Dominican Life on Lotus Lane

Classes with Fr. John Sica, O.P.

Recently, Father came to our monastery to fill in for our chaplain while he had to be away–and while he was here he gave us some very good courses on the virtue of hope. This is especially appropriate for Advent, when we wait in hope for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Of course, we had to have a parlor visit with him too!

Father John is working on his doctoral dissertation now, having finished his classes. We pray it will go smoothly for him, and he will finish up with some great work! It is always a pleasure to meet with one of our Dominican brothers, and especially to enjoy the fruits of their contemplative works. Thank you, Father John!

Jubilee Pictures!

Wow! We apologize for being so long in getting this up. All we can blame it on is “the monotony of the cloister”…you know, nothing ever happens at the Monastery…But without further ado, pictures!

Fr. Tom Condon, our provincial, with all the active Dominican sisters who joined us!

All our religious guests–the Dominican sisters, friars, and friar-novices, plus two diocesan priests and Bishop Eduardo Nevares of Phoenix, AZ

Enjoying recreation with everyone in Gate Parlor

It was a most wonderful and blessed day, and we are grateful to God for all the many graces He showered down! May His name be forever praised!

Jubilee Mass!

One of the priests who attended (and concelebrated) our 75th Jubilee Mass recorded it, and you can see it here (it starts about 9:07) https://www.facebook.com/stpatrickslufkin/videos/1025853264863968/

We hope to have more pictures and other good things to post next week! It’s been busy (as usual) here but it will happen!

New Things Afoot

We have some minor changes here at the Monastery…and on our website! We’ve uploaded the Fall issue of “Monastery Bells”, our newsletter, and you can view it as a PDF by going to https://lufkintxnuns.org/monastery-bells-newsletter. While there, you can also check out some of our back issues, which include news about our Jubilee, the infamous “snowpocalypse” of February 2021, and other things. As always, if you’d like to receive “Monastery Bells” via snail mail, just send us an email with your address and we’ll send it to you! No charge, and we never sell our address list.

The other change involves time–that is, the schedule. We’re trying something new to see how it works out. Most of the day–including Mass times–won’t be affected at all, but we will now have Compline followed by Benediction at 8 PM every night. This is just a trial, so we’ll let you know if it becomes permanent. If you’d like to check out the rest of our schedule, please visit our website. We’re always happy for people to come and join us for prayers, or adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, or just some quiet time in chapel. God bless you!

Visit with the Nashville Dominicans

Most people don’t consider Lufkin, TX a crossroads in America–but it sure does seem like we get a lot of visitors! And we’re delighted to have them! Recently, these two sisters from the Dominicans Sisters of St. Cecilia, based in Nashville, TN, stopped by for a brief visit. They’re vocation directresses for the community, and they were busy driving to various spots in Texas to promote vocations. They promised to spread the word about us, too, which we appreciate. We’re always struck by the similarities in our habits–only the veil is noticeably different.

May God bless the Nashville Dominicans with many good and holy vocations, and may He send some our way, too!

Prioral Feast Day

We’ve been meaning to post this for a while…things have been a little busy! It all happened back in September, on the feast of the Holy Cross, to be exact. Sr. Mary Margaret’s actual feast day (for St. Margaret of Hungary) falls on January 18, which is too close to Christmas and Epiphany for a big day, so we celebrate it on her “mystery” day — she is Sr. Mary Margaret of the Cross. We had a fun-filled two days of games, refreshments, and a movie! Our theme for the feast was “Monastic Olympics”–but instead of doing the usual kinds of Olympic feats, our sisters competed in various monastic fields such as sweeping floors, bowing in choir, and other events.

For the Olympics, you’ve got to have medals!

Singing the feast day song to start everything off

As you can see, Sister received lots of homemade gifts to give away–just what she asked for!

We all had a great time, and we enjoyed the movie the next day, too!

75th Jubilee Mass!

We’re celebrating our 75th Jubilee! Finally…after postponing it a year (thank you COVID) we’re having our Mass of thanksgiving for 75th years in the Piney Woods of East Texas, praying, praising and interceding. If you’re in the Lufkin area on November 9 at 10:00 AM, you’re welcome to join us! We do ask that you wear a mask. If you can’t be with us in person, please join us in prayer!