How to commence a new year in 2015

Therefore, behold I will allure her, and will lead her into the
wilderness: and I will speak to her heart. (Osee 2:14)

As Father Albert O.P. emphasised,
it was necessary to retreat into the desert if we were to hear the voice of Our
Lord and respond to Him. The spiritual life, that indispensable and
foundational element of true union with God, was chosen as the theme of our
retreat from 10 to 18 January. 

Much wisdom was also drawn from a
constellation of saints by both friars– St Bernard of Clairvaux, St Therese of
Liseux, St Bernadine of Siena and H.E. Archbishop Lefebvre
contributed many of their own examples and works for our edification and
instruction.

A special highlight of the retreat was the Salve procession during the office of Compline. This homage to Our Lady and Patroness of the order is dear to every Dominican heart, and it was enhanced by the attendance of our entire congregation of sisters. The substantial train of religious served as a testimony to the graces of vocation received through the mediation of her Immaculate Heart.

Miss Alexandra Reis with Sister Mary Francis

“What do you ask?”

“God’s mercy and yours, Father.” (The Ceremonies of Clothing and
Profession)

As mentioned above, an important
step in the hallowing of a new year to the glory of God and to the
sanctification of our neighbour is the dedication of our entire self to His
love.

The ceremonies of religious clothing and the profession and renewal of
vows enable the new novices and newly professed to consecrate themselves in
varying degrees to God through the religious state. 

These progressive stages of consecration
to God set the sister down the path to becoming a “living image of the church, a
virgin by the purity of her faith, a bride by loving fidelity to the will of
Christ in fervent charity, a mother by self-sacrifice for the salvation of
souls [and a] living temple of God by her life of prayer” (Fr. Paul Hinnebusch,
O.P.). 

In changing their secular dress
for the Dominican habit, five new novices undertook the first steps of
renouncing the world and self at their official entrance into our congregation.
A new group of Dominican saints were chosen as patrons for our new sisters who
took on their names, in accordance with their desire to put off the old man
with his deeds (Col 3:9).

Miss Katherine Korr from the
United States is now known as Sister Mary Peter, after the Veronese martyr and
defender of the faith. The Office for the feast of our sister’s glorious patron
proclaims the victory of a champion who, endowed with the brilliance of virginity,
eloquence and miracles, fell from the assassin’s blow while writing the Credo
in his own blood.

Sister Mary Peter

St Augustine of Hippo, our law
giver and father, has his name adopted by the former Miss Elizabeth Smith from
Wanganui. His holy rule, chosen by St Dominic for its flexibility and breadth
of spirit, has served as the guide for religious perfection for countless
Dominicans over 800 years. 

Sister Mary Augustina

Blessed Diana d’Andalo became the
heavenly patron of Miss Genevieve Erbacher who hails from Queensland. Founder
of the convent of St Agnes in Bologna and noted for her deep spiritual
friendship with Blessed Jordan of Saxony, she had earlier made a vow to St
Dominic himself to enter the order in spite of the resistance of her family.

Sister Mary Diana

Miss Mary Williams from St Mary’s
in Kansas received the name of Sister Mary Vincent Ferrer. This Angel of the
Apocalypse who re-ignited the spiritual soul of Western Europe in the early 15^th
century by his preaching is a model for us sisters who are called to
re-evangelise a world which has turned away from God.

Our Lady of Sorrows, the exemplar
of apostolic immolation for all religious souls, assumes her patronage over a former Society oblate who is now called Sister Mary
of Compassion.

Sister Mary of Compassion

Please pray for them as they
begin an entire year of intense spiritual formation through their classes in
Dominican spirituality and the Rule and Constitutions together with additional
periods of silence, study and prayer.

“He has placed His sign on my brow, that I may admit no other
lover.” (Ceremony of Profession)

In making her First Profession
the sister exchanges her white veil for a black one, symbolic of her
consecration to God. In preparation for her Final Vows which are made usque ad mortem (until death), he sister
promises to live in poverty, chastity and obedience, according to the Rule of
St. Augustine and our Constitutions for three years and then for two additional
years. 

These vows bind the religious to
God and turn her entire life with its daily sacrifices, acts and aspirations
into a holocaust that is consumed by love. Religious Profession is, after the
Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and martyrdom, the most fruitful source of graces
for the Church and for souls.

It was thus a great source of joy for our
congregation to receive three First Professions and another three renewals of
vows on this day.

Sister Mary Anna, Sister Maria Columba and Sister Mary Jordan made their first vows, promising obedience to God, to the Blessed Virgin, to St Dominic and to the Mother Prioress General for three years.

“An unparalleled promise! The Church knows well in her wisdom that those who choose obedience, that those who practice it, possesses everything. This promise is a contract of love. Without faith, this contract is incomprehensible, it becomes an enigma. We remember those religious, who, during the French Revolution refused to leave, to disobey…those who were happy to submit themselves to that which the revolutionaries called ‘an intolerable yoke.’ Their love of authority was as solid as their faith, unchangeable as their faith, for God alone and to God alone.” (The cloistered Dominicans nuns of Arville.)

Sister Maria Lucia O.P., Sister Mary Jacinta O.P. and Sister Mary Anthony O.P also renewed their temporary profession for another two years during the ceremony.

These acts of profession have
consequences for eternity both for the religious and for the souls she is
responsible for. The sister is no longer the same after, for she is engaged entirely
to the service and love of the Holy Trinity and consecrated exclusively to Him.

The 3 Professed sisters who renewed their vows.

“A religious will save by his prayers, labours and mortifications more souls in one year than in the whole of his life out of religion. As to his own personal merits, he will gain more in one year by practising obedience than in ten years by living in the world according to his own will“. –St Alphonsus Liguori.

NEW DEVELOPMENTS AT ROSARY
CONVENT

 “The Novitiate begins with
the clothing and immediately after the clothing the novice participates in all
the indulgences and spiritual favours granted by the Holy See to the Professed
sisters…The Novitiate shall be, as far as possible, separated from the part of
the convent in which the Professed sisters live.” (Our Constitutions)

An aspirant visiting our community
this New Year will witness the setting up of proper novitiate quarters. A
larger population of sisters within the Motherhouse and the availability of
some extra space have now enabled us to provide an environment conducive to the
formation of our novices and postulants.

Our community is pleased to
announce that we now have the capacity to conform more closely to the
requirements of canon law, where the professed sisters generally recreate and
work separately from the novices who are devoting themselves to their religious
training.

We are also delighted to announce
that Sister Mary Thomas O.P. and Sister Mary Anna O.P. will be present at St
Thomas Aquinas College in the capacity of form teachers in the Secondary
School, having completed their teacher training during the previous year. Please
pray for these newly registered teachers as well as for our student sisters who
are still training and studying for their education degrees.

Our vocation as teachers cannot
be limited to helping students develop their academic skills, for it must first
assist them in acquiring knowledge of the Truth, which has its origin and being
in God. The history of the Church, from antiquity down to the present is full
of admirable examples of consecrated persons who have sought and continue to
seek holiness through their apostolate of education while at the same time
proposing holiness as the fundamental goal of education.

May God give us the
grace to achieve these lofty goals and to imitate these glorious predecessors
in our vocation.