It's getting to be that time of the year when many young women are looking forward to their entrance day to the monastery or convent. We recently had a request from a mom of such a young woman about to enter the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, who wanted to know more about Shannon's "Bride of Christ Shower". I wrote to Shannon's friend who took care of the details and here is what she wrote. I hope this information will be helpful to someone out there about to enter the monastery.

    "We approached Shannon's 'Bride of Christ shower' the same way we would have any other wedding or baby shower; we asked Shannon what she wanted. Basically, we took it as an opportunity for all the people who love her dearly to gather and show support as she took the next step in her life. By the very nature of her next step, there was also a 'goodbye' tone to the festivities. I think a direct quote from the shower was 'So... I guess we'll catch you on the flip side.'

    Since this was the first time many people got to see Shannon since her big decision, it was also a chance for her to tell her story. The invitations were sent out via evite by Liz (see copy below), and Shannon's family graciously offered up their home for us to use. One personal request Shannon made was for a small wedding cake, which we had, along with all your traditional shower foods.

    We spent time socializing and then gathered as a group to listen to Shannon's story and watch as she opened gifts. Afterwards, one of the girls led us in some praise and worship songs, and we spent more time socializing. We ended the night with a nice cup of hot tea and plenty of hugs. Some of us even received party favors in the form of special 'stuff' Shannon could not take with her to the monastery. In the end, we were all able to show support for Shannon and send her off with everything she needed for her new vocation.

    EVITE: As most of you know, our beloved Shannon has discerned to enter the Passionists up in Whitesville, KY and is leaving very soon! Please make every attempt to be able to join us this Sunday as it may be the last time you will be able to see and speak with Shannon until we all meet again in the Kingdom!Shannon has requested that at (around) 5pm we all head to the perpetual adoration chapel together for a short time of prayer.* The rest of the shower will include praise and worship, tea time, girl talk, and more prayer time! Get excited y'all!!

    Message from Shannon:  Important!: Your presence is desired more than your presents... BUT for those who would like to contribute to the 'getting Shannon ready to go because she is broke fund'...Shannon's needs for entering the monastery: Here they posted the items on Shannon's entrance list.

   I am not going to send this to Shannon, so if you get any of the items above please post it so that it's kind of like a registry account and we can therefore all know what has been bought and what still needs to be gotten.

    Lastly, (phew!!) we all know how much Shannon adores letters, so if you can, please write Shannon a letter to bring to the shower because WE LOVE HER SO MUCH!!

    *Unfortunately, we were unable to attend adoration due to local schedules.