Our fictional novice Sr. Mary Rosaria continues our Vocation Letter series with this note to her little sister.
Ave + Maria
“The Blessed Sacrament is in the little tabernacle; that is important. The Master of the House is there; nothing will be lacking to them if they remain faithful to Him.” –Fr. Saintourens, writing of the small house where he established the first Dominican Sisters of the Perpetual Rosary in 1880
Dear Tessa,
Praised be Jesus Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar! I hope you have enjoyed celebrating our very many Solemnities recently! Among them all, we looked forward to the feast of Corpus Christi with special zeal this year, since our Novice Mistress, Sister Mary Magistra, chose “Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament” as our theme for June. In order to help us enter more fully into the spirit of our vocation, in the novitiate we are focusing each month on a different aspect of our devotional life. Sister shares inspiring reflections, and provides us with readings from Scripture, our Constitutions and Custom Book, and various doctrinal and devotional writings especially from our Dominican saints. So far this has been very helpful for entering into our devotional life with greater understanding and purpose (very Dominican!).
I should add, Tessa, that “devotion” is not just a warm feeling, but an actual virtue that St. Thomas talks about in the Summa Theologiae: “the will to give oneself readily to things concerning the service of God.” St. Thomas says that the principle effect of devotion is JOY, because it is keeping in mind God’s goodness that motivates us to give ourselves completely and willingly to Him. So, although our Dominican life forms us even when we aren’t aware of it, taking a step back to look at the foundation and goal of our particular devotional practices inspires our virtue of devotion all over again.
Our Eucharistic devotion is woven into every moment of our life. Every day, Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament reigns in our chapel, warming our hearts like the Sun with the rays of His grace. We sing the Hours of the Office before Him, we pray the Rosary during our Hours of Guard before Him at Our Lady’s feet, we step through the chapel, bend our knees, and make Him many visits of love. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the most important act of each day, when we join with the priest in offering ourselves with Our Lord to the Father, and in receiving our Spouse in Holy Communion with great devotion. Acts of spiritual communion throughout the day keep our love for our Eucharistic Jesus bright, and help us keep a spirit of thanksgiving for our morning’s Communion, and of anticipation of receiving Him again on the marrow. Whenever we have a visiting priest, we look forward to Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament at the end of the day.
It has also been inspiring to see how these specific ways that our devotion is lived out in our community in the Perpetual Rosary tradition deeply fulfills our vocation as Dominican nuns. Great love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament has been a mark of our Order from its beginning, bequeathed to us by our Holy Father St. Dominic and continued in our long line of Dominican Saints. The Constitutions of the Nuns of the Order of Preachers explicitly states: “The nuns should worship Christ in the mystery of the Eucharist so that from this wonderful exchange they may draw an increase of faith, hope, and charity.”
Of course, this is why Jesus gave Himself to us in the Blessed Sacrament: to unite us to Himself and draw us every more deeply into the life of the Blessed Trinity.
With my prayers that Jesus will draw you also to a deeper love for Himself,
In Our Lady,
Sister Mary Rosaria, O.P.
You might also like:
- Eucharistic Rosary
- Stages in Formation
- Vocations: Are you called? Come and See.