Greeting the New Year of 2013



Roman Missal Page Decoration

Created by Brother Max Schmalzl, CSsR

1850 - 1930

HAPPY and BLESSED

NEW YEAR to ALL

on this

Solemnity of the Mother of God

 

 

Illustrations of the various titles for Jesus (Root of Jesse, Morning Star, Key of David, Alpha and Omega) adorn the corners of this piece so rich in detail and buzzing with activity. Some of your image will be blocked but this had to be enlarged as much as possible to show the detail. Fortunately the great work of this modest German Redemptorist Brother is enjoying a renaissance.

 

 

Some changes are coming to this blog with the arrvial of the New Year. Stay tuned!



Redemptoristine Contemplative Christmas

We hope you enjoy a tour of our home all decked out for Christmas. As decorations appeared we all thought, "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas." It was great to be able to say that even though this is not really our home.

Enjoy the slide show and be sure to turn on your speakers.

This free photo slideshow customized with Smilebox

Welcoming the
Christ Child
into our
Fractured World

Most of the people I know - people who genuinely wish to spiritually welcome the newborn Jesus into their lives at Christmas - find themselves struggling to go to a place within, a place free of the demands, the craziness, the media assault, and the violence around us.

 

This poem written by the monk Thomas Merton over 50 years ago offers all of us some encouragement and comfort.

An Advent Song

Into this world, this demented inn,
in which there is absolutely no room
for Him. Christ has come uninvited.

He comes...
to the crisis before breakfast
the unexpected at dinner
in between the cranky toddler
and the exasperating senior citizen

when fatigue blights our day
worry disturbs our night
disappointment saps our strength
defeat destroys our hope...

into this demented inn
Jesus comes
and though uninvited..
stays.

Do check out our new

community website

RedNuns.org

Redemptoristine Nuns

of New York

Announce Their New

Website

at

RedNuns.org

 

 

In 2008 our contemplative monastic community lauched its first website. It was a home grown effort. Last year we began to dream of a new site , one with some bells and whistles, that we allow us to more effectively communicate who we are, our role in the Church, and the goal of our charism which is to become "Living Memories" of Jesus, our Redeemer.

 

 

The new site offers all of the things you are used to plus slide shows, a blog to which you can subscribe, a reading room for access to PDF documents of talks and articles by Redemptoristines as well as translations of the writings of Maria Celeste, and on-line comments option and vocation questionnaire.

 

 

Please visit the site, explore it and linger there.



Dioramas in Miniature

Independence Hall, Philadelphia, PA - 1.25 inches across
Matthew Pleva

Heidi Abrams and Matthew Pleva
 

Artist Genes

Prevail

From

Grandmother
 
to Grandson


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My mother Matilda Nimke is an artist. As a teen in    the 1940s she opted to attend a special commercial high school in Manhattan, the School of Industrial Arts. The program was designed to train artists and craftspeople whose skills would be an important resource for the businesses on 7th Avenue, the garment district of New York. My mother, inspired by her aunt and many friends who worked for designers, chose to pursue fashion design. By 1947 she was the mother of two and that dream faded away. Beginning in the 1963 Mom began painting again and taking classes, especially at the Brooklyn Museum.

Here are some of my mother's paintings. She discovered her gift for watercolor, much to our delight. Today Mom has put the paint brushes aside. I used to tell her to "clean less and paint more". Fortunately she did paint more. Her grandchildren and great-grandchildren will all eventually enjoy looking at her work in their own homes.

In turn I have dabbled here and there. A bit of drawing and painting was overwhelmed by work in the needle arts. Mom exposed us early to all kinds of art and craft media as well as needlework. Many family members worked in the garment industry; all the women sewed; many did knitting and crocheting of the most elaborate kind.

 

Now it is my son Matthew (the middle one) who is making his way through the art world with more training than his grandmother or mother every had (BFA - SUNY Purchase). He also has much more imagination than most people. Here is a Photobucket Slide Show  of his most recent gallery show at the Art Riot, the establishment that he and his lovely lady Heidi Abrams (and greatest support) have created on John Street, uptown Kingston, NY.

 

Scenes of Kingston
 top - home
middle - Old Dutch Church
foreground - Henry Hudson's Half Moon