End of 2013 in Alabama

Happy New Year to all my readers!

I closed 2013 at a very peaceful and quiet place, the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama.  Though I left the shrine on December 31st, I spent the last few days of the year in silence and prayer.

I am grateful for the hospitality of the Knights of the Holy Eucharist who are very kind to house all priests who visit the shrine and for the prayerful example of the Poor Clare Nuns who have consecrated their whole lives to Christ and live cloistered in the Our Lady of the Angels Monastery.

The shrine was completed in 1999 after Mother Angelica, founder of Eternal World Television Network (EWTN), decided to abandon the original monastery in Irondale, Alabama which was attached to the television network.  Mother Angelica, who is now bed-ridden, lives at this monastery.  During Sunday Mass I was able to get a glimpse of the community, I counted twelve sisters.  They sat behind a gold-colored grill to the side of the sanctuary dressed in full habits.  Many of them were young.

When the sisters prayed the Divine Office, Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet, I sat hearing their angelic voices rise from behind the screen which separated the church in two.

The Blessed Sacrament is exposed twenty-four hours a day in an enormous monstrance which sits on top of the screen that separates the cloistered sisters from the rest of the world.  Though they live cloistered, we are all made one in Christ whom we adore together at the shrine’s church.

The shrine also has a beautiful medieval castle, a replica of the grotto of Lourdes, a Eucharistic Center, a beautiful nativity scene and many acres of land that can be explored.  I even found some friendly cows (pictured below).

If you’re ever in Birmingham, Alabama, I highly recommend a visit to the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament about one hour north and make sure to attend 7am Mass with the Poor Clare Nuns.

Pictures are mine, all rights reserved