Novena to St. Joseph

Join us in our annual Novena to St. Joseph for his feast day, approaching on March 19.

O Glorious St. Joseph, faithful follower of Jesus Christ, to you do we raise our hearts and hands, to implore your powerful intercession in obtaining from the benign Heart of Jesus all the helps and graces necessary for our spiritual and temporal welfare, particularly the grace of a happy death, and the special favor we now implore.

Mention intentions here.

O guardian of the Word Incarnate, we feel animated with confidence that your prayers on our behalf will be graciously heard before the throne of God.

  • O Glorious St. Joseph, through the love you bear to Jesus Christ, and for the glory of His name, hear our prayers and obtain our petitions. (Repeat 7 times)

Let us pray. O Glorious St. Joseph, spouse of the Immaculate Virgin, obtain for us pure, humble, and charitable minds, and perfect resignation to the divine Will. Be our guide, father and model through life, that we may merit to die as you did, in the arms of Jesus and Mary. Amen.

Help us, Joseph, in our earthly strife / ever to lead a pure and blameless life.

UPDATED Phone Status

UPDATE: We are happy to report that our phone is now repaired!

ORIGINAL POST: Most blessed and happy New Year! We have been enjoying a calm and quiet Christmas because our telephone line has been down since Christmas Eve, part of a much large problem the telephone company is working on. Hopefully they will have it fixed soon. Meanwhile feel free to contact us by e-mail or through our website. With our prayers for a blessed 2024!

Christmas Dominican nun Newsletter header

Christmas Newsletter 2023

Christmas Dominican nun Newsletter header

In the beginning…”  As we begin Advent, Holy Mother Church calls to our minds the “Proto-Evangelium” found in Genesis 3:15 where God promises to send a Savior to redeem mankind after the Fall.  This year we got a head start by listening to lectures on the Pentateuch by Dr. Brant Pitre.  It has been a fascinating study and a wonderful preparation for Advent.  “In the beginning…” presents the perennial questions about life – where do we come from and where are we going?  Why is there evil in the world and what is the solution to the evil?  It is also here, “in the beginning…” that we find these answers.  God created us for eternal communion with Him, which man rejected, but which Christ has come to restore to us.

One of the traits of a good Dominican is the desire to study.  This means, of course, that one must have a good library full of books.  For some time our library has been overflowing with books.  Many solutions were proposed but finally we hit on the perfect one: a do-it-yourself round bookcase that fits perfectly at the end of the shelves and still allows one to pass by easily.  Even better is the fact that it holds many more books than the regular book shelf!

During the month of the Holy Rosary, Our Lady sent us a young lady to be one of her daughters and Guards of Honor.  On her Feast, Mater Admirabilis (October 20th), Sister Karina from Texas entered our monastery as a postulant.  She brings with her a sparkling joy, a great sense of humor and an avid desire to learn.  Please keep in her in your prayers as she begins her journey.

Photo of postulant sister

Advent is a beloved time for us in the monastery, with many small practices that remind and point us toward the gift of Jesus, Who is coming to live among us, to live with us, to live in us.  Advent is short this year, so it is even more important to pay attention, and try to be alert and ready to welcome our Divine Bridegroom when He arrives.

Fra Angelico's painting of Dominican Saints with nuns and friars

We like to think of those first Dominican nuns in the monastery of Our Lady of Prouilhe, founded by St. Dominic in 1206, to be the heart of the Holy Preaching in southern France.  St. Dominic and the Friars used the monastery at Prouilhe as a home base for their preaching.  This special charism has endured throughout the centuries, so we are delighted when Dominican Friars visit our monastery in their work of preaching.

Mother Mary of the Sacred Heart, O.P. and Sisters

Praying for the Souls in Purgatory

On November 2, we observe All Souls Day; on November 8, we observe All Dominican Souls Day.  Especially during November, the month customarily dedicated to the Holy Souls in Purgatory, we encourage everyone to pray for the souls in Purgatory.

Why Pray for the Souls in Purgatory?

Our Catholic Faith teaches us: “Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ: either entrance into the blessedness of heaven—through a purification [namely, Purgatory] or immediately,—or immediate and everlasting damnation” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1022).

All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. . . . The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire. . .

From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God.  The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead.  (From the Catechism, parts of paragraphs 1030-1032.)

Our prayers and good works on behalf of the souls in Purgatory help them be cleansed more quickly from their venial sins and the left-over temporal punishment due to sin.  Once in Heaven with Our Lord, they also remember us gratefully and pray for us in return.

Join us in prayer

As Dominicans, we have a special devotion to praying for the poor souls in Purgatory, and do so frequently throughout the day and more intensely on special days each week and throughout the year.  Our holy Father St. Dominic and many of our Saints lead us in this practice.

Here are some ways you can help the souls in Purgatory this month and all year round:

  • Have the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass offered for the souls in purgatory, for your loved ones after their death and every year on the anniversary of their death.
  • Offer your devout attendance at Mass and reception of Holy Communion for the repose of the faithful departed.  Offer other prayers such as the Rosary, the Stations of the Cross, Divine Mercy Chaplet, or even a short “Jesus, I love You!” for the holy souls.  You can also visit a cemetery to pray for the departed.
  • Fast, give alms, or do some other work of mercy with the intention of offering it to God for the relief of the souls in Purgatory.  Offer your ordinary daily sufferings for the same intention.
  • Enroll your deceased loved ones in the associations of perpetual prayers offered by many religious orders. You may enroll your departed loves ones to receive a share in our prayers and good works by using the form on our Enrollment Page.
  • Add the simple prayer, May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace, to the end of your graces before and after meals.
  • Make provision for your own soul ahead of time, first of all by living a holy life now, but also by leaving money in your will to have Masses offered for the repose of your soul.

If any of those for whom you pray are no longer in need of prayers, Our Lord will use them to help those in most need of His mercy.  Our Lord will certainly bless you for coming to the aid of these often-forgotten souls in Purgatory.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.  May their souls, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

Photo of postulant sister

Welcome, Sister Karina!

With joy, our community recently welcomed our new postulant, Sister Karina.  Sister comes from a Catholic homeschooling family in Texas where she studied at Baylor University. She loves the Dominican charism and has been looking forward to trying her vocation in our monastery.

Photo of postulant sister

As a postulant, Sister Karina will spend approximately a year living in the Novitiate, learning about our life under the guidance of the Novice Mistress, and participating in the prayer and common life of the community. The word “postulant” comes from the Latin “postulare,” which means “to ask” or “to seek.” By a deepening experience of the monastic life ordered to union with God, the postulant seeks to know more surely if this life is God’s will for her.

Please keep Sister Karina in your prayers!

Further Reading:

Cartoon of a Dominican nun praying the Rosary while the angels carry the sheaves of her Aves up to heaven.

Vocation Letters: The Angels of the Aves

In this Vocation Letter, our fictional novice Sister Mary Rosaria shares a reflection very appropriate to this month of the Rosary (and to her name!). Read more Vocation Letters here.

Cartoon of a Dominican nun praying the Rosary while the angels carry the sheaves of her Aves up to heaven.

Ave + Maria

Dear Mom,

Prayerful greetings during this month of the Most Holy Rosary!  Thank you for the lovely feast day card you sent me for Our Lady of the Rosary.  Our celebration of the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary this past Saturday was especially glorious—it is such a special day for our community, since we are devoted to praying the Perpetual Rosary as Mary’s Guard of Honor, and for me in particular, since it is my patronal feast as “Sister Mary Rosaria.”

I loved the angels surrounding Our Lady on your card, Mom.  As we celebrated the feast of the Archangels and then of the Guardian Angels during the days of our special novena leading up to the feast Our Lady of the Rosary, I was reflecting more on a little passage from our Perpetual Rosary Custom Book dating back to the 1880’s.  After speaking of our devotion to our Guardian Angels, it says:

Finally, we sometimes think with emotion and gratitude of those privileged angels in Heaven, who are more especially occupied in the service of their celestial Queen, and who ascend and descend towards our humble monasteries, bearing the sheaves of our perpetual “Aves” to the throne of Mary.

Isn’t that a beautiful image?  How many Aves do we pray each day, kneeling before our statue of Our Lady, adoring Jesus in Eucharistic Adoration, pondering His mysteries through the eyes and heart of Our Lady as we intercede for all the needs of the world!  I love to think of those sheaves of Aves rising up before the thrones of Jesus and Mary, and of how the holy angels surround us with their love and care as we join them in serving God.

Thank you again, Mom!  Please give my love and prayers to everyone at home!

In Our Lady,

Sister Mary Rosaria, O.P.

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Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage – Tomorrow!

Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage Logo

We know some of our friends and family will be at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. tomorrow, participating in the Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage. We will certainly be present with them and our Dominican friars and Sisters by our prayers! If you are not able to join the pilgrimage in person, we invite you to join via livestream to hear the Dominican Rosary preaching, pray the mysteries of the Rosary, and unite in honoring Jesus and Mary.

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Novena to St. Dominic

As devoted daughters of our Holy Father St. Dominic, we prepare for his feast day for months in advance with the devotion of the “15 Tuesdays.” Now we begin a more immediate preparation for these nine days before August 8. Join us starting today, July 30, as we pray this novena to St. Dominic in preparation for his feast day.

Prayer to St. Dominic

O holy priest of God and glorious patriarch, St. Dominic, you who were the friend, the well-beloved son and confidant of the Queen of Heaven, and did work very many miracles by the power of the Holy Rosary, have regard for my petitions.  On earth you opened your heart to the miseries of your fellow man, and your hands were strong to help them; now in heaven your charity has not grown less nor has your power waned.  Pray for me to the Mother of the Rosary and to her Divine Son, for I have great confidence that through your assistance I shall obtain the favor I very much desire: (mention intentions here).  Amen.

Vocation Retreat 2023 image

Upcoming Vocation Retreat

There are just a few weeks left before this summer’s Vocation Retreat. Are you thinking about attending, or do you know a young woman (age 16-26) who might be interested? We still have some spaces open, so request to attend, or pass on the word about our retreat!

For everyone else, please pray for many graces for the young women who attend, that they may truly draw closer to Jesus and Mary and have the patience to hear and courage to follow God’s call.

Click the flyer below for more information about our Vocation Retreat.