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Preaching and the Rosary: Dominican Jubilee Activities

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OPjubileeop-logo-whiteThe Dominicans around the world are celebrating a “double” Jubilee for not only is it the Jubilee Year of Mercy, it is also the 800th anniversary of the issuing of the Bulls promulgated by Pope Honorius III, confirming the foundation of the Order, in 1216 and 1217. The celebration began on November 7, 2015 (Feast of All Saints of the Order) and will end on January 21, 2017 (the date of the Bull Gratiarum omnium largitori of Pope Honorius III).

The theme of the Jubilee Year is fittingly enough “Sent to preach the Gospel.” On the Jubilee website, there is a beautiful summation of the one identifying sign of Dominican life:

“…a type of genetic code if you will, for the members of the Order and the Dominican family; that is the preaching for the salvation of humanity (Fundamental Constitution V), the ministry of the Word (officium verbi), the mission of evangelization…. The nuns, specifically dedicated to prayer, participate in the ministry of preaching, listening to the Word, celebrating it and proclaiming the Gospel through the example of their lives. Equally, the co-operator brothers join in the preaching through their faithful living out of their Profession in the Order.”

The Order has included the cloistered nuns in the celebrations by arranging an international Rosary Pilgrimage during the Jubilee year. This pilgrimage is hosted in turn by each of the monasteries of Dominican nuns around the world.  In support of this activitiy, they also published a beautiful set of Rosary Meditations from the writings of Dominican Saints.

OP rosary-meditationsThe Dominicans Nuns in Marbury, Alabama, have arranged these into a booklet with sacred art by Dominican artists–Preachers both with words and with images. You can download the PDF or send the sisters a donation for a printed copy (check on availability first). Their assigned days for participating in the Rosary Pilgrimage will be in October.

Pope Francis has also granted the possibility of receiving a plenary indulgence to the faithful who go to a Dominican celebration and/or church. Saying the following prayer in addition to the usual requirements is all that is required to receive the benefits of this Jubilee Year.

God, Father of mercy,
who called your servant Dominic de Guzman
to set out in faith
as an itinerant pilgrim and a preacher of grace,
as we celebrate the Jubilee of the Order
we ask you to pour again into us
the Spirit of the Risen Christ,
that we might faithfully and joyfully proclaim
the Gospel of peace,
through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Cloistered life, News, Women's Communities

Benedictines of Mary Issue “Adoration at Ephesus”

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ephesusThe Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, have recently issued their newest album, adding to the selection of their other very popular albums of songs and chants that give glory to God. Entitled “Adoration at Ephesus,” it is a collection of songs sung by the nuns when they gather together for Eucharistic Adoration.

The album contains 24 tracks in Latin and English and includes such favorites as: Holy God, We Praise Thy Name, Adoremus in Aeternum, Ave Verum, Panis Angelicus, Jesus My Lord My God My All, and many other well-known and not-so-well-known classics.

The nuns’ previous albums have risen to the top of Billboard’s Classical Traditional Artist’s list for three years running. They are tapping into to the world’s innate desire to lift up their hearts to God, finding peace to that restlessness that St. Augustine says can only be found in Thee.

All proceeds from the album will go towards the nuns’ new monastic church fund. The chapel that they pray in is only a temporary one. “As the community grows and the hospitality apostolate expands,” said Mother Cecilia. “the necessity of undertaking the design and building of a new church has become a pressing reality.”

fatimaMother also noted the link between Fatima and Adoration, for this spring marks the 100th anniversary of the first appearance of the Angel of God to Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta in 1916 in Portugal. In the first apparition, the Angel told the shepherd children to kneel and repeat this prayer: “My God, I believe in Thee, I adore Thee, I hope in Thee and I love Thee. I ask pardon for all those who do not believe in Thee, do not adore Thee, do not hope in Thee and do not love Thee.”

“I was simply astounded that our album corresponds so perfectly and intimately with the message he brought to the children and the world,” said Mother Cecilia. “If one word had to be chosen to summarize that message, it would be: adoration. We pray that all souls will adore our Eucharistic Lord with great faith, love, reverence and thanksgiving!”

To read the complete story, visit the Catholic News Agency.

Men's communities, News

Pope Francis Addresses Mercedarians

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odemThe National Catholic Register has a story on this week on the Mercedarians, those men who profess the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience but profess a fourth vow as well: to offer their lives in place of those who are in danger of losing their Faith.

A few years ago, this would seem to be a symbolic offering, that is,  they were men who offered their time and talent to help those who are struggling with modern forms of slavery such as pornography, addiction, imprisonment and greed. However, as the article points out, they are now collaborating with the Chaldean archbishop of Erbil to provide assistance to Iraqi Christians suffering persecution, slavery and death. The help includes prayer, fasting and sacrifice, as well as material support and public awareness.

“In the eighth centenary of the Order,” said Pope Francis in his address to the members of the General Chapter of the The Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy, “do not cease ‘to proclaim the Year of Favor of the Lord’ to all those to whom you are sent: to those held prisoner and persecuted because of their faith; to victims of trafficking; to the young people in your schools; to all those who are served by your works of mercy and to all the faithful you serve in the parishes and missions with which you have been entrusted by the Church.”

In 2018, the Mercedarians will celebrate the 800th anniversary of their founding in 1218 by St. Peter Nolasco. He founded the community to redeem Christian prisoners from their Muslim captors. May Christ our Redeemer assist the Mercedarians in their work of freeing people from whatever prevents them from serving Our Lord.

News, Women's Communities

St. Catherine of Siena: Messenger of Mercy

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Siena Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. Catherine of Siena which is particularly significant during this Year of Mercy and 800th Jubilee of the Foundation of the Dominican Order. St. Catherine led an extraordinary life as an advisor to the Holy See, Dominican tertiary, and witness to God’s merciful love.

Catherine Benincasa was born on the feast of the Annunciation in 1347 and quickly grew to have a deep spiritual life first having an apparition of Christ at the young age of 6. After some hesitation from her family, St. Catherine obtained permission to become a Dominican tertiary and experienced a “mystical marriage” with Christ at the age of 21. Following the momentous occasion, she performed works of mercy including visiting the imprisoned whom she hoped would turn to God and nursing the sick even volunteering to care for those afflicted with the most terrible diseases.

St. Catherine soon became renowned throughout Italy for her sanctity and wisdom. During her life, she strove to maintain peace throughout Italy by negotiating peace terms between cities and preaching a crusade in hopes of unifying the Christendom to retake the Holy Land. St. Catherine’s wisdom caused popes to take her counsel as she was influential in convincing Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome and even moved to Rome herself at the request of Pope Urban VI during the Great Schism that occurred in 1378. Her wisdom and profound spiritual insights are also apparent in her writings which led her to be proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI.

8900060944_b1782bb7c7_oThe feast of the renowned Dominican saint corresponds this year with the 8th Triennial General Assembly of the Dominican Sisters International who are currently meeting in Rome to pray, reflect and discuss the future of their preaching mission. The IRL has many Dominican affiliates including the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne who were founded by the youngest child of author Nathaniel Hawthorne, Rose. For more information on affiliate Dominican communities please visit the IRL website.

News

Founder of the SOLTs Passes Away – Fr. Jim Flanagan

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Fr FlanOn Holy Thursday, March 24, 2016, Fr. James Flanagan, SOLT, founder of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, peacefully died, surrounded by members of his family, both immediate and spiritual. The SOLTs were established in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in 1958, the perfect springboard, Father Jim thought, to eventually reach out to people across the globe. Today they are in 13 countries around the world.

Father attended the University of Notre Dame, with studies interrupted by World War II, and was also a player on the football team. When he told his coach, the famous Frank Leahy, that he was leaving the team to study for the priesthood, Coach Leahy said, “That is the best possible life, Jim. You go.”

SOLT fr__jim_and_sistersAnd go he did. After an unmistakable call from God, Jim established the SOLTs, a Society within the Church that would emphasize relationships as flowing from the Holy Trinity with Mary as the Mother and Mediatrix of this communion.

Their defining characteristics are:

Trinitarian: They exist to give honor and glory to the Most Holy Trinity, to exalt His majesty, and to manifest His greatness.

Marian: They strive to imitate our Blessed Mother Mary in her relationships with the persons of the Trinity, as beloved daughter of the Father, Mother of the Son, and spouse of the Holy Spirit.

Catholic: As loyal and loving members of Christ and His Vicar on earth, the Pope, they are faithful to the Magisterium and devoted to the Holy Eucharist.

Missionary: They serve in areas of deepest apostolic need, as defined by the local bishops where they serve.

Family: They are a family composed of priests, deacons, religious brothers and sisters, single laity and families serving together in the missions and bound together in their spirituality.

soltIn his funeral homily, Fr. Peter Marsalek, General Priest of SOLT, said:

Six years after the founding of SOLT, the Vatican II document on the Church, Lumen Gentium, spoke of Mary in a Trinitarian perspective as the beloved daughter of the Father, temple of the Holy Spirit and Mother of the Son.  In my humble opinion, it was a significant and beautiful Providential confirmation of sorts of the inspiration Fr. Jim received to found a community dedicated to Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity.  In our call to be the beloved children of the Father, the power of the Holy Spirit working interiorly within us leads us to be conformed to the Image of the Son in order to live as the family of God.  And this expression of our spirituality is manifested most beautifully when we are able to serve meaningfully with one another as a family of priests, sisters and lay people, united to Holy Mother Church through the authority of the bishops under whom we serve! 

Father Jim, may you rest in peace.

 

 

News, Women's Communities

Franciscan Handmaids of the Most Pure Heart of Mary Celebrate 100 Years

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On March 29, 2016, the Franciscan Handmaids of the Most Pure Heart of Mary celebrated 100 years since their foundation with a Centennial Gala.  In attendance, was Timothy Cardinal Dolan as well as many other dignitaries and well-known entertainers.

osf nyThe sisters were founded in 1916 in Savannah, Georgia, by Fr. Ignatius Lissner, SMA, a Frenchman, and Miss Elizabeth Williams, who became Mother Mary Theodore, FHM, the first Superior General.

Some years prior, Father Lissner had received the blessing of the Holy Father to establish missions to serve the black population in the main cities of Georgia. Father Lissner and other SMAs, in six years, established six churches and seven parochial schools in Georgia.

But in 1915, the state legislature proposed a bill that would outlaw the teaching of black children by white teachers. Alarmed, Father Lissner, a member of the Society of African Missions,  and Miss Elizabeth Williams, an African American woman, founded a new congregation, the Handmaids of the Most Pure Heart of Mary in Savannah, Georgia to minister to and evangelize the African American community. This title was chosen to inspire the members of the congregation to serve their neighbors and each other “with the same zeal and love with which Mary served her son Jesus Christ”.

osf ny2Their life is centered on the Holy Eucharist, the Sacrament of Unity and Transformation. They pray as Jesus taught His disciples for each other, for the grace of self-transformation, renewal of neighbor, the Church, our society, for victims of injustice and for peace and justice in our broken world (Luke: 11:1-13).  They focus mainly on the promotion of Catholic social justice teaching, youth evangelization and healing missions, education of the young and feeding the needy.

We have a firm belief with experience that Prayer works miracles and ardent adoration of the Blessed Sacrament has power to heal wounds.

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Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne Vocation Retreat

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PowerPoint Presentation

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Mother Angelica, PCPA – R.I.P.

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A photo from our 1995 National Meeting when Mother Angelica received the Pro Fidelitate et Virtute Award. Mother was a strong early supporter of the IRL  and we were blessed to have her as a speaker on several occasions.

Mother Angelica 001

EWTN issued this statement yesterday:

We ask for your prayers for the soul of EWTN’s beloved foundress, Mother Angelica, who passed away today on Easter Sunday, March 27, 2016 at about 5:00p.m. Central time. Please remain with us as we remember her joyful words, extraordinary works, and incredible life throughout this week.

 

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Desert Nuns New Abbess – Mother Marie Andre, PCPA

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The Desert Nuns Celebrate the Installation of their First Abbess

(photo //johnberingphotography.com/)

PCPA

The sisters celebrated St. Joseph’s Day, March 19th, with a visit from their bishop, Thomas Olmsted, and the installation of their first abbess – Mother Marie Andre, PCPA!

The banner behind the sisters reads : Ego Semper Vos Protegam -I Will Always Protect You – words from Our Lord to Saint Clare of Assisi.

PCPA2

Three sisters, including then-Sister Marie Andre who professed Solemn Vows in 2005, came to Arizona in 2005 from Our Lady of the Angels Monastery in Alabama. On December  29th, 2015, by decree of the Holy See, Our Lady of Solitude Monastery officially became an autonomous Monastery of Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration.  Sr. Marie Andre was appointed the first abbess.

Some might look upon Jesus’ call as a hiccup in a young woman’s plans for the future for having a family and a career, and this decision is often incomprehensible and viewed as a contradiction because she is denying herself the chance to have children and a career.

But it’s not puzzling or bewildering to the one being called and hearing the Voice of the Lord!

This freedom is the total dedication to God in our daily life, and so we pray always every day of our lives for the grace to understand better how Jesus calls us.  Mother Marie Andre – June 2015

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FREE Youth Session at IRL National Meeting

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 revanthonyyouthflyerThe Institute on Religious Life cordially invites youth and young adults to the Saturday, April 2nd session of the 2016 IRL National Meeting on the beautiful campus of Mundelein Seminary. The Saturday session is completely free (lunch included) for young people who register in advance and is a great opportunity to expose them to the gift of consecrated life.

The theme for the National Meeting is “Merciful Like the Father! Celebrating the Year of Mercy.” This special time of grace is intended to challenge all of us to seek out God’s merciful love in our own lives so that we can become instruments of Divine Mercy to others.

Each year over 250 young people from all over the country including Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin attend this powerful session. You’ll see from this year’s youth program flyer that we have a great lineup of speakers and workshops scheduled including Rev. Richard Simon aka “Father Know It All” from Relavant Radio and Rev. Anthony Lajato, OFM Conv. from Marytown. The session will conclude with 4 p.m. Mass celebrated by Most Rev. Robert F. Vasa, Bishop of Santa Rosa and IRL President.
Youth group pic

 As an added bonus this year, an informative and inspiring Shroud of Turin Exhibit will be on display! After extensive medical, historical and scientific research, the Center for the Study of the Passion of the Christ and the Holy Shroud developed this instructive exhibit explaining the history and the scientific evidence. The exhibit features a full-length image of the Shroud and a life-size corpus of Our Lord reflecting the Gospel narratives and scientific findings. It is truly a fascinating and life-changing experience!

Join the IRL April 2nd in celebrating the Jubilee Year of Mercy at the 2016 National Meeting! For more information and to sign up please visit our website.