Many of you have asked after Ladybug, our newest community member and official Feline-in-Residence. She’s really appreciated your interest in her welfare and recently expressed the desire to reach out a paw to the members of her growing fan club.
Here is her response to those of you who’ve asked how she’s doing.
Note: her comments have been transcribed and translated by one of her Poor Clare sisters.
Ladybug napping on her favorite pillow
I am doing well. I’ve been in the monastery for six months now and feel very much at home here.
My training program is ongoing. I’m proud to say that I can see real progress, although some of the sisters will need remedial classes. A few still don’t fully understand the feline mind, despite my patient efforts to educate them. I’m not giving up, though; in time, I hope that every sister will be feline literate, or at least Ladybug literate, which is what matters most.
Like St. Clare, I really value community. I’m not a hermit, and although I love books, I don’t want to be stuck in my room (a.k.a. the library) all day, away from my sisters. I want to be with them as much as possible. I like roaming the hallways to see who’s doing what and to make sure that everyone is accounted for. I have learned the sisters’ prayer schedule and plan my nap times around it.
Ladybug taking a break from Jedin’s History of the Church
My favorite things include:
- A yellow string
- My pillow by the window
- Hubert Jedin’s 10-volume History of the Church
- Spending time in the cloister’s inner courtyard
- Being brushed while I eat my kibble
- Watching birds
- Hopping into sisters’ laps when they least expect it
- Breakfast, dinner, and supper
Like all Franciscans, I am very keen to protect our Mother Earth, and I support the sisters’ efforts to be good stewards of our natural resources. I do try to live sustainably, and I make every effort to reduce my carbon pawprint. For example, I am a pollo-pescetarian; I don’t eat red meat. In fact, I turn up my nose at it and refuse to eat it. I also do everything I can to avoid traveling by car and prefer not to venture outside the cloister. In addition, I only use natural, compostable litter. And I closely monitor my energy usage throughout the day and take naps when appropriate.
I thank you all for your good wishes and warm (virtual) welcome. Perhaps we will have the opportunity to meet sometime, although you should know that I take the vow of enclosure very seriously and rarely stray from the cloister. For now, just know that I’m grateful for your support, and remember: the sisters hold each of us in prayer throughout the day, every day. They pray for our needs and the needs of the whole world. As they remind me, we are all precious children of God, or, as I like to say, we are all purring kittens in the lap of our loving Creator.