Author: Texas OP Nuns

Another Thanksgiving Day has come and gone, but we continue to enjoy the entire Thanksgiving weekend, as we hope you do. Here are a few pictures of preparing for our special dinner in the Community Room. We eat in that room when we want to talk during a festive meal, but usually eat in what we call the Refectory where we keep silence and listen to the reading of a book or CD.

Everything for our Thanksgiving Dinner came to us as gifts from our generous benefactors. We even had fresh lemonade right from the tree.

We had a new table this year to celebrate the \”internationality\” of our Community. It was ladened with dishes from Tanzania, Cuba, Vietnam and Columbia… and we had homemade Mexican hot chocolate and bunuelos for breakfast.

The glorious season of Autumn has arrived in East Texas. We usually have something like a \”default\” season of summer. That is, every few days, or maybe even a week, the weather turns hot. But this week we are enjoying the cold nights and warm days.

Even some of the trees are turning  pretty reds and oranges. The photo above is of our Japanese persimmon tree behind the professed dormitory. We have several \”American\” persimmon trees. Their fruit is almost heart shaped and must be soft to eat, if you do not want your throat to close up because of the unripe astringent elements in the fruit. The fruit of a Japanese persimmon, on the other hand, is a squatting square, and stays hard even when ripe. Having the two kinds of persimmons makes it especially important to know which you are eating, or you can be in for a very unpleasant surprise.

We have a cute little family of tree frogs living in one of the flower pots next to St. Joseph by one of the entrances to the professed dormitory. When the days are warm they are out looking for food; when the air turns cold, they are back for a snooze in the leaves and dirt. This one is at the very top of the door near the ceiling of the porch. This is one of the Parents\”, about 1 inch long. The baby is only 1/2 inch long.

To have a \”Circle\” at the Monastery is a \”technical term\”.   😄    Or, you might say it is a form of \”monastic-speak\”. In other words, it means that we gather in an open circle to share recent news or events.

Whenever a Sister needs to go on a trip, we have a \”circle\” after her return, to hear about her adventure, travels, people she met, etc.

In this way, we can all hear the news at one time… and get the story straight. Sister has many souvenirs that the other members of the International Commission gave her.

One day they took a special field trip to see where the Dominican Friars first lived when St. Dominic sent them to Bologna, Italy. They also had Mass in the cell where our holy father died and then visited the side chapel in the Church of St. Dominic where he is buried today.

We are excited that we now have more pictures to add to our Dominican History class!!!

A wonderful new development in the procedure of the International Commission on the Nuns occurred when Fr. Cesar, the Nuns\’ Promoter, asked the representatives to write the monasteries in their region every, or every other, day. This has been a simple way to keep us all connected through the internet.

Yesterday they discussed Youth, and, Justice and Peace issues.

Sister Mary Rose was chosen as the new representative of Dominican Nuns for the North American Region. The International Commission is composed of eleven representatives from throughout the world. They are currently holding their annual meeting in Bologna, Italy.

Last we we had a wonderful workshop on the Theological and Moral Virtues with Fr. Leo Almazan, OP, of our Southern Province. Father Leo is originally from Mexico City, but joined the Dominican Order while studying and working in the USA. He is an excellent teacher! His most recent assignment was as Prior of our Student Brtohers Formation Community in St. Louis, MO.

There are three theological virtues which join us directly with God:

There are four Moral, or Cardinal, Virtues which concern our relationships with other people.
PRUDENCE  &  JUSTICE  – direct our relations with others

FORTITUDE & TEMPERANCE  –  regulate ourselves

We had a restful and joyous Columbus Day. It\’s often more enjoyable than the excessive heat of July 4th. It was very overcast threatening rain; and, in fact, as soon as we concluded the opening flag ceremony, the drops began to fall. However, that did not last long. Yes, it was a lovely day indeed: warm sun and cool breeze.

Now and then some of the Sisters enjoy grilling. So, this year Sister Mary Christine did a fine job of cooking our picnic dinner. Not only did we have hamburgers and hot dogs, but also plenty of chicken.

The day was spent playing games, eating snacks and talking. But we never, ever stop the Divine Office, heading for chapel 7 or 8 times a day to pray for you and everyone in the world.