Restoration
Column: Combermere Diary
This column contains articles about current events at the Madonna House training centre in Combermere, Ontario. (Note that the article is often written in the month preceeding the publication date.)
Combermere Diary (February 2010) — by Paulette Curran. "Is it tiring or is it life-giving?" a friend of mine asked. I was telling her on the phone about our Advent. "Both," I said. Advent in a February newspaper? Well, this is a news column and,... (February 12, 2010)
Combermere Diary (January 2010) — by Paulette Curran. As I write this in mid-November, we are continuing to enjoy an unusually mild autumn. But though it doesn’t feel like November, the view from my window confirms that it is. The bright leaves of autumn are... (January 25, 2010)
Combermere Diary (December 2009) — by Paulette Curran. Often when I begin "Combermere Diary," I am confronted with the fact this column is a news article in a newspaper which, though it doesn’t look like it, is factually a magazine. "Newspaper format, magazine content" is... (December 04, 2009)
Combermere Diary (November 2009) — by Paulette Curran. As I write this column, it is still early autumn, but in our part of the world, autumn, unlike spring, moves quickly. It is a beautiful time of year but also a reminder of the long winter... (November 27, 2009)
Combermere Diary (October 2009) — by Paulette Curran. By the time you read this column, the trees outside my window will be ablaze with the reds and golds of autumn. Right now, however, they are richly green. For we are still in summer, though it... (October 22, 2009)
Combermere Diary (September 2009) — by Paulette Curran. As I write this, we are at the peak of summer, and so far, it’s been an unusually cool and wet one. Probably the fact that our summer is so short is part of what makes it... (September 25, 2009)
Combermere Diary (July-August 2009) — by Paulette Curran. June 8, an ordinary day for most people, is for Madonna House one of the most joyous of the year. It is the feast of Our Lady of Combermere and the day some of our staff make... (August 10, 2009)
Combermere Diary (May-June 2009) — by Paulette Curran. The past month has been a much more ordinary one than the one before—thanks be to God. As we told you last month, three of our family died, and we are, of course, still grieving. It is... (May 12, 2009)
Combermere Diary (April 2009) — by Paulette Curran. This past month was a holy one—one which contained suffering and grief but also joy and laughter, extra work and challenges, and profound graces. It was a month which contained three times of dying, three deaths, three... (April 22, 2009)
Combermere Diary (March 2009) — by Paulette Curran. March! In our part of the world, in March, spring, like Easter, is something on the way—not yet arrived but sending signs that it is coming. There’s a change in the quality of light, and days are... (March 20, 2009)
Combermere Diary (February 2009) — by Paulette Curran. "Boots on; boots off. Boots on; boots off." This is the refrain of a song Chris Hanlon wrote to the tune of "Sunrise, Sunset," a song from Fiddler on the Roof. Our song was written a few... (February 23, 2009)
Combermere Diary (January 2009) — by Paulette Curran. By the time you receive this, we and many of you will be well into winter. Right now, however, I am looking out the window at our first snow. It came gently during the night, robing the... (January 30, 2009)
Combermere Diary (December 2008) — by Paulette Curran.One of the hidden works of Madonna House is our prayer and the offering of our daily lives for the whole world. Seems like there is always so much to pray for, especially these days. The economic situation,... (December 12, 2008)
Combermere Diary (November 2008) — by Paulette Curran. As I looked out my office window on this golden autumn day, it struck me how much our Madonna House life is formed and affected by the seasons. Liturgically, of course, autumn is Ordinary Time, a time... (November 29, 2008)
Combermere Diary (October 2008) — by Helen Hodson. As people throughout the world were cheering Michael Phelps on to his eighth gold medal in the Beijing Olympics, we were quietly celebrating some far greater and further reaching events: the glorious feast of the Assumption of... (October 24, 2008)
Combermere Diary (September 2008) — by Helen Hodson. "Conversion to God is always the fruit of the rediscovery of the Father who is rich in mercy." — Pope John Paul II The six weeks of our annual summer program, the theme of which is ‘Preaching... (September 18, 2008)
Combermere Diary (July-August 2008) — by Paulette Curran. Summer is here—even in early June as I write this. All is full, lush, and green, and for now—though this early it will not last long—it is quite hot. Several hardy souls have even ventured into the... (August 19, 2008)
Combermere Diary (May-June 2008) — by Paulette Curran. As I write this, we are in the midst of the Easter Season—listening to the glorious Easter readings and singing the Easter hymns at Mass and enjoying the Easter decorations. We taper down the decorations as time... (June 12, 2008)
Combermere Diary (April 2008) — by Paulette Curran. As I write this column, Lent has just begun. The outward changes this season brings are easily listed: the liturgical purples, the readings at Mass, our beautiful Lenten hymns which we sing over and over, and fewer... (April 18, 2008)
Combermere Diary (March 2008) — by Paulette Curran. In Madonna House, January—barring the unexpected—is the quietest time of year. Our numbers are down, for one thing. Some of our longterm guests always leave after Christmas, and not many new ones come until later in the... (March 12, 2008)
Combermere Diary (February 2008) — by Paulette Curran. Just before the beginning of the new millennium, one of the well-known news magazines gave a kind of overview of the past two thousand years. I was struck by their description, dismissal really, of the whole Middle... (February 01, 2008)
Combermere Diary (January 2008) — by Paulette Curran. Though most of you will be reading this sometime during the Advent-Christmas Season, the news in this column is from an earlier, quieter season. I am writing this on a mild, gray day in November, during a relatively... (January 18, 2008)
Combermere Diary (December 2007) — by Paulette Curran. As I write this column, it is not yet winter, though it’s obvious it’s coming soon. You can feel it in the increasing cold and see it in the trees that are slowly getting bare as the... (December 05, 2007)
Combermere Diary (November 2007) — by Paulette Curran. As I write this, it is early autumn. The days are getting cooler, and the leaves are just beginning to turn their glorious yellows, reds, and oranges. In some ways, autumn is a quieter time than summer.... (November 14, 2007)
Combermere Diary (October 2007) — by Paulette Curran. This summer has certainly been for us a summer of 50th anniversary celebrations.... (October 26, 2007)
Combermere Diary (September 2007) — by Paulette Curran. Summer in Combermere is a very busy time and one filled with much life of every kind. Though it has been cooler than usual so far, there has been lots of rain, and the vegetation, both wild... (September 24, 2007)
Combermere Diary (July-August 2007) — by Paulette Curran. As always at this time of year, we are happy to share with you our joy of June 8th—the day we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Combermere and the day of commitment to God through... (July 02, 2007)
Combermere Diary (May-June 2007) — by Paulette Curran. This month two of our news items ended up being separate articles. Both of them—the hosting of the Ark of the New Covenant and the dying, death, and funeral of Rosemary Hanlon—are beautiful examples of Catholic culture.... (May 03, 2007)
Combermere Diary (April 2007) — by Paulette Curran. Ah, spring! Well, here in Combermere, as I write this, it’s not here yet. But there are a few signs that it is on its way: daylight is remaining a little longer every day, Janine Gobeil has... (April 02, 2007)
Combermere Diary (March 2007) — by Paulette Curran. January in Madonna House is a relatively quiet, uneventful time—a time not unwelcome after the intensity of Advent and Christmastime. It is also a time of natural beauty—a time when snow brightens the grayness of cloudy days... (March 09, 2007)
Combermere Diary (February 2007) — by Paulette Curran. When most of you read this, Lent will not be far away. But I am finishing this column on our first workday after Christmas! I am reminded of how Catherine very soon after Christmas Day would talk... (February 16, 2007)
Combermere Diary (January 2007) — by Paulette Curran. As I write this, it is late November, the gray time between the bright colors of autumn and the sparkling whiteness of winter. In our lives as well, it is an in-between time, a relatively quiet time.... (January 08, 2007)
Combermere Diary (December 2006) — by Paulette Curran. As I write this diary, autumn is still with us, and an unusually mild and wet autumn it has been. Today’s cloudy day is typical. There was only one sunny day last week, and this week the... (December 01, 2006)
Combermere Diary (November 2006) — by Paulette Curran. Our life here is so simple and ordinary, and at the same time, so rich. I wonder if this is always the case when life is centered on God and connected with him. This past month, as... (November 15, 2006)
Combermere Diary (October 2006) — Even though it isn’t here yet, we can feel fall coming. The weather is getting cooler, summer school is over as is Cana, and the harvest is coming in. What a wonderful harvest it is this year! Ideal conditions—lots of... (October 13, 2006)
Combermere Diary (September 2006) — by Paulette Curran. Here at Madonna House, in this tiny corner of rural Ontario, it sometimes seems as if we live in several worlds at once. Right here—within each of us and among us, and through the varied events of... (September 18, 2006)
Combermere Diary (July-August 2006) — by Fr. Denis Lemieux. "God must be happy about something!" So commented one of our members after magnificent ‘full-arc’ rainbows appeared over the Madawaska river here, on two consecutive evenings! "God must be happy..." well, I suppose that God’s happiness... (July 10, 2006)
Combermere Diary (May-June 2006) — by Paulette Curran. Spring comes slowly to this part of the world. And when it is young, it teases. The temperature rises, and the snow begins to melt. Water drips from the roofs and flows in little rivulets everywhere. We... (May 11, 2006)
Combermere Diary (April 2006) — by Paulette Curran. Ah, April! It’s a lovely thought as I look out the window on this day in late February at lots and lots of snow. Though spring is definitely on its way, at this time of year the... (April 26, 2006)
Combermere Diary (March 2006) — by Paulette Curran. In giving us the liturgical year, the Church, in her wisdom, has given us the variety of life itself. When you receive this newspaper, you will be entering the solemn season of Lent, and here am I... (March 06, 2006)
Combermere Diary (February 2006) — by Paulette Curran. When looking over the events of this past month in preparation for writing this column, I was struck by how much our Madonna House life is built around and permeated with the liturgy—both the unchanging essences of... (February 03, 2006)
Combermere Diary (January 2006) — by Paulette Curran. For a while now, winter has been easing in with its colder temperatures and occasional snow flurries, but yesterday—later that we usually do—we had our first real snowfall. Today the air is crispy cold and all around... (January 04, 2006)
Combermere Diary (December 2005) — by Paulette Curran. The leaves are falling, falling, falling, and soon the trees and all the land will take on its brown and gray November look. Without the in-between time of starkness, would the first bright snow bring such delight?... (December 05, 2005)
Combermere Diary (November 2005) — by Paulette Curran. As I look out my window on this early October day, I see an unusual sight for this time of year. Most of the leaves are still green. And if I walked around to the other side... (November 09, 2005)
Combermere Diary (October 2005) — by Paulette Curran. As I write this, it is late summer—a beautiful time of year here. After an unusually hot summer, we are enjoying cooler temperatures—ideal for Sunday afternoon hiking and biking, and usually still warm enough to curl up... (October 05, 2005)
Combermere Diary (September 2005) — by Paulette Curran. “If we ever want to start a business and earn some money,” one of our priests once quipped, “we could hire ourselves out to put on celebrations.” Yes. Both Catherine Doherty and Archbishop Raya really taught us... (September 05, 2005)
Combermere Diary (July-August 2005) — by Paulette Curran. The past two months—the time-frame covered by this Combermere Diary—have been, not only eventful, but rich and full. They began with a major event in the Church—the death of Pope John Paul II—and ended with a major... (July 22, 2005)
Combermere Diary (May-June 2005) — by Paulette Curran. The first day back to our ordinary work schedule after three days off for our Easter celebration, I have just discovered, is not ideal for writing Combermere Diary. Usually I have thought about this column before sitting... (May 09, 2005)
Combermere Diary (April 2005) — by Paulette Curran. By the time you read this, at least those of you who live in the United States and Canada, it will still be early spring in this part of the world. But even now, when it is... (April 11, 2005)
Combermere Diary (March 2005) — by Paulette Curran. The time I am writing this—towards the end of January—is the quietest time of the year for us at Madonna House. For it is a time of fewer visitors and a time between two major liturgical seasons:... (March 08, 2005)
Combermere Diary (February 2005) — by Paulette Curran. One big piece of news is that the carpenters and others have finished the renovation of the main kitchen. So after eight weeks of living with St. Mary’s, our community down the road, we of the main... (February 01, 2005)
Combermere Diary (January 2005) — by Paulette Curran. As I write this, we are just ending the sixth week of our temporary “merging.” Yes, as we said last month, at this time of major renovation of the kitchen of the main house, our two communities—the... (January 01, 2005)
