A Sure Sign of Spring!

Meet "Rex" our resident hermit-fox! Rex took up his abode with us last fall building his hermitage, I mean, his den between the carriage house and garden shed. Lately, he's been seen sunning himself in the orchard.

If Rex decides to stay he'll probably take care of all our rabbit problems in the garden! How did he get in? All this wildlife usually comes in through the drains in the wall or under the gate. The wild turkeys, however, just jump the wall! Who will visit us next?

RECREATION

Community Recreation is an important part of our monastic day. Not only is it a time to TALK and TALK some more but it is most especially a time of fraternal communion when we share with each other on various levels.

Recreation has different forms. Sometimes it means a walk in the garden, a game of basketball or a game of scrabble, mini-pool, or putting a puzzle together. Some nights we just sit around and talk and other nights, mostly Sunday nights, the handwork comes out and we all look pretty "domesticated"!


Sr. Mary Catharine is showing Sr. Janlyn how to crochet. "It's easy, Sister!"

Can you tell that Sr. Mary Catharine originally had plans to teach 2nd and 3rd grade!

"You've almost got it! See, it wasn't too hard, was it?"

Sr. Denise Marie shows Sr. Mary Amata the relics inside her crucifix. We all wear a relic crucifix under our scapular. Each one contains a relic of the True Cross and various Dominican Saints. These crucifixes were given to us by our monastery in Monte Mario, Rome shortly after we came to Summit.

The Rosary Makers! Along with Sr Maria Veneranda, Sr. Joseph Maria and Sr. Mary Magdalene are 2 of a team of sisters who try to keep up with the demand for our rosaries sold in our monastery gift shop. Sr. Denise Marie, Sr. Mary Amata and Sr. Maria Teresa also help.
We don't watch TV (except something special with the Holy Father) but do sometimes watch a movie, usually of a religious nature or an old movie!


Card Sharks! Sr. Maureen and Sr. Mary Martin are regular solitaire players. Usually at any recreation there is a group playing cards. The game is sometimes rather raucous!

Sr. Maria is always crocheting pot holders. WHEN she finishes one it is usually kept for a gift or if we are lucky, given to the kitchen for our use!

Sr. Maria Veneranda is making rosaries while Sr. Maria Teresa (STILL crocheting a shawl) enjoys the latest issue of National Geographic with Sr. Diana Marie. Meanwhile, Sr. Janlyn, from the smile on her face, is enjoying her first try at crocheting!

Website Woes!

Are you having problems getting into our website?

Well, we are, too! There are some problems with the server and we aren't the only ones affected!
We'll let you know when we're back up and running. Meanwhile, it's like spring outdoors so go out and enjoy it!

UPDATE: Website seems to be fine now. Hopefully, it will stay that way!

Novitiate Formation Is More Than Just Classes

Formation is more than just taking classes, it embraces the whole life of the postulant and one area of formation is that of growing into the community so that it is my community and I do my part to make the monastery a place of joy and home for all the Sisters!

Sr. Janlyn, who loves to bake, expressed interest in learning how to bake bread. So today, she and her novice mistress, Sr. Mary Catharine, who is a master baker herself spent the morning in the bakery--which by the way is once again THE BAKERY and not the soap department or the kitchen!

Tonight for supper we had the results of their labors. Delicious whole wheat bread with flax seeds and sunflower seeds added in! During the fast season bread is an essential and we especially enjoy having fresh baked bread!

Sr. Janlyn is also smiling because she has recently been accepted to begin her novitiate and receive the longed-desired Dominican habit on May 13th!

Summit NJ News - Rosary Shrine Luncheon and Concert, March 25

Pictured left to right: Mary Clare McAlee, Angela Intelli Stokes and Janet Natale

Summit NJ News - Rosary Shrine Luncheon and Concert, March 25

Rosary Shrine Luncheon and Concert, March 25

By Rosary Shrine Guild

3/2/2010

The Rosary Shrine Guild will hold its annual luncheon on Thursday, March 25 at 12:00 p.m. at the Corpus Christi Auditorium, 234 Southern Blvd. in Chatham. The highlight of the luncheon will be a concert performed by "The Three Cantors", Angela Intelli Stokes (Pastoral Associate/Cantor St. Teresa of Avila, Summit, NJ), Mary Clare McAlee (Cantor/Instructor Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Newark NJ)and Janet Natale (Director of Music Ministry/Cantor St. James the Apostle, Springfield, NJ. The three friends have given over 25 years of service to the Roman Catholic Church and while continuing in that service they desired a way to share their combined talents, training and love of performing. They will be performing a wide variety of music.

Tickets are $30 per person. Please make checks payable to the "Rosary Shrine Guild" and send to: The Rosary Shrine Guild, 543 Springfield Ave. Summit, NJ 07901.

The Rosary Shrine Guild is part of the Dominican Nuns of Summit, New Jersey, a Roman Catholic cloistered monastic community.

For more information, call the Rosary Shrine at (908) 273-1228.

Email: nunsopsummit@op.org

How To Make A Novice Happy

Note to the Heavnly Bridegroom: to make a novice happy deliver a blizzard with lots of wet snow!

Sr. Mary Magdalene would probably also add a BIG pot of hot chocolate but it IS Lent, soo....

A blizzard still means class for the novitiate sisters, one of the few disadvantages of not having to commute to work or school! But that didn't stop Sr. Janlyn and Sr. Mary Magdalene from taking a few moments after class and before work to enjoy the white stuff! All day, the novitiate sisters have been peering out the windows (well, EVERYONE is!) and are all smilies. They can't wait to get the noon meal dishes finished so that they can go sledding! The snow is heavy and wet. PERFECT!

The predictions are for a total of over 1 foot to maybe 2 feet in our area! (Summit is on a high elevation.)

Didn't they say we aren't supposed to eat snow? Oh, well!




















It's Spring Training in Florida so why not here!



















PLAY BALL! Snowball, that is! Gottcha, Sister!

Gardener's Basket from Seignadou Soaps

If you are a gardener you know how dirty, dry and cut your hands can get even if you are wearing gloves! And admit it, don’t you often prefer sinking your hands into the earth during planting season?

We think you will love this delightful little basket full to the top of Seignadou Soap products that will delight every gardener you know!

The baskets, which have a top that keeps shut with a loop and button are perfect for keeping seed packages, string, row markers, etc.

Find out more about the Gardener’s Basket HERE!

Don’t forget: Apple Harvest, Bay Rum and Eucalyptus AND Pink Grapefruit. On Clearance! 15% off until gone!

February 18--Feast of Bl. Fra Angelico

Although we rarely get to celebrate his feast day because it almost always falls in Lent, today we remember the feast of our beloved Bl. Giovanni da Fiesole known by everyone as "Fra Angelico" because of the celestial beauty of his paintings. In 1982, the Servant of God, John Paul II, honored him with the title of "Blessed" and gave him a feast day for the the Dominican Calendar. He also named him "Patron of Artists".

"We, with sound knowledge, bearing in mind the considerable merits in the Church of Fra Giovanni da Fiesole, exclusively for the good of souls, of Our own initiative and with Our apostolic authority, concede as a sign of special grace that his birthday, with the title of "Blessed" in the Liturgy of the Hours and in the Eucharist may be celebrated, with an obligatory degree of remembrance, in the basilica of S. Maria sopra Minerva, where his body is buried, and with a facultative degree of remembrance throughout the Order of Preaching Friars."

For the complete homily of John Paul II which also gives a short biography of the life of Bl. Fra Angelico go to the website of our Brethren in Australia HERE.

Above is a short clip of our Holy Father processing to Santa Sabina and receiving ashes. In the procession you can see Father Master Carlos Aspiroz Costa, OP and Fr. Wojciech Giertych, OP, Theologian of the Papal Household.

A bit later, as the friars line up before the Holy Father you will see a friar taller than the others! That is our Fr. Benedict Croell, OP who is studying in Rome along with Fr. Richard Jastrzebski OP known to us as simply, "Fr. Rick".

It is a wonderful privilege that the Holy Father starts Lent every year at our "house"!

Audi, benigne Conditor

The Holy Father always celebrates Ash Wednesday at Santa Sabina—the "home" of the Order of Preachers. For some reason, which I don't know, silver candlesticks and crucifix are traditional for Domincians. We have them here at our monastery.

To get a glimpse into how Lent is celebrated in our monastery go HERE to read an article Sr. Mary Catharine wrote several years ago for Our Sunday Visitor.

Here is a translation of one of the traditional Office hymns that we sang today. It so beautiful sums our desires for a "good Lent".

O MERCIFUL Creator, hear!
To us in pity bow Thine ear:
accept the tearful prayer we raise
in this our fast of forty days.

Our hearts are open, Lord, to Thee:
Thou knowest our infirmity;
pour out on all who seek Thy face
abundance of Thy pardoning grace.

Our sins are many, this we know;
spare us, good Lord, Thy mercy show;
and for the honor of Thy name
our fainting souls to life reclaim.

Give us self-control that springs
from discipline of outward things,
that fasting inward secretly
the soul may purely dwell with Thee.

We pray Thee, Holy Trinity,
one God, unchanging Unity,
that we from this our abstinence
may reap the fruits of penitence. Amen.

The body of Sr. Mary Rose Dominic is laid out in the monastery choir until the funeral on Tuesday. The nuns keep a 24-hour vigil praying for the repose of her soul. While the Blessed Sacrament is reposed, the nuns continue the Perpetual Rosary.

Sister Mary Rose Dominic Lynch, O.P., author, poet at the Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary

Sr. Mary Rose Dominic of Jesus Lynch, O.P. of Summit, passed away in St. Catherine of Siena Convent and Healthcare Center in Caldwell, on Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2010. The visitation will be held in Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary, 543 Springfield Ave., Summit,from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 15. The funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m. in the Monastery on Tuesday, Feb. 16. Arrangements are by Paul Ippolito Summit Memorial, 7 Summit Ave., Summit; visit.ippolitofuneralhomes.com.

Sr. Mary Rose Dominic was born in Clonmore, County Meath, Ireland and came to the United States in 1947. She became a United States citizen on June 24, 1963. Sr. Mary Rose Domnic entered the Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary on December 8, 1948 and received her Dominican habit on July 2, 1949. She made her first vows Dec. 8, 1950, final vows on Dec. 8, 1953, and her solemn vows on Nov. 21, 1955.

Sr. Mary Rose Dominic published two books under a pen name, "The Gospel Way of Life" and "The Mystery and Destiny of the Church." She also published many hymns and won awards for her poetry.

Sr. Mary Rose Dominic was pre-deceased by her parents, Thomas and Ellen Lynch, a brother, Peter Lynch and a sister Kathleen Lynch (Sr. Mary Bernard). She is survived by her sisters, Nora Faulkner of Ireland and Elizabeth Glennon of Texas. She is also survived by her nieces and nephews, Sean and James Faulkner, and Mary Cusack Dunne, all of Ireland, Brian Lynch of Mine Hill, Patricia Oleck of Orlando, Fla. and Mary Caroline Glennon of Frisco, Texas.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations in her memory to the Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary.

A short video clip of Sr. Joseph Maria's Profession Ceremony

FIRST PROFESSION OF SR JOSEPH MARIA, OP!

Today is the feast of Bl. Jordan of Saxony, first sucessor of St. Dominic and patron of Dominican Vocations! What a wonderful day for the First Profession of our Sr. Joseph Maria of the Holy Family, OP!

Below are a few photos from the beautiful Mass and reception. It is very busy here but we'll try to share a few more photos later. Please pray for Sr. Joseph Maria and for many more to follow her in this total dedication to the praise of God!


Sr. Joseph Maria with her father. Her family flew from Texas last night arriving at 1AM! Her friends got stuck in an airport in Alabama and couldn't make it and had to turn back!

With her dad, sister and 2 of her brothers-in-law. Sr. Joseph Maria comes from a family of eight girls, all married.

Fr. Vincent de Lucia, OP was the main celebrant and gave a beautiful homily! He loves swinging the thurible!

I, Sr. Joseph Maria of the Holy Family, make profession and promise obedience to God and to blessed Mary and to blessed Dominic, and to the Master of the Order of Friars Preachers, and to you, Sr. Mary Martin de Porres of Jesus, prioress of this Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary, and to your sucessors, according to the Rule of blessed Augustine and the Constitutions of the Nuns of the Order of Preachers, that I will be obedient to you, and to your successors for three years.

Blessing of the scapular.

Receiving the black veil.

Sister is all smiles as she poses with her lovely

profession cake, baked and decorated by her

novice mistress.

Our Beloved Reginald!

"I do not consider myself worthy of anything in this Order, for I have been nothing but pleased with it."

This same year, while Master Dominic was in Rome, Master Reginald, dean of St. Aignan in Orleans, arrived in the Eternal City enroute to a journey across the sea. He was a man renowned for his knowledge and celebrated for his authority, especially in Canon Law, which he had skillfully taught at Paris for five years. In Rome he fell gravely ill and was visited a number of times by Master Dominic, who persuaded him to imitate the poverty of Christ and join the Order. The result was that he freely and fully bound himself by vow to enter this religious state.

Blessed Reginald receives the scapular from our Lady. it is the only part of the habit that is blessed which happens at First Profession. (The veils of the cloistered nuns are blessed at Solemn Profession)

After that, he recovered from his serious illness, but only in virtue of a miracle occurring after his condition had become desperate. For during the height of one of his fevers the Queen of Heaven and Mother of Mercy, the Virgin Mary, visibly appeared to him and anointed his eyes, nose, ears, mouth, chest, hands, and feet with a soothing ointment and said these words, 'I anoint your feet with a holy oil in preparation for the gospel of peace." Then she showed him the complete habit of this Order. At once he became well and so sudden was his cure that the physicians, who had almost given up all hope, were at a loss to explain his evident recovery. This miracle was later revealed by Master Dominic to many who are still living, and I myself was present when he once related it to a group assembled for a conference in Paris.

After being restored to health, Master Reginald, although now bound to the Order by profession, was able to fulfill his desire and cross the sea. After his return, he went to Bologna on December 21, [1218], where he dedicated himself entirely to preaching. His was a burning eloquence and his talks so inflamed the hearts of all his hearers that even the most hardened could not escape his warmth. All Bologna was astir, because a new Elias seemed to have arisen. During these days he received many of its citizens into the Order and the number of disciples began to grow.

Accordingly, Brother Reginald, of happy memory, reached Paris and, by word and example, applied himself with unremitting zeal to preaching Jesus Christ and Him Crucified. But God soon took him from this life after a brief period of great accomplishment. He was suddenly lay low by a sickness which proved fatal, and he died in the Lord. While he lived, he showed himself a champion of poverty and lowliness, which he exchanged for the glorious riches of the house of God. He was buried in the Church of St. Mary of the Fields, since the brethren had not yet acquired a burial place of their own.

Even now I recall how Brother Matthew, who had known him as a renowned, but fastidious person in the world, once asked him, "Have you ever regretted putting on this habit, Master Reginald?" To this he gave the modest reply, "I do not consider myself worthy of anything in this Order, for I have been nothing but pleased with it."

From the account of the first days of the Order (the Libellus) by Bl. Jordan of Saxony who Bl. Reginald brought into the Order. His feast day is tomorrow, February 13th.

The Dominican Nuns were NOT on Oprah!

But the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist were and we're told they did a great job! (Congratulations, Sisters!)

Our families and friends, and a plethora of junk emails from all sources have been telling us, "The Dominican Nuns were on Oprah". Of course, the word nun and sister are used interchangeably but when you're talking about Dominicans it can't be done! To say that the "Dominican Nuns were on Oprah," would be like saying, "The Franciscan Nuns were on Oprah" when you mean the Dominican Sisters of Mary!

The Dominican Nuns—Nuns of the Order of Preachers—are a distinct and separate religious Institute composed of hundreds of monasteries who, "promise obedience to the Master of the Order according to our Constitutions, and thus preserve the unity of the Order and of our profession which are dependent on our common obligation of obedience to one head." (Constitutions 17, II)

Who are the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist? Check out their mission statement.

Who are the Nuns of the Order of Preachers? You can read our Fundamental Constitutions which presents the essential foundation of our charism in the heart of the Order of Preachers by clicking on the tab above on the left that says, "Sequela Christi".

Sr. Mary Rose Dominic of Jesus, OP--RIP

Please pray for the soul of our

SISTER MARY ROSE DOMINIC OF JESUS, OP

who died February 10, 2010

in the 85th year of her life,

the 60th year of her Profession

Our "Cousins" Come For A Visit!

The Community of John was founded in France by Fr. Marie-Dominique Philippe, a Dominican Friar. In our diocese we have the Brothers of the Community of St. John and 5 Apostolic Sisters. Because of their Dominican "roots" there is a special bond between our Orders.

This evening we had a joyous, everyone-talking-at-once recreation together. The Sisters also prayed Vespers and Compline with us and we hope that there will be many more exchanges between our communities.

We had a wonderful photo of our two communities but unfortunately, it got deleted by accident! All the more for the Sisters to come for another visit!