The Birth of Mary

Happy Birthday!

On September 8th, The Birth of Mary, the Sisters of the Precious Blood, O'Fallon. MO celebrate the birth of their congregation. May God richly bless them.

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 10:44 PM link

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Sr. Joni's Solemn Profession

Sr. Marie Cecile Gunelson, CPPS, Formation Director; Sr. Joni Belford, CPPS; and Sr. Susan Borgel, CPPS, General Superior.

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 11:28 AM link

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Solemn Consecration of the Professed

Father in heaven,
our desire to serve you is itself your gift
and our perseverance needs your guiding hand.
How right it is that we should sing your praise.

With boundless love
You created the human family
through your Word, in the Holy Spirit,
and lifted it up into communion with yourself;
you make the human family your bride
radiant with your own likeness,
adorned with the gifts of everlasting life.

When your bride, deceived by the evil one,
broke faith with you, you did not abandon her.
With everlasting love you renewed with your servant Noah
the covenant you made with Adam.
In the fullness of time
you raised up the Holy Virgin from the stock of Jesse.
The Holy Spirit was to come upon her,
and your power was to overshadow her,
making her the Immaculate Mother of the world’s Redeemer.

He became poor, humble, obedient,
the source and pattern of all holiness.
He formed the Church into his bride,
loving it with love so great
that he gave himself up for it
and sanctified it in his blood.

Father, in your loving wisdom
you have singled out many of your daughters
to be disciples espoused to Christ
and to receive the honor of his love.
Holy Church shines with their rich variety,
a bride adorned with jewels,
a queen robed in grace,
a mother rejoicing in her children.

Father we earnestly pray you:
send the fire of your Holy Spirit
into the heart of your daughter
to keep alive within her
the holy desire he has given her.

Lord, may the glory of baptism and holiness of life
shine in her heart.
Strengthen by the vows of her consecration,
may she always be one with you
in loving fidelity to Christ, her only Bridegroom.
May she cherish the Church as her mother
and love the whole world as God’s creation,
teaching all people to look forward in joy and hope
to the good things of heaven.

Lord, holy Father,
guide the steps of your servant
and guard her on her pilgrimage through life.
When she comes at last to the throne of Christ the King
may she not fear him as her judge,
but hear the voice of her Bridegroom
lovingly inviting her to the wedding feast of heaven.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 11:26 AM link

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Art in the Service
of Preaching the Word

More than 300 hours of labor for the glory of God and the spread of the Gospel: Members of the Ecclesiastical Art Department of the Sisters of the Precious Blood in O’Fallon, MO gathered with me the first time I wore the new stole they had created for ministry of preaching Precious Blood Missions. Sr. Viola Marie Spire, CPPS did the Satin Stitch. Sr. Mary Cecile Gunelson, CPPS did the art work and some of the stitching. Sr. Isabelle Walsh, CPPS did the hand embroidery. Sr. Alice Regine Zipfel, CPPS is the seamstress. Sr. Josepha Bauer did the chain stitch.

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 11:22 AM link

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Congratulations to
Sr. Joni Belford, C.PP.S.!

Sr. Joni makes her final vows today. Sr. Joni is a member of the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood of O’Fallon, MO. She has very graciously invited me to preside at the Holy Mass where she will make her solemn profession of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience. Sr. Susan Borgel, C.PP.S, the Superior of the Congregation will receive her vows.

Sr. Joni serves as the Executive Director of the Precious Blood Leadership Conference (PBLC) and has been quite active in the collaborative endeavors of the seven congregations dedicated to the Precious Blood. I have been privileged to work with her on the Human Rights Initiative (HRI) of the PBLC. The HRI committee is currently working to hold four conferences around the country in the next year on Racism.

Sr. Joni addressing the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, Cincinnati Province, at their May 2002 Assembly

Sr. Joni checks this blog from time to time, so leave your greetings for her in the “Conversations.”

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 7:27 AM link

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Devoted Art

The Ecclesiastical Arts Department of the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood in O’Fallon, MO is a group of very talented and dedicated women. Simply to be present in this convent is to be surrounded and immersed in the visual arts dedicated to the extravagant and immeasurably generous love of Jesus experienced in his Most Precious Blood. Sitting in the chapel last evening surrounded by all this glorious art and listening to the sisters chant vespers was a delight that lifts the hear in prayer more surely than anything else.

The hand embroidery in their stoles, chasubles and paraments is absolutely beautiful. Last year I saw the detail in the stole they had made for the Holy Father on his visit to St. Louis in 1999. I was able to see firsthand the detail of the saints being hand embroidered into a stole for one of their clients. I asked if they had ever done a stole or chasuble or banner with their own foundress, or any of the founders of the Precious Blood Congregation. They had not. No one had ever asked for that before. So I asked.

I ordered two stoles, one in white and the other in purple. Each stole would have the same design: On one side would be an image of the Lamb, the Cup and the Cross, images central to our Precious Blood Spirituality. The other side would have images of St. Gaspar del Bufalo, the Founder of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, Blessed (soon to be Saint) Maria de Mattias, foundress of the Sisters Adorers of the Blood of Christ, Francis de Sales Brunner who founded the CPPS Community in America, and Theresa Weber, who founded the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood (O'Fallon) in Switzerland on September 8, 1845.

On this journey to O’Fallon, they had the stoles I ordered ready and Sr. Joni has asked me to wear one of them for her Final Profession ceremony being held today. Hopefully I will get a picture later today of the Stole with the vestments along with Sr. Joni and all the CPPS sisters who put nearly 300 hours of labor into these stoles.

I plan to use these stoles in my mission preaching in the coming year and in the years to come.


The Sisters also have another more famous customer.

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 7:19 AM link

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