Norbertine Christmas Wreaths!

Just got the order form for the Norbertine Nuns Christmas Wreaths in my email. I do love these nuns, but I wish they’d embrace technology just a little and set up a website for their wreaths, which are spectacularly fresh and fragrant and last beautifully throughout the season!

I mean, this is kind of cute:

Call or e-mail us to inquire about (or to place an early order for) a Christmas wreath made by the Norbertine Sisters! (661) 823-1066 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (661) 823-1066      end_of_the_skype_highlighting (email: ns_acctg@cybersurfers.net – * If you do not receive a confirmation of your e-mail within a few days, please call us as our e-mail could be down.)

Norbertine Sisters’ Wreaths, Ready for Shipping

Then again, chances are a website would bring them more orders than they can manage; they only do 1,000 wreaths a year and are almost “at capacity” now. Nevertheless, here is some info on the wreaths, and you might want one because they are out of the ordinary and their purchase supports prayer, which we need more of!

We use 24-inch pre-made rounds with full fresh Balsam (Northern White Fir) pine boughs. Each wreath is made with 2-3 pounds of balsam greenery, and we adorn them with frosted and regular pine cones, along with a large custom-design ribbon hand-made by the sisters.

Each wreath is $35 (plus tax and shipping) Pick them up at the Bethlehem Priory or have them delivered via UPS directly to your homes and offices. Wreaths will be available for delivery/pick-up at two different times: (1) before Thanksgiving (in time for the first Sunday of Advent) and (2) in mid-December. Please let us know which you prefer, and we will try to accommodate. Order by
November 6th (first shipment) or November 26th (second shipment).

You can have a look at their wreath flyer from last year, to see comments from people who have bought the sisters’ wreaths. The photo in the pdf does not do the wreaths justice, though.

Speaking of pdf’s, the Summit Dominicans latest newsletter is particularly lovely, with a look at the 50th jubilee of Sr. Mary Elizabeth and this bit of good news – The Association of Artisan Businesses has awarded them a small business grant for their Seignadou Soaps:

All Seignadou Soaps products (soaps, hand crème, room sprays and lip balm) are made by six of the 21 Sisters at the Summit, New Jersey monastic community of nuns.

The Sisters began Seignadou Soaps three years ago as Christmas gifts for their Volunteer Guild of about 70 members, and at a time when they were seeking potential income producing ventures. Sister Mary Catharine reports that the business has provided a stable supplemental income for the monastery’s secular needs like insurance, medical and utility bills. While the products provide comfort and pleasure, she states that the business “has had an added benefit of being an ‘entryway’ for us to introduce people to our way of life and share what we do with them.” . . .Seignadou Soaps has been a wonderful vehicle for people to get to know about our monastery, about our life of prayer.”

My husband wonders why I don’t write more about the nuns new liquid hand soap, which is now his favorite. I must say, I like it too, and so do our kids. It’s unlike commercial liquid handsoaps; it is not frothy and it doesn’t lather up like mad, but just a little bit gets your hands clean without drying them out, so it lasts a lot longer than most liquid hand soaps. I love it in the kitchen; hate when my hands get greasy from cooking. Buster likes it because it’s “not girly.”

And the hand crème is pretty remarkable stuff, as many of you know. I keep it on my desk and use it every day. I’ll be buying quite a lot of Seignadou products this year, to make gift baskets for Christmas.