Trip to Pennsylvania, Part 1 of 2

Our Summer of Driving continued earlier this month, as Holly and I traveled to Bethlehem to share in the celebration of my Aunt Loretta's 60th Jubilee (the anniversary of when she entered the convent).  With everything else going on, it was purposefully a short trip.

We got in late Saturday afternoon and stayed with Aunt Barb. The mass was held in the chapel at Monocacy, and the reception next door. There was such a large crowd that many were seated in the overflow room, viewing the service via Skype. (Keep in mind that this is basically a retirement home for nuns, who are more technically advanced than one might initially suspect!)

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I haven't been to a Catholic mass in years, and this was Holly's first time.

My beautiful girl

There was a candlelighting ceremony, and the celebrants renewed their vows.

Things have changed for the nuns since I was a girl.  I well remember the full habit Sr. Dorothea (as she was known back then) used to wear.  As time went on, the dressing relaxed to wearing just a habit in public, to now wearing regular street clothes. Even for the ceremony, the sisters had freedom in what to wear (as shown in the head coverings--or not--in the photo above).

Sr. Loretta

The reception hall was beautifully decorated, and the food was quite amazing. There was a salad bar (that Holly and I never managed to visit), and three long tables set up with delicious food.  There was also an entire dessert table with kiffles (not as good as our family's!!), different cookies, and at least two different cakes.

(Notice I managed to find one with a lot of frosting.  I know some don't care for it, so I made a mighty sacrifice.)

The was a running Power Point presentation spanning the years of the celebrants' lives.  .  (Remember, I said these nuns were tech-savvy.)  I stood by and took pictures of each of Sr. Loretta's.

About 180 people shared in the celebration.  Since my sister had been there ten years ago, I knew to look for Willie, my grandma's mailman from (at least) the 1970s.  Willie's sister entered the convent with Sr. Loretta 60 years ago; the friendship goes back a long time.  Lori and I well remember Willie coming to deliver the mail, being invited to sit down and have lemonade, visiting as we all gently rocked in the porch swing.

We were rather lax about organizing photos, although we managed to get in a few.

Holly, Uncle Joe, Aunt Loretta, Aunt Barb, me

It was a lovely and special celebration, and I'm so thankful that we were able to share in it with this side of my family.