laudare, benedicere, praedicare TO PRAISE, TO BLESS, TO PREACH
February 2021
FEBRUARY 2021 Our Lord's Presentation foreshadowed consecrated religious life.
St. Catherine de Ricci was a Dominican nun devoted to Christ's Passion.
Bl. Reginald received a vision of the Dominican habit from Our Lady.
Bl. Jordan was the second Master General of the Order, after St. Dominic.
Fra Angelico was a holy priest and a renowned artist.
1 2 / Feast of the Presentation of the Lord; World Day of Consecrated Life 3 / Saint Blaise; Saint Ansgar 4 / Saint Catherine de Ricci, O. P. 5 / Memorial of Saint Agatha 6 / Memorial of Saint Paul Miki and Companions 7 / FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 8 / Anniversary of Deceased Fathers and Mothers of the Order of Preachers 9 10 / Memorial of Saint Scholastica 11 / Our Lady of Lourdes 12 / Blessed Reginald of Orleans, O. P. 13 / Blessed Jordan of Saxony, O. P. 14 / SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 15 16 17 / ASH WEDNESDAY 18 / Blessed John of Fiesole, O. P. (Fra Angelico) 19 20 21 / FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT 22 / Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter the Apostle 23 / Saint Polycarp 25 26 27 Celebrations from the 28 / SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT
Dominican calendar appear in italics.
The Four Pillars of Dominican Life
Community Prayer
Study
Apostolate
part i
A
by Sister Scholastica, O.P.
re you all friends?” a student asked me one day out of the blue. “You and the other sisters, I mean. Are you all friends? I saw you all out walking the other day, and I just wondered if your sisters were your friends.” The high school students I teach sometimes try to divert the lesson with questions about life as a sister. Usually a short, simple answer and a return to the lesson are all that is needed, but occasionally their honest queries are an open door, a chance to lead them to a deeper understanding of the Christian faith we profess. Though I gave only a brief answer that day, the question posed by that student really touches on a fundamental aspect of religious life: community. The opening lines of the Rule of Saint Augustine remind us that "the first purpose for which you have been brought together is that you dwell in unity in the house and that you have but one soul and one heart in God, and call not anything your own but let all things be common.” This phrase is clearly drawn from the Acts of the Apostles where we learn that the earliest Christians lived together in community and held all things in common, supporting and encouraging one another. As monastic life developed in the early centuries of the Church, religious communities adopted this common life, seeing it as a way to imitate the apostolic community and as a way to reflect the communion of saints. Of course, both of these things, ultimately, are a testimony
to the communion fostered by the very inner life of the Trinity; the communion which, by virtue of our baptism, we are called to participate in. In Vita Consecrata, a document on religious life, Pope John Paul II exhorts men and women religious to be “experts in communion” (46). In that same passage he reminds us that this expertise necessarily involves forgiveness, shared responsibilities, concern for one another, commitment to the same goal, and being animated by the same spirit. Given this description of communion, it is not surprising that from the earliest days of Christendom artists and poets have depicted the Christian life as one of pilgrimage. For anyone who has been on a serious pilgrimage, the richness of this trope as an image for the Christian life in general, and Community Life in particular, is evident. Whether it’s hiking the Camino, or winding through the streets of Assisi, or walking the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem, pilgrimages are a living embodiment of the common life. Vastly different from a vacation or sight-seeing excursion, on pilgrimage one comes face to face with life in community. On a pilgrimage it is necessary, some
sometimes imperative, to bear each other’s burdens, encourage those who are weary, warn those who are in danger, share the same resources, put the good of the group over individual wants, and have the same goal in mind. And yet, our distinctive personalities and various gifts, far from being squelched, are indispensable and delightful. So it is with the common life. We bear each other’s burdens, learn to forgive, go out of self to show concern for the other, sharing all that we have— materially, personally, spiritually—each of us gloriously different, but pursuing the same goal and loving the same Beloved. “Are you all friends? I saw you out walking together.” Yes, I guess you could put it that way.
MISSION SPOTLIGHT:
Newport News
Virginia
(L to R): Sister Immaculata Marie, Sister Alma Marie, Sister Anna Joseph, and Sister Mary Josephine teach at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School.
From one of our finally professed sisters
Sr. Albertine Cevallos, O.P. I grew up in Charleston, West Virginia, and never imagined I'd become a sister. I was passionate about math and science, especially about understanding the beginning of the universe, so I went to the California Institute of Technology to study astrophysics. When I thought I was zealously pursuing truth, truth was patiently pursuing me. A year out of college, I encountered the love of Jesus Christ and came to realize his plan for me to follow him more closely with an undivided heart. I entered the Dominican Order in 2013 and took as my patron the Dominican scientist and teacher St. Albert. I made final profession this summer on July 25—exactly 10 years to the day that I first encountered God's merciful love. Photo: Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P.
"...Truth was
patiently pursuing me." Making final profession is not something that I did, but something that God has done unto me. A religious vocation is an unmerited gift, and with the gift comes the grace to live it. We do nothing, and he does everything, if only we allow him.
HAPPY
Lent Why penance begets joy
by Sister Clare Dominic, O.P.
W
hen I was in Catholic high school, I attended an all-school Mass on Ash Wednesday.
The topic of the homily was whether or not we should be wishing one another “happy Lent.” The deacon ultimately argued that we should instead say, “Have a courageous Lent,” or something to that effect. Fortitude or courage is an indispensable virtue in the spiritual life, but the homily gave me the impression that, for the duration of Lent, we should lay aside our cheerfulness, buckle down, grit our teeth, and embrace the Cross like good Christian soldiers. So I was quite surprised when, during my first year in the convent, my novice mistress encouraged us to have a happy Lent.
This was no saccharine platitude; rather, she spoke out of the fullness of Dominican spirituality. St. Thomas Aquinas teaches us that everyone desires happiness above all else. This happiness is ultimately found in perfect union with God in heaven, but we begin to live this union here on earth as we cooperate more and more fully with God’s grace. The less we focus on ourselves and the more we fall in love with God, the happier we are. Lent is a season of penance, but this doesn’t mean that it’s a season of sorrow and drudgery. In fact, works of penance—acts of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving—should always be done in a spirit of love.
The more we fall in love with God, the happier we are.
Oftentimes penance becomes burdensome when we put ourselves at the center of it. If our Lenten penances turn into diets, displays of our own willpower, or get-holy-quick schemes, the fruits will be discouragement, spiritual dryness, and grouchiness. This is not the way to prepare ourselves for Easter! Rather, our aim should be increased love for our Savior, gratitude, freedom, forgiveness, and patience. How do we get there? By choosing our Lenten penances as responses to God’s overwhelming love for us, which he showed us by dying for us on the Cross. We cannot do anything to earn God’s love. No penance, however heroic, can make God love us more. Rather, as we prepare for Lent, we ought to look at the crucifix, meditate on Christ’s love for us, and ask him, "Lord,
“Lord, what would you have me do so that I can love you more at Easter this year?� As Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, we undertake individual and community penances. We rise ten minutes earlier than usual to pray the seven Penitential Psalms in choir; we wear our black mantles, symbols of our penitential Dominican religious life, during Lauds and Vespers; and on Good Friday, we observe an entire day of silence complete with a black fast, eating very simple and meager meals. In addition to this, each sister chooses her own private Lenten practices. Without a supernatural spirit, without her eyes fixed upon Jesus Christ crucified, such a Lent would be totally overwhelming. But every year, I can attest that I have had a happy Lent. Hard? Yes. At times,
Lord, what would you have me do so that I can love you more at Easter this year?
times, painful? Certainly. Worth it? Without a doubt. This Lent, keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, and let him look upon you with his gaze of unparalleled love. And have a happy Lent!
THE CROSS IS MY SURE SAFETY IT IS THE CROSS THAT I EVER ADORE THE LORD 'S CROSS IS WITH ME ALWAYS THE LORD 'S CROSS IS MY REFUGE ST. THOMAS AQUINAS, O.P.
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