Redemptoristines: Called to be Radiant Witnesses of God’s Love

September 20, 2022

by Sr. Moira Quinn, O.Ss.R.

Here in the Hudson Valley, our monastery is set snugly against the foothills of Mount Beacon. Mount Beacon played an important role in the Revolutionary War when it served as an early signaling system with its beacon fires atop the summit during that conflict.

Here, in our monastery in Beacon, our life of prayer is a beacon of hope in the resurrection. As a contemplative monastic community, we are called to be Radiant Witnesses of God’s Love for the world. Jesus is the light of our faith, the strength of our charity, and the source of our hope. In community, along with our Carmelite Sisters with whom we live in the monastery of the Incarnation, we find light and strength in the Word of God and in the sacraments so that we can, following the example of Christ, make of our whole life a sacrifice of praise to the glory of the Father as we share the faith, love, hope, joys, and sorrows of those who live in the local Church.

Our contemplative life is nurtured and enriched by nature on every side. Out the front door is a pond.This spring we were delighted by nine goslings (two families of Canadian geese), a fawn, Myrtle the Turtle laying eggs below the refectory window, a baby bunny eating all our pansies, a bobcat sitting under a bench watching the geese, a mink checking out the pond (it did not stay), and the nightly howl of the coyotes. Trees, like a wall, climb up Mount Beacon. The radio towers on Mount Beacon send out modern beacons to all who are tuned in.

The cross atop the monastery is a beacon of our prayerful presence. In chapel, we are tuned in to the voice of God. Our offerings of adoration and praise go out for all our sisters and brothers with the intercession that a new heaven and a new earth will become a reality where God will be all in all. The sisters who are able hike the Madonna Trail adjoining the property with its trickling streams and enjoy the peace and solitude which leads to finding the wonders of God in nature.

Out the back door, many sisters pull out a lawn chair to read or pray in the quiet or just watch or listen to the birds flittering in the trees. The grounds are a birder’s paradise with red-tails, bluebirds, owls, herons, ducks and the occasional osprey and egret.

Up in the north field is a secret path leading to the parish cemetery where sisters can stroll and pray for the deceased. Five of the Carmelite sisters are buried there.

Inside the monastery our life of prayer is ever flowering growing, deeper and wider. Because of aging, we may look a bit wilted around the edges, but our hearts remain rooted in the mercy of

Christ our Redeemer and cast seeds of faith, hope and love. By following the world news, phone, and email requests for prayer, Redemptorist news bulletins and such, we are united with the world. By our daily prayer of praise and intercession, our website: rednunsny.org and Facebook: Redemptoristine Nuns of New York, we are a beacon to the presence of our Savior in our midst and the Kingdom of God in the world.

This Spring brought us times of rejoicing. At the beginning of May, Sr. Paula celebrated her 70th anniversary of religious profession. And on the last day of May we celebrated Sr. Maria Paz’s 60th anniversary of religious profession.

On May 14th, we celebrated with our Carmelite Sisters and friends the canonization of Carmelite Titus Brandsma, Martyr. He was an early critic of Nazism and defended the freedom of the press in Holland. He wrote: “To win the world to Christ, one must have the courage to come in conflict with it.”

This spring also brought times of Sr Mary Jane Stefanik, O.Ss.R., birding on site sorrow. We were devasted by the invasion of Ukraine and all the lives lost in the mass shootings in our own country.

During the weekend of Pentecost, we joined ‘Wear Orange’ by wearing orange poppies in remembrance with all those who have died because of gun violence and in solidarity with those working to install sensible laws.

June 19th began our novena in honor of our Mother of Perpetual Help. It was a special time for us to be beacons, not only of God’s merciful love but of our Lady’s strong and tender care. We follow her example and, just as she holds Jesus close to her heart, so, too, do we hold all your intentions close to ours.

We are truly surrounded by nature, blest by nature. By the nature of our life as radiant witnesses, as beacons of God’s love, we signal to the world the true nature of Jesus: love, mercy, and plentiful redemption.

North American Conference of Redemptorists

Washington, DC

Redemptoristines: Called to be Radiant Witnesses of God’s Love