These are either the liturgical feasts of the Church, or the community feasts: feast of the monastery, of the prioress, jubilees of the sisters, etc.
Decoration of the monastery
These festivals which break the great regularity and enliven the austerity of ordinary days, are celebrated with great enthusiasm and joy. Feast in the choir, feast in the refectory, more festive recreation... all the sisters put a lot of ardor into preparing them. Rooms can be decorated, meals are upgraded.
To adorn the refectory, the decorations are made by hand by the most artistic Carmelites. The superiors' table, visible in the photo above, was adorned with a painting, banners and figurines such as sheep, which we still keep in the archives. In addition, each Carmelite had in its place a small decoration such as an egg for Easter for example.
Below, three paintings by Sister Marie of the Holy Spirit that adorned the table of superiors in the refectory:
Various decoration:
Sheep for the feast of the Good Shepherd (visible in the photo above)
banners
Table decoration
Table decoration
Pious recreations
Plays or other scenic inventions are created and performed – named “pious recreations” because they are played during recreation time – which has earned us beautiful creations by Thérèse of the Child Jesus, particularly on the occasion of Saint Agnès, on January 21, which was the feast of the prioress when Mother Agnès had the function.
The sisters disguised themselves with the means at their disposal. Thérèse thus made her Joan of Arc costume with aluminum foil, her sword with cardboard, etc.
Songs, using well-known period tunes, were created and sung by a sister or by the community, with lyrics that could be funny or pious.
Souvenir pictures
Images received or painted, poems written by the Carmelites, etc. were offered to the birthday sister.
This earned us some of the most beautiful poems written by Thérèse for one of her sisters.
