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Some of the novice directresses from various Dominican monasteries–all happen to be members or affiliates of the Association of  Monasteries of Dominican Nuns of the Order of Preachers–are meeting here in Lufkin this week to discuss topics of interest and hear talks from various speakers.We are so excited to have them here with us!

Although they are keeping busy with their meetings and discussions, we have been able to have some interesting evening recreations with them. 

From left: Sr. Mary Catherine (a former novice directress!), Sr. Mary of the Sacred Heart (Menlo Park, CA), Sr. Mary Catharine (Summit, NJ), Sr. Mary Magdalene, Sr. Mary of the Precious Blood (Marbury, AL) and Sr. Mary Thomas.

From left: Sr. Mary Jeremiah, Sr. Mary Therese, Sr. Mary Magdalen (Squamish, BC, Canada), Sr. Anna Marie (Elmira, NY), and Sr. Maria Pia (Bronx, NY). 

We will bring you more news about this meeting as it happens…There are still several days to go! 

This week we were privileged to have some lectures on the liturgy by Mr. John Meehan. Mr. Meehan came to our monastery last July for some lectures on the social encyclicals, which we enjoyed so much we invited him back! Mr. Meehan is one of the founders of Magdalen College (now known as the College of St. Mary Magdalen) and also its second President. He presented a kind of theology of liturgy for us which was very enlightening and helpful for understanding the new translations of the Mass which will be used beginning in Advent this year.

Mr. Meehan\’s spirited lecturing and interesting content kept us all attentive!

  Mr. Meehan with Sr. Mary Rose, a Magdalen College graduate and former student of Mr. Meehan.

Today is a Sunday in the Easter season, so we will not commemorate this memorial today liturgically, but we will be renewing our consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary and honoring her Patronage of the Dominican Order in our hearts!

 According to the \”Miracles of St. Dominic\” narrated by Blessed Cecilia (who knew St. Dominic personally), St. Dominic had a vision of the Lord and the Blessed Virgin Mary:

\”As Blessed Dominic looked around, he could see religious of all the orders but his own before the throne of God. He began to weep bitterly…The Lord asked him, \’Why are you weeping so?\’ \’I am weeping because I see all the other orders here but no sign of my own.\’ The Lord said to him, \’Do you wish to see your Order?\’ and he answered, \’Yes, Lord.\’ Then the Blessed Virgin opened the cloak she was wearing and spread it out before Blessed Dominic, to whom it seemed vast enough to cover the entire heaven, and under it he saw a large multitude of the brethren. Then prostrating himself, Blessed Dominic gave thanks to God and to Blessed Mary his mother.\”

We can only hope the sisters (as pictured above) were there, too! 

We wish all of you a joyous Mother\’s Day and give a special thanks to all our mothers, living and deceased!

During this beautiful month of May, we make a pilgrimage every evening to this statue of Our Lady of the Pines, singing the Litany of Loreto as we go. We have other special devotions to Mary during May, including a May crowning (pictures will come!), hymns, and private devotions, such as extra Rosaries and prayers. Most of all, we have our May novena to Mary, in which we will include all of you! If you have special intentions you would like us to remember in our novena, please send them here and we will include them in a particular way. May Our Lady, Queen of the Holy Rosary, intercede for us all and especially for peace in our world!

It seems most appropriate that a Pope so devoted to mercy should be beatified on this, the second Sunday after Easter (also known as Divine Mercy Sunday). We pray for the mercy of God on all people, those who know God and those who do not, those who are searching and those who have given up hope, those who remain faithful to Christ and those who have (for whatever reason) separated themselves from Him. This Sunday reminds us that there is always an opportunity to return to God, the God Who loves us so deeply and infinitely!

We are so happy he is being beatified today and know that he will be a powerful intercessor for us in heaven.

Easter is a solemn event…the resurrection of Christ from the dead after His passion…but we think it\’s OK to have a little fun during this Easter octave, too! After all, Easter is also about the joy of new life and new beginnings! So we continued our celebration with an Easter egg hunt in the community room.

Sr. Mary Rose finds an egg hidden in an unexpected place.

Sr. Mary Jeremiah makes a find!

Is there an egg in there, Sr. Bernadette Marie? (Yes, there was!)

Sr. Marie Augustine counts the eggs she found…

…Sr. Mary Giuse is still counting!

The winners, with 22 each, were our two bursars, Sr. Mary Rose (right) and Sr. Mary Christine (left).

Sr. Mary Margaret took special honors for finding the most \”shiny\” eggs.

It was a lot of fun and everyone found something! Many thanks to Sr. Mary Gabriel, Sr. Maria Guadalupe, and Sr. Maria Cabrini who hid all 201 eggs! (201?? Wow! But we have 26 sisters in the house right now, so it evens out really well.) Happy Easter to all and may you be blessed with Paschal joy this season!