Vocation Office October 2017 E-Newsletter

Rosary

Spiritual

The

and

Motherhood

Read on for a meditation on the rosary, pictures from some recent vocation events, and a book recommendation.

The Rosary and Spiritual Motherhood One of the first things children notice about our Dominican habit is the fifteen-decade rosary we wear on the left side. The seemingly neverending strands of beads adorned with medals of saints and a large crucifix spark curiosity, conversation, and yes, even entanglement in little fingers and toes!

Our Holy Father St. Dominic would have welcomed such interest in a devotion that he is credited with having popularized. In an age that mistrusted the goodness of the flesh, Dominic proclaimed the angelic salutation, “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” In doing so, he was allowing the truth of the Incarnation to illumine the darkness of unbelief. By meditating on the mysteries of the rosary, we can challenge the false assumptions of our own age, as well.

One of these assumptions is to discount the reality of spiritual motherhood. In his Apostolic Letter to Women, Mulieris Dignitatem, Pope St. John Paul II spoke of spiritual motherhood as the fulfillment of natural motherhood, and thus of the deepest longings of the feminine heart. This “motherhood according to the Spirit” is one that was lived first and foremost by Our Lady.

In the Gospels, she is praised by her Son for doing the will of his Father in heaven. As St. Augustine says, “Mary carried Jesus in her heart before she ever carried him in her womb.” Spiritual motherhood begins with receiving the Word of God and allowing the Word to become flesh in our lives. Doing the will of God is life-giving.

During the month of October when Dominican devotion to Our Lady of the Rosary is heightened, please join us in praying the rosary each day, especially in the light of spiritual motherhood.

The Sisters strive to pray and share the rosary as an expression of our spiritual motherhood. Our devotion to the rosary includes a fervent praying of a daily rosary, the monthly rosary procession (pictures to the right), and teaching our students to pray the rosary.

Mississippi August 25-August 30 While in Mississippi, the Sisters led a Day of Recollection for Catholic women in  the Oxford area, visited with students at the University of Mississippi, and gave a vocation talk to students at Mississippi State.

Georgia

September 5-8 In Georgia, the Sisters visited Georgia College, giving a talk on virtue, spoke about vocations and visited with students at Georgia Tech, and spoke at Equip Athens.

Benedictine College, Sept. 15-17

Franciscan University Sept. 29-Oct. 1; Oct. 12-15Â

While at Franciscan, Sister Mary Madeline gave two talks as part of the Students for Life lecture series. Watch the talks:

Finding Our Dignity in Christ The Light of Christ in the Darkness of Suffering

Jesu Caritas Retreat October 5-7, 2017

Recommended Reading Perpetual Angelus

By Father Romanus Cessario This book is a series of meditations on the rosary from the perspective of St. Benedict, St. Francis of Assisi, and St. Dominic. It also includes illustrations by Sister Mary Grace, O.P.

"Should we wonder that the Dominicans have especially promoted the rosary prayer? Of course not, for it embodies the ancient wisdom retrieved by St. Dominic: first find everything in God, and then share it with others. And this still remains the challenge: today as then. Or, as another father in faith, St. Ambrose, has expressed it, that 'we confess in our Photograph of the Pilgrimage Statute heart what we profess on our lips.'" of Our Lady of Fatima

by Father Lawrence Lew, O.P. July 7, 2017 Used with permission.

Father Romanus Cessario, O.P.