Celebrating a New O.P.-to-be!

I will lead her into the desert and allure her…

With joyful hearts, we are excited to announce the profession of the first vows of our Sister Mary Francis of the Holy Cross on Saturday, February 16, 2019!

“Faith and family characterize my childhood in San Jose, CA,” Sister Mary Francis wrote in her vocation story.  “I loved going to church and always ran to hug the parish priests when I saw them.  As a little girl, I even wanted to be a priest, but whenever anyone suggested becoming a sister, I replied decidedly ‘No!’  Consecrated life was outside my experience.” Want to know more? Her story continues here.

Please keep her in prayer as she prepares for this important day. Congratulations, Sister!

Epiphany and the Melting Pot Dinner

By now in the world, Christmas is a distant memory.  But in the monastery, we are still celebrating in full swing.  Where Christmas tends to be big and flashy, with lots of greetings and gifts between our community and our family, friends, and benefactors, Epiphany is a big feast for us as a community and it is marked in a special way by our novitiate sisters.

When a young woman enters the monastery, she primarily lives and works in the novitiate wing of the monastery under the guidance and instruction of the novice mistress.  It is a beautiful and grace-filled time, almost akin to “monastic childhood”.  And when she leaves the novitiate and integrates into the professed community, the doors of the novitiate are then closed to her.  Literally.  As a professed sister, if she needs something or someone in the novitiate, she must ring a bell outside the novitiate workroom and wait for someone to answer.

But on Epiphany, the novitiate community hosts the professed community for a feast!  The novitiate common room is decorated and set for dining and the novitiate sisters spend the day cooking and preparing.  Actually, the preparing starts the day before or even earlier!  And depending on the sisters, you never quite know what you’ll get.  With our novitiate community, we often joke with delight that novitiate-prepared meals are “East Meets West.”  This Epiphany was no exception – the table was set with spring rolls and peanut sauce, Calabrese-style “no meat” balls with zesty marinara, deep fried Brussel sprouts with honey-sriracha sauce, a snowman pumpkin pie, æbleskiver (a Danish sweet), xôi vị (Vietnamese sweet rice desert), Vietnamese snowballs, and more!

In the course of dinner, our three wise “men” visited the festivities with little gifts for each of the sisters, some handmade by the sisters and others donated by a sister’s family and held just for this occasion.  Music, games and fun conversations over a Christmas picture slide show rounded out a beautiful evening, which was all too short.  But when the bell rang, we were ready to close the day singing praises to God in Compline.

Deo gratias!

Dominican Joy (with Our Latest Video)!

Our crocheted Holy Family, made by one of the sisters, traveling to Bethlehem.

A young woman recently completed her aspirancy with our community. As she was nearing the end of her month-long stay, one of the sisters asked her, “Has anything surprised you during your time here?” The young woman smiled and exuberantly responded, “You’re all crazy – in a good way! I didn’t expect you to have so much fun!”

She’s not the first to be surprised by our Dominican joy. While Dominicans cannot claim to be the only joyful religious (thanks be to God!), it is something that marks us in a special way, just as it marked Our Holy Father Dominic. Why is this? Christmas and the origins of our Order can give us a few clues.

We are familiar with fairy tales where Prince Charming swoops in and rescues the beautiful maiden from a life of hardship and poverty. But what if the poor maiden was bound to that life in such a way she couldn't just be swept off to the castle? Would Prince Charming set aside his crown and riches, roll up his sleeves and toil and sweat for the love of the maiden? God did, only infinitely more. That first Christmas…after thousands of years of waiting, in the fullness of time, God gave us His Son, born tiny and helpless and poor. God became man. In the midst of our suffering and darkness, God became one of us, one with us, so that we might become one with Him. Our suffering became His suffering. And His joy becomes our joy… His peace, our peace… His love, our love.

Blessed Margaret of Castello and Saint Francis of Assisi escorting the Baby Jesus to meet Joseph and Mary.

Fast forward a little over 1,000 years later to Midi-France. Saint Dominic and his bishop Diego encounter a particular poverty and darkness: the rich seem only interested in their wealth and the poor were suffering immensely with little hope. To make matters worse, a group of people are spreading beliefs which include the teaching that the physical world was created by an evil “god” and that Jesus did not really suffer with us, for us. It seemed to them too unbelievable that God, a good God, would have any part of sin and suffering. There are many consequences to believing this, and here is one: we know the proof of love is the willingness to set oneself aside and endure hardship and suffering for the beloved. If God did not actually become Incarnate, did not actually die on the cross and rise again, but it was all "just a show", where is love? Where is hope and redemption? It was to these suffering poor that Diego and Dominic, and a growing number of others, sought to offer hope and joy of the Good News – God is with us! He is one with us – with our work, our suffering, and He came to give us hope and love.

Like our Holy Father Dominic, we Dominicans are exuberant in rejoicing in this Good News – it is all grace! A free gift of love from God! His answer to our suffering was not to keep His distance, or simply pat us on the head with a slightly patronizing “There, there.” His answer to the deepest suffering, the darkest night of humankind was to become Emmanuel. How can this Good News not cause us to leap up and shout with joy?

But Dominican joy has one more facet – we are compelled to share the reason for our joy with others and to invite, urge them, to share our joy! We must preach, we must proclaim to others this Good News. How we do this varies with our specific vocation – friar, nun, apostolic sister or laity – but do it, we must. And so, in proper time and measure, we fast from the good things of God and mortify ourselves in various ways so as to proclaim that “we do not live by bread alone,” and to make evermore room for Him in our hearts. But when the time comes to feast, there is no celebration like a Dominican celebration!

In honor of Christmas and the reason for our hope and joy, we are delighted to share with you our latest video. The chant, “Verbum Caro” is part of our Vigil Office as we wait and pray in preparation for the Christmas Mass at Midnight.

Merry Christmas and may God bless you throughout the New Year!

Merry Christmas!

Thank you to all of our family, friends, and benefactors who make our lives merry and bright, and for your continued generous giving of time, talent, and treasure in support of our Dominican cloistered life.

. We are especially remembering you today in our prayers and thanksgiving.

A Day For Those Who Pray

Today we remember an event passed down to us through tradition – the presentation of the Virgin Mary in the Temple. The stories passed down through tradition reflect the earliest years of Mary’s life were much like Samuel’s of the Old Testament. Anne and Joachim were childless, which was a sign of disgrace in that culture. They prayed to God and He answered their prayer by giving them Mary. At the age of three, Mary’s parents, Anne and Joachim, took Mary and presented her to God at the Temple, where she remained until (or shortly before) her betrothal to Joseph.

Artists have long painted this scene with a joyful Mary climbing the fifteen steps to the temple, where the high priest waits in astonishment at her mature demeanor for such a little child – her footsteps are graceful and sure and she doesn’t look back. It is also said she danced with joy in God’s presence once she reached the top. Her parents see her off at the bottom of the steps, faces full of joy and gratitude for their child, yet laced with sorrow at the parting.

Today is also the day dedicated by the Church to celebrate World Day of Cloistered Life, an ecclesial event for all Catholics to commemorate the hidden lives of cloistered and monastic religious. Like Mary, cloistered religious have left all to dwell in the house of God and seek His face on behalf of His people. Some wonderful ways to honor the event include prayer (participating in a novena, offering up Masses, etc.), encouragement (writing letters to contemplative communities, visiting them, calling to thank them, etc.), and giving material support (financial and in-kind donations).

A few years ago at a general audience in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis reminded the Church, “Let us give thanks to the Lord for the powerful testimony of cloistered life.” He also urged the faithful to lend their spiritual and material support to these brothers and sisters of ours “so that they can carry out their important mission.” Our community is grateful for all of you who have so generously supported us with the generous giving of prayers, time, talents, and treasure. We humbly ask for your continued support, as you help make possible the life we live for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. Deo gratias!

Prayer in Support of the Cloistered Life

Eternal Father, We praise and thank you for those sisters and brothers who have embraced the gift of the cloistered and monastic life. Their prayerful presence is indispensable to the Church’s life and mission, and is the foundation of the New Evangelization. As we celebrate World day of Cloistered life, let us honor the holiness and glory of the Blessed Virgin. May she, who was presented in the Temple, intercede so that many young people might dedicate themselves entirely to Your divine service by hidden lives of contemplative prayer and selfless sacrifice. May all of us be mindful of the spiritual and material needs of those who commit their lives to seeking God by fixing their gaze on those things which are eternal. We ask this through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

How We Spent Our Summer, Part 4: A Nun Run!

“So, um, how old do you have to be before you can enter your monastery?” asked a wide-eyed thirteen year-old girl from the other side of the parlor. She gave voice to the query of many a young girl during the annual “nun run” from the Archdiocese of Portland, most of whom were between the ages of thirteen and eighteen.

Nuns in every stage of their monastic journey participated in answering questions, and contributing their own stories and insights during this exchange. By the end of the weekend, the girls will have met Carmelites, Benedictines, Dominicans both active and contemplative, and other consecrated religious in the greater Northwest region. We were happy to be able to host such a lovely group of possible vocations in the Church.

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!

How We Spent Our Summer Vacation, Part Two: A Visit From the Archbishop

Part One may be found here.

On August 11, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of the Archdiocese of San Francisco made his annual visit to our monastery. After celebrating Mass with us, we welcomed him inside the cloister for conversation and a walk around our grounds. 

We were eager to learn His Excellency’s ministry is flourishing with the growth of St. Patrick’s Seminary nearby, and with his unique initiative to restore the beauty of Gregorian chant in parishes through the new Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Worship. Chant camps for children are now being offered, and inmates at the San Quentin state prison have formed a serious schola. Incredibly, the chants are being sung unaccompanied—an extraordinary musical feat in our modern times.

During our walk around the grounds, he seemed particularly impressed with the new brick patio and gazebo installed by the novitiate, and with our overgrown prickly pear cactus, which prompted some nostalgia from his boyhood. And we learned some tips for how to pick the fruit without getting pricked! We are fortunate to have such a holy and dynamic shepherd for our Archdiocese.

How We Spent Our Summer Vacation! Part One: A Prophet-able Retreat

September already?!  For most that means school is back in full swing, complete with extra-curricular activities, and a busy work schedule.  And for many students, that first assignment is to write a report, or share with the class "How I Spent My Summer Vacation."

As for our community, our last blog post was published at the end of July (yikes!) and entitled, "Into the Desert!" as we began our annual retreat.  Some of you may have begun to wonder whether we got lost there!  So, here is the first of our report, "How Nuns Spend a Summer Vacation."

A Prophet-able Retreat

We had our annual retreat from July 26 to August 2 with Fr. Michael Carey, O.P. as our retreat master. He gave us thought-provoking homilies and morning reflections from the daily Mass readings, which focused on the prophet Jeremiah; in the afternoon, his reflections were on the life of Moses, whose relationship with God stands out as a model of the Christian life. 

Thank you for your prayers for our community, particularly during our retreat.  We came out of it renewed and refreshed, with new insights to continue our own journey and adventure with the Lord.

Into the Desert!

Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while...

- Jesus

Beginning today, our community is taking our annual eight-day retreat.  Please keep us in prayer as we enter more deeply into the desert with Him.  Rest assured, we are keeping you all in prayer as well!