Author: Texas OP Nuns

Blesseds Diana and Cecilia with companion receive a blessing from St. Dominic

Blessed Diana d\’Andalo (1200-1236) was converted to a religious way of life by Blessed Reginald, OP, and she confided her desire to become a nun to St. Dominic, who encouraged her and established the monastery of St. Agnes in Bologna, Italy for her. Blessed Cecilia (1204-1290) also became a Dominican nun through the influence of St. Dominic. She entered religious life in Rome, but ended up prioress of St. Agnes in Bologna.

Diana is also remembered for the correspondence between herself and Blessed Jordan of Saxony, OP (the first successor of St. Dominic as head of the Order). Unfortunately, we don\’t have any of Diana\’s letters, but Jordan\’s are wonderful. In one of these he writes to Diana, \”Do you therefore, beloved, more and more flee to [God]; then, no matter what hardship or sorrow may befall you, your heart will be established upon so solid and firm a foundation that it will never be moved. Think often of this and impress it deeply upon your heart, and urge your sisters to do likewise.\” (Letter 46) 

In her old age, Cecilia dictated a series of anecdotes about St. Dominic to another nun in her monastery…these have come down to us as the \”Miracles of St. Dominic\”. In one of these Cecilia gives a description of St. Dominic: \”He was slender and of medium height. His face was handsome and somewhat ruddy. His hair and beard were reddish and his eyes beautiful. From his brow and eyes emanated a kind of radiance which drew everyone to revere and love him. He was always cheerful, except when he was moved to compassion at the sight of someone\’s affliction.\” 

Tradition holds that there was a third Dominican nun honored on this day–Blessed Amata–but she has been dropped from the calendar on the grounds that she probably never existed. That\’s why there are three nuns in the picture above! Anyway, we ask these holy Dominican nuns to intercede for us all today!

It\’s hard to believe it\’s been two years since we started this blog! Thanks to all the many people who helped us get going and help us keep going. And especially thanks to all our readers and followers! We are so grateful to you all for your prayers and support. You are all in our prayers, too!

On this feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we Dominican nuns are encouraged to reach out to and visit with our sisters in the active realm. We can do this primarily through prayer, and we will be offering special prayers for all our active Dominican sisters in the Texas area and throughout the United States and the world today.

Fr. Paul Murray, OP (who gave us a fantastic retreat some years ago) explains beautifully about the Visitation in his book Door into the Sacred: A Meditation on the Hail Mary. He writes: \”To our astonishment, we discover that it is in the poor, in those who need our help, that the Lord is waiting to fill us with the knowledge, the joyful knowledge, that we are loved. And this knowledge is knowledge that heals. If we, who know ourselves to be wounded in some way, make an effort to help others who are suffering, if we \’share our bread with the hungry\’ and try to \’shelter the homeless poor\’ or make a visit to someone in need like Mary, then, according to the prophet Isaiah, not only will we experience enlightenment of some kind, but \'[our] wound will quickly be healed over\’ (Isaiah 58:6-8). And why? Because in those who are most in need of help we will meet Christ himself.\” Sometimes we don\’t know when another person is in need, because their deepest needs are hidden from human eyes. But we can always take time to perform act an act of kindness–and who knows what effect that will have on both of us? Today let\’s try to find out!

Did you receive the Spirit? 

We have the tradition of making a holy card for each sister here at the monastery for Pentecost. Each card has a Pentecost-themed picture on the front and a gift and fruit of the Holy Spirit printed on the back–so for example, maybe Fortitude and Peace, or Piety and Charity, or Fear of the Lord and Joy. Sister makes enough cards for the community, and we each draw one during Office of Readings on Pentecost as we sing \”Veni, Creator Spiritu\”. So the gifts and fruits each sister receives are (in a sense) planned for her by the Holy Spirit, because no one knows which ones she will get! Each sister can then meditate on the special way that these particular gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit impact her life throughout the year.

Our prayer for you today is that you will receive the blessings of the Spirit in ever greater measure as God pours out his Spirit on us all!

Processing (a good Dominican tradition!).

Sr. Bernadette Marie carried the crown of flowers…

…and Sr. Irma had the honor of crowning Our Lady!

Every evening during the month of May, we honor Our Lady by making a procession to her statue while singing the Litany of Loreto. This is part of our May novena to Mary, in which we remember in prayer all the petitions and requests that have been made by our friends, relatives and benefactors. Please know that we are remembering you who read this blog as well in our May devotions! May Our Lady intercede with the Lord for all your intentions, and grant those pleasing to His will!

Not long ago we had the Mass for Sister Miriam\’s golden jubilee…fifty years of professed Dominican cloistered religious life. Yesterday we had the community celebration for her jubilee–a day of games, festivities, food and laughter. How can anyone spend fifty years \”behind the walls\” of a cloister, seeing the same people day after day, praying with them, eating with them, having fun (we hope!) with them? We think the answer is love. Not just love for your sisters, not just love for the Order, but most of all love for Jesus Christ, who has called us together as a community. We celebrate him every day, at Mass, through our adoration of Jesus truly present in the Blessed Sacrament, through our times of communal and private prayer, and through our expressions of charity toward our sisters and those we meet from the world outside our cloister. Love is more than a warm feeling in your heart–love is expressed concretely in action and has to go on being expressed every day, especially at times when it hurts to love. Jesus is our example in this too, as in all things. But love does not mean simply suffering. In the Gospel of John we hear Jesus tell us, \”As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love…I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete.\” (John 15:9, 11) Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit and a characteristic of love. If we have love for Jesus and love for each other, truly we will be full of joy, whatever happens! 

And on a lighter note, here are some pictures from yesterday\’s joyful celebration!

Sr. Maria Guadalupe and Sr. Miriam exchange a big jubilee hug!

Sr. Miriam, Sr. Mary Lucy, and Sr. Mary John are enjoying the program!

Sr. Miriam happily displays her beautiful community gift: a golden rosary!