Dominican Life on Lotus Lane

A week or so ago we had a somewhat spontaneous Dominican Family meeting. There were us, the nuns, our laity, and a friar, our chaplain. The directors of the RCIA programs in our two Lufkin parishes (St. Patrick and St. Andrew) had gone on a special pilgrimage to the Holy Land and wanted to share about their trip.

 

The event was opened up to our Dominican Laity group, and in addition to them, our chaplain stopped by as well. The meeting was held in our Large Parlor. We simply turned our chairs around and they projected the slides on a large screen attached to the wall.

A Dominican friend of the Monastery of many years, Father R. B. Williams, OP, filled in for our chaplain, Fr. Marcos Ramos, OP, for a few days last week. He took the opportunity to give the community two lectures: the first, on itinerant preaching, and the second, on the Blessed Virgin Mary. Father is a full-time itinerant preacher, giving parish missions and retreats throughout the United States. He also works in campus ministry at Texas Tech University in Lubbock TX, where the Dominican Friars have charge of St. Elizabeth University Parish.

For Father R.B.\’s visit this time, he sported a TT beanie that he wore most of the time. For some reason we did not get a photo of it, but it looks more or less like the one below. Father\’s wasn\’t red, but a green-gray color, and he liked to fold up the back so it looked like a cap.

Six months after the official approbation of the Order in 1217, St. Dominic dispersed the original 16 brethren to the university centers of Europe. After 800 years, the Dominican connection to the university remains strong. Besides Texas Tech, the Southern Province Friars serve as professors, chaplains, campus ministers or in research at:

• Barry University in Florida
• Emory University in Georgia
• Xavier University in Louisiana
• Tulane University In New Orleans
• Christian Brothers University in Tennessee
• Rice University in Texas
• University of Dallas in Texas
• A&M – Kingsville University in Texas 
• Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) in Rome
• Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City

We are a day late wishing all our women readers a Happy Mother\’s Day – physical, spiritual, potential. All of you were in our prayers. We had a special day, filled with flowers and joy. Below you can see our original Infant Jesus statue brought down from Detroit on the foundation in 1945. Notice all the \”Easter Lilies\”.

You, too, can have a yard full of lilies. It\’s very simple. Just save your Easter lilies, or those from your church. After they have bloomed, plant them outside in the flower bed or at the base of a tree. They will grow, reproduce and bloom–all on their own–for years to come!

We even had flowers we could eat. Some of the nuns made strawberries covered with white chocolate. They were decorated to look like roses. We had enough for both dinner and supper. Delicious!

This past week we received several groups who came to visit our monastery and learn about our way of life. On Tuesday, the Choir from St. Patrick\’s School came and offered us a concert of almost a dozen songs. They provide the music for the school\’s weekly Friday Mass. The students ranged from 3rd to 8th grade. They were quite impressive …… correct key, tremendous tone and awesome articulation. After they sang for us, we had a delightful visit in which they asked us many interesting questions.

Then, the next day on Wednesday, the second and third graders came for a visit. They were so well behaved and also asked us many questions… once they got started. They principal joined the students with her husband and precious new baby girl. Actually, one of the older students was also hers. It was a wonderful visit. When the Houston Dominican Sisters taught at the School they used to bring their students every year, but after the Sisters retired, we haven\’t seen the children. So this was a double treat to renew acquaintances.

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Last week several of the nuns were busy phoning, packing, mailing and distributing the prizes to our 2017 raffle winners. Most of them live in other states, such as Virginia or Minnesota. But we have two who are quite close.

The giant Teddy Bear, made from scratch, was won by a woman here in Lufkin. Janice Ann, who writes a weekly column, \”Janice Ann\’s Journal\” in The Lufkin Daily News. She has grandchildren that will enjoy playing with \”her\”. Janice Ann came over one night and together we named the Bear \”Annie\” after Janice Ann\’s mother.

Our last prize to award went to a cousin of our Sister Mary Veronica. She is pictured here with her brother John (in the background) and Lonnie holds the raccoon cross-stitch and homemade frame. Lonnie enjoyed receiving the picture because as he said, \”I used to hunt lots of coons when I was young.\”

As has become our tradition, we have our annual raffle drawing on Easter. You can see the lovely 2017 tickets. This year we gathered in our Community Room for the ritual. The Sisters who made the various prizes drew the winning ticket for her project. Plus, as usual we had some extra surprises. It\’s always a little \”let down\” to stop drawing the tickets. We hate to stop. 😊

Prizes this year are being sent off to all parts of the country: California, Minnesota, Iowa, Virginia, in addition to several in Texas. The ages of the winners range from 10 to 93 years old!