The weekend of 10th and 11th June, was a special and happy occasion for us in Churchtown.
A girl from Antrim, called Grace Mc Cann, had expressed the wish to visit our convent and have a talk with Una. Grace knew Sr. Carmel well and had already visited our convent on a few occasions, so she was no stranger to us. Thuy Linh and Hieu Thao from Lucan, also joined us that weekend. Between the three of them and our young Vietnamese Sisters, Thuy and Hai, the youthful, vibrant atmosphere in the house was infectious
Thuy Linh had prepared a suitable Evening Prayer, which was followed by a power point presentation of our missions. Hieu Thao also showed us slides of her recent Final Profession. Knowing quite a few sisters on the slides made them more interesting and enjoyable. The presentations also gave Grace a good insight into another side of our missionary life. We were only sorry that Aljsha, a Polish girl, interested in Religious Life, had been unable to come, that weekend. She would surely have been impressed by the variety of works undertaken by our sisters in other lands and their obvious joy in their missions.
On Sunday, it was the older sisters turn to be heard and seen. Regina had decided to celebrate her 80th birthday, before we went into Retreat the following day. She was still three days shy of the big day and was holding on for dear life to the few days left! The cooks had made and decorated a sponge cake and put eight little candles on it, each one representing ten years of Regina’s Religious Life. The sun came out in all its glory to crown the happy day. There was laughter and song , before our visitors left us at last, after a hearty dinner. We promised ourselves more such weekends, because we all felt renewed and rejuvenated by the experience.