SOAP HOUSE IN SPRING

 

(Irises are the Easter colors for the Soap House)

 

SPRING is definitely here at the Prayer Fraternity!  With the warm weather, the normal spring flowers arrived early.  It was the irises who arrived in time for the Easter season and continue to grace the campus.  Pictured above is the former guesthouse of the Volchok family (Mike and Martha Volchok built the buildings we use today for our friary. This building was used as a guest house for them.).   Today Br. Joe uses the building for his soap-making.  If you are interested in seeing a slideshow of Br. Joe making his soap, click on the Franciscan Soap-Making site on the blogsite here.

 

Franciscan Soap makes a great gift for special occasions;  it's great for personal use.   Br. Joe offers a number of different soaps; for the Christmas season, he always has two special Christmas soaps (not available till Oct. 15th);  his normal soaps for purchase are:

 

     Oatmeal, Milk and Honey

     Lemon

     Honeysuckle Hollow

     Woodland

     Lavender

     Fragrance Free

     Rain

     Sage, Sweetgrass, Cedar

     Lavender and Cedar

 

You can email him at brojofm@aol.com to order, or to obtain a brochure.  The brochure additionally shows some of the packaging that is available for gift items.

 

 

 

 

DOGWOODS and GOOD FRIDAY

 

 

(pictures of dogwoods here on our Ava property)

 

This is HOLY WEEK and your Franciscan brothers at the Interprovincial Prayer Fraternity wish you a BLESSED HOLY WEEK and a GLORIOUS EASTER!

 

With the warm winter/spring we have had, the dogwoods, of which our woods are full, are in full bloom now, just in time for Holy Week;  it's especially appropriate when you hear the spiritual symbolism of the dogwood tree.   Read on!

 

"The dogwood was the tree chosen to construct the Cross that would be used to take the body of Jesus.   Even though His body may have been taken from this earth, His spirit remains and every spring we are blessed with a reminder of the events that unfolded on that fateful weekend.  The blooms often appear in the shape of a Cross with holes in the tips of the pedals signifying the nails that were driven into the Cross.  If you look closely at these holes, you can notice a faint red stain representing the Blood.   In the center,  you will find a green bloom symbolizing the crown of thorns placed on the head of Jesus.   After the Crucifixion, God proclaimed that dogwood trees would never grow large ever again.  This the reason the trunks of dogwoods are skinny and often branch off low on the trunk.  The dogwood is more than a tree....it is a representation of life.   With every spring we are reminded of what God did for us and given the chance to be reborn and start a new life as "children of God".

 

Again, have a Blessed Holy Week -- hope you see some dogwoods.   HAPPY EASTER!!!