Deo Gratias! Our first Come and See: Virtual Retreat

Despite the difficult times in which we live, and in particular the radical changing of our interpersonal interactions due to COVID, all around us God is opening new windows of grace. This past weekend, we virtually hosted an energetic group of young women for our first Come and See: Virtual Retreat, and the weekend is a testament to God’s goodness.

From across the U.S., almost 20 young women responded to God’s invitation to spend the weekend in prayer and communion with Him, learning more about cloistered Dominican life, and interacting with our community and fellow discerners. The Virtual Retreat followed the flow our our regular day, so those attending were able to be with us virtually for Mass, the Divine Office and periods of adoration. Our retreat preacher was Father Thomas Aquinas Pickett, O.P., a friar of the Western Dominican Province currently assigned to Blessed Sacrament Church in Seattle, Washington. The conferences offered included two talks by Father Thomas Aquinas - one on Dominican Spirituality and a second on how to discern vocation with guidance from St. Thomas Aquinas, focusing on the virtues one needs to properly discern! And over the weekend, there was time for questions, vocation stories, and conversation with the community.

We are grateful for the young women who were with us for the Virtual Retreat and ask that you join us in continuing to keep them in prayer. We are also deeply grateful for Father Thomas Aquinas, our chaplain Father Reginald Martin, O.P., and all those who offered advice, support, and prayers as we hosted our first Come and See: Virtual Retreat. Thank you and God bless you!

And if you are (or someone you know is) a single, Catholic young woman who has been feeling a call to look closer at religious life, we invite you to check out our January Come and See: Virtual Retreat.

Praying the liturgy of the hours with the community.

Retreat speaker Father Thomas Aquinas Pickett, O.P., a friar of the Western Dominican Province.

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass; the celebrant and preacher was our chaplain, Father Reginald Martin, O.P., of the Western Dominican Province.

Assumption Anticipation: A New Postulant to Arrive!

After waiting longer than anticipated due to the COVID-19 outbreak, we are finally able to welcome our newest postulant-to-be on Saturday, the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary!

The time of postulancy is a time of committed discernment. Before entering the monastery as a postulant, a young woman has already spent more than a year getting to know the community (and the community, her). She has completed her aspirancy period, which requires a month-long stay inside the enclosure. She has now given up most of her possessions, her car, her apartment, and her job, because she has been led by God to believe this really could be the vocation He has called her, and the community has affirmed this possibility by accepting her application to the postulancy. But no formal commitment has yet been made, nor even a commitment to enter into a formal commitment. Rather, the postulancy is a time of learning more about what that commitment will entail, with the joys and crosses of religious life and observance of the Rule and the Constitutions of the Nuns of the Order of Preachers.

A calling to the cloistered life is a mystery, that is, it requires faith to see its beauty and importance. How wonderful it is to be called to give unceasing praise to God in the liturgy, seven times a day on behalf of all the faithful, to seek the face of God for the salvation of souls! God doesn’t call everyone to this path to love, but for those He does call and who respond generously, He gives abundantly more in return.

Will you join us in praying for our postulant-to-be as she also makes her last preparations to enter, as well as praying for her family and loved ones. And please too remember all those God is calling to take the next step of faith and trust in their own vocation journeys.

Deo gratias!

Who are the Dominican Nuns? Premieres today!

When people hear that the Order of Preachers includes cloistered nuns, many scratch their heads - huh?! The puzzlement deepens when they learn how the nuns came to be: that Our Holy Father Dominic was moved with compassion for the salvation of souls, but before he sent out his first Friars Preachers, Divine Providence led him to found a monastery of women who would be the first Nuns of the Order of Preachers. After all, how can a person preach if he or she never goes outside the walls of their home? What do cloistered Dominican nuns do all day? Who are the Dominican nuns and what place do we have in the Church and Order of Preachers?

We are excited to invite you to the premiere of a new short video we’ve produced: “Who are the Dominican nuns?” It will premiere on both YouTube and Facebook today at 4 p.m.

Invite your friends to a watch party and let us know what you think! Also, be sure to Subscribe to our YouTube channel and Like our Facebook page to receive notifications about all our future video projects.

Music Release for Pentecost

Chant is an integral part of our liturgical prayer and as a nun learns how to chant with the community, it becomes like breathing - it is the sacred music of the Holy Spirit. We simply become His instruments. Yet over the years, we’ve had many requests for us to record some of the chants we sing and make them available to the public.

This is the year! In celebration of Pentecost, we've recorded three singles under the album title “Veni Creator Spiritus” and arranged to have them released on Sunday, May 31st. Check your favorite music provider (iTunes, Spotify, etc.); on or after May 31st, where these three songs will be available for download. You can also click here to “Presave and Follow” via Spotify.

Deo gratias!

Sheltering-in-Place? Join Mary in the Upper Room

No doubt about it, we are living in painful and surreal times. As sheltering-in-place has become the “new normal”, some things in life have been forgone, others put on hold. But one thing that can and should grow and flourish is our faith and spiritual life. You are invited to join Mary in the upper room for a day of retreat, right where you are, as you are!

Wherever you are in life, whatever you’ve got going on, take a pause on Saturday May 30th to recenter and refuel. Bring your stresses, your worries, your shelter-in-place hair. Come as you are to live more authentically and fully.

Mary’s Retreat is a free one-day Catholic virtual retreat for young women (but all ages and men are welcome to register for the talks), taking place on Saturday, May 30th from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

We are created with beauty and potential, yet our world pressures us to fit a mold of perfection. Let’s set aside a Saturday to do something different, allow ourselves to be unfinished, and walk with each other towards greater wholeness as women.

The speakers include Sister Joseph Marie, O.P. of our community. Her talk is “Living Your Fiat” - “we all want to joyfully say YES to God. But how do we know His plan when we are faced with an overwhelming number of seemingly good choices in life? Sister Joseph Marie will share with you some principles to help you know God’s will and give you a few tools and examples for making wise decisions.” Other talks include: Mary, A Model for Discovering Our Feminine Identity; Superpowers from the Holy Spirit; God’s Plan for Healing; and What Women Saints Can Teach Us.

Plan to spend the day before Pentecost with Mary in the upper room in prayer and fellowship with other young women, right where you are, as you are. Visit Mary’s Retreat for more details and register today!

Five Takeaways from our January Come-and-See

Did you miss our January Come and See Day? While we can’t share everything about the day in one blog post, here are five takeaway-points given to us by our speakers: Father John Marie Bingham, O.P., Sister Mary Isabel of the Angels, O.P. and Brother Athanasius Thompson, O.P.

Before we can say “yes” to God’s will, we must lay a foundation of trusting in Him. Father John Marie advised the young women present to pray frequently, “Jesus, I trust in you.” Only when we trust in God’s goodness and love toward us can we also have the courage to do His will when he calls us to act.

A few of our sisters sitting in on Father John Marie’s talk.

Before we can tell God, ‘yes, I will follow your will’,
we have to trust Him
and that His will is for us to be truly happy.
The fact that you are here, that you took the step of coming today,
is proof of your trust in Him and His goodness and love for you.

Father John Marie Bingham, O.P.

Saint Dominic modeled for his sons and daughters a life of Gospel simplicity and nobility. How do we live this in our own lives? Father John Marie offered and explained five steps: earnestly ask God for mercy; sit at His feet and listen to Him; live as He lived; do what He did - go to the cross; and then go and preach the Gospel.

God will sustain our efforts in our given vocation. Whatever vocation God is calling you to, only His grace and strength will make it possible for you to be fruitful in it. All we have to do is receive the grace and respond with our “yes” - He will take care of the rest.

Religious life is a school of perfection. In other words, perfection is not a requirement for entering religious life - it is by living religious life in cooperation with God’s grace that we are made perfect.

Brother speaks on Dominican life.

As Dominicans, we participate in a rich spiritual and intellectual tradition for the mission of salvation of souls as part of the Dominican family. Sister Mary Isabel and Brother Athanasius shared about Dominican contemplative life, including how and why Dominicans stress community/common life and study. Dominican intellectual life is aimed at knowing God so we may love Him more; Dominican community/common life mirrors the Church in that the Dominican Order is truly a body with many parts.

I felt a great connection to the community and sisters, the prayer,
and description of life here. I would love to be in touch more about “what next”
- what I can or should do to continue discerning and learning…

Come and See Day Participant

Our deepest gratitude to Father John Marie, Brother Athanasius, and to all those who kept us, and the young women in attendance, in prayer.  Please continue to offer your prayers for them (and us!) as they continue seeking God's will for their lives.

Our next Come and See Day is Saturday, July 18th and we already have young women registering. If you or someone you know has put off taking the next step in discerning God’s will, say a prayer of trust and make a commitment today to simply “Come and See!” For more information about our Come and Say Days, and our Janua Caeli Retreat Days, or to register for either event, visit Retreat Days on our website.

Is He Calling You?

Happy 2020!

At the beginning of the New Year, the Church also steps into the “Ordinary Time” of the Liturgical Year. In the Gospel of this first day of this Ordinary Time, we see our Lord began his ministry and gave his very first homily: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” (Mark. 1:15)

Jesus was not a lone ranger. No! To help him with the preaching mission, Jesus began calling the first disciples after spending days in prayer and being baptized for the mission. We are told that as Jesus passed by the Sea of Galilee, he called Simon and his brother Andrew. And Peter and Andrew “abandoned their nets and followed him” (Mark 1:18). Going a little further, Jesus called James and John and they “left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him” (Mark 1:20).

These men were busily engaged in their profession and helping their families at the prosperous trade of fishing. Yet when Jesus called, they immediately left everything and everyone behind to follow him. Why? They certainly were neither poor nor desperate. On the contrary, they seemed to have given up A LOT!

These disciples were able to (immediately) give up all the good things in life because their deepest desire was for God and God alone. When Jesus called them, the disciples sincerely and humbly acknowledged their thirst for God and accepted Jesus’ invitation. By doing so, they allowed God to fill them more than they could ever imagine…His very self. Peter affirmed this happiness later on when Jesus gave his disciples a chance to leave him: “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68)

Is He calling you? Have courage and respond! There are still rooms available and time to register for our Come and See Day this Saturday, January 18th; visit our Upcoming Events page for more information and to register.

Rev. John Marie Bingham, O.P.

Our participants will be given tools to help them discerning vocations, and opportunities to meet the nuns and those who are also discerning their vocations. Our guest speakers are Rev. John Marie Bingham, O.P., vocation director of the Western Dominican Province and Brother Athanasius Thompson, O.P. of the Western Dominican Province.

Please pray for our speakers and the young women who will be coming to our monastery discernment day this Saturday, January 18th and for all those who are called to share more intimately in the preaching mission of Jesus Christ.

Young Women Gather at the Monastery for our July Come and See Day

Last Saturday, our monastery received a group of young women traveling from different parts of the country to attend our July Come-and-See Day as part of their vocation discernment. The day began with Mass and Terce (Midmorning Prayer of the Divine Office). The celebrant, homilist and guest speaker for the day was Father David Schunk, STL of the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

Father David Schunk, STL diocesan priest for the Archdiocese of San Francisco

Brother Patrick Rooney, O.P. of the Western Dominican Province

During his conference following Mass, he spoke about every Christian’s baptismal call to holiness and how religious life deepens that call in a special way. He stressed that discernment begins in relationship with God. “To know your mission, you must know your identity, who you truly are, and you can only know that in relationship with God.” He went on to offer reassurance for those who may not feel “good enough” for a particular calling. “He doesn’t call the qualified - He qualifies the called.” Father Schunk is currently serving as Assistant Vice-Rector and Formation Advisor at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.

The second guest speaker was Brother Patrick Rooney, O.P., student brother of the Western Dominican Province, who spoke on aspects of Dominican spirituality. “Contemplation is a union of mind with God, made possible only by His grace.” He went on, “true happiness is in giving yourself away to another as a gift and holding nothing back.”

Sister Mary Isabel, O.P., our subprioress, spoke to the group about the monastic vocation. “If you remember nothing else from my talk, remember that the monastic life is, at its heart, a calling to profound friendship with God.”

Our Come and See Days offer young women an opportunity to taste a bit of Dominican monastic life. They are planned around the community’s regular schedule of prayer, work/class and recreation. Thus, the young women in attendance experience the ebb and flow of the Divine Office, personal prayer and adoration, as well as recreation with the community and hearing a few of the nuns’ vocation stories.

Our deepest gratitude to Father David Schunk, Brother Patrick Rooney, and to all those who kept us, and the young women in attendance, in prayer.  Please continue to offer your prayers for them (and us!) as they continue seeking God's will for their lives.    Deo gratias!

They Came and Saw!

Last Saturday, we had a wonderful group of young women join us for a Come and See Day. Our guest speaker was Rev. Br. Andy Opsahl, O.P. of the Western Dominican Province, who gave two engaging presentations on growing in virtue and the blessings (as well as challenges) of religious life. The day was also filled with liturgy, prayer, and opportunities to meet and speak with the sisters. A big thank you to Brother Andy and all of you for your prayers and support, and especially for the young women who took this step in their discernment of God’s will for their lives. Please continue to keep them in prayer.

If you missed this Come and See Day, make plans now to come to the next one in July!

Jesus' Second Birthday

Today we celebrate Jesus’ birthday. “Wait a minute?” You might exclaim. “Didn’t we do that a couple weeks ago?” Saint Maximus of Turin can explain.

At Christmas he was born a man; today he is reborn sacramentally. Then he was born from the Virgin; today he is born in mystery. When he was born a man, his mother Mary held him close to her heart; when he is born in mystery, God the Father embraces him with his voice when he says: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased: listen to him.” The mother caresses the tender baby on her lap; the Father serves his Son by his loving testimony. The mother holds the child for the Magi to adore; the Father reveals that his Son is to be worshiped by all the nations.

But why would Jesus, a holy man, indeed, sinless, seek to be baptized by John, a baptism of repentance. Saint Maximus goes on:

Christ is baptized, not to be made holy by the water, but to make the water holy, and by his cleansing to purify the waters which he touched. For the consecration of Christ involves a more significant consecration of the water.

Jesus was baptized to cleanse the water - He was consecrated so that the water would be consecrated for our consecration into him. As the Israelites followed the pillar of cloud and fire through the Red Sea when they left the slavery of Egypt, we follow Jesus through the waters of baptism and are made free from sin - we become marked as God’s own and undertake a new path of life to holiness.

In three weeks, we will celebrate another related event in Jesus’ life - his presentation in the Temple. It was Jewish law that every firstborn male belonged to God and had to be redeemed by offering a sacrifice. Presentation, consecration, sacrifice. This is still how we grow in love of God and holiness today. Jesus’ life is re-presented (or should be) in the life of every baptized Christian.

It is also on the Feast of the Presentation that the Church celebrates World Day of Consecrated Life. As we celebrate Jesus baptism and give thanks for our own, let’s prepare to recognize consecrated men and women who follow Him in a very particular way. Beginning Friday, February 1st at 4:00 p.m. Pacific, a worldwide 40 Hours for Consecrated Life will begin! Will you offer to the Lord one hour for consecrated life? Take the pledge and invite your family, friends and parish to do the same! Also, be sure to follow this event on Facebook!