Virtual Bridegroom's Banquet week is coming!

Next week is banquet week! We encourage you to register for our Virtual Bridegroom's Banquet, Saturday, November 7. In thanksgiving, everyone who registers will be remembered in the Divine Liturgy at the monastery once each month during the coming year. Donations given the day of the event, or before, will be doubled! 

We also invite you to join us for our pre-event activities on our Facebook page. Enjoy!

Mother Gabriella a host on new podcast

 

Mother Gabriella is one of several people from the Cleveland area who take turns hosting a new podcast sponsored by the Diocese of Cleveland Vocation Office, called "Created & Called." The podcast seeks to encourage a culture of vocations through the sharing of stories. Learn more about the joys and struggles of the journey to priesthood, consecrated religious life, marriage, diaconate, and single life from those who have lived it!

Register by Oct. 25 for a small gift from us!

 

We hope you can join us for our Virtual Bridegroom's Banquet on Saturday, November 7! We encourage you to register by Sunday, October 25, so that we can send you a reminder postcard and a small gift! Since we can't be with you in person, we are enjoying sending our love in the mail.

We have also been sending every 20th registrant an additional gift in the mail. We've been having fun sending different gifts, such as chotki or a pack of notecards. Here are the recipients so far:

Suzette from Colorado

Katherine Marie from Ohio

Hope from Florida

Matt, Alyssa & family from Ohio

Angela from Manitoba, Canada

Day of Prayer and Fasting for Priests, Oct. 23

In gratitude for the gift of the priesthood and for all the suffering that priests endure for us, let's increase our prayer and fasting for them! The Evil One launches frequent, powerful attacks upon our priests because they are the visible witnesses and leaders for us, called to draw us to God and to provide for us with the Holy Mysteries (Sacraments). The Devil knows that if they are led away from God's will, the rest of the Body of Christ will fall more easily too. We need to pray and fast for them, supporting them in their struggles to resist these attacks of the Evil One and to grow in holiness. 

Join us for a day of prayer and fasting for priests this Friday, October 23, the feast of St. James the Brother of Our Lord and First Bishop of Jerusalem. The event is organized by AM 1260 The Rock (the Catholic radio station in the Cleveland area). Our chapel is one of the participating locations of prayer. You are welcome to pray in our chapel at any time throughout the day and/or join us for any of our services today (listed below). We also encourage you to join us in praying and fasting at home and at work throughout the day, as well as in the future! In our monastery, we especially pray and fast for priests on Wednesdays and Fridays (as well as for other members of the clergy and those in formation). 

Friday, October 23

Chapel open all day for prayer

Noon: Roman Catholic Mass followed by our prayer for priests (we pray this prayer and read aloud the names of hundreds of clergy and seminarians every Wed. & Fri.)

4:45 p.m.: The Jesus Prayer in silence

5:00 p.m.: Vespers (Evening Prayer)

9:00 p.m.: Compline (Night Prayer)

Chapel waterproofing project complete

We are so grateful for all of the support that made this big project possible! Last month, the entire perimeter of the exterior walls of chapel basement was waterproofed, as well as the connected guest house/poustinia (St. Photina), and the land in front of the chapel was graded for proper water drainage. Here is a link to some photos. The buildings are much drier! Now we can remove the mold in the basement and continue planning the interior renovations of the chapel! 

The project was largely funded by donations from last year's Bridegroom's Banquet, our annual benefit event. Please help us to make our next project (the interior renovations) a reality by participating in our Virtual Bridegroom's Banquet, Nov. 7! This is a great opportunity for your donation to be doubled! Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support. May everything glorify God!

Mother Gabriella to speak at Cleveland Catholic Women's Conference

 

Mother Gabriella is one of three speakers at the Cleveland Catholic Women's Conference this Saturday, October 17. The conference is a live-streamed online event that includes Mass celebrated by the new bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland, talks, interactive small group discussions, and praise & worship. The talks will be available to all who register, even after the day of the event. 

Also, Mother Gabriella was recently interviewed by Brooke Taylor for her podcast, "The Brooke Taylor Show." The interview aired last week on AM 1260 The Rock in the Cleveland area. Anyone can listen to the interview here!

Registration now open for our Virtual Bridegroom's Banquet, Nov. 7!

Dear friends,

Given the craziness of this year, it can bring a bit of serenity to know that some things are continuing ahead like they do every year – though with the typical COVID twist! We are glad to announce that even though we cannot meet in person, we are planning to make our annual Bridegroom’s Banquet a virtual event. We are very sad not to be with you and hug you! But we are with you in spirit, praying for you and holding you in our hearts. Despite the change, we are working hard to maintain many of the same aspects from previous years. The banquet will be held on Nov. 7 as a finale to a week of special virtual activities for everyone on our Facebook page. We invite you to join us as we live-stream Vespers (Evening Prayer) from our chapel and continue the evening with a prerecorded virtual program, including this year’s video, about spiritual fatherhood. We encourage everyone to register beforehand for the event. Everyone who registers before Oct. 25 will receive a small gift from us in the mail, and every 20th person who registers will receive an additional gift from us! Also, everyone who registers will be remembered once a month during Divine Liturgy at the monastery for the coming year. 

The event is absolutely free to all who participate, but we encourage each person to seek to understand what God may desire for him or her to give for the benefit of all those who experience the Bridegroom through our ministry at the monastery.

We continue to be blessed with a matching funds opportunity so that each person’s donation will be doubled, up to a total of $100,000! Those who are unable to attend can still make a donation that will be doubled. Please visit the event page for more information and to register.

Thank you for all of your prayers and support! Know of our frequent prayers for you! 

In the love of the Bridegroom,

Your Nuns

Christ the Bridegroom Monastery