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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.

The Dominican Contemplative Novice Mistresses of the North American region concluded their annual meeting on Friday, September 29, the Feast of the Archangels. They were fortunate to have all but two of the member monasteries represented. It was a very profitable meetings and everyone is energized to put into practice all the wonderful ideas they discussed.

This week our Novice Mistress, Sister Mary Rose, is attending the annual Novice Mistress Meeting held at Corpus Christi Monastery in the Bronx. They are having talks in the mornings given by Father Walter Wagner, OP, the current Pastor of St. Vincent Ferrer Church in Manhattan. Almost all the Novice Mistresses have been able to attend. We are only missing the ones from Trinidad and Lancaster PA. The meeting is going very well and our hosting community is very warm and welcoming.

The Nuns are making their annual retreat from September 13-20. Many people laugh when they hear the nuns are going on retreat. \”Aren\’t you in a perpetual retreat?!\”  Well, yes. But we do live in community, and sometimes we need more solitude than we normally have; as well as extra silence and time for prayer, reading, and simply resting.

We usually have a \”preached\” retreat in which someone preaches to the entire community twice a day on aspects of the spiritual life, plus the homily at Mass ties in with the theme of the retreat. Another kind of retreat might be a \”directed\” retreat, in which a person might meet daily, or every other day, with a Retreat Master and share privately what he or she has been praying about.

Our retreat Master this year is Father Emmerich Vogt,OP, from the Western Province headquartered in California. We had never met him before so when he arrived Tuesday afternoon we arranged to visit with him, before \”going into the desert\” Wednesday morning. Although Father Vogt is originally from Connecticut, he has lived most of his life in California. He has had various ministries: parish work, Provincial, chaplain for our nuns in Los Angeles, and now giving retreats and workshops throughout the country, and world.

The theme of our retreat is \”Liturgical Asceticism\”.  We are enjoying the retreat and Father Emmerich\’s very thought provoking reflections. He is funny yet profound.