Sister Mary Thomas of the Holy Name of Jesus, O.P. at her vestition on Nov. 21.

On November 21, feast of the Presentation of Our Lady, the Dominican Nuns at the Dominican Monastery of St. Jude in Marbury, Alabama celebrated the vestition of their postulant, Sister Nicole. In a simple ceremony, Sister Nicole received the habit and her religious name: Sister Mary Thomas of the Holy Name of Jesus, O.P.

During the ceremony, Prioress Mother Mary Joseph, O.P., spoke of the symbolism of the Dominican habit. The white represents purity of heart with which the nuns love Christ above all else; the black represents penance which guards this purity. Our Lady gave the scapular to the Order as a mark of her protection. Finally, the rosary is hung from the belt as the nuns’ powerful weapon of prayer for the salvation of souls.

Availability and Zeal

It is this dual mission of contemplative availability to God and apostolic zeal for souls which drew Sister Mary Thomas to the cloistered Dominican vocation. During her two years as a novice, she will strive to fulfill the words of the concluding prayer: “May you apply yourself assiduously to following our Holy Father St. Dominic so that you may be ready for the day of your espousals to Jesus Christ.”

The Dominican nuns live a monastic life “free for God alone,” so that their hearts can receive His Word and bear fruit for His glory and the salvation of souls. Their daily life centers on the Liturgy, sung in English and in their traditional Dominican Latin chant, as well as Eucharistic Adoration and Perpetual Rosary, study and work. To learn more, visit the nuns’ website at StJudeMonastery.org.

Behind the walls of the Monastery of the Visitation on Parkside Boulevard in Toledo, a small community of women religious devote their lives to praying for the people of the Diocese.

Sisters of the Visitation in Toledo devote their lives to praying for people in the Diocese of Toledo and throughout the world. Click image for a video about their life.

To support and honor members of this and other contemplative orders around the world, Catholics are asked to offer specials prayers for cloistered women and men religious Nov. 21, which has been designated as Pro Orantibus Day (“For Those Who Pray”).

Pope John Paul II spoke of cloistered and monastic members as a "leaven of renewal."

Pope John Paul II asked the ecclesial event be observed worldwide in 1997 to thank those in the cloistered and monastic life for serving as “a leaven of renewal and of the presence of the spirit of Christ in the world,” and to remind others of the need to provide spiritual and material support to these communities.

Visitation Sister Sharon Elizabeth Gworek, superior of the contemplative Visitation Order in Toledo, says it is “providence” that Pope John Paul designated the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s Presentation in the Temple for this purpose, since that happens to be the same day all members of the Visitation Order worldwide renew their vows.

The Visitation Sisters in Toledo, OH have the privilege of papal enclosure. Thus, they generally stay in the monastery.

Pro Orantibus Day was begun to thank those in the cloistered and monastic life for their service.

Read the entire article and see a video about the Sisters at the Catholic Chronicle.

Visit the Sisters of the Visitation of Toledo, Ohio. 

Pro Orantibus Day Recalls Cloistered Communities as the “Heart” of the Church

Chicago, IL — Catholics throughout the world are encouraged to honor the cloistered and monastic life on Pro Orantibus Day, which is Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2012.

“The primary purpose of Pro Orantibus Day (“For Those Who Pray”) is to thank God for the tremendous gift of the cloistered and monastic vocation in the Church’s life,” noted Fr. Thomas Nelson, O.Praem., National Director of the Institute on Religious Life. “Since the lives of these women and men religious dedicated to prayer and sacrifice is often hidden, this annual celebration reminds us of the need to support their unique mission within the Body of Christ,” he added.

In 1997 Bl. Pope John Paul II asked that this ecclesial event be observed worldwide on November 21, the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s Presentation in the Temple. It is a special day to thank those in the cloistered and monastic life for serving as “a leaven of renewal and of the presence of the spirit of Christ in the world.” It is also intended to remind others of the need to provide spiritual and material support “for those who pray.”

Pope Benedict XVI has spoken often of the tremendous value of the cloistered, contemplative life. Speaking to a group of cloistered Dominican nuns in Rome, the Holy Father referred to such religious as “the heart” which provides blood to the rest of the Body of Christ. He noted that in their work and prayer, together with Christ, they are the “heart” of the Church and in their desire for God’s love they approach the ultimate goal.

The nationwide effort to publicize Pro Orantibus Day is coordinated by the Institute on Religious Life, a national organization based in Chicago.

For instruction and aids to celebrate the day please see our FREE resources.

MOST REV. JOSEPH TOBIN, C.Ss.R.

(Click for printable PDF of this reflection.)

In observance of Pro Orantibus Day 2012
Reading: Lk 19:11-28

These words, taken from the Office of Readings for the memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, can help us glimpse how the journey of a single disciple and that of his or her community are intimately A Day of Support for Cloistered Life.

“For Those Who Pray” connected and together form a response of faith. In fact, communities of the contemplative life seek to establish within themselves the same dynamic connection that made the Virgin Mary both a hearer and doer of the Word. The journey of an individual, in fact, happens and grows in the atmosphere of a community that is genuinely dedicated to a search for God.

The parable proclaimed in today’s reading from Luke speaks of some servants who received varying amounts of money from their king. The “coins” are often seen to be the personal gifts or talents that God bestows on each of us in varying degrees. However, we could also understand the “coins” as the gift of time, and the members of the contemplative life invite us to consider how we use the grace of each new day.

The contemplative life, through a centuries-old wisdom regarding the use of time and space, together with its own rhythm of life, offers a particular way of realizing the principal goal in life for any one of us: the search for God. The routine of each day becomes a sort of “school” in which the monk or sister can explore the ways of the God who so loved the world that He gave His only Son. Each day is, first and foremost, a sort of apprenticeship in faith that is guided by the regular rhythms that might be compared to the vital actions of inhaling and exhaling: prayer and work, wakefulness and rest, fraternity and solitude, silence and speech. God is part of it all. In an increasingly secularized world, where God is perceived to be absent or indifferent, the daily life of a contemplative community witnesses to the mysterious presence of God, who is both utterly transcendent as well as the Friend who, in the light of the Incarnation, delights in dwelling in human history and sharing human affairs. The community is called to testify with its lifestyle to its daily search for the Face of God. Such a search calls for the unreserved commitment of each individual but, paradoxically, it is a search that each member cannot accomplish alone. The writings of St. Clare of Assisi allude to this truth. When speaking of her own spiritual journey, she often refers to my Sisters and I or, I, together with the Sisters the Lord has given me. Francis had already recognized this mutual relationship, when he gratefully observed that the Lord gave me brothers.

Contemplative monks and nuns pursue a manner of living in which the faith they profess and celebrate gradually becomes life itself. In this way, they strive to heal the terrible schizophrenia that happens to Christians when faith is separated from life. This manner of living is held together by some important forces, such as the wisdom of the liturgical year, offered by the Church as a way of re-living the great events of our salvation. The liturgy invites the contemplatives to immerse their lives in the life of Christ, so that He might transform them to ever more resemble Him. In union with the entire People of God, the community drinks each day from the fountain of the liturgy, as the members continue their pilgrimage towards the “promised land” that is the glorified body of their Risen Lord.

Another source of daily nourishment is the Word of God. In a certain sense, the contemplatives do not read the Word, rather they permit the Word to “read” their lives by revealing the real meaning of existence. This Word is shared among the members of the community, so that the fragmentation of life is transformed into ways that conduct the members to a more intimate knowledge of the Source of life itself. Hence the Word, together with the Eucharist, provide daily instruction in the ways of faith, helping the monks and sisters to see and believe by recognizing in even the most ordinary moments the presence of the Lord and His saving power.

The Letter to the Hebrews described how Moses by faith left Egypt, not fearing the king’s fury, for he persevered as if seeing the one who is invisible (Heb 11:27). Such is the prophetic vocation of a contemplative community that finds in a world that has lost its moorings, a world in which everything is extremely fragile and too often undependable, the solidity of the rock that is Christ Himself, who accompanies them through the desert (cf. 1 Cor 10:4). This rock gives the monks and sisters the eyes of faith that become accustomed to perceive the mysterious and invisible presence of the One who is actually very close to them and is nothing less that the foundation of their hope and the certain promise of its fulfillment.

Most Rev. Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., is the secretary of the Vatican Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. Born in Detroit, Archbishop Tobin is the eldest of thirteen children. He joined the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists) in 1973 and was ordained a priest in 1978. As a priest he served Spanish-speaking immigrants in the USA and Canada before being elected superior general in 1997 and ordained a bishop in 2010.

To receive a calling can be an unsettling concept. Our first impulse may be to ignore the calling if it puts us outside of our comfort zone. Or perhaps we may hide or run, rather than responding to it. Fear can be crippling. But what if the calling is from Love itself? We may remain uncertain, but our response is no longer one of fear. Ultimately, we are compelled to respond in love and trust.

This is how the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Philadelphia view their calling – they have come to the religious life because of the calling of Jesus, who is Love incarnate. Thus, they are here for one reason: for love alone. Jesus desires that we seek his company, and waits for our response. The nuns stress that the call to religious life can hardly be considered an achievement of theirs, for none of them could have achieved it without the grace of God. The nuns firmly believe it is Christ who calls them, not the other way around!

Led by an interior pull

As one of the Carmelites describes it, they are led by an interior pull. While it may be unclear initially, this pull becomes a conviction for each woman to live the life of a Carmelite Nun. The vocation that each of them receives is a gift, and the call is a tremendous honor. Called to a life of austerity, comtemplative prayer, and enclosure, the calling is one embraced with unspeakable joy.

The Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Philadelphia recently launched their first website,  www.discalcedcarmelitesphila.org, from which this article was inspired. Be sure to watch the three new videos posted there and learn more about this religious community. You can also see their video “The Call” on their YouTube channel.

One day our Mother foundress, Mother Mary Agnes Faulhaber, revealed to her companions on the Toledo Foundation a special grace she received on Holy Thursday. Our Lord revealed to her that “this foundation is to be for the manifestation of the glory of His Sacred Heart and that it will be so in proportion as its members practice self-abasement, self-effacement, self-contempt and self-annihilation.” These words sound harsh to a world in which one’s worth seems to depend on rank, honor, prestige, wealth. But if we go to an old Webster’s Dictionary (the 1935 edition to be exact) we will discover that they are an apt description of the life of Our Lord.

We are presented with a program of humility though which we experience the presence of God in the soul. Quite simply it is the life of our Lord who is the Way, the Truth, the Life. It is the hidden life.

For more information, go to the Sisters of the Visitation of Toledo, Ohio.

Dear Family,

Praised be Jesus Christ and His Holy Mother! I’m looking forward to my second Lent in the monastery. What a wonderful surprise was in store for me before Ash Wednesday — three days of more solemn and lengthy Eucharistic Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. You remember from our brochures that we do have Exposition every day, but this was special with a capital “S.” So many hours of prayer and adoration.

Even More Austeries

You may wonder what Lent is like in an Order that already keeps a perpetual Lenten fast and abstinence even outside of the liturgical season. Believe it or not, we do make a few changes that reflect even more the austerity of this season. Beginning with Ash Wednesday, the organ is silent. The Liturgy of the Hours and Holy Mass are sung a capella except on Laetare Sunday and Solemnities. You remember that there is no correspondence or visiting until Easter. The community prays an offering of the Precious Blood together nine times a day and on Saturdays we pray the chaplet of Our Lady’s Seven Sorrows, just to mention a couple of Lenten practices. Meals are simple without many condiments but, I assure you, healthy and quite sufficient. Oh, and so much more to tell you, but I’ll have to do that some other time!

Until next time, I am off to the Lenten desert!

Sincerely,
Sister Mary Neophilus

Read all posts about the Rockford Poor Clares on this website, or the article “A Day Within the Walls.” Or go to the website of the Poor Clare Colettines in Rockford, IL.

The following is a letter from a fictional novice of the Poor Clare Colettine Nuns in Rockford, IL.

Dear Mom, Dad, and all!

Peace and Blessings! God reward you for the family news. Now to give another glimpse of my life here at the monastery. One great joy I want to share is that I’m becoming a polyglot! I’m learning a new language. A second language in the cloister? Yes, because silence is the language of God and you may recall that silence was not my predominant virtue! Here in our cloister it is an essential part of our union with Him. I pray someday it will become my best language!

Hard to Learn

Silence is also the language of love, another reason to become most fluent in it. I think the interior silence is the hardest to learn. Memories, images and thoughts tend to crowd in and occupy the mind. It takes practice not to pay undue attention to them and really focus on the present moment with full attention, intention and deliberation. So much to learn! Soon we will enter the great silence of Lent. More about that another time! How are the dogs, and that troublesome cat next door? Love and miss you, but we are one in heart and prayer!

Sincerely,
Sister Mary Neophilus

To learn more, go to the website of the Corpus Christi Monastery of the Poor Clare Colettines in Rockford, IL and read, “A Life of Prayer and Worship.”

That’s true, judged by web visits to the Sisters’ new Second Federation website, begun last February. Visits have increased to 650 per month, and the website has posted a steady stream of articles on Salesian spirituality, while explaining little-known devotions and facts in the lives of the two founders, St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal.

This spirituality is suited for both those living in the world, and for contemplative life, such as that of sisters living in the Visitation’s cloistered communities. The 1999 Vatican instruction Verbi Sponsa states,  “. . . Just as in the upper room, Mary in her heart, with her prayerful presence, watched over the origins of the Church, so too now the Church’s journey is entrusted to the loving heart and praying hands of cloistered nuns” (No. 4).

Growth in Africa and Other Areas

The Order, formally known as the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary, was founded in 1610 by Saint Francis de Sales and Saint Jane Frances de Chantal in Annecy, in eastern France. The Order spread from France throughout Europe and beyond. Today the group numbers approximately 2,500 Sisters in more than 150 monasteries throughout the world. They are growing in Africa; there is a monastery in Korea, and in South and Central America the houses continue to expand.

For more information on the Visitation and its spirituality for religious and laity, visit the Second Federation of the Visitation. Learn also about cloistered Visitation communities, such as the Toledo, OH Visitation.

St. Anthony was reputed to be a miracle-maker and many were converted by him. His surviving works include a letter to the Emperor Constantine and  several ones to different monasteries. St. Athanasius, who knew Anthony well and wrote his biography, said, “Anthony was not known for his writings nor for his worldly wisdom, nor for any art, but simply for his reverence toward God.”

Anthony lived a long and righteous life and died at the age of 105. In keeping with his instructions, two of his disciples buried his body secretly in an unmarked grave. In 561 his relics were transferred to Alexandria, and much later, they were claimed by Constantinople and by La Motte, where the Order of Hospitallers of St. Anthony was founded c. 1100. His feastday is January 17.