Category Archives: Women’s Communities

Vocations, Women's Communities

My Life For your Freedom

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“What would the Church do without you? She would lack your motherhood, warmth, tenderness and motherly intuition.”

Many of the venerable orders in the Church take a fourth vow that harkens back to previous times yet still is pertinent today. The Camillians, founded by St. Camillus de Lellis (b. 1550) profess a vow to care for the sick, even at the risk of their own lives. The Mercedarians’ fourth vow is to give up their lives, as Christ gave His life for us, in order to save those Christians who find themselves in extreme danger of losing their faith.

The Mercedarian Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, founded by Maria del Refugio, were joined to the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy (Mercedarians)in 1946.  Mother wanted to put the sisters under the patronage of Our Lady of Mercy and share therefore in all the graces and indulgences given to the Mercedarian Order.

The sisters believe that true freedom comes through the Eucharist. For those enslaved today by modern forms of oppression and addiction, the sister’s want them to experience the merciful love of God, by living in solidarity and communion with them as God lives in solidarity and communion with us in the Eucharistic mystery.

Every day, when we go to the encounter of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, we surrender to Him everything we are and do, and we ask Him to transform us into Himself. …In the evening, we go back to prayer, carrying with us the unredeemed world and present it to Jesus asking Him to hasten the day when He will be all in all.

If you (or someone you know) feel called to such a sacrificial, Eucharistic life, the sisters are having “Shadow the Sisters” Days, April 10-17, 2014. For young women age 18-25, it is a chance to walk in the shadow of a Mercedarian sister to see how she prays, works, teaches, evangelizes and experiences joy in community. The location is Our Lady of Mount Carmel Community in Cleveland, OH. There is no fee though donations are welcome.

For more information, please visit their website.

 

 

 

Vocations, Women's Communities

Daughters of Mary of Nazareth

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M olga
Mother Olga and Cardinal O’Malley

There are signs all over of a new springtime of vocations in the Church. In the Archdiocese of Boston, a new community of women called the Daughters of Mary of Nazareth is a prime example. Founded by Mother Olga of the Sacred Heart in late 2011, the community now has 3 novices, 2 aspirants, 4 women entering later this year and 9 candidates.

Mother Olga was born in Iraq and in 1995 established the first order for Religious Sisters in the Assyrian Church of the East in 700 years. She received a master’s degree in Pastoral Ministry from Boston College and for many years was involved in campus ministry at Boston University. In the midst of this work, she was received into the Catholic Church in 2005. A few years after that, Cardinal Seán O’Malley invited her to discern the founding of a new religious order for women.

Their work is varied and many: teaching, conducting retreats, visiting the sick and imprisoned, Project Rachel and campus ministry work, etc.bl charles To watch a beautiful video on their life, click here.

Blessed Charles de Foucauld, who lived his life imitating the example of Mary and Joseph in Nazareth, is their patron. Their life is built on the foundation of daily Mass, communal praying of the Liturgy of the Hours, daily Eucharistic Adoration, Lectio Divina, and Marian devotions.
Everything about us, all that we are, should proclaim the Gospel from the housetops. All that we do and our whole lives should be an example of what the Gospel way of life means in practice, and should make it unmistakably clear that we belong to Jesus. Our entire being should be a living witness, a reflection of Jesus.
– Blessed Charles de Foucauld

 

Women's Communities

The Eucharist Defines Us

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Sr. Joseph Andrew with Pope Francis

This week, the National Catholic Register interviewed Sister Joseph Andrew, OP, Vocation Director for the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist. Founded in 1997, the sisters have grown from 4 to 120 members. The sisters teach in schools in 8 states and the demand for the teaching sisters is stronger than they can fulfill. They have also outgrown the Motherhouse in Ann Arbor, MI.

When asked the secret to their success, Sr. Joseph Andrew gave the following reasons:

  • They are daughters of the Church, striving to follow their founding charism.
  • The community is truly a joy-filled family, where love prevails.
  • They have a future. They are youthful.
  • They have a strong prayer life. As Dominicans, they pray first, then teach.
  • They wear a habit which attracts others. People are hungry for God.
  • They have a daily Holy Hour. The Eucharist defines who they are.
2014 Pro-Life March Chicago
2014 Pro-Life March Chicago

As Catholic Schools Week draws to a close, let us pray with the sisters who invoked St. Thomas Aquinas, the great Dominican theologian and Doctor of the Church:

O God, through the intercession of St. Thomas Aquinas, continue to bless their mission to bring a strong Catholic education and the witness of religious life to more children. Amen.

Women's Communities

Giving God the Whole Tree: An Image of Religious Life

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marian srsAn interview with Mother Teresa Christe of the Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa is featured in the most recent issue of the The Catholic World Report. Recognized as an Association of the Faithful in 2012, the Marian Sisters were invited to the Diocese of Santa Rosa by Bishop Robert Vasa, the President of the IRL. The four sisters will welcome three new postulants on February 2, 2014.

In reading Mother’s testimony of their lives, you can truly see the hand of God at work for our time! What a model for evangelization! The ministries they are involved in, their impact on their students, the witness of their religious lives, all point to the value religious life has today in our broken culture. Their goal is to teach people the Catholic faith, emphasizing its beauty and goodness and eternal vision.

That’s one the problems, Mother says, about society today. “The culture previously had a greater sense of God’s presence, and saw life on earth as a temporary time before going to heaven. In the 1960s, …people thought they should get the most out of their lives here, and material goods increased in their importance.  Devastation followed, and many broken families have resulted.”

Regarding communities with a more “liberal” perspective, Mother observes: “As Bishop Vasa has said, theirs is not a religious life but an apostolic one.  They don’t live in common, they have their own bank accounts…they have the elements of the single life rather than the religious one.”

The Marian Sisters begin their early day with an hour of Eucharistic adoration and the Divine Office.  They are a bridge between tradition and today, participating in the Mass celebrated in both forms of the Roman Rite. Mother says, “Ours is a structured religious life, which works for four or 400 sisters.  Our vision is to faithfully and lovingly live our lives.”

Here is her beautiful and vivid description of religious life:

I went on a high school retreat, and listened to a priest speaking on vocations.  He said that we were all like a tree, which bears fruit from the use of our time, talent, and treasure.  As we grow into adulthood, we give to God from that tree.

However, if you are called to religious life, you give God the whole tree.  He gets to plant it where he wants, and pick from it what he wants.  The whole tree belongs to him.  Some are called to give that whole tree. 

To see the entire interview, click here.

 

Cloistered life, Women's Communities

A Glimpse Behind the Walls

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The Poor Clare Colettine Nuns in Rockford are featured in a new book called: Dedicated to God: An Oral History of Cloistered Nuns. A part of the Oxford Oral History Series, the author Abbie Reese was given permission to spend time over the course of 6 years with the nuns. She wanted to get a first hand glimpse into what goes on behind the mysterious walls.

51kVMJ6PEqL._SY344_PJlook-inside-v2,TopRight,1,0_SH20_BO1,204,203,200_By the looks of the chapter headings, the story of individual nuns is told. From the excerpts I read, it is a fascinating and frank glimpse into the lives, past and present, of the nuns.

The Poor Clares are an IRL Affiliate Community founded in 1916. According to an article about the book in a Rockford newspaper, there are 22 nuns in the monastery (ranging from age 20 to 81), 50 Poor Clare monasteries in the U.S., and 1,221 monasteries worldwide with a total of 14,000 Poor Clare nuns. Pope John Paul II said that their life “appears as the most radical way of living the Gospel on earth, a way which may be called divine.”

Mother Maria Dominica thought that this unprecedented access was “valuable because it gave flesh to the life.” She said, “We live a hidden life. We’re not used to publicity. But we’re human beings, like everyone else.”

Cloistered life, Vocations, Women's Communities

The Heart of the Dominican Apostolate

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sr opThe Dominican Nuns in Marbury, Alabama, have just released a video in which Sister Mary Jordan, O.P. describes her vocation journey to the cloistered convent. The video was filmed through the grill by Fr. Benedict Croell, O.P., Vocation Director for the St. Joseph Province, who first met Sister when she was in a high school youth group in a Dominican parish in Cincinnati.

What makes the story interesting is that Sister loved teaching yet she fell in love with the monastic life through reading the book A Right to Be Merry by Mother Mary Francis, PCC. Why would God put this love of teaching into her heart of she could not “use” it in a cloistered convent? Watch the video to find out about her understanding and embracing of spiritual motherhood!

Sister took the name “Mary Jordan” in honor of Bl. Jordan of Saxony, the second Minister General of the Dominican Order. It is probably not well known that St. Dominic founded the women’s branch of the Order before the men’s branch, demonstrating how much the preaching of the Dominicans is and was dependent upon the prayers of the nuns. A shining example of the complimentary relationship between the friars and the nuns is seen in the correspondence between Bl. Jordan and Bl. Diana, who professed her vow of virginity at the hands of St. Dominic himself!

sr op2Sister Mary Jordan discovered that her prayerful way of life was in no way incompatible with her desire to teach. For what is teaching but imparting true knowledge to the world? The nuns are the heart of the Dominican preaching apostolate and their prayers, penances, sacrifices, joy and total availability to God are inexhaustible sources of fruitfulness for the Dominican friars, active sisters and third order members. A Dominican friar told the nuns that their presence was a deciding factor in his decision to become a Dominican.

One of the mottoes of the Dominicans is to “give to others the fruits of contemplation.” The silent contemplation of the Nuns bears fruit as their lives become more conformed to Christ, who gave Himself completely for the salvation of souls.

Click here to go to website and watch the video.

News, Women's Communities

An American Canonization Cause Advances

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langeLast year, an American cause for canonization took another step forward. In June of 2013, Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange (c. 1794-1882), the foundress of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, was exhumed from her resting place (read a fascinating eye-witness account by a well-know forensic anthropologist) in a Baltimore cemetery and moved to the sisters’ Motherhouse to be interred in the chapel of Our Lady of Mount Providence.

“We have prayed fervently for this day to become a reality, and now God has  answered our prayers,” said Sister Mary Alexis Fisher, OSP, Superior General of  the Oblate Sisters of Providence.

Mother Mary, along with Sulpician Father James Nicholas Joubert, founded the first religious congregation of women of African descent in the United States. Mother’s cause was opened in 1991 and officially approved in 2004.

Though not an-American born citizen, this Cuban emigre was moved to help African American refugee children in the slave state of Maryland. She opened a school for children, many years before the Emancipation Proclamation. As one can readily imagine, poverty and racial injustice were her companions on the heroic road of sanctity.

Currently, the Order has 80 members serving in the U.S. and Costa Rica, committed to education of children and service to the poor. To see a moving video of the reinternment ceremony, click here.

Cloistered life, Women's Communities

Keeping Their Eyes on Christ

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Who knew that nuns roller bladed?
Who knew that nuns rollerbladed?

During our December Executive Committee Board Meeting, the IRL unanimously approved the  nomination of the Cloistered Dominican Nuns of the Monastery of the Infant Jesus in Lufkin, Texas, to be an IRL Affiliate Community.

As contemplative Dominican Nuns, their mission is to witness to the Gospel by a hidden life of prayer and sacrifice on behalf of all God’s people. They adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament throughout the day and evening.

Their monastery is located in the piney woods of East Texas on almost 100 acres of land that includes a small lake. The chapel at the monastery is open to the public to come to for prayer or to attend daily Mass.

The Dominican nuns were founded of course by St. Dominic in Prouilhe, France, in 1206. However, this monastery was founded from Detroit (now Farmington Hills), Michigan, in 1945. There are presently 23 nuns in their monastery who hail from the USA, Cuba, Mexico, Tanzania and Vietnam. They sing the entire Liturgy of the Hours as a community every day.

For more information, visit their website!

oplufkinAnd for a glimpse into their life, watch this YouTube video!

The nuns should keep before their eyes by day and night Christ the Lord who, during his life on earth, offered up prayers and supplications to God with loud cries and tears, and now sits at the right hand of the divine majesty, always living to make intercession for us. (LCM 74:I)

News, Women's Communities

Giving Everything to the One Who is Everything

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soscommhe IRL is happy to welcome a new Affiliate Community: The Sisters of Our Lady of Sorrows in Lafayette, LA!

The sisters were founded in 1839 in Coriano, Italy, by Bl. Elisabetta Renzi (1786-1859). In 1947, they opened their first mission in Louisiana and today also serve God’s people in Mexico, Brazil, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

Their apostolates include: education, catechesis, parish ministry, and social services. They also promote devotions to Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows; Christ Crucified; the Eucharist; and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. What better companions for life’s journey!

World Youth Day 2014
World Youth Day 2014

Their motto is ardere et lucere meaning “to burn and to light.” Bl. Elisabetta said, “We are called to burn in order to give light and warmth to our brothers and sisters.” Their patroness is Our Lady of Sorrows from whom they learn to be women of strength, faith and love, particularly in times of darkness and suffering, united with Mary at the foot of the cross.

The characteristics of this beautiful congregation’s charism are:

  • The acceptance of the cross.
  • Love of the Eucharist, which is the source of the sister’s spiritual life and mission.
  • Love of evangelization, catechesis and education
  • Abandonment to Providence
  • Intense union with God in prayer
  • Union and communion with the other sisters
  • A spirit of service in charity and humility, simplicity, cordiality, joy in duty, gladness of spirit, and love leading to sacrifice
  • Being contemplatives in apostolic action: “to burn and to light.”

Lord, fill my heart with a love as great as Elisabetta’s for all people, and with an ardent desire to proclaim everywhere the Good News of salvation, so that all may come to know, love and follow You.

For more information, visit their very informative website

sos

Vocations, Women's Communities

Daughter Betrothed, Jesus Groom

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gemmaI’m sure most Fathers think and agonize about the day of their daughter’s marriage. After holding this precious gift of life in their hands for so many years, they can only hope and wonder if any man can cherish, protect and care for their little girl as well as a Father can do.

Here are one Father’s thoughts as he watched his daughter process down the aisle to be espoused forever to the One who does not disappoint those who love Him.

It was written by Tom Kissel and his daughter is now Sr. M. Gemma, FSGM, of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George. He wrote:

To be an intimate witness to a life answering and surrendering to God’s call is awe inspiring; you can’t help but be deeply touched by the process. Through Sr. M. Gemma’s (Lauren’s) journey, I was confronted with the desire to examine my own life of faith. To see one so young freely and happily devoid her life of “STUFF” and fill that vacancy with prayer, the sacraments, her sister community and the will of God, reset my priorities.

Read the entire letter on the Sisters’ website.