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Our Thanks-Giving

We have a tradition of giving baked goods to our local friends and benefactors–usually at Christmas–but this year we thought we\’d try a different season and thank them, appropriately enough, at Thanksgiving time! The fall season lends itself to pumpkin bread, so that\’s what we decided to make. Several enthusiastic sisters teamed up in the kitchen to produce many loaves of pumpkin bread!
Sister Marie Tersidis stirs up the batter…
Sister Mary Giuse and Teresa pour it into pans…
Sister Mary Gabriel admires the finished bread…
Sister Mary Rose packs it for delivery…
Most of the crew poses with some of their work!
We are so grateful to all our friends and benefactors who help make our life of prayer possible. Thank you, thank you so much! We are praying for you always!

A Visit from the Provincial!

We recently welcomed the provincial of the Southern Dominican Province of St. Martin de Porres (USA), Fr. Chris Eggleton, O.P.  and his socius (assistant) Fr. David Caron, O.P. for a brief but memorable visit.

Fr. Chris (on the left) and Fr. David (on the right)

Fr. Chris and Fr. David prayed Vespers with us on Monday evening, and celebrated Mass for us on Tuesday morning. They were able to stay for lunch before hitting the road to return to New Orleans. We enjoyed a lot of fraternal visiting, learning about happenings in our province and telling them more about us. It was a wonderful Dominican encounter which culminated in the bestowing of Texas \”citizenship\” on our two guests. 
This honor was conferred on them by Sr. Mary John, our prioress, and as you can see they were very pleased to receive it! Thank you so much for your visit, Fr. Chris and Fr. David, and–as we say in Texas–y\’all come back now, y\’hear!

A Glimpse of Dominican Life in Kenya

Fr. Martin Martiny, O.P., the vicar provincial of the Dominican vicariate of East Africa, came to our monastery for a visit recently. He gave us a fascinating power point presentation on the Dominican presence in Kisumu, Kenya, describing the young men in formation to become Dominican friars in Africa; Our Lady of Grace School, which the Dominicans fathers help to run, and their other varied ministries.
 Fr. Martiny, O.P. discusses his work with us after the presentation
Father also talked about the work of the Hawthorne Dominican sisters in Kenya, whose compound is \”next door\” to the Dominican Fathers. We should not fail to mention that there are Dominican nuns in Kenya, near Nairobi!
Fr. Martiny and Sr. Mary John, our prioress

Thank you for a wonderful fraternal visit, Father, and know that we are keeping you and all the Dominicans and all your ministries in our prayers!

Pictures at an Exhibition

Our retreat ended this morning–all good things must come to an end–but we will long remember Fr. R.B. Williams and his exposition of Dominican life, aptly called \”Pictures at an Exhibition\” (not to be confused with the piano composition by Mussorgsky!).

Fr. R.B. began with the four pillars of Dominican life (prayer, study, community and ministry) and then continued his series of \”pictures\” with some of the mottoes and phrases commonly found in Dominican life, such as \”Veritas\” and \”Contemplata Aliis Tradere\”. We were both challenged and inspired! Although we must leave the \”desert\” of our retreat, we take with us a wealth of new thoughts, prayers, and inspirations to guide us as we return to our \”normal\” contemplative life. 
Above you can see another sample of Father\’s \”pictures from an exhibition\”. Thank you so much, Fr. R.B., for a great retreat and for your friendship to our community over the years!

St. Martin de Porres

St. Martin de Porres was a Dominican cooperator brother in Lima, Peru. The son of a Spanish officer and a freed slave woman, his options seemed limited, but he chose to train as a barber and surgeon. These skills proved very useful in his vocation as a Dominican, although even more important was his boundless love of God and neighbor!  Martin was known for his compassion and charity toward both humans and animals…even mice! Today let us pray to St. Martin de Porres for our needs and intentions, confident that he will present them to our Lord.

Happy and blessed feast day greetings to all the Dominicans of the Province of St. Martin de Porres throughout the world!

All Souls Day

Our cemetery in the spring
We are blessed to have our cemetery on our monastery property, so we can go and \”visit\” our deceased sisters very easily. November is the month especially dedicated to prayers for the dead,  so we\’ll be saying a lot of extra prayers for our departed friends, relatives, and benefactors–basically for all the faithful departed! Do you have someone you would like us to include in our prayers? Please, e-mail their name(s) to us here. We\’d be happy to remember them in our prayers by name.
 Eternal rest grant to them, O Lord 
And let perpetual light shine upon them. 
May their souls, and the souls of all the faithful departed, rest in peace. Amen.

Solemnity of All Saints

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\”This life of the saints, in its superabundant and inexhaustible fruitfulness, is at the same time a life of the richest variety and fullness. The one Spirit of Jesus, their head and mediator, is manifested in his saints in all the rich variety of their individual lives, and according to the various measure in which every single soul, with its own special gifts and its own special call, has received and employed the grace of God. The one conception of the saint, of the servant of Christ, is embodied in an infinite variety of forms. The litany of the saints takes us rapidly through this \’celestial hierarchy\’. And while every name denotes a special gift, a special character, a special life, yet all are united in one only love and in one gospel of joy and gladness.\” 
–from The Spirit of Catholicism by Karl Adam