Thanksgiving Day

Sr. Maureen, Sr. Joseph Maria and Sr. Maria show off some of the squash and gourds given to us by St. Rose's parish.

Sr. Janlyn enjoys her first AMERICAN Thanksgiving and eating dinner on "real" plates!

Thanks to the generosity of the Grand Summit Hotel we are spoiled with turkey and all the fixin's. Sr. Mary Martin, Sr. Judith Miryam, Sr. Maria Agnes and Sr. Carri.

Enjoying yourself, Sr. Mary Amata?


This is no turkey in the straw! Somewhere under that frosting is cake!

November 25, Feast of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Co-Patroness of the Order of Preachers

St. Catherine is a special patroness of the Order, especially for those studying philosophy. In the early days of the Order Our Lady would appear to St. Dominic with two companions: St. Cecilia and St. Catherine of Alexandria.

In the lovely video presentation above the narrator speculates as to why St. Catherine's feast, which had been dropped from the liturgical calendar in 1969 was reinserted in 2002. One bit of trivia: when our Sr. Mary Catharine of Jesus received the habit and her religious name our dear friend, Fr. Timothy Sparks, OP who was involved in promoting the causes of the saints for the Order, presented a formal petition to the Holy Father for the reinsertion of St. Catherine's feast in honor of our new novice. That was in 1992. Ten years later and a few years after Fr. Timothy Sparks went home to heaven the Servant of God, John Paul II agreed!

You Won't Find This In the History Books!

Yesterday was another historical day for "Rosary Shrine"! For the first time in our 90 year history we ran a dishwasher in our kitchen!!! Although renovations are still progressing.,(The painters are here this week and WATCH OUT!) some of the appliances are hooked up and so we decided that for Thanksgiving we would bring out our new dishware and use real dishes for Thanksgiving. For months we have been using paper plates and plastic ware.

Sister Photograher was on hand to catch the action (or lack thereof?) and tried to catch it on video without anyone noticing. She looked like the cat that swallowed the canary so everyone caught on rather quickly.

Below is a short clip. We hope it will give you a chuckle. You can't make this stuff up!

As we celebrate our Nation's holiday we especially lift each one of you in prayer in gratitude to God for your goodness in making this project possible. We can't wait to show you more!

A New Blessed for the Dominican Family!

"Today after the Angelus, our Holy Father, Benedict XVI announced that the beatification of Sister Marie-Alphonsine Danil Ghattas was held in Nazareth today, in the presence of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Mgr. Fouad Twal and Msgr. Angelo Amato, prefect for the Congregation of Saints.

Asia News reports:

Sr. Marie-Alphonsine, says the Pope, was "born in Jerusalem in 1843 into a Christian family, which included nineteen children. She discovered her vocation to religious life early on, and passionately pursued it despite initial difficulties raised by her family. To her goes the credit of founding a congregation formed only of local women, with the aim of religious education, to overcome illiteracy and raise the conditions of women of that time in the land where Jesus exalts his dignity. Central point of this new spirituality and intense devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the beacon of life wholly consecrated to God, the Holy Rosary was his constant prayer, his lifeline, his source of grace. The beatification of this most significant figure of woman is of particular comfort to the Catholic community in the Holy Land and is an invitation to trust always, with firm hope, to Divine Providence and the maternal protection of Mary. "

The Congregation of the Rosary have clips up on their website (already!) of the Beatification ceremony.

You can learn about Bl. Marie-Alphonsine HERE.

With our Dominican Sisters of Jerusalem and with the whole Dominican Family we give thanks to God for another Blessed and ask Bl. Marie-Alphonsine's interecession and through the power of the Rosary for peace in the Holy Land.

From Asia News:
Before concluding with greetings in different languages, Benedict XVI recalled the pro Orantibus Day, dedicated to cloistered religious communities, celebrated yesterday, the day of memory of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple. "I welcome the chance - added the pontiff – to extend my cordial greetings to them and renew my invitation to all to support them in their needs. I am also glad, on this occasion to publicly thank the nuns who have in turn occupied the small monastery here in the Vatican: the Poor Clares, Carmelites, Benedictines and, recently, the Visitation sisters. Your prayer, dear sisters, is most valuable to my ministry. "

Our Sister-Friends down at the Georgetown Visitation Monastery in DC, have nominated us for the "Gorgeous Blogger Awards". Could we refuse?

As part of the acceptance we have to tell you 6 little known facts about the monastery. In no particular order:

1. Our deceased Sister, Sr. Mary Hyacinth, was the cousin of M. Catherine Aurelia, foundress of the Sister Adorers of the Precious Blood.

2. The fax machine rings in the elevator! (This is too complicated to explain but it's true!)

3. The marble columns holding the baldacchino over the altar and the doors from the vestibule into the extern chapel come from the cocktail lounge of the original Waldorf Astoria!

4. One-third of our community is currently in formation!

5. Up until 2 years ago the annual report and budget were written in the orginal account book started in 1919. The bursar would read from this book at the time of the annual report. With a few turns of the page (well, more than a few), she could tell you what we paid for coal in 1919 and what we paid for gas in 2007!

6. Amazingly, our community does NOT know every hymn in the Summit Choirbook.

Six Blogs we think are Gorgeous!

1. Elizabeth over at the Anchoress!
2. Esther, the NJ mom in Hawaii!
3. Diane at Te Deum Laudamus!
4. Julie at Adoro Te Devote!
5. Sr. Roberta at Running with the Lord!
6. The Nuns at Mississippi Abbey!

Retreat Days and Soap Shipping

In preparation for the feast of the Presentation of Mary on November 21st, our community will be in retreat Wednesday, November 18 - Saturday, November 21st. This day is very special to us because it is Pro Orantibus Day and is also the day when our monastery FIRST made Solemn Profession and was fully incorporated into the Order as Nuns of the Order of Preachers back in 1955. This day has extra significance because our community had been waiting over THIRTY YEARS for this privilege, living the Constitutions of the Nuns as best they could until the day when the Archbishop would give his permission.

If you want to learn more about Pro Orantibus Day and what it means to the Church and to YOU, go to the www.cloisteredlife.com website and click on the Pro Orantibus button. There are many valuable resources there.

Any Shoppe Orders received November 18-22 will not be filled until November 23rd.

A PETITION IS MADE TO DECLARE ST VINCENT FERRER A DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH!

SPAIN – The French diocese of Vannes, in which St. Vincent Ferrer died in 1419 andwhere he is buried in the Cathedral, has adhered to the petition to declare the saint aDoctor of the Church. This was confirmed by the bishop Raymond Centène, who wasreceived by the Archbishop of Valencia (Spain), Carlos Osoro.

Mgr. Centène declared that he had spoken to the Archbishop about this proposal, whichis being promoted by the Dominican Order, to whom the saint from Valencia belonged,and the Chapter of the Knights of Saint Vincent Ferrer, together with several other entities,in order to «start this work together», as the Archdiocese of Valencia informed.The French bishop cited the Faculty of Theology of the Catholic University of Valenciaand the Bishoprics of Vannes, Valencia and Perpignan, among the institutions that participatein this proposal.

This proposal wants to «indicate Saint Vincent Ferrer as an eminent master of the faithfor the faithful of all times», as was asserted by the president of the Knights of SaintVincent Ferrer, Ignacio Carrau.

Mgr. Centène recalled that each year thousands of Valencians make the pilgrimage tothe Cathedral of Vannes in order to venerate the relics of their patron saint. The temple,built during the 13th century in the gothic style, guards the tomb of the Valencian saint whodied in the French city on the 5th of April 1419.

During his four day visit to the Diocese of Valencia, the French bishop met the provincialand the community of the Dominicans and other civil authorities in the house where SaintVincent Ferrer was born.

ZENIT.org
ORIGINAL: ITALIAN
Special thanks to the Brethren at the Curia for this article.

This Thursday: Pray for Deceased Priests

Fr Z over at WDTPRS has a great idea and one that is so simple we can all do.
This Thursday, November 5th is the first Thursday of the month and that means that during this Year for Priests, we can obtain a plenary indulgence for them under the usual conditions.

Since this is also the octave of All Souls why not tomorrow pray especially for all priests have passed on to their Eternal Reward!

On All Soul’s Day and for a week afterward, a Plenary Indulgence for the Holy Souls is granted for a visit to the cemetery with devotion and prayer for the dead. All through November, you can gain partial indulgence every day you visit the cemetery and pray for the dead.


An example of the Libera. However, the Sisters are doing it on a simple tone. Maybe next year they will have this under their belts!

Here at the monastery the novitiate sisters (and any professed who might want to join them) gather at our cemetery to pray the Libera prayers for our deceased sisters. Many Catholic cemeteries have a " Priests' Plot". Tomorrow might be a good day to visit it and pray for deceased priests!

Reward With Eternal Life, O Lord!

Sister Mary Daniel prays in our community cemetery for our deceased sisters.

Today's feast of the Holy Souls is a treasured day in the liturgical year as we remember all those who have gone before us into Eternal Life. Unfortunately, today, the doctrine of Purgatory is misunderstood and many a funeral mass has quasi-overtones of a canonization as though acknowledging that Uncle Joe or Grandma or your best friend of 40 years may not be quite ready to be at home before the Face of God is being uncharitable toward them.

In fact, the opposite is true! To acknowledge that those who have died most likely need a time of final purification and are in need of our prayers to more quickly come to the joys of being with our Father in Heaven is the greatest act of charity we can perform for anyone!

Most of us would admit that we aren't perfect and I suspect that most of us can more easily list our faults than our good qualities! It only follows that those who have come before the Face of God after death are very aware of how much they fall short in the light of God's infinite Love. They WANT to be in purgatory because they know that this final purification is what makes them "fit" to be at home in Heaven. The Church tells us that the Souls in Purgatory are happy there because they know they are assured of their eternal salvation but at the same time the pain they experience is because they know they are not ready to be in God's presence!

The Souls in Purgatory can't pray for themselves which is why our prayers, acts of penance and alms giving are so important for them to speed their way to heaven. But they CAN and WANT to pray for us! It's a win-win situation and a beautiful example of the Communion of Saints.

It's often been said, "It's good to be a dead Dominican," because Dominicans have always put great emphasis on suffrages for the dead. Twice daily we pray the De Profundis for our deceased sisters, relatives, friends and benefactors. In our monastery our morning consecration which begins, O Eternal Trinity, we offer you through the hands of our Blessed Mother," offers all our prayers and works through her and specifically mentions the souls in purgatory.

The Order legislates that once a week Mass is offered for the dead; nightly they are remembered at the Intercessions at Vespers and several times a year there are specific days set aside to remember our parents, our friends and benefactors, and the deceased Brothers and Sisters of the Order. Once a week either the rosary or the 7 Penitential Psalms are recited in common for them.

Here at our monastery a basket of the names of the deceased that have been sent in by friends and benefactors is placed on our altar for the entire month of November and they are remembered at each holy Mass. If you would like the names of your beloved dead placed on our altar just go to our website: www.nunsopsummit.org and click on the Contact page and fill out the form that is there.

O God, creator and redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of your servants and handmaids, remission of all their sins, that through loving supplications, they may obtain the favor they have always desired. For you live and reign forever and ever. Amen.

For All the Saints!

A few special saints and other holy people came by last night for a party in their honor! Below are a few pictures of our guests! Did you guess who they are?


Back: Bl. Gabriella Sagheddo, St. John Bosco, The Blue Nun, Bl Teresa of Calcutta, St. Lawrence, St. Fiacre,
Front: St. Peter of Verona, St. Cecilia, St. Clare. Peeping from behind is Sr. Maria who put a grey wig on her head and said, "I'm my grandmother Maria of Menfi. If she could live with my grandfather than she WAS a SAINT!"


Sr. Diana Marie as a young Mother Teresa!

Sr. Janlyn as St. Cecilia.

Sr. Joseph Maria as Don Bosco! Special thanks to Fr. Michael Barone for the Cassock and Biretta!

Sr. Maria Teresa as St. Clare.

Sr. Mary Catharine as Bl. Gabriella Sagheddo who offered life for Christian Unity.

Sr. Denise Marie as St. Peter of Verona, first martyr of the Order.

Sr. Judith Miryam as the Blue Nun! We stock holy water the way some people stock wine cellars and that Blue Nun bottle is great for Holy Water!

Another Kind of Shower!

We are blessed to have as part of our monastery family the ladies of the Rosary Shrine Volunteers' Guild. This guild started way back in the 70's when we no longer had extern sisters. Our volunteers are the ones who answer the phone when you call, take the Sisters to the doctors, plant the flowers in Our Lady of Fatima garden and are the backbone, movers and shakers of the annual fundraiser held in the spring.

Their yearly meeting which includes the Rosary, Holy Mass and breakfast takes place in October and this year they offered to provide everything for the breakfast since we don't have our bakery free to bake which is something we always enjoy doing as a small way to say, "thank you!"

These wonderful friends also surprised us with a HUGE cake and a kitchen shower and came laden with all sorts of canned goods and surprises for our new kitchen. Recreation was like Christmas as Sr. Mary Martin opened each gift and we ooooed and aaaaahhhhed over everything! In fact, we have to continue the fun at tomorrow's recreation!

To each and every one who made today so special and spoiled us with lovely things we thank you from the bottom of our hearts and pray that, "Lord, reward with Eternal Life all those who do good to us for the sake of Your Holy Name!"



Sr. Joseph Maria, Sr. Maureen, Sr. Mary Martin and Sr. Virgina Mary pose with the lovely cake and some of the gifts.

Our wonderful volunteers!

Sr. Maria shows off one of the gifts!

Sr. Mary Martin opens the gifts for all to see! The soap department has their eye on this great pot but they are NOT getting it!

Sr. Diana Marie keeps track of who gave us what! Not an easy task with 18 women wanting to look at everything!


Sr. Mary Catharine shows off some of the many mitts we were given!


Sr. Joseph Maria got playful!


Ooooh! A new cutting board!

Sr. Mary Martin and Sr. Denise Marie look over the toaster oven.

GIft Shoppe Misbehaving...again!

Thanks to all who let us know that the Gift Shoppe on our website is misbehaving. Our tech angel is working on it. It seems to be ok and then well...

Please just keep checking back and hopefully it will stablize SOON!

God bless you for your patience!

UPDATE
7:00 PM, Saturday—Gift Shoppe seems to be working OK.

9:35 PM, Saturday—Shoppe is working OK...but it wasn't 5 minutes ago!

Sunday—Gift Shoppe really does seem to be working!

New Products from Seignadou Soaps!

The Soap Sisters have been busy in our expanded soap department. We very much enjoy haveing enough space to work without crashing into each other with buckets of hot soap!

It's hard to believe that November is almost upon us and that means that you are all beginning to think of shopping for Christmas!



We have 2 new products available from our gift shoppe. The Theme Scented Gift Collection is a selection of Seigadou Soap Products brought together in a decorated cello bag and topped with a smart bow! We are offering 6 varieties: Cloister Garden, Lavender, Lemon Verbena, Fresh Linen, Ocean Rain, Sandalwood and Natale. Each Gift Collection comes with: 1 Room Spray and 1 Seignadou Soap of one of the 6 fragrances just mentioned, 1 hand creme (unscented except for the Lavender Collection), 1 lip balm and 1 hand crafted wooden soap dish.

We have been making these Gift Collections for quite awhile for friends and local soap sales and are happy to be able to now offer them to you!

We are now offering our fabulous Hand Creme in a 5 ounce jar. If you are like us, you like to be able to get out every last drop and we admit it, sometimes our all-natural hand creme can be on the thick side. The hand creme is packaged in an attractive double-walled jar with an elegant black dome top. Each jar is sealed so as to prevent spills.

We hope you will enjoy these new products from our gift shoppe. Again, we very much appreciate your business especially as we reach the final phase of our renovations!

Cloister Gift Shoppe Experiencing Difficulties!

We're not sure what is going on but it seems that currently it isn't possible to get into the Cloister Gift Shoppe!

We'll update when we figure out what the problem is!

The Spirit of the Liturgy

Nearly every week for the past 2 months we have had the pleasure of having Fr. Peter Stravinskas lecture on the biblical foundations of the Mass and on the upcoming new translation, its background and implementation.

Father is not only a great teacher but an equally prolific storyteller making for a never-dull class that usually goes over its one hour limit and right up to dinner time. This necessitates all sorts of liturgical changes as Sext and Rosary are at 11:30.

We hope Father Stravinskas will be a regular visitor to the monastery and be able to lecture during a time when we aren't being invaded by workman and all the noise that goes with it!

Postulants and Novice Mistress alike are engrossed. Father's lectures were timed perfectly to serve as an introduction to the Novitiate "Theology of the Liturgy" class.

Sr. Maria, our music directress, listens intently.

That All May Be One: The Power of Prayer

Yesterday's announcement of an Apostolic Constitution providing for groups of Anglicans to come into the Church was met by us with a double excitement. We didn't think we could share with you the reason why but Fr. Brian Mulcahy, OP, socius for Fr. Dominic Izzo, OP, provincial of St. Joseph's Province posted an important announcement on the friars' website explaining why. We will simply republish it below:

On February 21, 2009, many Dominican priests, brothers, [nuns], sisters and laity received an e-mail with an urgent prayer request requested by (then) Fr Augustine Di Noia, O.P., Undersecretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, asking all Dominicans to pray the Litany of Dominican Saints from February 22 (the Feast of the Chair of St Peter) through March 25 (the Solemnity of the Annunciation) for an at-the-time undisclosed intention. Today, we received an e-mail from Archbishop Augustine Di Noia, O.P., the Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, with the following announcement:

"Today there was announced -- at press conferences in Rome and London -- the forthcoming publication of an apostolic constitution in which the Holy Father allows for the creation of personal ordinariates for groups of Anglicans in different parts of the world who are seeking full communion with the Catholic Church. The canonical structure of the personal ordinariate will permit this corporate reunion while at the same time providing for retention of elements of Anglican liturgy and spirituality.

When I asked the friars (and other OPs - Ed.) to pray the Dominican litany from 22 February to 25 March earlier this year, the intention was that this proposal would receive the approval of the cardinal members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which was necessary if the proposal of some structure allowing for corporate reunion was to go forward. Our prayers at that time were answered, and now that the proposal has become a reality we can tell everyone what we were praying for then.

Fraternally,
+Abp. J Augustine Di Noia, OP

This momentous news has already hit both the secular and Catholic press, but Archbishop Di Noia wanted all of you to know that your prayers were very effective, and that he extends his most profound fraternal thanks.

Here is a link to the Vatican website that has the text of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's Note concerning this new, historic arrangement.


Immediately on receiving this communication in February—Fr. Mulcahy's left out the nuns(!) in this posting but we'll forgive him—Sr. Mary Martin provided a booklet of the Litany of Dominican Saints and Blesseds for each Sister and it was a regular sight to see Sisters staying after Office, especially Compline, asking the intercession of all our Heavenly Brothers and Sisters. You can find the Litany HERE. We had to update it and add a few more saints bringing the total of invocations to about 160!

We learned back in early June that in God's great mercy our prayers were being answered and that it had to do with the Anglican question but had no idea of how momentous this actually was.

As all the details are ironed out and as many of our Anglican brothers and sisters make many difficult decisions and sacrifices to avail themselves of our Holy Father's loving gesture welcoming them to their True Ecclesial Home, we support them, our Holy Father and all involved by our prayer.

Bl. Agnes of Jesus of Langeac

Today our monastery is celebrating the feast of Bl. Agnes of Jesus Galand, a nun of the Monastery of Langeac, France. Her feast is supposed to be celebrated on the 19th but since here in the USA we have the obligatory memorial of the North American Martyrs we decided to celebrate our Sister today.

Agnes of Jesus Galand was born in 1602 and lived a short life, dying 1634. She entered the Monasteryof St. Catherine of Siena in Langeac which still exists today and where they actively promote the life and mission of their Sister. Mother Agnes served her community as novice mistress, prioress (getting deposed and then getting elected again!) and in other duties such as sacristan.

In 1631, Jesus and Mary interiorly invited Agnes to intercede and pray for a priest she did not know. Three years later, in the monastery parlour she met Msgr. Jean-Jacques Olier, founder of the great Seminary of S. Sulpice and she learned that he was the priest she for whom she was offering her life of prayer and sacrifice. She died a year later, leaving to her sisters her particular vocation to pray for priests.

Because St. Louis de Monfort mentions Blessed Agnes in "True Devotion to Mary" she is remembered if only by name by many who have read his work and consecrated themselves to Jesus through Mary as a slave of Mary.

Here is what he says: "Without stopping to prove this truth, I shall simply relate an incident which I read in the life of Mother Agnes of Jesus, a Dominican nun of the convent of Langeac in Auvergne, who died a holy death there in 1634. When she was only seven years old and was suffering great spiritual anguish, she heard a voice telling her that if she wished to be delivered from her anguish and protected against all her enemies, she should make herself the slave of our Lord and his Blessed Mother as soon as possible. No sooner had she returned home than she gave herself completely to Jesus and Mary as their slave, although she had never known anything about this devotion before. She found an iron chain, put it round her waist and wore it till the day she died. After this, all her sufferings and scruples disappeared and she found great peace of soul. This led her to teach this devotion to many others who made rapid progress in it - among them, Father Olier, the founder of the Seminary of Saint-Sulpice, and several other priests and students from the same seminary. One day the Blessed Virgin appeared to Mother Agnes and put a gold chain around her neck to show her how happy she was that Mother Agnes had become the slave of both her and her Son. And St. Cecilia, who accompanied our Lady, said to her, "Happy are the faithful slaves of the Queen of heaven, for they will enjoy true freedom." Tibi servire libertas.

The Servant of God, John Paul II beatified Agnes of Jesus on November 20, 1994.

Bl. Agnes of Jesus, during this year for priests, we ask you to intercede for our priests, that they may be men on fire for God, filled with a desire to serve Christ's flock.