Christmas in the convent

Sister Rejane  
Hello, I am Sister Rejane Cytacki, doing a podcast from Leavenworth, Kansas. And this is a special Christmas in the Convent: Mishaps and Memories. And I'm here with the sister I live with.

Sister Pat  
I am Pat Johanssen. And I am happy to be talking about memories and mishaps of Christmas in the convent.

Sister Rejane  
Yes. And for our listeners, you know, I have only been a sister for 17 years. But Pat, how long have you been a sister?

Sister Pat  
52 years.

Sister Rejane  
Okay, so we've got a lot of lived memories. And there's some good ones and funny ones. And I think we should start with Denver, Pat, what do you think? You and I both have stories from Denver. So I am going to let you start with probably your most memorable and a definite mishap of Christmas in the convent in Denver.

Sister Pat  
Yes. Well, my dad had died in August. And so when we were starting to plan Christmas, I think that people were kind of deferring to me because they felt sorry for me with it being my first Christmas after my dad died. And so I suggested that we have a Christmas goose. I have no idea where this came from. It was not a family tradition.

Sister Rejane  
Did you read about it in a cookbook?

Sister Pat  
I had read about it in the newspaper. There was an article saying how to cook goose and I thought it was going to be a great idea. So one of the sisters said she would make baked potatoes because she was a little nervous about how greasy a goose would be. Somebody else said they'd make a green bean casserole. Somebody else said that they would make a cranberry salad. Well, I followed the directions from the recipe that said to open the oven every hour and pour a cup of boiling water over the goose.

Sister Rejane  
That doesn’t sound like a good idea to me.

Sister Pat  
Well, because I believe the newspaper, I did it. And then the other thing that happened was the sister who was supposed to be doing the baked potatoes forgot that she was doing baked potatoes. So at the last minute she came running in and did Stovetop dressing. The sister who was supposed to do the green bean casserole, I guess just didn't have time, because she was supposed to be working on -- one of our sisters had died and she was working on the memorial service. And it had a few problems with the bishop. So she had to redo it a couple of times. So she had no time to make the green bean casserole. So she just opened a can of green beans.

Sister Rejane  
Well, and correct me if I'm wrong, but on this particular night you're celebrating it actually was the memorial, wasn't it? For this sister?

Sister Pat  
Yes, it was. So our plan was that we would eat ahead of time, go to the memorial, come back, have dessert and gifts. Well, when I took the goose out, it was absolutely not done.

Sister Rejane  
Because you were opening the oven door every hour.

Sister Pat  
Because I was opening the oven every hour. Yes. And so we put the goose back in the oven and they said, "Well, when we come back after the memorial, we'll eat goose and dessert."

Sister Rejane  
Because you really didn't have any of the sides, right?

Sister Pat  
Well, we ate the sides before we went. We a little Stovetop stuffing, a roll, and some salad.

Sister Rejane  
And some green beans from a can?

Sister Pat  
And a can of green beans. So then we came back after the memorial, cut into the goose. It was as tough as shoe leather.

Sister Rejane  
Oh, geez.

Sister Pat  
And then several sisters who did not live in our house came down to the house. So we felt we couldn't do gifts. So we just ate the tough goose and the dessert. I don't remember the dessert, but I think it was a decent dessert. One of our sisters was just laughing and said, "You know, most of the time we don't even remember what Christmas was like. This is a Christmas we'll never forget." And obviously, I haven't forgotten it.

Sister Rejane  
So at least you all took it in stride had a great sense of humor, and it was definitely a memorable mishap.

Sister Pat  
Yes, it was.

Sister Rejane  
Oh my gosh. So you weren't celebrating on the actual day of Christmas? Correct? When was the celebration?

Sister Pat  
It was a Friday night sometime before Christmas. We very seldom could celebrate on the day of holidays, because there were two of us in the house who worked at mounts at Mount St. Vincent's Home. And we had to be with children for the holidays.

Sister Rejane  
Okay, and just briefly: Mount St. Vincent Home -- can you describe that, just briefly?

Sister Pat  
Mount St. Vincent Home had been an orphanage at the time that I worked there. It was a residential treatment facility for emotionally disturbed and neglected children.

Sister Rejane  
Okay. And since they didn't necessarily have families to go home to on the holidays, you as sisters would be working on that day, correct?

Sister Pat  
Yes.

Sister Rejane  
So then the convent Christmas celebration is scheduled at a different date.

Sister Pat  
Yes.

Sister Rejane  
Oh, my goodness. Yes. I love your story. And I can only imagine the goose that is as tough as shoe leather. So my time in Denver, I was three years in the community. And I was living with sisters who also worked at Mount Saint Vincent's Home. At that time, it wasn't an orphanage, but it still was a residential care facility for emotionally disturbed youth. And the three sisters I moved in with were joking around with one of the sisters saying, "Are you bringing Leon down for Christmas?" And I had no idea. So all of a sudden, this music box comes out of the attic. It has the word Noel on it. And I'm like, "Why are you calling it Leon?" She winds it up. And the music box goes the wrong way. So you end up reading Leon instead of Noel. So it was it was kind of a house joke that it was time to bring Leon out. And we had some issues. This house was actually owned by Mount St. Vincent Home. And it's the same home that Pat is referring to in her Christmas story. And so the kitchen linoleum was really bubbled and warped, and you remember that, don't you, Pat?

Sister Pat

Yes, I do.

Sister Rejane

Yeah. And so we asked the home to come in and do it. And you know, oftentimes, it's the maintenance workers from the organization that are doing it. So Christmastime is a lighter load. So my first Christmas there, the whole kitchen is torn up. And I remember going out to eat to an Italian restaurant. And then we were all dressed in our Christmas finest. And they had a nice swag around an archway. And so it made a wonderful Christmas photo. And we just took it in stride. You just have to be open and flexible sometimes with Christmas. And that was not my only experience of having house construction. When I moved to Kansas, our landlords wanted to do a DIY project with putting vinyl flooring throughout the house and pulling up the carpet. And they said, "The only time I have is Christmas." So we had to move into the motherhouse. And we celebrated the motherhouse sisters in the dining room, which was very memorable for me. But I've certainly learned you have to have some flexibility and openness. And Christmas is not always what you think, that's for sure. And then I think the other thing, Pat, is when you brought up, you couldn't celebrate on the day. You know, when you are in a ministry where people are working, it makes it difficult. Don't you have another story that you didn't celebrate Christmas till a long time after Christmas?

Sister Pat  
Oh, I lived in a house. It was a large house. Now I came from a house of four people in Montana to a house of like 10 or 12 people in Kansas City, Missouri. And we had somebody who worked in a diocesan office, we had three sisters who were involved in parish ministry -- actually, four sisters involved in parish ministry. And then some of us worked in the school. And of course, the parish ministers had to do parish things. And so when we sat down to try and find out a date for Christmas, the first date that we could find was in February. We celebrated Christmas in February.

Sister Rejane  
Yes. And I've lived in a house like that, too. Again, with people working on Christmastime, especially, you know, all those people who work in parishes. Whether they're liturgical ministers, music ministers, or pastoral associates. It's a busy time. So you do have to be flexible. I think that's the name of the game. So, Pat, we'd be remiss if we didn't tell our audience what you and I have been up to with Christmas and Christmas preparations. And so you and I have been together now two years. And one thing you and I have a love for is decorating, inside and outside. And so, you know, I was gone over the Thanksgiving period, but I came home -- and you've got to tell everybody what you did that was a nice surprise when I came home.

Sister Pat  
Okay, well, the first thing was, when we were listening to the weather forecast, they were predicting that it was going to get very cold. And I have these candy canes that you have to poke in the ground and plug in and they light up and they're next to our sidewalk next to our sidewalk to light our sidewalk. And I thought, "If the ground freezes, I'm not going to be able to get these in the ground. I better put them in after this gentle rain and the ground is soft to put them in the ground." So I put the candy canes in the ground. Then the other thing is we have a rusted milk can on our porch. It's just a rustic thing that's real nice. And so I found a rustic banner that says joy and it has some little pine cones and holly berries and stuff on it. So I hung it on our apple picker in the milk can and then put more branches -- they're artificial branches -- but pine branches around it. And put lots of little, tiny lights that fade in and out. They're tiny, tiny little things. It's really pretty.

Sister Rejane  
Yeah, LEDs.

Sister Pat  
And then we have in the sun porch, we hung the wreath inside, and it's also lighted. And then this was a gift from my sister and brother-in-law when I lived in Montana, and it's show lights, and most people shine them on their house. And they flicker green and red. But my sister and brother-in-law discovered that if you shine them toward trees, it looks like you've put tiny lights all over the trees. And we have a weeping white mulberry bush in our front yard.

Sister Rejane  
Well, it's actually a tree. It's pretty big.

Sister Pat  
Yes, it's a tree. And so it looks like we've decorated it with flickering red and green lights. It's really fun to do the show lights. So that was what I did outside and then I thought, "Oh, I can't do Christmas inside. We'll have to do Advent." So we our prayer table we did with Advent, and it has little lights, too and a really bright, colorful cloth with purple and blue and yellow. It's just like, kind of a joyful cloth. And then the table -- it has lights and blue placemats and a row of pinecones and pine branches -- they're not real, but they look pretty real -- down the middle of the table. So Advent is in our dining room and living room.

Sister Rejane  
Yes, yes. It was a treat. One thing you and I love is driving around and looking at Christmas lights. One of my memories of when I first came to community -- you know, usually my family will set up Christmas outside right around Thanksgiving. And so that's why it was a nice surprise to come home to it. But when I first entered, a lot of sisters say "No, no, no, not until about December 16th, 17th, when you're in the O Antiphons -- you know, the nine days before Christmas, that's when you should decorate." Right? And I was always a little disappointed, because I didn't want to wait. So you and I -- when it comes to that anticipation, we were very good inside the house. But outside we're ready to roll. And, and so. But I understand why people will wait. And then you can tell people that are staying true to the liturgical calendar, right? They don't take down their decorations till the Baptism of Jesus. I think that's it, isn't it? The Baptism of Jesus?

Sister Pat  
Yes.

Sister Rejane  
Mm-hmm. Where most people take them down December 26. So, yeah. And this year, and the last two years, Pat, you've worked on Christmas. Why don't you tell the people what you're doing?

Sister Pat  
Yes, I work at the homeless shelter here in Leavenworth. Interfaith Community of Hope is its name. We share the holidays, we all take a holiday or two. And so many of the people have families or grandchildren or something and really don't want to work on Christmas. So I have said that I would do it. But I truly believe that Christmas is not just one day, that it's important to prepare for it so that you don't have people who are down in the dumps on Christmas Day. So last year, I did Christmas traditions, and we drove around and looked at lights. I did all kinds of activities with the guests before Christmas, and then on Christmas, planned activities like word searches and hidden pictures, and all kinds of things. And they got gift cards for them. So you know, they kind of earned their gifts, but they didn't mind. And we really did give them a gift, too, that they didn't have to earn. But then this year, our executive director asked me if I would do Christmas again. And I said yes, but I'll have six times. So what I'm working on is having music, literature and art.

Sister Rejane  
And these six times are prior to Christmas, right? So you're doing like six evenings, right?

Sister Pat  
Six evenings. Yes. And so the first one was just this past Thursday, and we made decorations for the Christmas tree. And they all chose to paint ornaments that I had bought. I thought that maybe they wouldn't want to paint the ornaments. But they did them. They made icicles, they made sequined balls. We listened to music, we guessed Christmas carols. And I read them a story -- I actually read them the Elves and the Shoemaker. And they got the message and the point of that: that Christmas is not just receiving, but it's also giving.

Sister Rejane  
And also the joy. You know, I was there with you. And I was singing along with some of those guess the song things, and they were singing with me. I wasn't sure -- I was waiting for someone to be like, "Oh, no, stop singing," but no, they were in the spirit.

Sister Pat  
Yeah. And, and I do think it helps them to be doing things. Our next activity will be decorating the day center where they stay all day, and a little bit of decorating outside and finishing the decorations. And then they asked when we're going to make a gingerbread house and a gingerbread Christmas truck. Now actually, they're pre made, all we have to do is put them together. But they're really excited about doing that. So those will be our table decorations. So it’s just a matter of continuing to find activities that they can do. And part of the reason for this is usually they're outside from 3pm until 9pm, and with the weather getting cold, we're trying to keep them indoors with activities from five to nine. Sure.

Sister Rejane  
I think what you do is such a wonderful ministry and Pat, we can certainly tell you're a teacher with your activities. And for audience, when I missed part of her lesson, one of her activities, as we're listening to songs, Pat shouts out, "Is that religious or secular?" They knew what it was -- like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, that's secular. I'm like, "Pat, what are you doing?" [laughter] It was cute. It was cute. You've got your teachable moments in there. And just for our audience -- on Christmas Day, the beauty of communities can be blended. I'll spend the morning with my family, my parents who live nearby, while Pat's working at the shelter, and then we'll rendezvous with other sisters later in the evening, and we'll have a meal together. So the 20, 30 of us that live in Leavenworth, but not the motherhouse. To me, that's one of the best ways of celebrating -- not so much the gifts but just being together and celebrating each other around the table.

Sister Pat  
Rejane, do we have time for one more mishap?

Sister Rejane  
Yes.

Sister Pat  
It isn't exactly a convent mishap, but --

Sister Rejane  
This is your last one, Pat. Go for it!

Sister Pat  
Okay. So when I worked at the home, most of the time, we tried to get the children with someone for the holidays. And for Thanksgiving, I had one little boy that we could not find anybody to send him with. And he was really quite down about it. And I said, "Well, this is wonderful. Usually there are 12 of you that I do things with, but this time you get to be an only child." And so he really bought into that. And I said, "Now, we're going to go to McDonald's" -- this was on Thanksgiving -- "and then we're going to go to a movie." And he picked Mighty Ducks.

Sister Rejane  
Well, isn't that your favorite movie?

Sister Pat  
Oh, my goodness. [laughter] So anyway, we went to McDonald's, we went to Arby's, we went to Burger King. Nothing was open.

Sister Rejane  
This had to be several years ago, because now they're open. I can vouch for Christmas Eve McDonald's dinner, but that's another story. Keep going.

Sister Pat  
Okay, so I said to him, "Well, Larry, we're just going to have to find something to eat at the movie theater. You can pick whatever you want." And he looked at the menu, and he picked licorice and Coke.

Sister Rejane  
That sounds so gross. [laughter]

Sister Pat  
And I said, "Well, nobody know needs to know that I let you have licorice and Coke for lunch." Of course, he went home and told everybody. Then we had a repeat performance at Christmas. It was another little boy. He was the only one who couldn't go. And he said, "I don't care. Because I'm going to get to be an only child just like Larry got to be!" So I had Jose. By this time, I knew there was no food. So I said, "Well, Jose we'll find something at the movie theater because they have hot dogs and stuff." And he said, "Oh no, I'm going to have licorice and Coke." So that that was kind of the mishap of trying to entertain children.

Sister Rejane  
And what movie did he pick?

Sister Pat  
Mighty Ducks.

Sister Rejane  
Oh, yes. Oh, I bet you could quote from that movie.

Sister Pat  
Oh my gosh. Mighty Ducks.

Sister Rejane  
Oh, Mighty Ducks. Oh, that's a great story, Pat, but at the same time, you know, it does warm my heart that you were able to make it a special time for them because I know you would never let them have licorice and Coke on a regular school day.

Sister Pat

Oh, no. Oh, no.

Sister Rejane

Oh, no. Well, thank you, audience for being with us. And we hope you have a blessed Christmas and make some more memories and mishaps of your own. God bless.

Sister Pat  
God bless.

Sister Rejane  
Bye. Dear listener, this Christmas in the Convent podcast is a production of A Nun's Life Ministry. And if you are left wondering, what is an apple picker/ It is a handheld extendable pole with a basket on one end, used to pick fruit off the tree. Well, from everyone at A Nun's Life, we wish you a Merry Christmas and look forward to the new year. This program is made possible through the grace of God and the support of our sponsors of A Nun's Life Ministry, and you, our listeners. Don't forget to call us and leave a message. Tell us what you like, ask a question, or just say hi. Call 913-214-6087. And visit us at anunslife.org. God bless.

This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.