But winter is not so quickly defeated. He blows his cold breath, the rivulets freeze, and we are glad we have not yet put away our parkas.

But, knowing that the victory will be hers, spring merely waits. And one after the other, she brings forth her treasures—Canada geese flying overhead, new reddish tips on tree branches, bird songs (some among us can name them all), subtle new shades in the light, lengthening and warming days, ducks on the river, and oh, so much more.

In fits and starts, the snow continues to melt. In Combermere, the sound of spring is the sound of running water.

When spring begins, some of the work, especially the mens, begins to change. The rivulets become streams, and since water doesn’t simply of its own accord run into the river, they must direct it and channel it to prevent flooding in our basements.

Ruth Siebenaler plants and tends flowers in the greenhouse, and up at the farm Chris Hanlon does likewise with the lettuce and tomatoes. Ruth and Mary Davis prune the apple trees. Mike Huffman gives a helping hand to the cows giving birth to calves.

In the sugar bush, Fr. Louis Lebrecque and others have tapped the sugar maple trees and are collecting sap to boil down into a treat almost unique to this large area of the world—maple syrup.

It is, of course, also Lent. As I write this in late March, we have already passed the halfway point. In Madonna House we really enter into the season, and much happens to encourage us in our individual journeys of repentance.

For after-lunch spiritual reading we are reading from books that we read just about every Lent: The Lenten Spring by Thomas Hopko, Great Lent, by Alexander Schmemann, and Season of Mercy by Catherine Doherty. We have The Stations of the Cross some Fridays, and Mel Gibson’s film, The Passion of the Christ, has been shown.

This year we seem to be having more retreats than usual. The applicants had a mini-Ignatian retreat given by Helen Hodson, a retreat in which they looked at applicancy so far, the main house had a day of recollection, and St. Mary’s had a three-day retreat. Numerous people have also made individual retreats of varying lengths and kinds—such as Ignatian or with Catherine Doherty’s writings.

As for news, it’s been a rather busy time.

Just before Lent, we had our traditional "Pre-Lent Event," a variety show consisting of various kinds of entertainment, mostly skits, some of them take-offs on MH life. One act, directed by our Hungarian applicant, Aliz Trombitas, was a spoof on a Hungarian opera.

The renovation of our guest dormitory, St. Germaine’s, continues. The carpenters, led by Peter Gravelle, are making a separate room for the furnace and water tank and creating a sitting area for the guests, and Tom White and Paul Mitchell are working on the plumbing there.

Trudy Moesner has completed a music CD of songs she has written over a period of thirty years. Last year she took her holidays near a local recording studio, and over several weeks, with the help of some MH staff and local musicians with whom she often plays, the tracks were recorded.

One Sunday evening, along with some live music by some of the musicians and singers who are on the tape, we listened to this beautiful CD.

This month there were two talks in the Winter Lecture Series, one each by a husband and wife—both college professors. Dr. Charles Kannengiesser spoke on "The Legacy of Pope John Paul II," and Dr. Pamela Bright, on "Pope Benedict XVI and Women."

Several of us have done some traveling. Our three directors general made visitations at two of our houses: MH England and MH Ghana. Mary Catherine Rowland and Cathy Mitchell, former directors of MH Washington, attended the 25th anniversary celebrations of that house. Finally, Fr. Bob Wild gave a retreat to our three eastern American houses—Raleigh, Roanoke, and Washington D.C.

By the time you receive this newspaper, Easter will have come and gone, but these days we are preparing for it. Jocko d’Ursel is baking the koolitch, the traditional Russian Easter bread, and this year, after many years of adapting it to our healthy diet, we are returning to the original way we learned from Catherine. Laurette Patenaude, who baked it in the early days, and others who ate it, are giving Jocko tips on how to do it.

Veronica Dudych, our schola director, Viva LeBlanc, our head sacristan, and, of course, the cooks, are especially busy these days.

Soon Holy Week will be here—and then Easter, the feast of feasts. Following what we were taught by our foundress, Catherine, with as much celebration as we can, not only on Easter but throughout the Easter Season, we will proclaim in song, decoration, food, and every other way we can, that Christ is risen. And we will continue to proclaim it throughout the fifty days of the Easter Season.