October 2019 Vocation E-Newsletter

laudare, benedicere, praedicare TO PRAISE, TO BLESS, TO PREACH

October 2019

The Beautiful Virtue of Patience INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Re lection on Saint Dominic, Rose of Patience Book Recommendation: The Mystical Rose by Blessed John Henry Newman

Recent Travel and Visitors Saint Spotlight: Blessed John Henry Newman

The Beauty of Patience A Reflection on Saint Dominic, Rose of Patience “Patience is virtue,” as the saying goes, but in an age of instant grati ication, who has time for either? We’re so accustomed to high speed travel, whether on the internet or the interstate, that encountering a slow connection or driver can try our patience. It’s often when we’re on the receiving end of someone else’s impatience with us, however, that we realize the value of patience, “the power under whose protection life unfolds” (Romano Guardini). Life unfolds at its own pace. To rush it is to impose a timetable of our own making. Patience may seem weak but it is actually strong. It takes more strength to exercise patience with someone than to lose it. That is why it is one of the virtues, that is, good moral habits that strengthen the powers of the human soul. The virtues not only make us strong, they make us beautiful. Just as impatience is experienced as an ugly trait in someone, the beauty of patience can be as inspiring as that of a rose.

Rosa Patientiae or “Rose of Patience” is one of the titles by which our Holy Father Saint Dominic is invoked each evening in our chanting of the Dominican antiphon “O Lumen” and each day as we pray the Litany of Saint Dominic. The beauty of his patience was evident throughout his life, but especially in his waiting on the Lord to reveal his plan. With heresies running rampant in Southern France, it would have been easy to give in to the temptation to take matters into his own hands.

Instead, the intensi ication of Dominic’s prayer was rewarded as he patiently surrendered to God's will in the gradual unfolding of events that led to the Church's approval of the Order of Preachers in 1216 and 1217.

As we begin the month of October which is dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary, we invite you to join us in praying the rosary each day, especially for growth in the beautiful virtue of patience.

De ail from the mural in the Dominican Nuns' Chapel at the Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary in Buf alo, New York.

Photo by Father Lawrence Lew, O.P.

Saint Dominic, Rose of Patience, pray for us.

SHINE: Blessed is She Retreat Nashville, Tennessee | September 6-7

Several of our Sisters were able to be present at the SHINE // Blessed is She Retreat which was recently held near our Motherhouse. Sister Mary Rachel gave one of the Keynote Talks which was entitled "The Light Shines." Our Sisters were also able to talk with and pray for the many women on the retreat.

Recent Travels to Virginia Virginia Tech | September 8-9

While visiting the Catholic Campus Center at Virginia Tech, Sister Peter Marie and Sister Bernadette Marie enjoyed attending Mass on campus and visiting with the many students and FOCUS Missionaries at the school. They gave a talk entitled "Truth, Beauty and Goodness: What are You Thinking About" at the weekly Sunday Supper. The following evening, Sister Peter Marie gave a presentation entitled "All the Way to Heaven is Heaven: Saint Catherine of Siena for Today" to the monthly Theology of Women group.

The College of William and Mary | September 11

It was a blessing for Sister Peter Marie and Sister Bernadette Marie to be invited to The College of William and Mary Catholic Campus Ministry. During their time on campus, the Sisters joined the students for Mass, witness to their fellow students on campus, and prayer. In the evening, they gave a talk on the power and importance of the rosary.

Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman On October 13, our Holy Father Pope Francis will canonize Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman, a convert to Catholicism who lived in England during the 19th Century. Newman was also the irst person beati ied by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010. Best known for his proli ic writings and his involvement in the Oxford Movement, Newman was also a gifted man of the arts. He composed an opera at the age of sixteen, wrote two novels and was an avid poet. Early in his life he fell in love with the Latin and Greek Fathers of the Church.

Through a study of their writings and a deep life of prayer, Newman gradually became convicted that the Catholic Church was the true "Church of the Apostles."

"To have faith in God is to surrender one's-self to God, humbly to put one's interests, or to wish to be allowed to put them into His hands who is the Sovereign Giver of all good."

- "Faith and Obedience", PPS, III, pp.79-80

Online Resources: click for a link to the resources below - Newman Reader: an online archive of Newman's writings - Word on Fire: The Pivotal Players Vol. 1 Documentary on Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman: The Convert - The New Advent Short Biography of Blessed John Henry Newman

Great Books to Read:

- Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine - On Consulting the Faithful in Matters of Doctrine - Apologia Pro Vi a Sua — Newman's spiritual autobiography up to 1864 - The Mystical Rose (see next page for more information)

Recommended Reading The Mystical Rose By: John Henry Cardinal Newman This collection of writings on the Blessed Virgin Mary by John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890) is a book for both doctrinal study and devotion. Without ideas and without doctrine, true devotion cannot exist. Divided into two parts, the irst shows how Catholic teaching on Mary is based on the New Testament and the Fathers of the Church. The second part, taken entirely from Newman's work Meditations and Devotions, draws on the Litany of Loreto in explaining the doctrinal meaning behind various attributes of the Mother of God. In his forward, Joseph Regina concludes that "the thoughts on the blessed Virgin collected in this book show us Newman's sublime faith in Mary and devotion to her. The reader will draw from them new strength for his faith and a more tender and trusting love for our Heavenly Mother." - Taken from the back cover of the book.

“Mary is the most beautiful flower that ever was seen in the spiritual world. It is by the power of God's grace that from this barren and desolate earth there have ever sprung up at all flowers of holiness and glory. And Mary is the Queen of them. She is the Queen of spiritual flowers; and therefore she is called the Rose, for the rose is fitly called of all flowers the most beautiful."

CLICK ON THE IMAGE ABOVE FOR A LINK TO BUY THIS BOOK.

(from pages 83-84)