When Sister Elizabeth (who was at that time Lieutenant Elizabeth Hillmann) returned from World War II, her post-traumatic stress disorder did not show up right away. It surfaced after she entered the Cenacle, when she was sent to our retreat house in Middletown, Connecticut. There, in order for the sisters to go from one place [...]
Category Archive for 'Fear'
We survived Tropical Storm Fay with only the loss of telephone service for a few days and of one computer during a thunderstorm in Fay’s wake. Now the season is heating up, as Gustav appears to be heading for the Gulf Coast of Louisiana. It seems fitting to print again this prayer, by Maurice Schexnayder [...]
In July of 1944, our Sister Elizabeth (then Lieutenant Elizabeth Hillmann) was on a ship crossing the English Channel. She was headed for Normandy, where in June, the Allied Forces had begun the liberation of France. Although hammocks had been provided below, these were full of bedbugs, with the result that many of [...]
Empty Sky?
Posted in Emptiness, Emptying, Fear on Jan 20th, 2008
The astronomers of centuries past – Ptolemaeus, Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo, not to mention those Persian or Babylonian sky-watchers we call the Magi – would be astonished and awed by what modern science shows us of the cosmos. (If you haven’t done it already, you might want to browse through NASA’s Image Gallery.) What a [...]
The Nun and the Teddy Bear
Posted in Fear on Jan 9th, 2006
One of our sisters, in most ways cheerful and courageous, is terrified of flying. Some people deal with this common fear by taking the train, and others by having a few stiff drinks before boarding. But our sister handles her fear in a more adult fashion — with teddy bears. She carries them on [...]