The library always has books to access and various projects and in winter, they are assigned more people to do it. The gift shop, on the other hand, needs fewer people, and those in that department spend the winter getting donations ready for the busy summer season—sorting, cleaning, repairing, and pricing.

For the men, there is winter work. The bush crew chop trees for both firewood and lumber. Other men chop, move and stack the wood and deal with snow removal, a heavier job than usual this year, for we had a record amount of snow plus the ice resulting from two or three subsequent thaws.

Christmastime was beautiful, as it always is, and there is much I could say about it, but you will be receiving this paper in Lent. This year, I am going to center on one aspect our Christmastime: the international flavor of our celebrations.

The fact that they are international is nothing new. Our foundress Catherine wanted us to let all the world into our hearts, and she led us to do so in many ways. In our celebration of Advent and Christmas, this included introducing customs, music, and food from many countries.

Among other things, she asked Kathleen O’Herin, who could sew anything, to dress dolls in costumes from various countries and display them on a large table in the dining room.

And the kitchen made Christmas desserts from many lands.

Most of our customs, we have continued over the years, but one thing has changed, something that would have thrilled Catherine. Now we have people—staff, applicants and guests—from a far greater variety of countries than formerly, and it is they who are bringing to us their own national dishes and traditions. They are telling us how it is done in their families and they are doing it with us.

Applicant Lisa Diniz, who is from India, and guest Naomi Lobo, whose parents are from there, told us how the whole family would gather and make a sweet hors d’oeuvre, kulkuls, for Christmas. A number of us gathered together for a few evenings at a table in the dining room chatting and laughing and shaping the tiny balls of dough.

On another evening, Diana Breeze and Bernadette Gonzales from Winslow. Arizona, led us in making tamales the way Mexican and Mexican-American families do—the whole extended family doing it together.

The kitchen crew and smaller groups of people also baked, and during the twelve days of Christmas, we had desserts from Mexico, England, France, Canada, Scotland, India, Italy, Croatia, and Hungary.

During supper during those 12 days, moreover, people sang Christmas carols and folk songs from their various countries—songs from England, Germany, Korea, Japan, Poland, Ukraine, and French Canada. And Eun Kyoung, who has been studying Korean folk dancing for two years, did a beautiful dance.

Have you ever heard of the pesebre? Well, in Colombia, families don’t just put up a crèche; they put up a whole miniature village with it. Everyone in the family makes something for it, and every year they add to it, getting rid of at least some of what they had before when it gets too big.

Throughout the year staff worker Hugo Isaza saves out from our donations little figures of people and animals and anything else that can be used, and during Advent people make miniature buildings and furniture out of plastic, styrofoam, wood, or whatever we have. Additions this year included a bull ring, a mariachi band, and a waterfall.

The Koreans have brought the very beautiful New Year’s bowing ceremony—an adaptation of the bowing to the ancestors, parents, and elders.

Wearing customary dress, two staff (Singaporean and Korean), one applicant (Vietnamese-American), and four guests (three Korean and one Japanese), explained the ceremony to us, telling us how it is done in each of their countries.

Then they bowed to the ground first to the directors general, and then to the local directors, to representatives of our priests, and to representatives of elders of the community.

In return each of these directors and elders ceremoniously gave to each of them blessings, small gifts, oranges, or "words." In our MH adaptation, not surprisingly, these "words" included words from Scripture.

The ceremony was very moving and not a few of us were moved to tears.

This is such a rich addition to our already lovely celebration of New Year’s, which includes a holy hour just before midnight, a holy hour during which we pray for every nation on earth by name.

On Epiphany, the center of our celebration was a Byzantine liturgy, which ended with a blessing of the four corners of the earth and of all the waters of the earth.

Now we are back in Ordinary Time, a very short Ordinary Time, and soon it will be Lent.

What other news is there? Well, Helen Hodson is in Vancouver for a month giving a number of Ignatian retreats.

As part of the winter lecture series for the local people, staff worker Miriam Stulberg, who spent a number of years in MH Magadan in Russia, spoke about life in post-Soviet Russia, mainly telling us about the struggles of two very close friends of hers, a faith-filled Moscow couple.

She also spoke about their spiritual father, Fr. Alexander Men, a Russian Orthodox spiritual leader, who was instrumental in not only their conversion and formation but also that of numerous others.

Lastly, a number of us have suffered the loss of close family members over the recent past—mostly brothers and sisters.

May the rest of Lent and Holy Week be a time of deep grace for each of you, and may the Risen Lord grant you a joyous Easter.