VOCATION OFFICE E-NEWSLETTER_FEBRUARY 2020

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

February 2020

Zealous for the Salvation of Souls INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Reflection: Saint Dominic, Burning as a Torch for the Salvation of Sinners Recommended Reading: The Tears of Christ: Meditations for Lent by Saint John Henry Newman

Feast of the Presentation 40 Hours Devotion Recent Travels and Events Saint Spotlight: Blessed Fra Angelico

Evangelical Dimension of Lent A Reflection on Saint Dominic, Burning as a Torch for the Salvation of Sinners

Prayer, penance and almsgiving, which mark this holy season of Lent, have always been a powerful means of personal conversion. In the life of St. Dominic, burning as a torch for the salvation of sinners, we can see the evangelical dimension of these Lenten practices.

Characterized by his zeal for souls, St. Dominic sought to win them for Christ by all the means at his disposal. He pleaded earnestly with God for a “true charity capable of laboring for and procuring the salvation of men,” which he considered the greatest alms one could give (The Libellus of Jordan of Saxony 13).

And he gave such alms chiefly through his tireless preaching of Christ, Who is saving Truth incarnate.

Early accounts of St. Dominic’s life chronicle the all-night vigils he made praying for those in need of God’s mercy. Blessed Jordan of Saxony, his first successor as Master of the Order, said of St. Dominic, “God gave him the grace to weep for sinners and for the afflicted; he bore their sorrows in an inner sanctuary of holy compassion…which pressed on his heart, flowed out and escaped in tears” (Libellus 12).

And from this deep compassion for his neighbors welled up his desire to endure any pains for their sake. Once, an opponent of his preaching intentionally led the barefoot Dominic and his companions along the thorniest path possible “so that their feet and legs were red with blood” (Libellus 34). But when the guide witnessed their joyful patience and praise of God amidst such suffering, he at once sought conversion.

All of St. Dominic’s efforts--whether his daytime preaching, his nightly vigils, or his constant penance had one goal: winning souls for Heaven.

Photo of one of the Saint Dominic windows at the Saint Cecilia Motherhouse Chapel

As a torch burning for the salvation of sinners, St. Dominic attracted people to Christ through the light of holy preaching and the warmth of his compassionate heart. And his tears were the greatest testimony of that burning zeal. May our desire for the salvation of the world move us to share in the tears of St. Dominic who shared in the tears of Christ.

Forty Hours Devotion January 18 -20

The Forty Hours honors the most powerful truth of our Catholic faith: Christ’s real presence in the Holy Eucharist. With a rich variety of expressions: exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, Benediction, Vespers of Corpus Christi, the Litany of the Saints, other prayers and processions we pay homage to Our Lord who is truly present in our midst. Saint John Neumann, fourth bishop of Philadelphia, brought the Forty Hours Devotion to the United States and our community continues to celebrate this devotion annually. Priests from the Diocese of Nashville were also invited to join us for the closing of this devotion.

March for Life Visitors January 20 Over 650 March for Life pilgrims visited the Motherhouse from Louisiana on their way to the March for Life. The high school students and their chaperones enjoyed visiting with many sisters, getting tours of the Motherhouse, participating in our prayers, and talks by our sisters. It was a blessing to be able to host so many young people from the Dioceses of Baton Rouge, Houma-Thibodaux, and Lafayette.

Below: The sisters welcome hundreds of pilgrims from the Diocese of Baton Rouge to the Motherhouse.

Above: Sister Bernadette Marie welcomes a group of high school students from the Diocese of HoumaThibodaux while explaining the charism and life of our sisters.

Witnessing to Life January 22-26

While in Washington, D.C. for the March for Life, Sister Maria Frassati, Sister Peter Marie, Sister Bernadette Marie and the Postulant Sisters attended the March for Life Expo and Conference, the National Prayer Vigil for Life, and the Youth Rally and Mass for Life.

Above and center: The sisters were grateful for the opportunity to meet Abby Johnson, a powerful advocate for the pro-life cause.

Above and Left: On the day following the March for Life, we welcomed a group of young women from Nolan Catholic High School in Fort Worth, Texas to our convent in Washington, D.C. for an evening of prayer and fellowship.

Feast of the Presentation World Day of Consecrated Life | February 2 Pope Saint John Paul II instituted the World Day of Consecrated Life in 1997 as a day of prayer for women and men in consecrated life. This celebration is commemorated annually on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. During the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on this day, the candles to be used during Masses at the Motherhouse were blessed and the sisters renewed their vows.

Jesu Caritas Weekend Retreat The Grace of the Present Moment | February 7-9 At the beginning of the month, we welcomed almost 70 young women for our Jesu Caritas Retreat. Father Brad Elliott, O.P., a Dominican Father of the Holy Name of Jesus Province, gave four conferences on how to give God one's past, present, and future so that each person might be better able to allow God's grace to work in their lives.

Visit to Louisiana February 11-14

Sister Peter Marie and Sister Bernadette Marie were invited to spend a couple of days with the students, FOCUS Missionaries, and Father Thomas Schaefgen, O.P., chaplain and director, at the Center for Catholic Life at Tulane University. While at Tulane, Sister Peter Marie gave a talk on God the Father's love for us and both sisters answered the students' questions. They sisters also enjoyed visiting the Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France, which is the oldest cathedral in continuous use in the United States.

The sisters were also invited to visit Saint Thomas More Catholic High School in Lafayette on February 12.

They spoke to several senior theology classes, visited with recent alumnae, and did a lunchtime presentation on religious life for many of the young women at the school.

Saint Spotlight

Blessed Fra Angelico Feast Day: February 18 | Dominican Friar | Patron Saint of Artists

Bl. John of Fiesole, popularly known as Bl. Fra Angelico, was a Dominican painter in the mid-fifteenth century known for the beauty of his paintings and the holiness of his priestly life. Nicknamed “Angelico” by his brothers, his Dominican consecration and life are worthy of imitation as he preached Jesus Christ by his life, his words, and his paintings.

Given the name Guido at Baptism, this saint was born near Vicchio, in the vicinity of Florence, at the end of the 14th century. From his youth he practiced the art of painting. Having entered the Dominican convent in Fiesole, he was given the name Brother Giovanni (Brother John). After ordination he held various responsibilities, one of which was that of prior of the convent in Fiesole.

Faithful to the promises he made as a Dominican, to preach the Gospel after having contemplated it in prayer, Fra Angelico put his creativity at the disposal of the Lord. With brush and paint in hand, he used his talents to transmit to all people the sublimity and the redemptive strength of the divine mysteries.

Between 1425 and 1447, Fra Angelico carried out his activity for the Dominican convents and other ecclesiastical institutes at Fiesole, Florence (most especially at the convent of San Marco), Cortona and Orvieto. The fame of his genius merited him the esteem of the several Sovereign Pontiffs.

Fra Angelico died on February 18, 1455, in the convent of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in Rome and was buried in the adjoining Basilica. With a personality that was uncomplicated and clear, Brother Giovanni had lived a poor and humble life, refusing honors and positions.

The virtue and the profound religious spirit which characterized the life of this artist and Dominican is reflected in his spirituality, his purity, and the luminosity of his art. Even before his official recognition as a blessed of the Church, he had been given by the faithful the title “Beato Angelico.” In a moving ceremony on October 18, 1984, Pope John Paul II, on his knees in front of Fra Angelico’s tomb, proclaimed him solemnly to be the universal patron of all artists.

- Article adapted from: https://www.nashvilledominican.org/community/our-dominican-heritage/oursaints-and-blesseds/bl-john-fiesole-fra-angelico/

Fra Angelico Visited by Angels. Paul-Hippolyte Flandrin. 1894.

Recommended Reading

The Tears of Christ Meditations for Lent

By: Saint John Henry Newman This collection of meditations takes us to the heart of the interior life of St. John Henry Newman who was recently canonized by the Catholic Church. They offer a beautiful devotional aid for the season of Lent. Drawn chiefly from his sermons and gently modernized, these meditations offer a share in the fruit of his contemplation, that we might the better enjoy with him the “one thing which is all in all to us,” which is “to live in Christ’s presence, to hear his voice, to see his countenance.”

- Adapted from the back cover of the book

"Jesus wept, not merely from the deep thoughts of his understanding but from spontaneous tenderness, from the goodness and mercy, the encompassing loving-kindness and exuberant affection of the Son of God for his own work, the race of man."

- From one of the sermons of St. John Henry Newman

Click on the photo above to purchase this book.