Three-Fold Celebration: Centennial Jubilee, Corpus Christi and Mass of Thanksgiving!

The best things come in threes, and beginning May 29th, we began the month of June with three joyous celebrations: the 100th anniversary of the founding of our Monastery, Corpus Christi Sunday, and a Mass of Thanksgiving with one of our newly ordained friars.

This year marks the Centennial Anniversary of the foundation of our monastery. Due to COVID restrictions, we planned two celebrations to open our Jubilee year, as attendance needed to be monitored by issuing tickets to the Masses and receptions. This first celebration was held Saturday, May 29th, and included our Dominican family. Father Christopher Fadok, O.P., prior provincial of the Western Dominican Province, was our celebrant and homilist, and he was joined around the altar by many of our friars. After celebrating Mass, we all enjoyed a box lunch generously donated by the Western Dominican Province and our first in-person visit with our Dominican brothers and sisters in over a year!

Very Rev. Christopher Fadok, O.P., prior provincial of the Western Dominican Province. Photo by Br. David Woo, O.P., courtesy of the Western Dominican Province.

Rev. Br. Chrysostom Mijinke, O.P. proclaiming the Gospel. Photo by Br. David Woo, O.P., courtesy of the Western Dominican Province.

Outdoor reception, the meal was a gift from the Western Dominican Province in celebration of our Jubilee. And the personalized labels on each item was a delightful surprise! Photo by Br. David Woo, O.P., courtesy of the Western Dominican Province.

It was so good to visit with our Dominican family, even with the masks (can you speak up…and who are you? :-) Photo by Br. David Woo, O.P., courtesy of the Western Dominican Province.

Our Centennial Anniversary celebrations continued the following weekend as we celebrated Corpus Christi Sunday with our family, friends and benefactors. Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco was our celebrant and homilist. This celebration occurred on the liturgical anniversary of our foundation (liturgically, our monastery was founded on the Sunday within the Octave of Corpus Christi - Corpus Christi would have been celebrated on the previous Thursday). Again, we were overcome with gratitude for all the graces and blessings God has given us, and continued to shower down with the presence, kindness and support of so many that day, especially our Archbishop and the priests, deacons, and seminarians who were present. At the end of Mass, as we finished the recessional hymn, we looked up in the choir to see Archbishop Cordileone walk in with Sister Maria Christine, a delightful surprise! He wanted to make sure he was able to greet us personally and gave us his blessing. Following Mass, we enjoyed a leisurely reception.

To round out our celebrations, friar Chysostom Mijinke, O.P. of the Western Dominican Province, who served as deacon for our Jubilee Mass on May 29th, returned to our monastery on June 8th as Father Chrysostom to celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving and give us first blessings. This day is particularly special to Dominican nuns as it is the feast of Blesseds Cecilia and Diana, two of the earliest nuns of our Order, and who were particularly dear to our Holy Father Dominic and Blessed Jordan of Saxony, the second Master of our Order. After Mass, we had a good visit with Father Chrysostom before he headed off to a busy summer and his new assignment as a Dominican priest.

Father Chrysostom Mijinke, O.P., newly ordained priest of the Western Dominican Province, giving first blessings to our community after Mass.

The past year has brought us many challenges and in many ways, life has a “new normal” due to COVID. Yet the most essential things remain - love, communion, and the reason for our hope. Be sure to check our website for updates as we continue to gradually expand our public chapel hours and post Centennial Jubilee updates and events. And a big thank you to our Dominican family, our Archbishop and the Local Church, and all our friends, family, and benefactors who continue to support our contemplative life. Please know you remain in our hearts and prayers before our Eucharistic Lord.

Strong Sisters: Bl. Diana and Cecilia

If you want inspiration for living feminine genius as a holy woman of strength, fortitude with gentleness, today’s Dominican saints give plenty to ponder. Blessed Diana and Cecilia were two of the first nuns of the Order of Preachers in Italy, and both of them faced difficult challenges in pursuing their vocation to give themselves completely to God as His bride.

Bl. Cecilia was a nun in Rome when she and her community first met Saint Dominic. Our Holy Father Dominic had been asked by the pope to reform the women religious of Rome, as most of them had grown lax in their observances. Dominic’s proposal to the nuns was to essentially come together and refound themselves under his direction as nuns of the Order of Preachers. His words and the workings of the Holy Spirit persuaded them. But before they could complete the arrangements, their families protested. They had gotten used to the lax practices, to being able to enter and leave the monastery enclosure and visit their female relatives in the monastery. The nuns began to waiver. Dominic came again and strengthened them in their resolve and they didn’t look back. When the way was made for a monastery of nuns to be founded in Bologna, made possible in large part because of Bl. Diana, Bl. Cecilia was asked to go to Bologna and teach the new nuns there the ways of the Dominican life.

To read the story of Bl. Diana is to meet a dynamic, passionate woman. From a noble background, she loved fashion and parties, and was considered beautiful and charming. Her parents had high hopes for a good marriage for her. Then, one day, a couple Dominican friars came into Bologna where they lived and began preaching. Diana was captivated…and experienced a turning point in her life. She began to engage in long periods of prayer and undertook acts of greater penance and sacrifice. When the friars needed a place to build a priory, Diana convinced her father to give them the land they needed. But when she decided to build a monastery for Dominican nuns and enter herself, her family forbid it.

Not to be outdone, she came up with a plan to have her way. She visited an Augustinian monastery and, to the surprise of her party visiting with her, she suddenly slipped inside and donned the habit! Stunned, they immediately reported her actions to her family. Her brothers were sent to fetch her, forcibly if necessary. And in the struggle, Diana suffered a broken rib that left her convalescing, imprisoned in her family home. Her family forbid that she have contact with the friars, but Dominic, and after his death his successor, Blessed Jordan of Saxony, slipped to her notes and words of encouragement. Eventually, due to the influence of Bl. Jordan and the workings of the Holy Spirit, Divine Providence cleared the way for Diana’s vocation - her family relented and she happily joined the ranks of Dominican nuns at the new monastery in Bologna.

We are indebted to these women in many ways: it is because of Bl. Cecilia that we know the appearance of Our Holy Father Dominic; her description of his physical appearance is the only one we have. And we are grateful for Bl. Diana and her community; they have preserved letters from Bl. Jordan to Diana which reveal much about the second Master of our Order and some of the happenings at the time, as well as provide a beautiful description of spiritual friendship. And they each model for us feminine genius lived with ingenuity, fortitude and grace under fire.

Blessed Diana and Blessed Cecilia, pray for us!

Te Deum laudamus! We Have a Master of the Order!

Over the weekend, the friars gathered at the General Chapter of the Order of Preachers elected a new Master of the Order - Father Gerard Francisco Timoner, III, O.P. of the Dominican Province of the Philippines. Father Gerard is the 87th successor to Our Holy Father Dominic and is the first Asian to serve as Master of the Order. In his remarks following his election, he humbly stated his first inclination was to decline, but he was encouraged by former Master Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., and others, to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit .

He went on to say:

The Catholic Church today, it seems, needs a Francis and a Dominic. There is a need for a new evangelization, and we are all called to do precisely that.

Saint Dominic formed an order of preachers. It is not what we do. It is who we are. Mission is not what we do. It is who we are. And if that is clear, everything will just follow. We are preachers even when we are not preaching. We are preachers even if in our old age, we can no longer speak. We are preachers even if we are not ordained. We are preachers even if we are sick. We are preachers even if we are doing serious research alone in our rooms. We are preachers when we are helping the less privileged. We are preachers. That is our identity.

Father Gerard Francisco Timoner, III, O.P. is the 87th successor to Our Holy Father Dominic.

Dominican government is shaped by the communion and universality of Dominican religious life. According to the mind of Our Holy Father Dominic, each member of the Dominican family is to have a participation in the life and government of the community and the Order. As a result, the government of the Order of Preachers is noted for an organic and balanced participation of all its members for pursuing the special end of the Order. But this participation is not strictly democratic - it is communitarian in a special way. We do not simply seek a majority in making decisions - we seek consensus and unanimity under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

And so, every nine years, Dominicans from around the world gather for the General Chapter of the Dominican Order to settle important matters, including electing the new Master of the Order, who then serves the Order of Preachers as its head for the next nine years. May God bless and protect Father Gerard as he assumes his new role and may God continue to guide our Dominican brothers during the remainder of the General Chapter.

Want more information?

Dominicans elect 51-year-old Filipino as master general

Dominican Common Life and Government

Lust, Love and Angelic Warfare

There once lived a boy who was born to a wealthy and prominent family. He had the world at his fingertips, but there was a question that burned in his young heart and mind: who is God? His life began to circle around answering this all-important question. His family made plans for him: if he wanted to search for God, he could do that as abbot of a wealthy and powerful Benedictine monastery. But then one day, he encountered a new kind of religious: poor, mendicant friars, living an apostolic life, traveling from town to town and preaching the Gospel with joy. Here was his future: the Apostolic Life of prayer, study, community and preaching.

His mother was appalled. His brothers scoffed and locked him in a tower of the family castle until he changed his mind. His sisters begged and cajoled. He converted them to his way of thinking. Then his brothers decided to try a different approach. He was a young, vigorous man, after all. So they sent into his room a beautiful woman of ill repute to seduce him.

What was his response to the temptation against his chastity? Was he completely indifferent to the temptation, a “cold fish”? Did he think himself above danger? Did he flounder or cave under the flirtations of the woman before him? No, on all counts. His reaction was swift and passionate in its own right – he grabbed a burning log from the fire and chased the woman from the room. Then, using his fiery brand, he marked the sign of the cross on the wall and collapsed in prayer, begging God’s grace to preserve him from falling into these temptations and for His deliverance from them. In answer to this prayer, God sent two angels to bind him with a cord about his waist and assured him he would never again be tempted against chastity.

This story eventually gave rise to the Angelic Warfare Confraternity and devotion to St. Thomas Aquinas as a patron saint of purity and chastity. Those who become members of the Confraternity enjoy the intercession of St. Thomas and certain aids for the purpose of formation and perseverance in the virtue of chastity according to their state of life. Confraternity members are devoted “to St. Thomas Aquinas and the truths he taught about the integrity of body, emotions and will with the truth about human sexuality.” They also commit to pray daily for one another, that all confraternity members may preserve and grow in the virtue of chastity and purity.

Many people today, especially the youth, can understand and draw encouragement from the example of Brother Thomas, his trial and triumph, and strength from the prayers of Confraternity members united together under the patronage of Our Lady of the Rosary and St. Thomas Aquinas. We encourage you to learn more about this Confraternity.

St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us!

The Story of a Princess Dominican

Once upon a time, there lived a king and his queen in a beautiful land. For a time, peace and prosperity reigned in this land. Then, whispers and rumors came of a storm brewing and moving toward them. A destructive and blood-thirsty people, the Tartars, were coming. The king and queen grew vigilant, but the people could not be roused from their peace and comfort, and dismissed the threat. Then, the storm descended and the Tartars invaded the peaceful land, destroying what the people had built.

The king sent his children and pregnant queen to another noble, who, seeing an opportunity to grab power for himself, sought to exploit the king’s vulnerability by rousing other nobles and the people against him. Eventually, the king was driven to run and, reuniting with his queen and children, fled to make a last stand at a stronghold on an island. Two of his three children died in the course of their escape and, as they watched the Tartars building boats and readying themselves to cross the waters to the island, it appeared the rest of the royal family would soon follow them in death. Desperate, the king and queen knelt down and prayed. “God, should you see fit to deliver us and our people from these violent people, we will consecrate our unborn child to you, in the service of St. Dominic’s Order.”

At the completion of their prayer, another storm began, this one from nature. For three days, their place of refuge was buffeted by the winds and rains. At the end of the third day, as the storm began to break, the priest with them heard their confessions and prepared them for the death all thought to be inevitable. But as they went outside to meet their fate, they were met instead with calm and clear skies. There was no sign of the invaders anywhere. And they never returned to the land. Returning home, the queen gave birth to a little baby girl they named Margaret.

True to their promise, when the little girl was three years old, they took her to a Dominican monastery to be educated with other girls of noble birth. But soon the nuns realized little Margaret was different from the others girls. She spent her time in prayer instead of play. If the other girls invited her to play, she insisted they all go to the chapel first and pray an “Ave”. Watching the nuns, Margaret learned the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary by rote and would recite it to herself during the day. When she heard the nuns made certain sacrifices and acts of mortification for Jesus, she begged permission to do the same.

One day, she asked the meaning of the crucifix, and was told how the Son of God became man and died for us on the cross. She sank down on her little knees, kissed and hugged the crucifix tightly, burst into tears, and said:

O my Jesus! Me too! To You I give myself, for You I abandon all things.

The nuns and others observed her understanding and reasoning seemed to be more advanced than other girls her age. When she was four years old, she begged, and was permitted, to receive the Dominican habit. She received it with such gravity and respect, all the nuns were filled with admiration.

Her parents build a convent for her on an island in the Danube River, on the outskirts of Budapest, and she moved there with several sisters when she was ten years old. The community grew quickly and soon numbered seventy sisters. Despite her royal lineage, she longed to be treated as a worthless servant, desiring only to share in Jesus’ life and sufferings. She was never prioress or held any other position of prestige or authority, even in her own monastery, and no job was too difficult or menial for her. In fact, she sought the dirtiest and most repugnant work and took special delight in caring for the especially difficult sisters in the infirmary. In offering her mind to God, she set about memorizing all 150 Psalms and the Conferences by John Cassian in Latin, among many other Scripture passages, prayers, and written works.

One day, the king of Bohemia chanced to meet her on a visit to the monastery and was beguiled by her beauty. Smitten, he asked permission of her father to marry, who responded with the fact that she was dedicated to God. Undaunted, the king of Bohemia asked, if he could obtain a dispensation for her from the pope, would he consent? The match was politically compelling…and just think of all the good Margaret could do for the people of Hungary and Bohemia as queen! Her father agreed that, if he could obtain permission of both the pope and his daughter, he would grant his consent. The pope granted the dispensation, but Margaret adamantly refused. Despite arguments and pressure from her parents, she held her ground: she would not break the promise of her dedication to God, and would rather die than marry. You see, Margaret had already given her heart, mind, body, and soul to another Love.

Margaret continued her penances, long vigils, and tireless works of charity within the cloister. In all things, she offered herself for the glory of God and the salvation of souls, in particular, her own people. The Cross was all she needed to be spurred on to her heroic acts of love and sacrifice. One of the items she cherished most was a crucifix in which was kept a small relic of the True Cross and she was often found praying in front of a crucifix, with tears streaming down her face.

A fellow sister once asked her how to pray well. She responded:

Sister, offer God your body and your soul, and let your heart be always near Him, with neither death nor tribulation, nor anything here below being able to detach it from Him; thus you will pray well.

In her desire to be the poorest of the poor, she chose to wear the poorest, roughest, most threadbare habits. If she was given anything new and of better quality, with permission, she immediately sought to give it away to benefit the poor. Her knees were cracked and gnarled from her long prayers and her hands were often chapped and bled from her work. Her face was marked with tears of compassion and sorrow for sins from her prayers, streaking through the dirt and grime she picked up from her tasks. Because of her resulting poor and dirty appearance, some of her own sisters became embarrassed and avoided her. She was not ignorant to this fact. Shortly before her death, she told her sisters:

You will no longer want to keep away from me then, for my body will be as fragrant after death as it is displeasing to you now.

Though this treatment from her sisters may have stung her sensitive heart, she was joyful to be treated as Jesus was – scorned and despised. When her sisters encouraged her to spare herself and moderate her sacrifices and penances so that she may live longer, she simply looked at them with her delightful smile and replied:

Many of the people who look forward to a long life in this valley of tears put off doing good works, since they think that they will have plenty of time before they die. As for me, I prefer to be of the number of those who, being anything but certain of a long life, consider that they have no time to lose if they wish to give God all the glory that they can before they die. Besides, we all know that it is a waste of time to live here in a convent if we are looking for rest and comfort for our mortal body and for the joys of this world. The enclosure is a suitable home only for those who are seeking those things which are eternal.

Reading accounts of her life, we cannot help but wonder, “How can I possibly relate to this?!” For we have the incredible story of a princess who became a pauper and endured much pain and hardship, whose life was filled with unbelievable graces and miracles. But ultimately, her story is the fairy tale that is not a fairy tale – it is a love story Jesus invites us all to live. The one where we recognize that the end is the beginning: the ultimate purpose of our life on earth is not to live the soft, luxurious life of a princess, to seek riches, power, or pleasure, even if those things could be used to do good. Because, ultimately, whether rich or poor, talented or not, we are all poor servants and the only treasure that will last is that to which we look for in eternity.

St. Margaret of Hungary, O.P., died when she was twenty-eight years old. Before she died, she was given the grace to know the date of her death. While in still perfect health and vigor, she told a sister on January 8, 1270, “I will die in ten days.” After a few days of violent fever, on the 18th of January, she died, having spent 24 of her 28 years in the religious habit.

A few days before Margaret died, a Premonstratensian nun in a neighboring convent, saw in a vision the Blessed Virgin Mary descend to the Dominican convent and place a magnificent crown on the head of Sister Margaret, when she led her to heaven amid the sounds of ravishing music. Another nun of the same order saw a brilliant star go up to heaven at the moment Margaret died. During her life, Margaret worked many miracles, but after her death, they were very numerous – no less than two hundred having been proved: the blind, the lame, the paralyzed, and the sick obtained a cure at her tomb. She is invoked as patron saint against floods and fevers.

St. Margaret of Hungary, pray for us.

P.S. Want to know more about this amazing Dominican saint? There were many miracles that St. Margaret of Hungary performed while alive (and even more attributed to her intercession after she died), but here’s a couple from “Margaret: Princess of Hungary” (written by S.M.C. and published by the Blackfriars), that involve Dominican friars and also reveal a bit of her personality and sense of humor.

One day, a friar came to the monastery to preach to the nuns. The community invited him to stop the night and give them a second sermon the next day. The friar refused; he had work to do and could not spare the time. Leaving the parlor, he went in search of his horse and trap, for King Bela had evidently built a bridge from the mainland to the island. Margaret was very anxious for him to remain; when, however, she saw that he was determined to go, she made no comment but betook herself to prayer.

When the Friar reached his trap, he found that the vehicle was broken and unusable. On making wrathful inquires, he was assured no one had touched it. There was nothing else to be done but to make the best of a bad job, go back to the monastery for the night and give the nuns the sermon they had requested. He also must have had a sense of humor, and he had made a good guess as to the cause of the mishap, for the next morning, when his exhortation was ended, turning to Margaret, he said:

You have forced me to do what you wanted, Sister; now you must give me back my trap.

Margaret still said nothing, but betook herself again to prayer and straightway the vehicle was found completely repaired, though no one had been near it since the previous day.

The same thing happened to another friar who refused to stay and preach a second sermon; only in this case, the victim had gone some distance before the break-down of his cart forced his return. On a third occasion when a like request had been refused, Margaret said she would pray for such a downpour of rain as should force his return; and this is what actually happened.

And the last miracle we will share here was worked because her truthfulness was called into question (and also explains why Margaret is invoked in floods). Margaret had been relating to the Provincial and a group of sisters some circumstances connected with a flood of the Danube she had seen. The Provincial refused to believe her; he told her that it was impossible for anything of the sort to have occurred, and that she must have imagined it.

Margaret was angry, for to call her truthfulness into question in this way was to cast a doubt on her honor as a Dominican; and she gloried in belonging to the Order of Truth. She cried out:

My God, I beg of you to show that I am speaking the truth!

Immediately the waters of the Danube began to rise, overflowing the river banks. Swiftly rose the river, and soon the community were driven from the shore where they had been standing back to the monastery. Still the water continued to rise until the whole ground floor of the building was submerged, and the nuns were obliged to retire to the upper part of the house.

The Provincial, somewhat perturbed, climbed the enclosure wall, and from this vantage point watched the flood waters continue to rise. Then the nuns gathered around Margaret, begging her to undo the mischief she had done. This she was quite willing to do now that the veracity of her statement had been proved. So she prayed again, and the waters immediately began to subside. The flood had begun just after Vespers (sunset), and by Matins (midnight) the river was again flowing smoothly between its banks; and more wonderful still, it had carried its mud back with it, leaving no trace whatsoever of the flood.

Dominican Friar, Master of the Order, and Patron Saint of Lawyers

One of the windows in the nuns’ choir of our monastery. Each window depicts a symbol or emblem of a Dominican saint.

A few minutes’ drive (or walk) from our monastery is a community of our brothers, living and serving under the patronage of St. Raymond of Penyafort. The community of friars serves St. Raymond of Penyafort parish and school, Stanford University, Vallambrosa Retreat Center, and provides chaplaincy to our monastery. We are ever more grateful for the tireless service they offer the community, and our community as well. Truly, they faithfully give themselves to the glory of God and salvation of souls in the example of their patron. So who was St. Raymond of Penyafort?

St. Raymond of Penyafort is an shining example of a person living daily a life of quiet fidelity, humility and sanctity. The Church remembers St. Raymond as an exemplar confessor and for his contributions to canon law. His brothers and sisters in the Order remember him for his steady and tireless giving of himself and the fruits of his contemplation, even well past the age we would think a person entitled to “retire.” For St. Raymond, “to live was Christ” (Phil. I:21).

In a castle near Barcelona, in the quiet, sleepy countryside of medieval Catalonia, lived the Penyafort family. It was here that St. Raymond was born and grew. As a child, he was dedicated by his parents to serve the Church and at an early age was sent to school in Barcelona. Upon completing his education, he began to teach in Bologna, but after a few years, decided to continue his studies. Possessing a brilliant mind, he eventually set his sights on specializing in canon law, and so moved to Bologna, Italy, which had the preeminent university for law at that time.

Upon completing his doctorate, he began to teach in Bologna. In those days, professors and students negotiated tuition fees – students paid for each class taught by the professor. However, St. Raymond believed that knowledge was a gift from God, so he never demanded payment for his classes from his students. In fact, he was horrified that some of his colleagues demanded such high payments from their students that they lived in relative luxury, while some students were so poor, one would have to stay home while another went to class wearing the only set of clothes they had between them! Nonetheless, the city of Bologna was so afraid of losing St. Raymond to a rival school, the governing officials voted to give him an annual stipend.

As a young professor, St. Raymond wrote many works, useful to his contemporaries and colleagues, and which are still the object of study. But his most notable written work for the Church was compiling the Decretals of Gregory IX. The Decretals were the code by which the discipline of the Church was directed from day of their promulgation, September 5, 1234, until May 19, 1918, when the Code of Canon Law became effective. In other words, for over six hundred and eighty-three years the collection of the Decretals made by St. Raymond was the authentic source of legislation in the Church.

When he was forty-seven, the year after St. Dominic’s death, St. Raymond donned the white habit of a Dominican novice and began a new mode of life. His entering the Dominicans caused a huge stir in the university city of Bologna, as well as a sudden surge of new vocations to the Dominicans. As a Dominican, he became Master of the Order after the death of Bl. Jordan of Saxony and compiled the Liber Constitutionum Ordinis Fratrum Praedicatorum, the Dominican Constitutions. Later, he encouraged St. Thomas Aquinas to write his Summa Contra Gentiles. As a missionary and apostle, he co-founded, with St. Peter Nolasco, the Order of Our Lady of Ransom (for the redemption of Christian captives). Yearning to convert the peoples of the East, he founded schools in Barcelona and Tunis for the study of oriental languages.

After two years of intense labor as Master of the Order, citing ill health, St. Raymond begged to be allowed to resign as Master. Though his resignation was eventually accepted (and the accepting friars were penanced severely for letting him go), St. Raymond continued to labor for the Order and Church. He was appointed, at different times, as confessor to the pope and king, and as papal penitentiary he pronounced on difficult cases of conscience. He wrote various works for the guidance of confessors and canonists, and in art he is pictured holding a key, the symbol of confession.

St. Raymond of Penyafort, pray for us!

P.S. – Give up on the life event depicted in our stained glass window? St. Raymond was always consulted by King James I of Aragon in every important affair of state. Toward the end of his life, St. Raymond accompanied King James I to an island to obtain the conversion of the Moors. However, King James also brought with him his mistress. St. Raymond reproved the king several times, but to no avail. Refusing to be part of the royal entourage, he began looking for a ship to take him back to the mainland. But, every captain had been forbidden under penalty of death to give him passage. Undaunted, St. Raymond said to his fellow friar, “You will see that the King of Heaven will confound the wickedness of this earthly King and provide me with a ship.”

With that, he walked to the seashore, removed his black cappa and cast one part upon the water and fastened the other part to his staff. Kneeling on the part floating on the surface of the water, he invited his fellow friar to do likewise; but the friar declined. Making the sign of the cross, St. Raymond pushed off from shore and quickly sailed away on his cappa. He made the voyage of 180 miles in six hours, faster than any ship at that time. When he reached shore, a crowd had gathered, seeing him on the water. He stepped on land, picked up his cappa and put it back on his shoulders, as dry as if it had never touched water. He walked to the convent, which was locked; but suddenly, he was inside the cloister without anyone seeing how he got in, or hearing him.

When news of the miracle reached King James, he sincerely repented and gave up his sinful life, and he and St. Raymond became friends once more.

Preparing for a Houseful...

of novice mistresses! This weekend, novice mistresses from across North America will be arriving at our monastery for the 2018 Annual Meeting of Novice Mistresses organized by the North American Association of Dominican Monasteries. Each year, a different monastery hosts the meeting and this year we have the privilege. So, our sisters have been eagerly preparing for the arrival of our guests!

One of the responsibilities of the Association is to provide means of collaboration, formation and support to the member monasteries. The annual meeting of novice mistresses is aimed at providing a forum for the novice mistresses to have a time of renewal, opportunities to learn new tools to meet the challenges of initial formation, and to build relationships between the formators.

Please keep our novices mistresses in your prayers this week as the gather together and then return to their home monasteries.

How We Spent Our Summer Vacation, Part 3: Fifty Years and Counting!

Our diminutive and energetic Mexican hermana, Sister Maria Carmela of the Heart of Jesus, O.P., celebrated her 50th Jubilee Anniversary of profession on the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Father Mark Padrez, O.P., our vicar and Prior Provincial of the Western Dominican Province, celebrated the Solemnity Mass to a full chapel of Lara family and friends in honor of their Jubilarian, and received abundant graces during their visit with her. The schola led the choir in the Dominican Kyriale V Mass in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary with great gusto. Congratulations, Sister!

Happy 101st Birthday, Sister!

Today is not only the feast of Saint Agnes of Montepulciano for Dominican nuns, it is also our Sister Mary of the Compassion’s 101st birthday!  Join us in celebrating this milestone by offering a prayer for her and reading her fascinating vocation story.

May God grant you many blessings and great joy, Sister!

Paschal Joy Shared, Paschal Joy Multiplied

We learned in grade school that if you have three apples and you give one to your friend, you are left with two apples – your possession of created goods has decreased.  Yet, with spiritual goods, this is not true!  In fact, with God, the more you share, the more you have and if you try to keep spiritual goods for yourself, what little you have slips through your fingers.

We are doubly blessed, then, by our friends and family, with visits and generosity especially joyous.  Recently, one of our Dominican friars, Father Lukasz Misko, O.P., brought a group of students from the St. Catherine of Siena Newman Center at University of Utah by for a visit as part of a pilgrimage tour they were taking over spring break.  We had a wonderful visit, sharing stories and laughs, and learning more about each other.  We were inspired by their zeal and love for Jesus and the Catholic faith. 

Then last week, our joy multiplied once more when a group of Dominican sisters from the Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist came to visit one of our novitiate sisters; they all knew each other before she discerned her vocation to cloistered life.  The rest of the novitiate stopped by to say hello; one of the Ann Arbor sisters in the group, Sister Maria Silva, O.P., contributed to a new book by the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist entitled, “And Mary’s Yes Continues”.  This is a beautiful book about religious vocations today and includes many vocation stories of SMME sisters.  If you or someone you know is interested in learning more about consecrated life, don’t miss this book.

What a beautiful life, Dominican life, with our large and diverse Dominican family!  Yet we remain united in the Spirit, by our love of God and our zeal for the salvation of souls, under Mary and our Holy Father Dominic.

Alleluia!  He is risen!