle, who asked that the family’s last name not be published.
“As long as he has his laptop and Xbox, he is pretty much just a regular teenager.”
The balloon release was organized by Ruth Ann and Lou Penner, long-time family friends. They acquired biodegradable balloons and strings – even checking in with Environment Canada, city bylaw officers and the Abbotsford Airport to ensure the release would be environmentally friendly and safe for the aircraft not too far from the high school on Townline Road.
“I really wanted to do something to bring a lift to Josh’s heart, his spirit. I wish I could take his cancer away, but I can’t,” said Ruth Ann Penner, whose colleagues from Corrections Canada volunteered to help fill the balloons with helium. “I want him to know that all of us are praying for him – that every one of those balloons is for him and for every other kid out there battling cancer.”
While some people suggested the money for the balloons might have been better spent paying for food or gas as the family travels to and from BC Children’s Hospital, Ruth Ann defended this gesture as necessary.
“We have been fundraising and will continue to fundraise because not all expenses are covered when a child is sick, and parents don’t get unlimited paid time off work. But this is not about the money. This is about showing Josh how many of us are praying for him and so proud of his courage. ”
Principal Ted Brennan said it was easy to agree to student and staff participation: “The school is extremely proud of Josh and his courage and the releasing of the balloons is a small sign to let him and his family know that we are with him on his difficult journey ahead.”
Students were led in prayer for Josh and his family over the school sound system before taking the balloons from the school lobby outside. Josh, wearing his school uniform, was delighted by the elaborate surprise.
When everyone released the balloons as a group, Josh stood smiling with his family, and children at the adjacent St. James and St. Ann’s elementary school gathered in the windows to watch. As the hundreds of balloons rose and drifted in defiance of the gathering storm clouds, everyone cheered and laughed.
“All the prayers mean so much,” said Josh, smiling and holding the leash of his new dog named Hope.
Anyone who would like to donate to offset the costs of traveling for treatment to and from BCCH may contribute funds to TD Canada Trust #6074116 or send gas other gift cards to Josh care of St. John Brebeuf Secondary School, 2747 Townline Rd.


Clip 6 The Warm Zone Abbotsford ERICA'S STORY OF HOPE - 1080p.mov

Communitas Supportive Care Services

About Us


Welcome

Communitas Supportive Care Society is a non-profit faith-based organization providing care in communities across British Columbia to those living with disabilities. As a part of our mission, we provide services ranging from 24-hour residential care to skills-based day programs to respite care for families
Influenced by our roots in the Mennonite Central Committee, and pursuing a Christian understanding of community and peace, Communitas commits itself to work with individuals who have been marginalized and stigmatized by the society around them. We support and empower people from all walks of life, regardless of faith, social standing, race or ethnicity.

Christian Horizons Ontario Developmental Services (playlist)

In the Clinic with Dr. A Jean Ayres| The Sensory Processing Disorder Fou...


This a video on Dr Jean Ayres whose Method of Sensory Integration Therapy . I was first trained in 1973 by a working with an Occupational Therapist in a Child Development Centre for three years. I then worked in a Children's actually young adults Occupational Therapy Centre for another three years at Huronia Regional Centre. This show some very tame Sensory Integration Therapy . It has expanded to be very active form of Therapy , with lots of movement spinning , bouncing and vestibular stimulation to fire off the neurons across the mid brain to improve learning and integration.

Notes on closing of group homes in Ontario for Portfolio Clip #1





  Dear Portfolio Folk


 The  first clip you will see on my Blog in July is a clip on the closing on Institutions in Ontario. The music is in memorial to persons who have passed away while in care and did not have the freedom of living outside an institution. The Raise A Little Hell tune I felt was fitting as I was part of the early wave of staff training in the philosophy of Normalization that knew there had to be a better way then warehouse care. The keys are to identify how many places had to close before this dream could come true. The move to Community Living was a good move. Under recent budget cuts by current government parties there is a serious concern that the whole system will based on moving clients into private homes much like foster homes. will not work for many people and they will once again face the options of some kind of warehoused care. There are such places for " crisis management" a crisis that has been created by the current cuts in social services, being built. Whole agencies are loosing funding and there will be no Community programs for many of these people to go back to...I post this as a memory to what has been accomplished and a cautionary tale for the future." Those who forget their history are apt to repeat it."

Raise A Little Hell - Community Living Ontario 56th Annual Conference - ...


 
This is a 6 minute video showing some of the closure of some  the institutions in Ontario.
Closing all the facilities took a long time, but many people were starting to be moved out in the mid 70's. In this process I saw many changes in the quality of care in institutions , but they were still warehouses for people. I was involved as a Senior Counsellor in opening a new home in the early 80's for youth with medical and physical care needs coming straight out of an institutional setting into a community living style home. I show this video as a way to capture the elation and hopes of people coming out of institutions that they would never be opened again. I placed this clip here for those who have never had a flavor of the moment of seeing massive change in a system with many flaws. I also place it as a cautionary tale as I witness the serious cuts in social services funding across BC and Canada. The plan to place people in smaller group homes worked for many years and met the needs well for persons requiring 24 hour care. The current arrangements, closing of group homes, programs and budget slashes put the whole system in crisis. My concern is an not unfounded , is that this created crisis will return people with developmental disabilities to Warehousing situations..some which are being built now at a different scale, as people within the current system fall through the cracks and their are no group homes or programs to return to. The Keys in this video are symbols of multiple facilities closing and the freedom of people to live lives outside of warehoused care.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Rabanus Morus



 For a beautiful Rabanus Morus experience look and listen to

Saturday, April 20, 2013









Sister Mary Martha Chambon
Mary Martha Chambon (1841-1907) was a lay Sister of the Monastery of the Visitation Order in Chambery, France.  During her life, Jesus Himself is said to have revealed to her the following two invocations, giving her the double mission to adore and invoke the Sacred Wounds unceasingly and to revive this devotion in the hearts of creatures.  She died in the odor of sanctity on 21 March 1907, and the cause for her beatification was introduced in 1937.
Eternal Father I offer Thee the Wounds of Our Lord Jesus Christ to heal the wounds of our souls. My Jesus, pardon and mercy through the merits of Thy Sacred Wounds.
Here are some statements Jesus is said to have made to Sr. Mary Martha about this devotion:
"Come to My Wounds with hearts burning with love, and make the aspirations with great fervor that you may obtain the graces and favors you desire.  Come to this wound in My Side; it is the Wound of Love from which issue flames of fire" "You must pray that the knowledge of My Sacred Wounds may spread in the world".  
Chaplet of the Holy Wounds
To be said on the Crucifix and the first three beads of an ordinary Rosary:
O Jesus, Divine Redeemer, be merciful to us and to the whole world. Amen. Strong God, holy God, immortal God, have mercy on us and on the whole world. Amen.
Grace and mercy, O my Jesus, during present dangers; cover us with Your Precious Blood. Amen.
Eternal Father, grant us mercy through the Blood of Jesus Christ, Your only Son; grant us mercy, we beseech You.  Amen, Amen, Amen.
The following prayers, composed by Our Lord, are to be said using the Rosary beads. On the large beads:
Eternal Father, I offer You the Wounds of our Lord Jesus Christ. To heal the wounds of our souls.
On the small beads:
My Jesus, pardon and mercy, through the merits of Your Holy Wounds.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Contemplating the Wounds of Christ.

 


 Contemplating the Wounds of Christ.: 


     There is a place to take our deepest sorrows, our insurmountable difficulties, the shame that tracks our life like a hungry wolf, broken dreams, broken hearts and prayers that we find we are too exhausted and broken to utter. Here within the wounds of Christ, deep within His heart is a place where there is only grace, mercy and love. His wounds offer us refuge.

 Like a bird sheltered within the rock in a storm. He hides us.This is our place of refuge. Our shelter, our hope , our source of strength and restoration in a dry and weary land. This is our source. Run to the refuge of the healing wounds of Christ. Around us , daily the world calls us away. Any other place but this . Crucifixion is an ugly thing. We do not want to look.

We prefer our Christianity sterilized. Give us clean, organized, socially acceptable faith. It's easier to take on a Sunday morning. But when life has us face down on the ground, when all the doors have closed behind us, when we have no where else to turn, then for the first time we may turn and reach up to the spear pierced side of Christ, to the nail wounds in his hands, touch in wonder his pierced body and realize that He knows pain beyond what we could ever suffer and He did it first for us. 

We enter His wounds with our pain , we enter His wounds with our whole interior being and rest there, silent , and overwhelmed by the out pouring of His Love for us. He Loves Us. He Loves Us. There is Mercy, there is Grace, there is total knowledge of who we are and acceptance of our whole being. Here we rest within the wounds of Christ. While the storm rages outside beyond the walls of our refuge. Where the battle continues, where all worry and distress mount up and threaten to sweep us away, that is beyond the walls of this refuge.Here there is only the Peace of Christ. Here we bring our tears. Here we sit with our hands open in humble adoration of rest in the gentle spirit of Christ.

 We are children wrapped in the arms of our Father. We rest under the protection of his overshadowing wings, Here we are with Him. From this place of refuge, scripture comes more alive while we read it here in the wounds of Christ, our prayers, simple and heart felt are not so difficult to pray. We remember those that serve us in the faith. We bring them before God. Here we Listen. We listen to the storm pass. Our burdens slide from us and are left behind. Grace is infused into our souls. There is strength to carry on. Here within the wounds of Christ. Our refuge . 

There is a beautiful prayer to the wounds of Christ...called the 


Anima Christi
Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from Christ's side, wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Suffer me not to be separated from Thee
From the malicious enemy defend me
In the hour of my death call me
And bid me come unto Thee
That I may praise Thee with Thy saints

and with Thy angels
Forever and ever
Amen


































Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from Christ's side, wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Suffer me not to be separated from Thee
From the malicious enemy defend me
In the hour of my death call me
And bid me come unto Thee
That I may praise Thee with Thy saints

and with Thy angels
Forever and ever
Amen