Vocation Office E-Newsletter November 2023

Maestà by Duccio di Buoninsegna (c. 1308)

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

November 2023

N O V E M B E R 2023 1 / ALL SAINTS 2/ The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Soul's Day) 3 / Saint Martin de Porres 4 / Saint Charles Borromeo 5 / THIRTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 6/ 7 / All Saints of the Dominican Order 8 / Anniversary of Deceased Brothers and Sisters of the Order 9 / The Dedication of the Lateran Basilica

10 / Saint Leo the Great 11 / Saint Martin of Tours 12 / THIRTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 13 / Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini 14 / 15 / Saint Albert the Great 16 / Saint Margaret of Scotland 17 / Saint Elizabeth of Hungary 18 / Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne 19 / THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 20 / 21 / The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary 22 / SAINT CECILIA 23/ Blessed Miguel Augustín Pro, Thanksgiving Day 24 / Saints Ignatius Delgado, Vincent Liem, Dominic An-Kham, Andrew Dũng-Lạc and Companions 25 / Saint Catherine of Alexandria 26/ OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, KING OF THE UNIVERSE 27 / 28 / 29 / Celebrations from the 30/ St. Andrew, Apostle

Dominican calendar appear in italics.

Pledge of

Future Glory By; Sister Bernadette Marie, O.P.

The Last Judgement by Fra Angelico (c.1431)

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hat does it mean to be blessed or to bless something? .....................We often use the word “blessed” as an adjective for the Trinity, Virgin Mary, or saints in Heaven. Each beatitude in Matthew’s Gospel begins with this word. When Jesus multiplies the five loaves and two fish, the synoptic gospel writers all relate that Jesus took and blessed the bread before breaking it and giving it to disciples for the crowd. Additionally, Matthew, Mark, and Luke use the same set of words to describe the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. The word “blessed” is used more than three hundred other times in the Bible and over one hundred times in the Catechism of the Catholic Church to explain many truths of our faith, but especially God’s desire to draw close to us and free us from all that keeps us from Him so that we can be with Him forever.

Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.”

Luke 22:19

Each time we participate in the Eucharistic celebration, we are "awaiting the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ," (Roman Missal, cited in CCC 1404).

The Catechism beautifully reminds us that at each Eucharist we should also be asking to share in God’s own “glory when every tear will be wiped away” (CCC 1404) and we will praise God forever in Heaven with all the blessed ones. To be blessed is to be made holy or like God. At Baptism, we become a child of God and a member of the body of Christ, the same Christ who died and rose to set us free from the dominion of sin and death. Without the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, we would not be able to hope one day to share in God’s own blessed life in Heaven. Saint Ignatius of Antioch, an early Church Father, wrote that when the Holy Eucharist is celebrated, we "break the one bread that provides the medicine of immortality, the antidote for death, and the food that makes us live forever in Jesus Christ." (Cited in CCC 1405). With each communion, our union with Christ and His mystical body the Church is strengthened.

"O sacred banquet in which Christ is received, the memory of His Passion is recalled, the soul is filled with grace and the pledge of future glory is given us."

A prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas, which we pray before each celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours, reminds us of this truth: "O sacred banquet in which Christ is received, the memory of His Passion is recalled, the soul is filled with grace and the pledge of future glory is given us.” The Eucharist is both the memorial of Jesus’ passion and our promise of eternal life. As the Church in the United States continues on our path of Eucharistic Revival to revive our love and devotion to the Holy Eucharist, may we ask our Lord, ever-present in the most blessed Sacrament, to increase our desire to be totally united to Him and prepare us to one day to enter into the glorious company of the blessed in Heaven.

Saints That Chose Me

Saint Catherine of Alexandria Sister Alexandra, O.P.

During the fall of my first year entering religious life, I was thinking about possibilities for a religious name, which we are given when we receive the habit as a novice.

Knowing that Mary had played a significant role in my vocation, I was looking for names related to her that might be a good fit. After hearing the Sisters sing a song one afternoon about Our Lady Star of the Sea, Sister Maris Stella (Latin version of that title) was all I could come up with, but was not quite satisfying.

Coming home from Aquinas College just before lunch one morning in November, a Sister who was a few years older than me, knowing that I had some background in philosophy and who had herself developed a devotion to Saint Catherine of Alexandria, pointed out that I might

like to know it was St. Catherine’s feast day since she is the patron saint of philosophers. She proceeded to tell me her story, which I found interesting, but I really didn’t have any intention of taking a name after one of my majors in college - a bit restricting, perhaps! In her favor, though, she also happened to be the patron saint of women students, preachers. Very fitting, I thought - and also fireworks & lots of other things, about which I was not as sure.

One evening, though, while performing the simple task of wiping down tables in silence after supper, the name ‘Sister Alexandra’ popped into my head. I thought, “Wow, I really like that! It’s really different - not something I would have thought of on my own!” Very importantly, she also had a distinct Dominican connection as the patroness of preachers and as a saint who had appeared to Saint Dominic, along with Mary and Saint Cecilia, in the early days of the Order.

Window from the chapel of the Dominican House of Studies in Washington D.C. Photo Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P.

As the year came to a close and we were submitting our thoughts about a religious name, I decided to put other choices first and keep “Sister Alexandra” third. As I wrote out the explanation for this name, though, it flowed very easily from my pen. Yet I still kept it as the third choice. If the Mother General thought it was a good name, it would be a sure indication of Divine Providence! She did in fact think so as she handed me the habit and said my new religious name, “Sister Alexandra.”

So, I always say of Saint Catherine, ‘I didn’t choose here, she chose me!’ It’s a great place to be. She is a very strong patron saint whom I have come to love in so many ways. So, thank you, Saint Catherine of Alexandria, for watching over me and for your continued help!

My grandmother met Blessed Solanus Casey when he was the porter at St. Bonaventure’s in Detroit. She went with her cousin to ask for prayers just like so many others in Detroit did in the 1930’s. Thousands lined up to ask him to pray for them, and he would patiently listen and speak to everyone. While I don’t know exactly what he said to my grandmother, I know that her encounter with him left a great impression on her for the rest of her life. All the way down to the fact that he was wearing his sandals in February, in Detroit.

Blessed Solanus Casey was a humble man who allowed the many setbacks in his life to draw him closer to God. When not allowed to become a diocesan priest due to poor grades, he followed the promptings of the Holy Spirit to the religious life. When he was only to be ordained a “simplex priest,” meaning he could not hear confessions or preach doctrinal sermons, he accepted this as God’s will. As a result, he served as porter and opened the door to many who needed to hear the Gospel message.

When it was time for me to choose a patron, I wanted one that I already knew and one who knew me. I’ve spent my life talking to Fr. Solanus. I still have the badge my grandmother pinned to my teddy bear, only now it’s pinned to me. I feel blessed to have his name, and I pray that I can live a life of virtue as he did.

Blessed Solanus Casey Sister Casey Marie, O.P.

Being from the Detroit area, my family has always had a special devotion to Blessed Solanus Casey. When I was very young, I can remember my grandmother showing me a plastic badge with a picture of a bearded man on the front side and a piece of his habit in the back. “This is Fr. Solanus; he will be a saint one day,” she said. Then she pinned it to my teddy bear. “When you have trouble sleeping at night, just talk to Fr. Solanus and he will help you.” I’m not sure if I fell asleep any faster, but I sure did talk to Fr. Solanus.

Image Source: User:Mahatma Gandhi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Learning to Love

Like the Saints By: Sister Eva Marie, O.P.

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hen I was thirteen, St. Gianna Beretta ...............Molla was everything I was sure God was not calling me to be: wife, mother, pediatrician. I wanted to be a sister, and I wasn’t attracted to a medical apostolate. I didn’t want to imitate St. Gianna, but I knew she had to be my Confirmation saint. “I didn’t pick her,” I told everyone. “She picked me.”

But why, I wondered, would she do so? We had nothing in common—or did we?

Six years later, I entered the convent, and I thought I was now even less like my patroness. She was a wife and a doctor; I was a sister preparing to enter the teaching apostolate. I would never be like her—or would I? A few years ago, I finally read St. Gianna’s letters—and finally understood why she had chosen me. “What can I do to make you happy?” Gianna wrote to her husband, Pietro.

“Tell me what I can do to love you better.”

Her devoted love for her husband inspires me to love Christ my Spouse. Now, I ask Him, “What can I do to love You better today?”

My life may look different from St. Gianna’s, but she is teaching me to love. And love is what makes us saints.

Book Recommendation

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ometimes the saints can seem so .......far removed from our lives; we can have the perception that their experiences are very different from our own. In the book, “My Sisters the Saints,” Colleen Carroll Campbell shares her journey with the saints. As she got to know the saints better she found that they not only are very relatable, but also assist us in our lives. This book is a great help to growing in appreciation for and devotion to the saints.

November 22

Saint Cecilia J

Patroness of the Congregation

oin us in praying the Novena to Saint Cecilia November 13-21. Follow the links below for the novena and other information on Saint Cecilia:

Novena to St. Cecilia

Life of St. Cecilia

Patroness of the Congregation

We long for a fidelity which is a testimony not unlike that of the virginmartyr, St. Cecilia. For love of God and conquest of the kingdom of heaven, we desire to build up the body of Christ until we ourselves are transformed into his image. (Constitutions of the Congregation)

All you Holy Saints of God, pray for us.