Summer and Fall Happenings
We’ve had a busy summer here at the monastery - so busy we haven’t posted in a while! In late August, five of our sisters traveled to Springfield, Illinois to participate in the General Assembly of the North American Association of Dominican Monasteries. The agenda included various proposals and the approval of a new text of our Ratio Formationis (formation guidelines updated in accord with the latest norms from the Holy See), as well as lectures from Fr. Thomas Joseph White, O.P. and Fr. Anthony Giambrone, O.P. and a couple of presentations by the Master of the Order, Fr. Gerard Timoner, O.P. who was present for several days of the meeting.
The bishop of Springfield, Bishop Thomas Paprocki, extended a warm welcome, stopping by to offer Mass and visit with the sisters from our seven member monasteries. Since the meeting was held only about a half hour away from the Dominican monastery in Girard, Illinois, the Assembly sisters visited and got a tour of the newly built monastery. It was a joy for our sisters to connect with the sisters from our other monasteries, and to see Sr. Mary Catharine again, who is a nun of our monastery but has been serving as superior of the monastery in the Bronx for the past several years and is currently also serving as the President of our Association.
Shortly after our sisters returned home, we began our annual community retreat, preached by Fr. Anthony Giambrone, O.P. Fr. Anthony is a professor of Scripture and Vice-Director of the École Biblique in Jerusalem. We had beautiful weather, which together with the excellent retreat conferences made for a very nice community retreat. We enjoyed visiting with Fr. Anthony in the parlor after our retreat concluded and hearing about his life in Jerusalem.
Since Labor Day had fallen within our retreat, we held our own “Labor Day Observed” after our retreat ended on September 8, the feast of the Nativity of Our Lady. We usually have a cookout on Labor Day and eat a picnic dinner outside on the cloister. But this year we had the extra excitement of celebrating the vestition of one of our postulants!
Meanwhile, our gardens have been steadily giving forth an abundance of tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, carrots, corn, and more. We’re nearing the end and the produce is beginning to taper off, but we just dug up a crop of carrots. Some of them had very interesting shapes!
We’re looking forward now to our upcoming Rosary Pilgrimage on October 5. We hope to see you there!
