Dominican Life on Lotus Lane

–from Great Vespers, Orthodox Liturgy for the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple

Today the Church prays in a special way for all those men and women called to the contemplative life. May many more come to join us in this way of life!

St. Dominic, pray for us during our retreat and always!

It\’s time once again for our annual community retreat! We\’ll begin this evening and end on the morning of Monday, November 23. Our retreat master will be Fr. Jorge Rativa, OP, of the province of St. Martin de Porres (the southern Dominican province). We look forward to his conferences!

We are keeping the people of Paris, France in our prayers in a special way at this time. Every day our community prays in a special, specific way for peace among Muslims and Christians in our world and we feel this prayer is more urgently needed than ever. May God grant us the peace we so long for, and keep us all safe from further terrorist attacks!

November 7 was a cold and rainy day in Lufkin, but the Monastery chapel was filled with light and music and joy as we celebrated our opening Mass for the 800th Jubilee of the Dominican Order! The chapel was filled with guests and many stayed to continue the celebration afterwards with a lovely dinner and then recreation with the nuns. 

The chapel all decorated for Mass and general celebration

We were delighted to have all the branches of the Dominican family present at the Mass! There were friars (represented by our chaplain, Fr. Marcos Ramos, OP), several members of our local chapter of the Dominican Laity, active sisters represented by the Dominican Sisters of Our Lady of Fatima (who come from Puerto Rico and are currently working in our diocese), and of course the nuns! The first three groups formed a traditional Dominican procession and processed into chapel as the nuns sang the Jubilee Hymn, \”Laudare, Benedicere, Praedicare\” accompanied by organ, guitar and African drum. And of course everyone joined in the singing! 

Mass. From left: Deacon Jesus Reyes, Fr. Marcos Ramos OP, Fr. Ron Foshage MS, Fr. Bill Manger, and Fr. Gavin Vaverek

There was a beautiful ceremony involving lighted candles, symbolizing Dominican preaching:

Fr. Marcos hands a lighted candle to Sr. Maria Guadalupe

The four branches of the Dominican family: a friar, a sister, a lay member, and a nun

After the Mass and dinner we met again in the Gate Parlor to share about Dominican life and how the Dominicans have influenced different people. It was a beautiful experience!

 Some members of the Dominican Laity in the Gate Parlor

The Dominican Sisters of Our Lady of Fatima were all talented musicians and they played and sang several songs for us!

It was truly a blessed day and a wonderful start to our Jubilee year! Thanks so much to all who came and prayed and celebrated with us. And if you missed it this time, don\’t worry…we\’ll have other special celebrations throughout this Jubilee year! 

You can see a few more pictures of this eventful day on our website, here. 

Many people are familiar with the traditional method of doing lectio divina…it\’s a great way to go deeper into Scripture or other solid texts (like the writings of the Fathers of the Church) through prayer. The Dominican Order has started a new website for the Jubilee Year (which begins today!) that features traditional lectio on the Mass readings for each day with a distinctively Dominican feel. We hope you will check it out and use it for your own growth in prayer! We plan to! Keep in mind that the Mass readings may vary from the usual due to Dominican feasts (like today). We have a link to this site on the sidebar, or you can go to the Order\’s website here.

Hopefully pictures of our fantastic opening Mass of the Jubilee Year will come soon!

On Saturday, November 7, 2015, the Dominican Order will open its 800th year jubilee! There will be special celebrations at all the Dominican houses–including our monastery! We welcome you to join us for Mass at 10:30 AM this Saturday. You can also visit our monastery any time during the Jubilee celebration (which lasts until January 21, 2017!) and receive a plenary indulgence by fulfilling the usual requirements (see the official documents here.) 

In addition to preparing for the Mass (which includes the Jubilee Hymn–you can hear and see it here) we\’ve been decorating our lobby and outside area. Here are some candid shots!

Sr. Mary Rose, Cloe, and Sr. Mary Gabriel hard at work making a collage of Dominican martyrs

Sr. Mary Rose, Cloe and Sr. Mary Thomas with the finished product!

Cloe, Sr. Mary Thomas and Sr. Mary Gabriel with another creation–Dominicans saints on display!

Sr. Mary Jeremiah puts up a poster of Saints Dominic and Catherine in the lobby

We almost never go outside to the front of the monastery…so if you\’ve been to the monastery lately, you know this isn\’t a new garden. But we saw it for the first time today and were very impressed! Many thanks to Sr. Mary Christine for her endless creativity!

Please keep us in your prayers as we enter into this Jubilee celebration! We will be remembering you in our prayers, too! 

Every year around Columbus Day we have our big fall picnic. This is not to be confused with our Fourth of July Picnic, which is always held on the 4th of July when it is too hot to go outside and do anything. No, the Fall Picnic Day is a day for getting out and exploring the farthest bounds of our extensive property–while doing a lot of snacking and picnicking too!

Much of the community gathered for the flag raising 

Cloe raises the flag, assisted by Sr. Mary Gabriel

An intrepid group of sisters prepare to go on an adventure in the golf cart. Sr. Mary Gabriel (with red ribbon on hat), Sr. Mary John (in sunglasses), Sr. Mary Regina (passenger) and Sr. Mary Margaret (driving)

The wild side of the monastery grounds

Driving through a tree-lined path

 Meanwhile, the novitiate sisters tried a different path…through the door in the wall!

 Cloe poses atop our old pedestal, from the front of the monastery grounds

An easier route was taken back, with a pause to pray before our statue of Mary. 

 In the evening, we played some card games. The canasta table! Sr. Mary Jeremiah, Sr. Mary Sybillina, Sr. Mary Margaret, Sr. Mary Regina 

And in this corner…Rummikub! Sr. Maria Guadalupe, Sr. Maria Cabrini, Sr. Bernadette Marie, and Sr. Marie Augustine. Looks like Sr. Maria Cabrini just won!

It was a great, relaxing day…now it\’s back to work!! We thank God for all His many blessings which make such beautiful days possible!

Yesterday, October 9, was the feast of St. Louis Bertrand–a Dominican saint who is the patron of novice masters and novice mistresses. Accordingly, the novitiate had a little party during noon recreation, where they played a fun Dominican themed game designed by our postulant Cloe. But as they say–wait, there\’s more! When the novitiate sisters went to evening recreation, a big surprise awaited them! Sr. Mary Gabriel wheeled in a large dolly containing three large boxes, all wrapped and festooned with bows. Sr. Mary Rose and our two sisters in formation (Sr. Bernadette Marie and Cloe) opened them with great joy. 

Cloe, Sr. Mary Rose, and Sr. Bernadette Marie opening the packages while the professed sisters look on.

To the surprise and delight of the novitiate, it was a set of the Ante-Nicene and Nicene Fathers! This is a venerable series of books that contain writings of the Fathers of the Church from the first centuries of the Church. The professed have an older version of this series in their library and the novitiate sisters had to borrow them when they needed them, but now they have their own set! These are especially useful since the novitiate (and others) are still having a class in patristics (that is, the study of the Fathers of the Church). What a wonderful surprise and excellent gift! Thank you so much!!

 Cloe, Sr. Mary Rose, and Sr. Bernadette Marie with a few of the many volumes the novitiate library has now acquired.