Yet Another Bishop!

This has been some week for visitors! First Bishop Eduardo, and now Bishop David Toups of Beaumont, TX on Thursday. Bishop Toups was on his way to Nacogdoches (a town near Lufkin), realized he would be passing by, and called to ask if he could stop for a brief visit. Of course we said yes! Bishop Toups arrived with a young priest from the Beaumont diocese, Fr. Philip Tran.

We have a strong connection to the Beaumont diocese because our monastery was located within it for many years. In fact, the Monastery of the Infant Jesus has been in four different dioceses–Galveston, Galveston-Houston, Beaumont, and Tyler–without ever changing its location.

Of course we had to get a picture with the Bishop and Fr. Tran, and our chaplain Fr. Ian kindly took it for us:

Thanks so much for coming by, Bishop! We hope we will see you again some time!

A Phoenix (Bishop) Flies In

Our dear friend Bishop Eduardo Nevares, the auxiliary in Phoenix, Arizona, was in town recently and paid us a visit. What with COVID and meetings and the usual work a bishop has to do, we haven’t seen him in a while, so this was a real treat!

Bishop Ed (as we fondly call him) has known our community since he was a seminarian with the La Salette Fathers here in Lufkin, back in the early 1970s! He served as pastor at one of our local parishes (St. Patrick’s) for many years, so he has a lot of friends to visit whenever he comes to Lufkin. He also has family near Houston.

It’s a fair bet to say that our Sr. Mary Veronica is his favorite nun, though! Sister, a talented cook and a woman brimming with hospitality, has been taking care of Bishop Ed both spiritually and physically ever since she’s known him.

Thank you for coming, Bishop Ed! May God bless you and your ministry abundantly!

Welcome to Fr. Ian

Fr. Ian Bordenave, O.P., is our new chaplain! He’s a Dominican priest of Creole descent who grew up mostly in Florida, and he’s been visiting our community now and again for about twenty years. Right now he’s finishing up his doctoral thesis, and needs a quiet place to work–and so we are fortunate enough to get him! We are enjoying his straightforward homilies and quiet manner, and we hope he will find it quiet enough here to get his work done. We’ll have more about Father in our next issue of “Monastery Bells”, coming out this fall.

Welcome, Father Ian, and may you grow closer to God while you are with us.

Farewell to Fr. John

Fr. John Lydon, O.P. has been our chaplain for four years now, and we’re going to miss him as he moves on to a new assignment elsewhere in the province. Father kept us laughing during his homilies and parlor visits (like the one above) with his dry humor and delightful anecdotes. We’ll always remember Father John’s great devotion to Blessed Pier-Giorgio Frassati, O.P., the young Italian Dominican tertiary who died suddenly of polio and left a wonderful legacy of generosity to the poor and simple holiness in his everyday life. Perhaps some of this saintly influence has rubbed off onto Father!

Farewell, Father John! We hope to meet you again some day if you are ever in the Lufkin area!

Father John saying goodbye to us in the parlor. Maybe he’ll miss us, too?

Welcome!

Some of the Dominican nuns who live on Lotus Lane. Well…maybe not!

This is the new Dominican Life on Lotus Lane! After eleven years, we decided it was time to shake things up a little. Although we haven’t deleted our old site, we have moved all our posts over so you can find everything you need right here. If you’re new to our blog, we hope you’ll look around and explore our Dominican cloistered life with us. And if you’re returning, we’re glad you’re here! Please consider subscribing to this blog so you’ll never miss a post.

Retreat with Fr. Vincent Davila, O.P.

There’s one word that sums up our annual retreat: fantastic!

Fr. Vincent Davila, O.P., a friar from St. Albert the Great Province (Central) gave us several great conferences on “The Mystical Body of Christ in St. Paul”. Fr. Vincent was able to blend theology and moral encouragement (that is to say, he gently skewered many of our faults and failings in a way that made us laugh umcomfortably) in a manner that was inspiring to many sisters. In addition to his conferences, Fr. Vincent preached his theme of the Mystical Body during his homilies at Mass, providing further interesting commentary. We contributed by planning hymns for Mass and Benediction to fit his themes, which he appreciated. We’ll have more news about Father and our retreat in the next issue of “Monastery Bells”.

It was hard to return to the everyday world today after such an excellent retreat, but we all feel refreshed, renewed, and ready to pray–and grow in virtue–with greater fervor. Thank you, Fr. Vincent!

Into the Retreat Desert

It\’s that time of year again! Tonight we begin our annual ten-day community retreat. This year our retreat master is Fr. Vincent Davila from St. Albert the Great Province (aka the central province). We\’ll have more to tell you after the retreat. For now, we just want to let you know that our schedule will vary somewhat in order to accommodate our retreat conferences. However, Mass tunes will still be the same: 7:20 Monday-Saturday and 7:00 Sunday. That’s right! Our chapel is finally open to the public for Sunday Mass.

Please pray for us! We\’ll be praying for you!