We begin the liturgical season of Lent on Ash Wednesday. In many languages the name given to this sacred season expresses the number forty, such as Quadragesima in Latin. The English word Lent meaning "the Spring-fast" is derived from the ancient Anglo-Saxon words lencten, meaning "Spring," and lenctentid, which means not only "Springtide" but more specifically the month of March.

The number 40 has tremendous significance in Judaism. The two Old Testament prophets who were permitted to approach God, Moses and Elijah, had to first prepare for forty days. During the Exodus from Egypt, the Hebrew people wandered for forty years in the desert before arriving in the Promised Land. On the First Sunday of Lent the Gospel of St. Mark recounts Jesus' forty day fast in the desert.

Read more about the Season and Liturgy of Lent.

On January 4, 2025, Saturday of Christmastide, postulant Mary Margaret White was clothed in the monastic habit and veil and was given the name Sister Bernadette. Father Ezekiel Lotz, OSB, our Chaplain-in-residence, was the main celebrant and homilist at the Mass, with Mary's brother, Father Thomas White, LC, concelebrating. Mary's parents Bill and Denise and her 10 siblings traveled to Shaw Island from many parts of the country to share this joyful celebration with their their oldest sister. Friends and Oblates of the monastery from Portland, Seattle, the northern parishes of Ferndale and Lynden, and the San Juan Islands joined the monastic community for Mass, lunch and celebration at the Shaw Island Community Building, followed by the Clothing Ceremony.

Read about Sister Bernadette and her Clothing Ceremony.
See a gallery of the Ceremony and Celebration.