We continue our Vocation Letters series by our fictional novice Sister Mary Rosaria (now in temporary vows, but we call all Sisters in formation “novices” as a general term).
Ave + Maria
Dear Josh,
Praised be Jesus Christ! Thank you so much for your letter! A letter from my favorite big-little brother is certainly a treasure. I’m so glad to hear that you are doing well.
What are we up to here? Busy about many things, AND the “one thing necessary”! Down here in Alabama, plants grow and flowers bloom all year round, so after we finish our Christmas celebrations we have to jump right in to any pruning we hope to do with our roses, figs, and pear trees. The fig trees especially needed a lot of work–or I should say, the best fig tree, since the others are better candidates for Jesus’ parable: “‘So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?'”
Inside, we have a big project too: sewing habits! Since the goal of our life in the monastery is the fullness of charity in holiness, not “holey-ness,” Mother decided it was high time we put the pressure (foot) on to make another set of habits. Sister Seamstress cuts out all the habits according to each Sister’s measurements, then we all pitch in to sew together the various stages: placket, sleeves, hem, bindings, etc. We are literally on pins and needles until the job is done–although thankfully we haven’t quite reached the place where we need pins and needles to hold our current habits together!
Oh! Have I told you about the Hillbilly Thomists? They are a bluegrass band composed of our very own Dominican friars. The student brothers (Dominican seminarians) in Washington, D.C., made several chant or sacred music albums over at Dominicana Records a few years ago. We sing the same Dominican chant, and love listening to their music in the refectory (our monastic dining room) at meals. “But if the Hillbilly Thomists make a CD, we will listen to that at recreation!” And they did! One of the friar-musicians came to visit us last year around this time, and gave us a sneak preview of some music for their brand new recording, Living for the Other Side, which was just released. Our Sister from Nashville laughed so hard when she heard the song title, “Heaven or Tennessee.” She hasn’t been to Tennessee in over 70 years, but she’s looking forward to Heaven!
I’d better close now, but just know that I’m keeping you and your plans in my prayers every day. These days, it seems that the Fatima prayer is more appropriate than ever: “O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of Thy mercy!” Mercy, mercy! Like the cry of our Holy Father St. Dominic: “O God, what will become of sinners?” That’s what your big Sister is doing here, amid pruning and sewing and enjoying hillbilly music: offering her heart, in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, for the salvation of souls NOW, TODAY!
With love and prayers in Our Lady,
Sister Mary Rosaria of Divine Mercy, O.P.