Saint Mary Magdalene, pray for us!

marymagdalene-SimoneMartini[1]St. Mary Magdalene is one of the patronesses of the Dominican Order, probably because she is the “apostle to the apostles”—the woman who first met Jesus in the garden of the Resurrection and ran to tell His disciples that He was alive! We find this commentary in the Catena Aurea of St. Thomas Aquinas: “Through this woman, who was eminently steadfast in finding out about the burial place of Christ, is prefigured every person who yearns to know divine truth and is therefore well-disposed to pass on the knowledge of such a grace to others, just as Mary announced it to the disciples so that she could not be reprimanded for hiding her talent…God has not granted us this joy in order for you to hide it in the recesses of your hearts, but to share it with those who are capable of love…” She is a great patroness especially for the Dominican nuns, because through our life of prayer and contemplation we meet the living Christ and then tell our brothers and sisters about the encounter.  May we all have the courage to be fearless preachers of the Good News of Jesus Christ

Bird Watching

Here at the monastery, we are blessed with many different kinds of birds. In addition to migrating birds such as robins, juncos, and cedar waxwings, we also see numerous birds who seem to live in our area year-round. We have even seen the occasional heron land in our lake and hunt for fish! But mostly we see mockingbirds, cardinals, hawks, crows, house finches, and wrens and sparrows of various kinds. They are not only fun to watch but also a reminder of God\’s provident care for us–if He watches over these birds of the air, how much more will He watch over us and keep us safe? 

One of our sisters put up a hummingbird feeder and it has attracted large numbers of these small and beautiful birds. In fact, they tend to fight over feeding rights–if one goes to drink, the others come to chase him away. But recently they have become more civil, and we have spotted two or more drinking at the same time. Incidentally, it\’s harder than you might think to take a picture of a hummingbird!

This determined cardinal has been pecking at various windows around the monastery for months! He most often flies at the windows in the refectory, but has been known to attack windows in the infirmary, dormitory, community room and even the chapel. We\’re not entirely sure why he does this–does he see his reflection and mistake it for another cardinal? Or does he just want to come inside? We may never know for sure, but he is certainly persistent. 
One of the Fathers of the Church commented that all creatures pray, saying that even the birds of the air open their wings in the form of a cross. May God be praised for all His wondrous creation, which glorifies Him in so many ways!

Visit from the Master of the Dominican Order!

Fr. Carlos Azpiroz Costa, O.P. and his vicar, Fr. Ed Ruane, came to Lufkin for a quick visit just in time for Vespers on June 30 and stayed through the early afternoon of July 1. Fr. Carlos had been promising us a visit for years, so we are grateful he managed to fit us in before his term as Master ends in September!

Fr. Carlos in our community room
Fr. Carlos spent a lot of time during his visit speaking with us and answering our many questions about the nuns and our life, the Order in general, and even a little about himself. We enjoyed two meals with Fr. Carlos and Fr. Ed in our refectory and of course we had to make things a little special for them.
The fruit creations of the sisters!
During one of the  meals, we made Fr. Carlos and Fr. Ed honorary citizens of Texas! They were naturally thrilled to receive this privilege. 
Fr. Carlos and Fr. Ed admire their Texas citizenship certificates
We couldn\’t let such a great event pass without a community photo, so…here we are in the chapter hall:
Our community, plus Fr. Carlos and Fr. Ed
Thank you so much, Fr. Carlos and Fr. Ed, for taking time out of your busy schedules and preparations for the General Chapter to come and visit! And thank you for all your wonderful service to the Order and the Church! You are in our special prayers always.

Congratulations, Bishop-Elect Eduardo Nevares!

We are so proud of Father Eduardo Nevares, a priest of our Tyler diocese, who will be ordained auxiliary bishop of Phoenix, AZ on July 19th!
Bishop-Elect Eduardo Nevares with Sr. Mary Veronica, O.P.
Our community has known Fr. Eduardo a long time. We first met him when he was 15 and attending minor seminary. He volunteered to come and serve Mass in our chapel, and that was the beginning!  Fr. Eduardo was ordained for the Missionaries of La Salette and served St. Patrick\’s parish in Lufkin  as deacon and later priest for 17 years. In 2007, he was incardinated into the Tyler diocese, where he served as vocation director before being appointed vice-rector of the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, OH in 2008. He will be the first auxiliary bishop of Phoenix, the fifth largest city in the nation and home to more than 700,000 Catholics. Despite his busy schedule, Fr. Eduardo has always made time to visit and to celebrate Mass in our chapel. We are so thankful to God for Fr. Eduardo\’s dedication, his love for the Lord and our Lady, and his inspiring priestly ministry.
You can count on our continued prayers, Fr. Eduardo, and we hope you will remember us in your prayers, too!

The Nativity of St. John the Baptist

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Today we celebrate the nativity of St. John the Baptist. In a homily attributed to St. Maximus of Turin, we read: “Such a great herald was he that by anticipating the grace of his future ministry, he gave his mother the spirit of prophecy, and by the power of the name assigned to him by the angel, he opened the mouth of his father Zechariah, which had been sealed by doubt.” The Gospel for the day, which recounts this story, also mentions the people who witnessed these events, telling us that they asked, “What will this child turn out to be?” (Lk 1:66) Jean Danielou, S.J., in his book Advent, gives us a reply: “Amongst people completely unconcerned with the things of God, he was to be the one who upset their complacency and awakened in them those beginnings of goodwill which would enable them to understand Christ.” May we too be stirred to a deeper understanding of Christ through the intercession of St. John the Baptist!