Hidden Life: The Sisters of St. Dominic's Monastery

the life of the cloistered contemplative nun is a reminder to all Christian people of their fundamental vocation and their call to Holiness and intimacy with God through prayer especially the celebration of the Liturgy and their daily self offering the nuns intercede for the whole people of God a contemplative Monastery is a gift from God for the local church to which it belongs representing the prayerful face of the church a monastery makes the church's presence more complete and meaningful in the local community the specific mission of the contemplative vocation then is to undertake cherish and promote what is most deep in the life of the church hence Dominican nuns have a clear realization that they are completely consecrated to God and called to bring about the extension of the kingdom of God in the world by means which are hidden but nevertheless possess a wonderful efficacy the whole life of the Dominican nun is harmoniously ordered to preserving the continual remembrance of God the monastery with its distinctive architectural form is intended to create a space of Separation Solitude and silence where God can be sought more freely in a life not only for him and with him but also in him alone the rhythm of the life of the Dominican nuns is ordered by the celebration of the Liturgy private prayer a life in common the observance of the vows and study of sacred truth all of which are helped by enclosure silence the work and penitential practices seven times each day the nuns gather together as a community to unite themselves with the universal church on Earth and in heaven to chant the prayer of the Divine Office which is the prayer of Christ to the Father the day begins with the ancient monastic practice of vigils also known as matens at 3:30 a.m. the nuns return to Chapel every 3 hours throughout the day to worship and glorify God and to pray for the needs of the church the last canonical hour of the day is complain night prayer which ends with the Dominican tradition of chanting the salv Regina by which the nuns entrust themselves and the whole world to the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary in addition to lurgical prayer the nuns devote two hours each day to private prayer and lexio deina outside of the hours dedicated to prayer and study of sacred truth the nuns spend themselves in various forms of work and manual labor such as would be done in any ordinary household the nuns also engage in various types of productive labor which contribute to the support of the monastery because the majority of the day is dedicated to prayer and divine worship they must also rely on alms and support from the people of God the nuns live a life in common one in mind and heart a reflection of the life of the Trinity although they spend most of the the day in silence each evening before the last canonical hour of the day they gather together for a period of recreation where Mutual understanding and sisterly communion are fostered among the nuns today the St Dominic's Monastery Community numbers 14 with four solemnly professed nuns five in temporary profession three offices and two postulants the community has been blessed and is ever grateful for the vocations she has received which came even during their temporary stay in Massachusetts during their days of transition and move and God continues to send those young women who desire to live a life radically for God Alone in their six years in Lyon the nuns have signic ific anly reduced their mortgage with the generous help of faithful benefactors including the gift of several legacies however they cannot move on to further construction until the mortgage now $278,000 is amortised because of the cost of phase one of the construction they were not able to complete the project as planned the essentials of the monastery that make their their monastic life possible are in place however there are many things that remain incomplete the windows in the courtyard were recently framed in order to bring the heating cost down but the rest of the windows in the monastery remain unframed most of the floors are unfinished concrete with the exception of the chapel refectory and the sisters cells the basement area destined for separate workrooms at present remains a single open space used for the laundry the temporary library music and liturgy preparation artwork storage needs and maintenance supplies phase two of their construction will include the permanent Chapel living quarters for a resident chaplain several guest rooms parlors for visitors and a much needed expanded refectory nun's dining room included also will be renovation of their present temporary chapel and parlor area which will be changed into the library chapter Hall and classroom withdrawn from the world in silence through a hidden life of prayer study fasting and Penance the nuns of St Dominic's Monastery joyfully offer themselves in sacrifice for the Salvation of souls in every aspect of their lives spiritual and temporal the nuns have been supported by the church and the local community from the earliest days to the present it is with undying gratitude that the nuns continually remember in prayer their friends and benefactors living and deceased known and unknown without whom they would be unable to live the life to which they have been called thank you to all of you for your prayers and sacrifices and to the St Katherine deichi Guild and its members for your support and dedication the Dominican nuns entrust themselves to you and to the lari benefit and are grateful for all you have done and will continue to do for St Dominic's Monastery may God bless you your family and loved ones now and through all eternity

Channel: Jordan Allott

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Length: 8min 54sec (534 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 03 2015