Religious Life Fullness of Baptismal Consecration
By Sister Mary Gianna, O.P.
In the small village of Caleruega, hidden in the quiet ......Spanish countryside of Burgos, a baby boy was baptized in the year 1170. His godmother observed with surprise a light shining from the infant’s forehead, a splendor that would emanate for the duration of his life Before the young Dominic’s birth, his mother, Blessed Jane of Aza, had dreamt of a dog with a torch in its mouth running throughout the world to set it ablaze. These two visions reveal the holiness of the one who is now extolled as LumenEcclesiae (Light of the Church) and Daystar of the World. The seed of his great vocation was planted at his baptism, the moment when his soul was infused with the divine light and love of the Trinity. Through fidelity to the grace of his baptism, this light of truth and flame of love would be spread throughout the earth not only by him, but by his spiritual sons and daughters down the centuries in the Order of Preachers. As they make pilgrimage to his baptismal font, Dominic’s followers pray fervently to live fully their own baptism which has flowered in the vocation to the religious life and to the Dominican Order.
PHOTO / WindowdepictingSt Dominic’sBaptismfrom theSt CeciliaMotherhouseChapel
The Church identifies the consecrated life not as a separate sacrament, but as a “special and fruitful deepening of the consecration received in baptism” (John Paul II, Vita Consecrata 30). All the baptized are consecrated to Christ; they are set apart for friendship with him and a share in his mission. In Christ, they have died to sin and been raised to the new life of grace. Christ calls them to the perfection of love by living in some degree the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience. However, consecrated religious, wishing to “derive more abundant fruit from their baptism,” make a more “radical response,” made possible only through a particular grace of the Holy Spirit (Lumen Gentium 44; VC 14). Religious commit themselves to an intensified living of the counsels through the profession of their vows, thus conforming their lives more closely to Christ’s own way of life. By their vow of chastity, they “more easily devote their entire selves to God alone with undivided heart,” and this love becomes a “unique fountain of spiritual fertility in the world” (LG 42). Their vow of poverty proclaims that “God is man’s only real treasure” and reflects the total gift of self among the Persons of the Trinity (VC 21). By their vow of obedience, a filial and liberating dependence on divine wisdom, they seek to imitate Christ’s complete fidelity to His Father’s will. All the vows provide a “purification of heart and spiritual liberty” that remove all obstacles to their one pursuit of perfect charity (LG 46, 44).
This intimate consecration is not only for the benefit of the religious. Just as Christ consecrated himself for all, religious life is a “means of promoting and supporting every Christian’s desire for perfection” (VC 39). Vowed religious must be a prophetic sign “which can and ought to attract all the members of the Church to an effective and prompt fulfilment of the duties of the Christian vocation” (LG 44).
Consecrated persons are meant to show forth with a particular beauty and totality what is the common vocation of all the members of Christ, the vocation to holiness As icons of Our Lady, the model of the consecrated life, religious echo Mary’s great maternal counsel to all, “Do whatever He tells you” (John 2:5). Consecrated religious in turn “are helped by the witness of the other vocations to live fully and completely their union with the mystery of Christ and the Church ” (VC 33) Through this mutual dependence and enrichment, all the baptized urge each other on to fulfill their indispensable role in the Body of Christ.
The light of Christ shines on all, and “the various vocations are so many rays of the one light of Christ whose radiance ‘brightens the countenance of the Church’” (VC 16; LG 1) Consecrated persons are called to an intimate experience of this light in prayer as they gaze on the face of the Divine Bridegroom. But just as the baptismal light of Dominic, Daystar of the World, was meant to draw others to the one Light, consecrated persons’ contemplation of that light must enable them to radiate that light in the Church They should stir up in others a longing for divine beauty, a desire to see the face of Christ who is the “fairest of the sons of men” (Ps 45:2).As baptism plunges the children of God into the entire Paschal Mystery, religious ought to convince every disciple that renunciation leads to joy, death gives way to life, and the darkness of faith blossoms into the radiance of vision. By joyful fidelity to their consecration, may the sons and daughters of St. Dominic fan into flame the divine light entrusted to all the baptized, thus bringing to fruition Christ’s desire that the world would be set ablaze (Lk 12:49)
TOP/ThesistersassignedtomissionsinEuropeonarecentpilgrimageto Caleruega,Spain,thebirthplaceofStDominic LEFT/SistersattheCathedraloftheIncarnationinNashville,TennesseePhoto courtesyPrestonThompson
Blessed Jane of Aza
BySisterEvaMarie,O.P.
Lord our God, you filled Blessed Jane with the spirit of the Gospel
In that spirit she prepared her sons Dominic and Mannes for the apostolic life
Awaken in us that same gospel spirit. We asks this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever Amen
Collect for the Optional Memorial of Blessed Jane of Aza
B......lessed Jane of Aza (c. 1135-1205) is known as Dominican .........saint, not because she was a member of the Order, but because she was the mother of its founder, Saint Dominic.
Jane was born into the Spanish nobility As a young woman she married Felix de Guzman, a nobleman of the city of Caleruega, and together they had three sons: Anthony, Mannes, and Dominic. As a wife and mother, Jane was exceptional for her prayerfulness, generosity, and prudence.
According to legend, Jane gave lavishly to the poor of Caleruega, but Felix was less than supportive of his wife’s generous activity. One day, Felix brought friends to their home. Knowing that Jane had recently given away the last of the family’s wine, Felix asked her to bring wine for their guests. Given their social circle, the danger of public humiliation (and domestic strife) was real. Without a word of criticism, Jane went to the wine cellar, praying all the way, and the wine cask was miraculously replenished.
As the mother of a future saint, Jane was privileged to witness some extraordinary early signs of little Dominic’s future greatness According to an early Dominic chronicler, before she conceived Saint Dominic:
[Jane] had a vision in which she saw herself carrying a puppy in her womb, with a blazing torch in its mouth; when it emerged from her womb, it seemed to set the whole world on fire, signifying that the son she was to conceive would be a famous preacher, who would wake up souls which had gone to sleep in their sins with the barking of his holy teaching, and spread throughout the world the fire which the Lord Jesus came to cast upon the earth (Bl Jordan of Saxony, Libellus)
In addition to this startling vision, at Dominic’s baptism a bright light seemed to shine from his forehead, “signifying that he would one day be given to the world as a light for the nations” (Libellus 9). From the very beginning, Jane was aware that God had planned something extraordinary for her son.
Beyond these remarkable stories, Jane’s historical record is scanty. Jordan of Saxony describes the Guzman family life as “a loving embrace,” and it appears that her day-to-day life was an ordinary round of caring for her children and managing the family estate. We can assume that, like Our Lady, she pondered in her heart the amazing prophecies about her son, and that she watched him grow up with wonder and joy. Today, Dominicans revere and love her as their spiritual grandmother
Jane of Aza’s feast day is celebrated on August 2nd. She is the patron saint of women who desire to have children.
DIAMONDANDSILVERJUBILEES
TOP/Oursisterswhocelebratedtheir25thanniversaryofprofession ofreligiousvows(lefttoright):SisterMaryAgnes,O.P.,SisterMarie Caritas,OP,SisterMarySheila,OP andSisterMaryAlbert,OP
LEFT/ThesistersrenewingtheirvowsduringtheanniversaryMass
BELOW/DiamondJubilarian,SisterMaryLeonard(center), celebrates75yearsofreligiousprofession SheispicturedwithSister Christine,OP andSisterAnnMarie,OP
BOTTOMRIGHT/GuestsandmusicianspresentattheDiamond JubileeMass.
NATIONALEUCHARISTICREVIVALPILGRIMAGE
TOP&ABOVE/OnJune28thwewelcomedabouta thousandpilgrimsforMassaspartoftheNational EucharisticRevivalPilgrimage.
RIGHT/FatherMichelangelo,CFRprocesseswiththeBlessed SacramentfromtheMotherhousegroundsthroughhistoric downtownNashvilleaspartoftheJuanDiegoRoute BELOW/ TheEucharisticProcessioncontinuesaspilgrims traveltoAssumptionChurch.
To view a short video of the Nashville Procession Click here:
RIGHT/Over60,000pilgrimsprocessedthroughthe streetsofIndianapolisduringtheCongress,andabout900 thereligioussisterswereaskedtoleadtheprocession CENTER/Thesistersenjoytheopeningnightrevivalat LucasOilStadium.
BOTTOM/Thesistersreceivedgeneroushospitalityfrom FrRichardDoerrandtheparishionersofOurLadyofMt CarmelinCarmel,INThoughnotallarepicturedhere, about150sistersintotalwereabletoattendtheCongress duetothegenerosityofseveralbenefactors.
NATIONALEUCHARISTICCONGRESS
TOP/TheCMSWRhelpedtofacilitateperpetualadoration throughouttheCongressatSt John’sChurch Oursisters ledVespersthereoneeveningduringtheCongress
CENTER/ Astheprocessioncontinuedthrough IndianapolisandcametoitsconclusionattheIndiana War Memorial,itwasatasteoftheheavenlyreality.
BOTTOMLEFT/ Thesistersaregratefulespeciallyto BishopAndrewCozzenswholedthechargeinorganizing suchagrace-filledEucharisticCongress!
PhotoCourtesyPrestonThompson
FIRSTPROFESSIONOFVOWS
TOPLEFT/Thesistersmakeaprostrationtoreceivethe blessingoftheirscapulars.
TOPRIGHT/ SisterFaustinaprofesseshersimplevowsof poverty,chastityandobedience
RIGHT/ Thenewlyprofessedsistersprayingratitudeto GodduringthePrayerofConsecration
BELOW/ Fromlefttoright:SisterAmataMagdalene, OP,SisterMaryRachel,OP (DirectorofNovices),Sister ClaireEilís,OP,SisterAbigailThérèse,OP,Sister MonicaBaptiste,OP,BishopMarkSpaldingofNashville, SisterRaphaela,OP,SisterFaustina,OP,Sister PerpetuaLucy,OP,MotherAnnaGrace,OP
RIGHT/SisterMauraSheenprofesses vowsforall herlife.
CENTERLEFT/ SisterLydiaMariesignshername uponthealtartothevowssheprofessed
CENTERRIGHT/ Theperpetuallyprofessedsisters offerthenewlyprofessedsistersthesignofpeace.
BOTTOM / BishopTalleyofMemphis,SisterMary Rachel,OP (DirectorofNovices),SisterLydia Marie,OP,BishopSpaldingofNashville,Sister MauraSheen,OP,SisterMaryLaura,OP,Mother AnnaGrace,OP, andCathedralRectorFather JohnHammond
NEWPOSTULANTSANDNOVICES
TOP/OurnewNoviceswhoreceivedthehabitonAugust8th:Sister CatherineGrace,SisterMariaCarlo,SisterMaryFrancis,Sister Angelina,SisterMariaPetra,SisterCatherineThérèse,SisterLaurie Marie,SisterAgnèsColette,SisterMaryRegina,SisterRachelThérèse
RIGHT/ SisterRachelThérèseisgreetedbySisterAnneCatherineafter receivinghernewnameandhabit
BOTTOMRIGHT/ ThepostulantsprocessintotheChapeltoreceive theirDominicanpins
BOTTOMLEFT/Pleaseprayforournewpostulants!
