Category: Uncategorized

Mater misericordiae (Mother of Mercy)

The title “Mother of Mercy” is familiar to most of us from the well-known Salve Regina, in which Mary is addressed as our Queen and Mother of Mercy.
Note that this is the chant used by Dominicans, and is completely different from the Gregorian version often found in parish hymnals, etc.
Why do we call Mary our “mother of mercy”? It is a fitting title, because she was completely human, and yet born without Original Sin, thanks to the foreseen merits of her son Jesus. Mary could see all the flaws and faults of the rest of humanity, and look upon these with mercy and compassion, not because she had personal knowledge of these things, but because her sinless nature gave her the privilege Adam and Eve lost when they ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden: she always knew the right way to act, and she did so. Her will was perfectly aligned with the will of God.  Just as God has mercy on all His children, always drawing them to repentance when they sin, Mary too is merciful. She is not God’s equal, but she is the most powerful intercessor with God that we have. Thus, in this time when many would rather pursue what they believe to be justice rather than show mercy toward their fellow flawed human beings, Pope Francis made a wise decision in adding this petition to the Litany of Loreto.
Mary, Mother of Mercy, pray for us!

Mary’s Litany Expanded

 
 
 

On June 20, the world received the news that Pope Francis has added three new invocations to the Litany of Loreto. This litany is a long series of titles praising the Virgin Mary, and asking for her prayers in return. Each title is followed by the plea, “Pray for us.” So, for example, the litany proper begins with “Holy Mary,” to which we respond, “Pray for us.”

This Litany probably dates back to the 15th or 16th century. In the Dominican Order, it is a long-standing custom to sing this litany every Saturday–Saturday being the day of the week which is usually dedicated to Mary. In our monastery, we sing the litany during Compline. And we are really serious about it! One year when Christmas fell on a Saturday, a young sister thought maybe the prioress would dispense the community from this prayer. After all, it had been a long day and everyone was tired! But, no. We sing the litany every Saturday (except Holy Saturday, of course) and every day during May while we make a solemn procession to our statue of Mary, Our Lady of the Pines.
Although the litany had a general form from the beginning, it has become customary for a pope to add a title to the litany if he feels it necessary. For example, Pope Leo XIII added both the title “Queen Conceived without Original Sin” (1883) and “Mother of Good Counsel” (1903). Pope Benedict XV added the title “Queen of Peace” in 1917, when war ravaged Europe. Pope John Paul added two titles during his pontificate as well: “Mother of the Church” in 1980, and “Queen of Families” in 1995. Now, Pope Francis has given us three more: Mother of Mercy, Mother of Hope, and Solace of Migrants. Pope Francis seems to be the first Pope to add three titles at once. But, as we all know, we live in difficult times, and the signs of these times encourage us to look to Mary for mercy, for hope, and for solace, no matter where we are in life. .
During the month of May we had a series of commentaries on the more poetic titles of Mary, which are mostly taken from the Old Testament. Now, we would like to offer some brief comments on these three new titles. Keep watching this space to see more!

Raffle-mania!

Our posts lately have been few and far between…but that’s because our annual summer raffle is in full swing! We have received a truly overwhelming response, and we are humbled that so many people are willing to send a small donation to the nuns during this time.

We mailed the raffle tickets to everyone on our “Monastery Bells” list, but if you would like to join us, please do! Just send your name and phone number (so we can call you if you win) here. You don\’t have to send a donation, although we are grateful if you do!
Speaking of which, we hope to get our new website up soon, and it will have a place where you can donate online. Many have asked us to bring this back, and we look forward to doing it!
Without further ado–the prizes:
All of these lovely items were made by our sisters in their limited free time. And although we only have nine prizes pictured here, you never know…we may have some surprises coming up!
The drawing will be August 15, Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary.
God bless you, and may you enjoy good fortune!

Nuns of Many Hats



Warm hats make warm hearts filled with gratitude!




There\’s an expression in English used to describe someone who has many different jobs or responsibilities. “She works full time, takes care of her husband and children, and volunteers at church–she’s a woman who wears many hats!” In the same way, cloistered nuns wear many “hats\, in a manner of speaking. 

Our primary work is of course prayer, and specifically, praying the entire Liturgy of the Hours. To this we add a community rosary, recitation of the penitential psalms for the dead, a period of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament for each sister (which includes an extra time of adoration during evening recreation, when your turn comes around) and two periods of meditation each day. Oh, and of course, the community Mass every morning. That\’s a lot of prayers!
In between prayers, we manage to squeeze in work time in our various departments. Sisters pack altar breads, write thank-you notes to benefactors, send both prayer enrollment cards and our special three-part folders, keep our budget balanced, cook meals, clean, attend to visitors, work on the website and update the blog, accompany the men who have come to do maintenance of any kind inside the monastery. And, each sister carves out a place in the day to study, because study is one of the main pillars of Dominican spirituality. And in addition to all this, we have two periods of recreation (one is optional) and a siesta time. How does it all get done?
Of course, all our strength and ability to do these many works comes from God–which is why we make prayer the the center point of our lives. Everything we do is fueled by our prayer, our openness to God and the graces He wants to give us each day. When we are really trying to cooperate with His grace, even the rough patches go more smoothly.
Recently, one of our benefactors made this hat metaphor more concrete by giving us a lot of hand knitted hats! Each one is different and unique, and each sister was allowed to choose one she thought was most fitting (in more ways than one–it\’s amazing how many sizes heads come in!). It was a delightful surprise and a welcome one, too. Many sisters enjoy walking in all sorts of weather, and this kind of hat is ideal for wearing over the veil. Some sisters prefer to wear a hat to bed, to keep their heads warm while they sleep, and they are perfect for this, too.
We are so grateful to this benefactor–and all our benefactors–who help us to live this life of prayer, praise, study and penance. We literally could not do it without you! Thank you, thank you all so much!

The Color Green

We had an exceptionally cool and wet spring this year, and as a reward for putting up with all the rain, we now have green everywhere!


Into the woods
St. Hildegard of Bingen (recently named a Doctor of the Church) often used the word viriditas–a Latin word she coined herself which literally means “the color green” but in her writings is used to describe both natural beauty and natural and spiritual life quickened by the Holy Spirit. We are currently singing a hymn at one of the “Little Hours” of the Divine Office with this text, which sums everything up:
We see you in the flowers, the trees, 
The freshness of the fragrant breeze, 
The songs of birds upon the wing, 
The joy of summer and of spring. 
 
Shrine of Mary and bench in the infirmary garden
The infirmary garden
The orange tree
The tall pines illumined by the sun
A rainbow arches over the monastery after a surprise thunderstorm
The Piney Woods and the cloister wall
The wisteria and the woods
Inside the “cloister”. Check out this green grass!
The magnolia tree

We wish you could get the full effect–there really are “birds on the wing” singing and a “fragrant breeze”. However, our temperatures are returning to normal for this time of year: hot and humid! 
 
As a last thought, in addition to St. Hildegard we were inspired by the song\”The Color Green” by Rich Mullins. You can see the video here. There are lyrics added, too, so you get the full flavor of this lovely song. 
 
God created this world, and He found it very good. Let us always remember Him and feel His presence when we see the viriditas around us.

Ten Years, 741 Posts, and Still Going!

Can you believe it? Honestly, we can’t! It seems like yesterday we were still agonizing over what to put on this blog, imagining hundreds of readers…well, we’re not sure if that has happened, but we do feel much more confident and able to express our Dominican charism and our own community charism. We’ve changed the format, the fonts, the colors; we’ve published ordinary monastery news and reflections on the Sunday scriptures, among many other things.
St. John Henry Cardinal Newman is famous for saying, “To grow is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.” We\’re far from perfect, but we strive to keep growing and changing in a positive way. And we are so grateful for you, our readers. We hope you find some benefit in what we say and become more inspired to live the Christian life to the full.
Happy Anniversary!

When Life Gives You Bananas…

Occasionally a local grocery supplier donates lots and lots of cases of bananas to us. They come at the peak of ripeness–not too green and not too mushy–and for some time the main hall in our building is filled with the aroma of the delicious fruit, making us hungry as we go along. It even permeates into the chapel! We eat some as they are, and we give some away. We also make the obvious things: banana bread and banana pudding. But the majority of our bananas are dried. 
We\’ve written about this before in September 2011, but we\’re still doing it!
The bananas drying on our big stove 
One of the boxes the bananas came in

For some sisters, dried bananas are a real treat, and they have to keep themselves from eating too many! However, dried bananas only appear on the table at breakfast, so some restraint can be exercised. 
We are so grateful to all the people who have been (and continue to be) so generous to us during this time of pandemic! In addition to bananas, people have been keeping us supplied with eggs, potatoes, and (yes) toilet paper. Thank you so much! May God reward you for all your kindness to us! 
All of you who read this: please remember we pray for you in a special way. We\’ve been doing this a while, and we appreciate your feedback, your prayers for us, and your willingness to read this blog! God bless you!