Dominican Life on Lotus Lane

It\’s time for another issue of \”Monastery Bells\”! You can see it as a PDF by going to our website, HERE.

You can also participate in our 2013 Raffle, if you live in the United States! (Sorry, we can\’t send prizes overseas because of the expenses involved.) 

Just send your name and snail mail address to our email address, nuns@lufkintxnuns.com, and we will happily fill out your tickets and enter your name in our drawing to be held on Easter Sunday, March 31, 2013! No donations are required but any donation you would like to make will benefit our life of prayer. You can make donations (if you would like to) using PayPal–the link is conveniently located at the top right hand corner of this blog, or through our website on the Donate page HERE. 

We will not put you on our mailing list unless you request it.

There are six great prizes, five of which were handmade by the nuns–and one is a SURPRISE! (Maybe the nuns made it too!) You can see pictures of the five known prizes HERE.

We will post the winners after the drawing!

 Sr. Bernadette Marie\’s place mat in the refectory for this special day

Today Sr. Bernadette Marie of the Sacred Heart, OP made her first profession of vows. It was quite an event, as our bishop asked to combine the ceremony with the annual celebration for the religious men and women of the diocese on this day honoring consecrated life. So…we had Sr. Bernadette Marie\’s family. all the religious in the diocese, and various friends of the monastery. What a day!

Sr. Bernadette Marie listens as our chaplain, Fr. Paul Philibert, proclaims the Gospel

Sr. Mary John, our prioress, questions Sr. Bernadette Marie before her profession of vows

Sr. Bernadette Marie makes profession in the hands of the prioress. Dominicans profess only one vow, obedience, which includes the other evangelical counsels (chastity and poverty). Sister promised obedience for three years. If all goes well, after that she will promise obedience \”until death\”.

Bishop Strickland was here for the celebration of consecrated life, and he was the main celebrant at our Mass today. Here he blesses Sr. Bernadette Marie\’s scapular before giving her the black veil. 

Bishop Strickland blesses Sr. Bernadette Marie after she has received the black veil. Sr. Mary John and Sr. Maria Guadalupe, our novice directress,  put it on her.

Sr. Bernadette Marie (do you recognize her in the new black veil?) smiles while eating dinner.

February 2 is Sr. Bernadette Marie\’s profession day…but it\’s also the day our local Catholic school, St. Patrick\’s, is having its annual fundraising gala. Part of the gala is a dessert auction and they asked us to donate some cakes or other baked goods for this. Despite a very busy schedule preparing for the profession, a few sisters found time to do some creative baking!

The small cake with nuts on top is a hummingbird cake made by Sr. Mary Gabriel (with help from others); the cake below it (like a large white doughnut) is a cake based on a recipe by Martha Washington (the wife of President George Washington) baked by Sr. Mary Jeremiah; the darling ladybug cake was baked and decorated by Sr. Mary Dominic, and Sr. Maria Cabrini is holding her cake creation, an open book with the words, \”We Love You, St. Pat\’s School\” written in green and decorated with shamrocks! Sr. Marie Augustine made some delicious cookies, too (unfortunately not pictured). We hope our small contribution of desserts will help support St. Patrick\’s School at the gala and in years to come. Although we have chosen to lead a hidden life of prayer, we enjoy making our own contribution to our local parishes and supporting the efforts of the Church in general. These cakes are a reminder of all the prayers that we send up every day, not only for St. Patrick\’s School, but for the whole world!

We had a comment recently asking whether our Masses are open to the public. They certainly are! We welcome guests both at Mass and at our daily celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours throughout the year. We have Mass every weekday (that is, Monday-Saturday) at 7:20 AM, and Sunday Mass at 7:00 AM. We sing the Liturgy of the Hours every day throughout the day; the times for each Office can be found on our \”Monastery Schedule\” page. On rare occasions we have Mass at a different time and when this happens we always put a notice in the outside chapel so people will be aware. Christmas and Easter, for example, are always later in the morning, and sometimes we have a special event (such as Sr. Bernadette Marie\’s first profession on February 2) when Mass is at a later time. You are welcome to check the outside chapel for details about our schedule, or you can call or email us for details if you are not sure. We invite you to come and share in our praise, adoration and worship!

What did St. Thomas look like? There are many descriptions, most of them focusing on his size! We prefer to think he was a big guy like a football player, not necessarily hugely fat–after all, he walked all over Europe preaching and teaching! One writer tells us that when he was walking the roads people would come out of the fields to stare at him because of his \”beauty and corpulence\”. Well, at least he was considered handsome! Since they say a picture is worth a thousand words, let\’s look at a few old and new renditions of this saint. 

We\’re not sure who painted these pictures (some look like icons so they were written, not painted), but we are grateful for their work. Each brings out a different aspect of what St. Thomas must have been like. Of course the best way to get to know St. Thomas is by reading his works…but it\’s kind of fun to see what he may have looked like. We are often asked, \”How do I start reading St. Thomas Aquinas?\” One way is to choose a question from the Summa theologiae, perhaps some theological topic you are interested in, and read it over carefully, noting the arguments and the conclusions Thomas comes to. Keep in mind that in the Summa theologiae Thomas begins with objections to what he wants to say first! He then refutes the objections, saying, \”On the contrary…\” and then gives his opinion, saying, \”I answer that…\” St. Thomas also wrote numerous other works–commentaries on Scripture, homilies, answers to questions, and so on and so on. Many are available on the Internet or as e-books as well. Today, consider reading and praying over something by St. Thomas, and then pass on the fruits of your contemplation to others!

Today ends the week of prayer for Christian unity–appropriately, today is the feast of the conversion of St. Paul. In a sense we are all converts, because we are all continually returning to the Lord after straying from Him in various ways. Paul\’s story also reminds us that it is vitally important to seek the Lord\’s guidance in everything that we do–otherwise, we may find ourselves working against His plan, even with the best of intentions! Today we pray for the humility to accept God\’s word in our lives–even when it turns our lives upside down! 

And we are also praying in a special way today for Sr. Bernadette Marie, who has begun her retreat in preparation for her first profession on February 2. Please keep her in your prayers as well!

Today, the feast day of St. Margaret of Hungary, we begin a week of prayer dedicated to Christian unity.

St. Margaret of Hungary was a Dominican nun of the 13th century. Her royal parents offered her to God in thanksgiving for victory over their invading enemies. The only connection between Margaret and church unity is that her feast happens to begin the week of prayer for this intention; still, we can\’t resist mentioning her as she is one of the few Dominican nuns who have been canonized!

But another nun, a Cistercian from Italy, is invoked in a particular way this week for special prayers.  Her name is Blessed Gabriella and she is the patroness of church unity. She offered her life for this intention and we pray that she will continue to intercede for unity among the churches today. \”Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.\” (John 17:11)