Westward Bound - From New York to San Francisco

“On the 29th of May 1921, it being the Sunday within the octave of the feast of Corpus Christi, five choir sisters - Mother Mary of the Rosary, Very Reverend Mother Prioress, Mother Mary Emmanuel, Reverend Mother Subprioress, Mother Mary of the Immaculate Heart, Sister Mary Agnes, and Sister Mary of the Visitation - two lay sisters - Sister Mary Rose and Sister Mary Thomas - and Sister Mary Benedict, touriere and natural sister of Sister Mary Rose, set out to found in San Francisco a new monastery with perpetual exposition and adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament…”

Monastery Chronicles - Archives
Corpus Christi Monastery, Menlo Park, California

Though our foundation date is May 29, 1921, the day our foundresses left their monastery in New York for California, the first record of the possibility of making a foundation in California goes all the way back to a letter dated March 26, 1906, written by Minnie Parrott of San Mateo, California to her cousin Julia, known in the Order as Mother Mary of Jesus, O.P., a nun at Corpus Christi Monastery in Hunt’s Point (Bronx), New York:

It was only on Saturday that I saw Archbishop Riordan, and obtained his views with regard to your making a foundation in San Francisco, for the present his responsibilities are all that he can meet, but he asked me to beg you to write directly to him, making thus a direct application…

Unfortunately, on April 18, 1906, less than a month after this letter was written, disaster struck San Francisco - a major earthquake followed by fire, which destroyed much of the city and left it reeling. A new monastic foundation would have to wait for the time being.

In December 1907, Father Arthur Laurence McMahon, O.P. arrived in San Francisco. A friar of the Eastern Dominican Province, he was appointed as vicar general for the congregation of Dominican friars on the West Coast. In 1912, when the congregation was elevated to a province, he was named the first prior provincial of the Western Dominican Province. In a letter from him to our foundress, Mother Mary of the Rosary, O.P. in 1928, he summarized what happened between his arrival in San Francisco in 1907 and October 1916 concerning the possibility of a new foundation of Dominican nuns:

Very Rev. Arthur Laurence McMahon, O.P., S.T.M. - Dominicana 27:3 — Fall 1942

Dear Mother Mary of the Rosary,

With this I shall hand you, to be copied for your archives, the letters that I received from Rev. Mother Mary of Mercy from November 1916 to May 1921…

I have refreshed my memory by reading the correspondence. One of my most earnest desires and purposes when I came to the west, at the end of December 1907, was to make a foundation in Seattle and to make it in honor of the Blessed Sacrament. In less than a year all arrangements for the foundation were made…

It may have been in the first year 1908, or perhaps it was in 1909 - I think it was in the former, that I had thought of a foundation of our Nuns devoted to perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. My mind was filled with a purpose of doing all I could to honor our Lord in the Eucharist, of promoting devotion to the Blessed Sacrament of thus making reparation for the neglect and failings of the Congregation of California and bring blessings upon it..

There was an annual Eucharistic Conference in October 1916 where a paper on devotion to the Blessed Sacrament was read and discussed. Archbishop Hanna who presided mentioned that he had hoped that in the city or diocese there would be a community of nuns who would keep perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Father McMahon seized the opportunity to have the Dominican nuns come to the Bay Area. He had a discussion with the Newark Community and was referred to the Hunt’s Point community.

In the correspondence that began in 1916, it is clear that the Dominican nuns of Hunt’s Point were willing to begin a new foundation in San Francisco, and Archbishop Hanna and Father McMahon were eager to have them, but there was the problem of housing and economic support. The local church was still burdened with rebuilding and assisting those in need after the earthquake and fire and any new foundation would be required to have their own benefactors and prospects for being financially independent of the local church.

Yet, Divine Providence always makes way to see His will accomplished, and eventually the nuns did receive the support they needed from their friend, a kind San Francisco woman, who knew the community at Hunt’s Point from her visits to New York. In a letter dated July 8, 1920, she wrote to Mother Mary of Mercy:

I do wish your community could come here - some months ago, a friend of mine who had been in Europe spoke of having heard that perpetual adoration might be brought here and established in the lower part of San Francisco where there is nothing Catholic to attract the many stenographers, etc.

Caricature of Most Rev. Edward J. Hanna, D. D., Archbishop of San Francisco by G. A. Bronstrup - Bronstrup, G. A., and Associates (1918) Club Men in Caricature, San Francisco, Public Domain

A letter to Mother Mary of Mercy from Father McMahon, also in September 1920:

You have received the Archbishop’s letter, and so you know that you may come and make the foundation that has been so long desired. I had hoped that we might have it for the seventh centenary of the confirmation of the Order, earlier hopes having been in vain; but it seems to have been reserved for the seventh centenary of the death of Saint Dominic.

Our Founding Community of Eight

When a young woman enters a cloister, it is for the purpose of devoting herself solely to seeking the face of God within a hidden life. As a Dominican nun, she does this not only for God’s glory and her own salvation, but also as part of the Order’s mission of saving souls. In their "fiat” to God’s will, during the short months leading up to May 29, 1921, the nuns of Corpus Christi Monastery finished with haste the many preparations necessary for this small group to leave their cloister in New York and head west by train to begin a new foundation in what must have seemed like almost another world.

What are some of the joys, challenges and heartaches these women consecrated to God faced as they took this step of faith and devotion? During our Centennial Jubilee year, we will be sharing with you more of the historical treasures in our archives about our own foundation and the early years of our monastery.

Lessons in Holiness from Dominican Saints Agnes according to Saint Catherine

Today we commemorate one of our cloistered Dominican nuns – Saint Agnes of Montepulciano. She is one of those saints who can seem unreal because of all the miracles and mystical experiences that are often relayed when discussing or summarizing her life. Yet these things do not make a person a saint. Our dear Saint Catherine of Siena wrote in a letter to Saint Agnes’ monastic community that Saint Agnes’ chief virtue was humility. How is this?

Saint Agnes was favored from her birth with extraordinary graces. At the age of nine, after begging her parents persistently, was allowed to enter religious life with a most poor and austere community commonly known as the Sisters of the Sack, because of the rough and poor habits they wore. She applied herself diligently to growing in prayer and virtue and was recognized for her humility, obedience and prudence – so much so that before she had turned 14, a superior put her in charge of managing all the community’s temporal goods. Imagine having to manage the monastery property and secure the needs of a community of sisters at the age of 14! Yet she did it with charity and prudence, and all without lessening her prayer and penitential practices.

A neighboring town had heard of the sanctity of the community and asked the Sisters of the Sack to send one of the nuns to begin a new foundation in their town. The community decided to send Sister Margaret, who had been Sister Agnes’ novice mistress. Sister Margaret insisted that to take on such a task, she would need Sister Agnes to help her. Reluctantly the community agreed and sent the two sisters to begin a new foundation in Proceno. By the age of 15, Saint Agnes was made the superior of the community by the local bishop.

Yet God was not through using her administrative and management skills. Before she turned 40, He led her to become a Dominican nun and found a new monastery in her hometown, Montepulciano, on the site of a former brothel. This was a particular trial that included the hired builders taking shortcuts in the construction so that part of the monastery collapsed and the nuns had to raise more funds to have a proper building erected.

Not many of us are called to such a high level of service to others. Yet, Saint Catherine of Siena was encouraging all the nuns of Montepulciano to follow the example of their mother foundress, by following her humility and her other virtues. During her life, Saint Agnes recognized that her talents and skills were gifts from God and meant to be used for His glory and in loving service to others and she applied herself well to the service of her sisters, yet that was not her primary concern. Rather, as Saint Catherine highlights in her letter, Saint Agnes possessed “uncreated charity that continually burns and consumes the heart”; she had a “taste and hunger for souls” and “always applied herself to keeping vigil in prayer”. Saint Catherine points out that there is no other way to acquire humility except with charity and to arrive at perfect virtue as Saint Agnes did, we must practice “free and voluntary self-denial”, which makes us renounce ourselves and the goods of this world.

Saint Agnes’ treasure was not what her earthly father or this world could offer; she sought and possessed the treasure of her Divine Spouse, Jesus Christ. She accepted all He willed to share with her: His cross, disgrace, pain, mockery and reproaches, as well as voluntary poverty, a hunger for our Heavenly Father’s honor, and our salvation. Saint Catherine goes on to instruct the nuns, “possess this treasure with the force of your reason, moved by the fire of charity,” and you will arrive at true virtue.

Saint Agnes of Montepulciano, pray for us!

Eternal Rest, Grant Unto Her, O Lord

We commend our sister to your prayers.

Sister Maura of the Holy Spirit, O.P. passed into eternal life on February 8, 2021, during her 98th year of earthly life and her 71st year of religious profession. You may read her vocation story here.

Eternal rest, grant unto her, O Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon her. May she rest in peace.

Lesson in Contrasts: A Reflection by our Sister Postulant

As part of our Christmas preparations, our community holds a Joyous Chapter on December 23rd. Included in the Chapter is the reading of one of the Christmas Gospels and a reflection is given by the youngest member of the community. This year’s reflection was given by our postulant sister and we joyfully share it with you.

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Just last week during our Free Day, the novitiate had a mini art lesson with Sister Marie Dominic. One of the things I learned was that in a piece of art, your eyes will automatically focus on the area where the colors contrast the most. So for example in this piece of art, our eyes will eventually focus here, on Mary’s crown, because it is the area where the colors greatly contrast.

What does this have to do with our Gospel reading tonight? I ask you to please stay with me.

Jesus is our God, our King, our Savior, but at his birth, he was laid in a manger, a feeding trough for animals. A king born not in a palace nor in a hospital with doctors, but in a stable with animals. How great is the contrast in that scenario? But, if we remember our art lesson, the focal point of a piece of art is the area where the colors contrast the most. Perhaps in the deeply contrasting situation of Jesus’s birth, God is inviting us to see, to take a deeper look.

To see that amidst the Poverty of Jesus’s birth, He is proclaiming that He is our True Richness.

To see that amidst the Humility of Jesus’s birth, He is proclaiming that He is our True Power.

To see that amidst the Silence of Jesus’s birth, He is proclaiming that He is our True Glory.

To see that amidst the Solitude of Jesus’s birth, He is proclaiming that He is our True Intimacy.

To see that amidst the Vulnerability of Jesus’s birth, He is proclaiming that He is our True Strength.

To see that amidst the Darkness of Jesus’s birth, He is proclaiming that He is our True Light.

To see that amidst the Rejection at the Inn, He is proclaiming that He is our True Savior.

This made me reflect further on the contrasts of this monastic way of life, which I have been blessed to live for the past four months, thanks to the generosity of the community. Life is meaningful in the monastery precisely because of these contrasts.

Amidst the silence of the monastery, there is, in truth, a myriad of activities going on, all of which aim to serve and give glory to God. This myriad of activities, in turn foster the silence of our hearts, leading us to a more intimate union with God.

Amidst the solitude of the life, deeper bonds are actually formed within the community, allowing us to love and forgive one another even with minimal contact and with less words being spoken out loud. In turn, to nourish these bonds, a deeper solitude is yearned for, in order for us to learn how to love our neighbor even more.

Amidst the emptiness of the life - the emptiness of being away from our dearest loved ones, the emptiness of not having some physical comforts, the emptiness of surrendering our wills, time and preferences even in the littlest situations - these all contribute to making the life fuller, fuller in the awareness of God’s deep love for us. A moment with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament makes us forget the host of things we have had to give up. And in experiencing the fullness of God’s love for us, it moves us to empty ourselves even more of those little things which in the grander scale are unimportant, to make more room in our hearts for God.

Two years ago, I was in [our two current aspirants’] position - I was an aspirant in this monastery during the Christmas Season. I distinctly remember that after that year’s Joyous Chapter, I hurriedly went up to the novitiate library. Externally I was scanning the books on the shelves, but internally I was deeply distressed, asking God, “Lord, are you really calling me to this life? Because I really don’t want to do a sermon in front of the community when I enter.” And yet by the grace of God, here I am two years later, almost done with what distressed me so much back then. In keeping with the theme of contrasts in this reflection, kindly allow me to share that what distressed me so much back then has actually given me much peace right now, the peace of doing the will of God, no matter how distressing a situation may be.

“What distressed me so much back then has actually given me much peace right now, the peace of doing the will of God, no matter how distressing a situation may be.”

— Sister Postulant

Mary must have felt the deepest joy and peace as she gave birth to Jesus, even though she had to travel while pregnant and give birth in the most uncomfortable of situations. Mary’s full-hearted “yes” to God has given us the greatest contrast our world needs, the contrast of Jesus. In reflecting on the birth of Jesus, let us remember our art lesson: that the area where the colors contrast the most is the focal point of that piece of art. Perhaps what God wants to tell us is that amidst the poverty, humility, solitude, silence, vulnerability, darkness and rejection of our lives, we need only to keep our eyes and hearts on Jesus, our God, our King, our Savior.

Claimed by Mary: Under the Patronage of Mary in Her Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Guadalupe

This week in the United States, we celebrate two great Marian feasts: the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, our country’s patronal feast day, and the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, who has been repeatedly declared the empress of – not just Latin America – all America. How did it come to be that America would fall so clearly under the patronage of our Lady? And what do these two aspects of our Lady mean for us today?

America is under the patronage of our Lady because, from the first, she has claimed us as her own.

This is something several bishops and popes have observed. How is this? The conception of our Lady had long been honored and celebrated in Christian Europe when Christopher Columbus made his voyage across the Atlantic to land on the shores of what would come to be called America. In fact, some historians say the full name of his lead ship was Santa Maria de la Concepcion and the second island to which he came, he named Santa Maria de la Concepcion (the first island he dubbed San Salvador). Then, with more Spanish explorers came missionaries, who brought their love and devotion of the Blessed Virgin to the native people.

Yet the missionaries had great difficulties in preaching the Gospel to the native people of America. Their religion had a deep hold on them and included dark practices, including human sacrifice. Additionally, some of the explorers were ruthless in their quest for fame and riches and at times resorted to harsh treatment, violence, and cruelty against the native people. Don Juan de Zumárraga, a Franciscan friar who was named the first bishop of Mexico, worked valiantly to defend the native peoples and preach the Gospel to them, but the situation escalated to the point he knew a miracle would be necessary to both protect the native people and to have their minds and hearts be open to the Gospel and coming to Christ. He redoubled his commitment to prayer and fasting, asking our Lady for her intercession.

It was then that our Lady appeared to a simple native man, Juan Diego, who had converted to Christianity. Beginning on December 9, 1531, she appeared to Juan Diego and asked that he go to the bishop and convey the message that she desired a Church to be built on the hill where they were standing, that the people might seek her aid and she might be of aid and comfort to the people. When Juan Diego relayed our Lady’s message to the bishop, he was cautious and skeptical. So our Lady sent Juan Diego back to the bishop with a sign – a bouquet of Castilian roses arranged by her own hands in Juan Diego’s tilma, or cloak. She gave Juan Diego instructions to not open his tilma until he was with the bishop. Now the sign of the roses was already miraculous, for it was not the season for roses and Castilian roses are not native to Mexico. But something even more remarkable was to happen – when Juan Diego opened his tilma and let the roses fall, an image of Our Lady was to be seen on the tilma, an image not made by human hands and extraordinary in every detail.

The chapel was built as our Lady had requested and, suddenly, the people gave up human sacrifice, idolatry and vices and flocked to the Christian faith in astounding numbers. This was before national boundaries were established, and our Lady made it clear that she was the mother of all in this “new land”, a claim recognized by bishops and popes throughout history since.

Fast forward about 300 years – it is May 13, 1846 and the bishops of the United States are gathered in the city of Baltimore for a council. On that day, they issued a decree announcing that they “unanimously approve and consent that [they] have chosen the Blessed Virgin Mary, conceived without sin, as the Patroness of the United States of America…” Subsequently, they submitted a request to the Holy See that their decision be approved by the pope, which was done by decree on July 2, 1847. Since that time, Mary’s patronage of the United States in her Immaculate Conception has been reaffirmed.

As we celebrate these two great Marian feasts, we should, especially during these times, meditate on these titles of our Lady and what we can learn through them. Both the Immaculate Conception and our Lady of Guadalupe hold for us many graces and virtues, especially faith, hope and charity particularly when facing suffering, darkness, and evil.

In her Immaculate Conception, Mary, who was to be the Mother of the only-begotten Son, is “ever resplendent with the glory of most sublime holiness and so completely free from all taint of original sin that she would triumph utterly over the ancient serpent” (Ineffabilis Deus, Pope Pius IX, Dec. 8, 1854). This was a singular gift of God, in consideration of the salvation Jesus would obtain for us by his life, suffering, death and resurrection. By God’s grace, Mary has completely triumphed over Satan and the powers of evil.

On the 50th anniversary of Ineffabilis Deus, Pope Pius X promulgated a beautiful encyclical, On the Immaculate Conception. In it he highlights the darkness of the times and the brightness of the hope presented in the Immaculate Conception, and he highlights the great benefits of devotion to our Lady in her Immaculate Conception, particularly in combatting attitudes and ideas that remain prevalent and dangerous today.

First, there is a great temptation and trap to deny or minimize sin and to not admit we have fallen from grace, we cannot lift ourselves up by our bootstraps, that we truly need a Savior. Devotion to the Immaculate Conception demands we acknowledge the reality of sin and our need for a savior, and it gives us hope, because in Mary and the Immaculate Conception we see God’s superabundant grace, mercy and love for us, as well as a model of what it is to live without sin. As Saint Ambrose pointed out, “Such was Mary that her life is an example for all. Have then before your eyes, as an image, the virginity and life of Mary from whom as from a mirror shines forth the brightness of chastity and the form of virtue.”

Devotion to the Immaculate Conception also leads us to greater docility and submission to Christ and His Church. While Mary does not have productive power of grace – that belong to God alone – she has been deemed by God as the conduit of grace, by virtue of her being the mother of the Source of grace. “Divine Providence has been pleased that we should have the Man-God through Mary, who conceived Him by the Holy Spirit and bore Him in her breast, it only remains for us to receive Christ from the hands of Mary.” (On the Immaculate Conception, 6). And as Christ is our head, Saint Bernardine of Siena observes, “she is the neck of Our Head, by which He communicates to His mystical body all spiritual gifts.”

In his encyclical, Pope Pius X goes on to quote a passage from Revelation, “a great sign appeared – a woman clothed with the sun, and with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars upon her head,” which brings us back to Our Lady of Guadalupe. In the miraculous image, we see a pregnant woman, clothed with the sun, standing on the moon with a cloak of stars. When Juan Diego had tried to evade meeting our Lady because he was worried about his uncle and was fetching a priest to give him last rites, Mary appeared to him on his detour and reassured him with these words: “Am I not your Mother?” Yes, “is not Mary the Mother of Christ? Then she is our Mother also.” (On the Immaculate Conception, 10). As we continue to meditate on the Immaculate Conception of Mary and on her appearances to us as our Lady of Guadalupe, we vividly see tender concern for all human life and the ultimate triumph of God’s grace and mercy in the face of seemingly overwhelming suffering and evil. Our hearts and minds are warmed and we can experience true freedom, peace, and reconciliation with all creation, and all people, in Christ, through Mary.

Advent is the perfect time to rekindle and renew our devotion to our Lady. As we prepare to welcome Christ at Christmas, let us seek Mary to journey with her and learn from her. It was she who shared intimately in the life and work of her Son, Jesus. If we want to know Jesus, who better to guide and instruct us than Mary? After all, it was

“with her alone of all others Jesus was for thirty years united, as a son is usually united with a mother, in the closest ties of intimacy and domestic life. Who better than His mother could have an open knowledge of the admirable mysteries of the birth and childhood of Christ, and above all the mystery of the Incarnation, which is the beginning and the foundation of faith?” (On the Immaculate Conception, 7).

Mary kept all these mysteries and pondered them in her heart. Let us ponder them too, especially in praying the Joyful Mysteries of our Lady’s Rosary.

Mary is also ever present to us with her maternal care, if we only will turn to her as her children. But we must turn with our whole heart and will. If our honor and devotion to our Lady does not keep us from committing sin, if it does not move our will to amend our lives, to turn from evil and vices and to learn to do good, to cultivate a life of goodness, truth and beauty and to shine forth the mercy of Christ to others, then we are deceiving ourselves and our devotion is false. Mary is there when we fall, when we lose our way in the darkness, when we “run out of wine” and don’t know where else to turn – we only need to ask with softened hearts and open minds. And if we cannot, then may we ask for the grace to do so. May the “Yes” of Mary’s fiat to God be the first and ever ready word on our own lips and may we learn from her the true meaning of life and love, freedom and victory.

Mary, Immaculate Virgin and our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!

Refectory Reading Review: Lectio Mary

Our community has been the blessed beneficiary of recorded content produced by The Augustine Institute.  Most recently, we listened to Lectio Mary: The Bible and the Mother of God as part of our meal reading.  There was so much engaging material presented in this series, that listening to it once was not enough; a group of us met weekly to go through the series again as a group lectio exercise, following the accompanying workbook.  If you want to know why Mary is so important to Catholics or want to deepen your relationship with Jesus and Mary, this series is for you.

The presenter in the series is Dr. Brant Pitre, Distinguished Research Professor of Scripture at The Augustine Institute.  He received his Ph.D. in New Testament and ancient Judaism from the University of Notre Dame, Indiana and focuses his teaching and writing on the Bible and on the Jewish roots of Scripture and Christianity.  Over the course of eight sessions, averaging 30 – 40 minutes each, Dr. Pitre explores seven different aspects of Mary by examining the Old and New Testaments, as well as teachings by the Church Fathers.  He clears up many misconceptions about Mary and explains what the Catholic Church believes and teaches; his approach to these issues is clear and understandable while remaining very engaging.

The accompanying workbook gave the lectio group great questions to help facilitate study, meditation, and discussions on the material presented in the sessions.  There were many things presented through the sessions and questions asked in the workbook that were new to some of us, or the topics were approached in a unique way, which made them all the more richer in application to our spiritual lives. 

As Catholics, what we believe about Mary is rooted in Jesus, and as we deepen our relationship with Mary, she always leads us to her Son, Jesus.  This is even more vital during these times in which we live.  We need to cultivate our relationship with our Mother Mary, who is the new Eve, the Mother of the Messiah, our Queen, and the Mother of Sorrows.  This Saturday is the Feast of the Presentation of Mary in the Temple, a day we can imitate her example in presenting ourselves to God.  Next month, with Advent and Christmas, is the perfect season to grow closer to Jesus through Mary.  We cannot recommend this series enough for those looking to deepen their love for Mary and gain a clearer understanding of her proper role in our lives as Christians.

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.

Our Lady's Message: Prayer and Penance

Since the Fall of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, pain and suffering have been part of every person’s earthly life. Yet there are certain moments in human history that seem darker than the rest, as if all of humanity were racing toward the edge of a cliff. While history will tell whether we are experiencing one of those times now, there is no question that the pain and suffering of our day is, in many ways, unprecedented. During the month of October, it is good to once again remember what we have been told repeatedly by our Lady when she has appeared in our troubled past – as followers of Christ, we are called to undertake penance and prayer.

The specific prayer recommended time and again by Our Lady is the Holy Rosary. We have written before about praying the Rosary, this most beautiful prayer of our Lady that guides us to meditate on the Gospel and leads us to her Son and our Savior Jesus. It is a prayer that changes hearts and lives as it calls down God’s grace and transforms us as it keeps us under the protective mantle of our Blessed Mother. During October, the month devoted to the Holy Rosary, we invite you to join us in renewing a commitment to this prayer.

But what about penance, the other side of this coin? If all is mercy and we are forgiven, why does God require penance?

Most of us approach penance from the wrong direction. We hear “penance” and we immediately equate it with a disagreeable hardship, something we endure for a time, like giving up chocolate Lent, or something we are told to do by the priest in confession. So, we add “penance” to a to-do list and… Check! Done! Now we can move on to something more pleasurable. But that’s not exactly what God meant when He said “take up your cross”, and it’s not how the Church and saints understand penance. As Dom Hubert van Zeller points out in his book, “Approach to Penance”, these may be acts of penance, and are indeed often a good place to start, but true penance goes much deeper than that.

True penance demands a complete surrender of self to the will of God. Penance that is worth anything is not simply a turning from something, but it is a turning to Someone.

Often our acts of penance are inspired by feelings of remorse. We recognize we did something wrong or are overly attached to something (or someone) and we are remorseful. Yet, true penance does not stop at remorse – it must go forward to trust. It is this confusion of remorse and penance that leads to seeing penance as only external acts to be performed instead of a habitual disposition of the soul – a virtue – to be cultivated. Penance as a virtue begins in humility - in acknowledging that God is all and compared to God we are nothing - AND it goes further to have complete confidence and trust in God’s loving mercy.

Why does this matter? Because everyone is called to penance, but not everyone is called to perform the heroic acts of penance we often read about in the lives of the saints. Dom Hubert van Zeller warns us that if we approach penance as only acts to be performed, then we risk falling into one of two errors.

First, we may avoid true penance all together. We say to God, “I’ll give this, but not that”, which means we haven’t really given our whole selves to Him. We can also fall into pride by going down our list of sacrifices and congratulating ourselves at how much we’ve given God. In both cases, the emphasis is on the “I”. It is much better to say, “God, here I am. Take whatever, whenever, however You want.” And then trust that He will give you the grace and strength you will need when He takes you at your word.

The second error we can fall into is to have the desire to deny ourselves, but to be disillusioned because we can’t do as much as the saints, or even perhaps other individuals we know – we aren’t strong enough, or our vocations don’t allow us to perform such heroic acts of penance. Yet penance as a virtue means that the merit of the act is based on the intention of the will. It is the denial of self that is the substance of true penance.

Remember what Jesus said about the poor woman who gave two coins in the collection - she gave more than all the others who came before her because she gave from her poverty; she gave all she had to give. That is all Jesus asks of us - to willingly give all, whether that means two coins or 20 coins doesn’t matter to Him, as long as it is everything.

If we have the desire to give ourselves to God through penance - whether to atone for our own sins or in reparation for the sins of others - it is because God has first instilled in us that desire. This should give us greater faith and hope in Him, because along with the desire, He will give us the grace - Jesus Himself will help us - to complete the gift. Yet we must keep in mind that penance is the way of the cross. It is the way of love, to be sure, but it is also that way of faith and it is a work. In picking up the cross - in developing the virtue of penance - our sole motive should be to please God. We must also realize that we will be called to bear the cross in a shape we didn’t bargain for and that the really effective part is not what we do by way of self-denial but what God does in us by way of reproducing Jesus’ Passion in our everyday lives.

This is why humility and trust is so important - because when Jesus gives us a small part of His cross, or a thorn from His crown, or a share in the wounds He received under the lash, or the humiliation of being despised and ridiculed by others, He is asking us to join Him in His supreme gift of love. We cannot love Jesus completely if we do not also love what He loves, and He loved the cross. Not because he loves pain and suffering itself, but because He loves the Father’s will and He loves us and it is the cross that bridges the way between Him and us.

So how do we put all this into practice? How do we know what specific acts of penance God may be asking us to undertake to cultivate the virtue of penance in our souls?

Only grace will reveal what specifically we are to do, how we are to do it, and when or for how long. God speaks to us in many ways; here are some tips for discerning God’s voice:

• Read the Scriptures and the Catechism to learn more about what God and the Church teaches us about prayer and penance.

• Find out what the Pope and our bishops are asking us to do (i.e., are they asking the faithful to engage in specific prayers or acts of penance, such as fast days?).

• Seek counsel from a wise confessor or spiritual director. This is especially important before taking on more rigorous acts of penance. Remember, God prefers obedience to sacrifice.

• Consider your current disposition (i.e., temperament, health, etc.), vocation, and circumstances. God will not call us to take on crosses that are truly beyond our strength or in conflict with fulfilling our vocations (though, admittedly at first, it may feel like it!).

• Spend time in prayer and ask God for direction, then listen to what He speaks in your heart. And if you feel a nudge that doesn’t go away, take that seriously. Again, because we are approaching penance as a virtue and total gift of self, our prayer to God is not, “God what more can I give you today?” because, if we have truly given Him everything, we cannot give Him “more”. Rather, our prayer becomes, “God, I’ve given you all of me and with the help of your grace, I renew that gift of self. What would you have me do today?”

Finally, because penance is a virtue to be cultivated, it will take time and practice to grow strong in it. So, when we stumble, remember Jesus also fell under the weight of the cross - offer your weakness to Him with confidence, ask for the help of our Blessed Mother, rise and press forward once more. For the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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.