Month: July 2011

Goodbye, Bishop Corrada!

 Bishop Corrada and Sr. Mary John
Bishop Alvaro Corrada del Rio, SJ, bishop of Tyler, TX (the diocese we live in), was recently named Bishop of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. We are so sorry to lose him, but know he will do much good for the people of Mayaguez! He came today to pay us a farewell visit and celebrate Mass for us one last time.

After Mass, we had a visit with Bishop Corrada in our community room. Sr. Mary Margaret listens as the Bishop speaks.
Bishop Corrada presided at the solemn professions of eight of our sisters! He has also presided over such monastery events as our prioral elections, funerals, jubilee Masses, and other things, always with his usual grace, dignity, and holiness. He has been our bishop almost 11 years and it will be hard to see him go when he leaves our diocese officially on September 12!  But we are confident that the Holy Father will appoint the right man to be our new Bishop. We are praying for both Bishop Corrada and the new Bishop of Tyler–yet to be named!

St. Mary Magdalene

This image is taken from a fresco by Fra Angelico, the Dominican artist, and depicts Mary Magdalene in the garden of the Resurrection, trying to hold on to Christ. Because she first thought he might be the gardener, Fra Angelico shows Christ carrying what looks like a gardening hoe over his shoulder! St. Mary Magdalene is one of the patronesses of the Dominican Order, and according to legend spent the rest of her life as a hermit in France. As such, she is both a model for active men and women (because she was the first to announce the Resurrection to the apostles) and for contemplatives (because of her life of prayer). You can see our meditation from 2010 here. May we all grow to be great women and men of prayer through her intercession!

Last Look at the MTS 2011

Here are some more photos from our two weeks of Monastic Theological Studies Program, 2011!
Sr. Maria Teresa (Summit, NJ)
Sr. Mary Frances (Farmington Hills, MI), Sr. Mary Thomas (Lufkin) and Sr. Mary Gabriel (Lufkin) share a laugh during the break
 
 Dr. Teodora Rossi, Sr. Mary Jeremiah (Lufkin) and Dr. Margherita Rossi 

Sr. Mary Amata (Summit, NJ)

Sr. Mary Rose, Sr. Mary Dominic, and Sr. Mary Amata during a break

Sr. Joseph Maria (Summit, NJ)

A funny moment during Sr. Mary Thomas\’s presentation!

Sr. Anna Marie (Elmira, NY) and Sr. Mary Frances (Farmington Hills, MI) relax after the presentations.

Sr. Mary Jeremiah joins in the fun as Sr. Marie Augustine and Sr. Mary Giuse listen. (All three from Lufkin, TX)

Theology Presentations!

This week we had our theology seminar, conducted by Sr. Anna Marie, O.P. from the Monastery of Mary the Queen in Elmira, NY and based on the classes we took last year with Fr. Bryan Kromholtz, O.P.

 Sr. Anna Marie (Elmira, NY) explains a theological point to the seminar class

Sr. Joseph Maria (Summit, NJ)
Sr. Mary Dominic (Lufkin, TX)

Sr. Mary Frances (Farmington Hills, MI)

Sr. Mary Thomas (Lufkin, TX)

 Sr. Maria Teresa (Summit, NJ)

Sr. Marie Augustine (Lufkin, TX)

Sr. Mary Gabriel (Lufkin, TX)

Sr. Mary Giuse (Lufkin, TX)

Sr. Mary Rose (Lufkin, TX)

Sr. Anna Marie (Elmira, NY) gives some closing thoughts

All the presentations enlightened us about theological matters and showed the tremendous amount of work the sisters put in over the past year. We are so grateful for this wonderful opportunity!

Monastic Theological Studies Program 2011: St. Thomas Aquinas

The study of St. Thomas Aquinas is very important to Dominicans! We are privileged to have Dr. Margherita Maria Rossi, director of Thomistic Studies at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) in Rome, teaching us about St. Thomas this week.

 Dr. Rossi is very animated in her presentations and difficult to capture in a still camera shot!
Dr. Rossi took us on a whirlwind tour of the theology of St. Thomas, focusing on his Biblical commentaries (which happens to be her field of expertise). 
But you can\’t have a course on St. Thomas Aquinas without speaking about the Summa Theologiae! And so we did…
Dr. Rossi also gave us a lot of solid information about the way St. Thomas lectured, disputed, and preached. This gave us tools for reading St. Thomas more effectively and easily, which we all really appreciate!

We enjoyed her classes so much! 
 Left to right: Sr. Joseph Maria (Summit), Sr. Mary Amata (Summit), Sr. Mary Dominic (Lufkin), Sr. Maria Teresa (Summit), Dr. Margherita Rossi, Sr. Mary Frances (Farmington Hills), Sr. Mary Thomas (Lufkin), Sr. Mary Gabriel (Lufkin). Kneeling: Sr. Marie Augustine (Lufkin) and Sr. Mary Christine (Lufkin)

Still Smiling after the First Week…

From left to right, back row: Sr. Mary of the Savior (Farmington Hills, MI), Sr. Mary Dominic (Lufkin), Sr. Marie Augustine (Lufkin), Sr. Barbara Green, Sr. Mary Frances (Farmington Hills, MI), Sr. Mary Rose (Lufkin), Sr. Mary Gabriel (Lufkin), Sr. Mary Thomas (Lufkin), Sr. Mary Amata (Summit, NJ)
Front row: Sr. Maria Teresa (Summit, NJ), Sr. Joseph Maria (Summit, NJ), Sr. Mary Giuse (Lufkin), and Sr. Mary Christine (Lufkin). 

Philosophy Presentations!

Last year at the MTS program, we studied philosophy under Fr. Brian Chrzastek, O.P. At the end of the class, each student chose a philosophical topic or a particular philosopher to study during the year and present this summer. Now the time for sharing the fruits of our studies has come!

Sr. Mary of the Savior, O.P., from the Monastery of the Blessed Sacrament in Farmington Hills, MI is leading our seminar. This is a historic moment as it is the first time a Dominican nun has led a seminar for Dominican nuns at a study program in the United States!

Sr. Mary Frances (Farmington Hills, MI) presented on the topic \”What is Philosophy?\” 
Sr. Mary Giuse (Lufkin, TX) chose to address the topic, \”The Emergence of Religion from Philosophy: Buddhism and Christianity\” 
Sr. Mary Gabriel (Lufkin, TX) spoke to us about the philosophy of Thomas Hobbes.

Sr. Mary Dominic (Lufkin, TX) gave a fascinating Power Point presentation on the philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre.

Sr. Mary Thomas (Lufkin, TX) gestured emphatically while discussing the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. Sr. Mary Frances (Farmington Hills, MI) and Sr. Mary Gabriel (Lufkin, TX) are listening! 

Sr. Maria Teresa (Summit, NJ) explains to the seminar about the \”Materialists, the Idealists, and the Reconciled\” while Sr. Joseph Maria (Summit) and Sr. Mary John look on.

Sr. Mary Rose (Lufkin, TX) explains some of the philosophy of Wittgenstein using monastic examples.

Sr. Mary of the Savior seems pleased with our year of work!