So I Read The Dominican Soul

[Chiquitunga]

[quote name='Indwelling Trinity' timestamp='1283613053' post='2167781']
Laughing that is because being hermits we like to hide in the back!
[/quote]
Yes!

[quote name='Hilde' timestamp='1283605320' post='2167741']
Perpetual rosary?
[/quote]

They're a particular branch of the Dominican Nuns .. [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominican_Nuns_of_the_Perpetual_Rosary"]http://en.wikipedia....erpetual_Rosary[/url] I don't know all of them in the US, but Summit and Buffalo are two of them. They have received a special privilege/indult as I've heard it called, to pray the Rosary 24/7 (I believe) in the name of the Church. Some others here may be able to explain this better though.

A few more quick references to it ..

[url="http://www.dominicanmonastery.org/duties.html"]http://www.dominican...org/duties.html[/url]

[url="http://www.monialesop.org/2007/01/perpetual-rosary-association.html"]http://www.monialeso...ssociation.html[/url]

[font="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"] [/font][quote][font="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"][size="2"]We take our turn praying the Rosary, day and night, before the Blessed Sacrament exposed on our Altar. [/size][/font][/quote]
[url="http://www.fatima-dominicans.com/"]http://www.fatima-dominicans.com/[/url]

Edited September 4, 2010 by Chiquitunga

[krissylou]

[quote name='Chiquitunga' timestamp='1283627713' post='2167880']
Yes!



They're a particular branch of the Dominican Nuns .. [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominican_Nuns_of_the_Perpetual_Rosary"]http://en.wikipedia....erpetual_Rosary[/url] I don't know all of them in the US, but Summit and Buffalo are two of them. They have received a special privilege/indult as I've heard it called, to pray the Rosary 24/7 (I believe) in the name of the Church. Some others here may be able to explain this better though.

A few more quick references to it ..

[url="http://www.dominicanmonastery.org/duties.html"]http://www.dominican...org/duties.html[/url]

[url="http://www.monialesop.org/2007/01/perpetual-rosary-association.html"]http://www.monialeso...ssociation.html[/url]

[font="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"] [/font]
[url="http://www.fatima-dominicans.com/"]http://www.fatima-dominicans.com/[/url]


[/quote]

So, I have a dumb question.

I had thought that the Rosary was originally a way for the illiterate peasantry to join in on the universal prayer of the Church -- the Liturgy of the Hours.

Monks and nuns prayed the 150 psalms.

If you can't read, praying the Psalter is tricky. (Yes, I know the Desert Fathers and Mothers memorized the whole thing.)

A full rosary has 150 Hail Marys and so is a symbolic way of joining in the prayer of the monks and nuns.

But the good nuns at Summit (and elsewhere) are NUNS. In a monastery. They can read. And they pray the Liturgy of the Hours.

So for them to pray the Rosary -- and to have a Perpetual Rosary devotion -- seems a mite odd.

Yes, I know full well that traditions evolve over time. And what something once meant is not necessarily what it means in a later era.

But does anyone have any insight to offer here?

[dominicansoul]

I don't believe it's odd at all... the Psalms are not the Rosary...the Rosary is not the Psalms...

[dominicansoul]

[quote]A DOMINICAN SOUL is a soul of light whose rapt gaze dwells in the
inaccessible splendor wherein God conceals Himself. It lives with Him by faith, is in
the company of the Three Divine Persons; a true child of God, adopted through grace
into the very Family of the Trinity. The invisible world becomes familiar to it; it
pursues its way on earth in intimacy with Christ, the Blessed Mother and the saints. It
perceives everything in the radiance of God.[/quote]

To me, this beginning paragraph of this marvelous work of art, states that in order to be a true Dominican, one must live one's life practicing the Presence of God, seeing everything of and in this world in light of Eternity, while at the same time possessing friendship with God, Blessed Mother, and the saints and angels.

Just this first paragraph offers me a great challenge! You can spend your whole lifetime practicing what is explained here...but with God nothing is impossible...! onward Dominican Souls!!!

[IgnatiusofLoyola]

[quote name='krissylou' timestamp='1283629750' post='2167885']
So, I have a dumb question.

I had thought that the Rosary was originally a way for the illiterate peasantry to join in on the universal prayer of the Church -- the Liturgy of the Hours.

Monks and nuns prayed the 150 psalms.

If you can't read, praying the Psalter is tricky. (Yes, I know the Desert Fathers and Mothers memorized the whole thing.)

A full rosary has 150 Hail Marys and so is a symbolic way of joining in the prayer of the monks and nuns.

But the good nuns at Summit (and elsewhere) are NUNS. In a monastery. They can read. And they pray the Liturgy of the Hours.

So for them to pray the Rosary -- and to have a Perpetual Rosary devotion -- seems a mite odd.

Yes, I know full well that traditions evolve over time. And what something once meant is not necessarily what it means in a later era.

But does anyone have any insight to offer here?
[/quote]

My insight is, of course, a secular one, but I think it has some validity in this case.

The Summit Dominicans are very smart. They get me to visit their Web site because I like buying their soap and I like their blog. So, they sneakily get this secular type interested in reading about their way of life and their devotion to Mary and other saints before she even realizes it.

And, besides having a perpetual Rosary devotion among their own Sisters, they also have a Perpetual Rosary society (?) that laypeople can join, and (I'm pretty sure) they invite laypeople to join them in reciting the rosary in their chapel, which is very beautiful. (Obviously not in the cloistered nuns' portion of the chapel, but in the part of the chapel open to everyone.) So, their perpetual Rosary devotion also gets others, who probably aren't able or ready to recite the LOTH, interested in making a commitment to reciting the Rosary on a regular basis.

I'm sure that's not their only or even main purpose for perpetual Rosary devotion, but it does lead to greater Rosary devotion among a wide group of people. I believe there is a parish church very near their monastery, so members of the parish can easily visit the monastery chapel. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong about that, and I'm mixing them up with some other Community.) And, helping lead others to devotion to Mary and the Rosary is a good thing.

Some other interesting things I discovered about the Summit Domicans, which, to me at least, were a positive. Yes, their Web site has lots of pictures, but they are mostly of women in the novitiate, and it appears that the Summit Dominican vocation recruiting efforts are very effective. Only 2 or 3 women enter each year, but, at least in the past few years or so, their postulants seem to have remained with the community--in fact, one former Phatmasser is making her first profession next month. Attracting and keeping new vocations is, to me a positive thing.

But, once I bought their soaps, I got their newsletter, and a postcard with a picture of their whole community. The community is actually larger than a cursory look at the Web site would suggest, and includes nuns of all ages, including some very elderly nuns. It is not a new, young community--it has nuns representing the wisdom of every age. Again, to my mind, this is a good thing. (I'm not suggesting in ANY way that young communities are bad, just that, as someone over 30, I like the fact that the community is one of women of all ages, which to me represents stability and wisdom.)

Not all Communities want to be like the Summit Dominicans--and that, to me, is good as well. There is room for all types of ways to serve God. God created humans to be very different from one another, and so those called to religious life are obviously going to be attracted to a wide range of Communities.

I've strayed from the reasons for perpetual Rosary devotion (as usual). My very non-linear mind tends to lead me in multiple directions. I've decided to think of it as part of my charm.

Edited September 4, 2010 by IgnatiusofLoyola

[AccountDeleted]

[quote name='vee8' timestamp='1283610528' post='2167764']
Wow krissylou you could offer your own nun run tours! Thanks for all the links so I can at least be an armchair traveler. Same goes to you chiquitunga! Ive never heard of a perpetual Rosary before, its nice to know someone somehwere is always saying it. Nunsense now its eat well, sleep well, laugh well?! What happened to buckets of holy tears? Iggy it would be awesome to have you as a visitor provided I ever make it to a convent and stay there long enough to have visitors!
[/quote]


We couldn't shed our buckets of holy tears if we didn't eat well, sleep well and laugh well first. We would get too exhaused!

One of the things that the Carmelites try to avoid, is accepting applicants who suffer from depression or melancholy. The life is very isolating in many ways and if one is not finding their strength through an inner experience of the presence of God, then it can become very difficult to maintain a healthy mental and emotional state. The tears of a Carmelite should not be from sadness but from the joy, love and ecstasy caused by the overwhelming presence of God.

Even when one is expreiencing dryness in prayer (that made me think about tears as 'wetness in prayer' , ) there is an emphasis on making sure that the physical side of things in Carmelite life is well balanced -- eating, sleeping and of course laughing as well. A Carmelite Recreation is a time of much fun and laughter. I dont know which convent I was in where I saw it, but there was a little cartoon that had the motto on it about a Carmelite needing to eat well, sleep well and laugh well. And every Prioress has made it clear to me that because the life is hard, a Carmelite must be able to do these things or she won't be able to serve God in Carmel for the rest of her life.

So I think that tears and laughter go hand in hand in Carmel, and both of these require a balanced approach to food and sleep.

Sorry to hijack a Dominican thread.....

[vee]

That is a very welcome hijack nunsense! If the Dominicans get upset by that I will just wave the Summa at them and they will be like

Edited September 5, 2010 by vee8

[AccountDeleted]

As for the debate over Mary's mantle, I agree with IT that Carmelites are a bit hermit like and need their space but there is another reason (for me) that I won't be hanging about under Our Lady's mantle for too long. She has tied a Rosary around her Son's waist and handed me the end of it, so I will be leaving the protection of her mantle to go straight to Him!

[vee]

I doubt the Dominicans would last very long under that mantle either since they would probably wander off to the library.... even though they will have all kinds of infused knowledge they still want to attend Thomas' Summa lecture

[IgnatiusofLoyola]

[quote name='vee8' timestamp='1283659900' post='2168133']
I doubt the Dominicans would last very long under that mantle either since they would probably wander off to the library.... even though they will have all kinds of infused knowledge they still want to attend Thomas' Summa lecture
[/quote]

The Dominicans talked Thomas into giving his Summa lecture under Mary's mantle so they can have both at the same time.

Edited September 5, 2010 by IgnatiusofLoyola

[vee]

[quote name='IgnatiusofLoyola' timestamp='1283660118' post='2168135']
The Dominicans talked Thomas into giving his Summa lecture under Mary's mantle so they can have both at the same time.
[/quote]

Oooooh good one!

[AccountDeleted]

[quote name='IgnatiusofLoyola' timestamp='1283660118' post='2168135']
The Dominicans talked Thomas into giving his Summa lecture under Mary's mantle so they can have both at the same time.
[/quote]

Those Dominicans think of everything!

[holly.o]

Here you go, making me more Dominican again...

I always get a sense of joy f/ Dominicans, & this quote really brought home the source of that joy:

[quote]The Dominican soul finds its joy in proclaiming and singing the supreme grandeur of Him alone Who is.[/quote]

I had read this a long time ago & found myself in this quote:

[quote]Where is the Dominican who does not dream of living and dying with the Rosary in his or her hand?[/quote]

Regarding being in Mary's mantle... I was at Adoration the other night, & a woman had a long, beautiful scarf covering her head. Her ~5 yro daughter was with her. The daughter wandered a little about the Chapel and wasn't always still (but very respectful for a child that young & even prayed the Rosary & Divine Mercy Chaplet with us!). At one point, the child knelt down next to her mom, lifted up the scarf, & hid herself in it. I thought that was such a beautiful image of us with Mary!

[sistersintigo]

[quote name='krissylou' timestamp='1283629750' post='2167885']
So, I have a dumb question.

I had thought that the Rosary was originally a way for the illiterate peasantry to join in on the universal prayer of the Church -- the Liturgy of the Hours.

Monks and nuns prayed the 150 psalms.

If you can't read, praying the Psalter is tricky. (Yes, I know the Desert Fathers and Mothers memorized the whole thing.)

A full rosary has 150 Hail Marys and so is a symbolic way of joining in the prayer of the monks and nuns.

But the good nuns at Summit (and elsewhere) are NUNS. In a monastery. They can read. And they pray the Liturgy of the Hours.

So for them to pray the Rosary -- and to have a Perpetual Rosary devotion -- seems a mite odd.

Yes, I know full well that traditions evolve over time. And what something once meant is not necessarily what it means in a later era.

But does anyone have any insight to offer here?
[/quote]Nothing dumb about your question! The answers are online, however to piece the answers together you have to read the fine print about the history of women in the Order of Preachers. What made it easier for me, was looking from the North American standpoint of Dominican Order congregations who made foundations from Europe to, for example, the United States. You see, Summit is a second order monastery of cloistered Dominican nuns -- today -- but their foundation is another question.
The European establishing of the Dominican Sisters of the Perpetual Rosary, is a recent innovation relative to monastic history, and said Sisters were intended to be a variation on conventional monasteries of Dominican cloistered Second Order nuns, which of course go back to the twelfth century and dear old Holy Father Dominic (Prouilhe, south of France).
I believe the French speaking Catholics who started the Dominican Sisters of the Perpetual Rosary, did so in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century; and if I remember my reading right, they started in the French-speaking regions of Belgium. Eventually there were houses in France and in other parts of Europe. The founder's name, to look for, is father Saintourens OP. The Dominican Sisters of the Perpetual Rosary, after lengthy negotiating with Rome, was allowed to begin as a Third Order Religious Institute. Their sisters, therefore, made perpetual profession rather than solemn profession; and although their lifestyle was as monastic as they could make it, their houses were NOT Second Order monasteries with all the canon-law strictness. Thus, this congregation provided access to a monastic and contemplative style of life to devout women for whom the Rosary, and perhaps the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin for example, was more accessible than the 150 Psalms of the Divine Office.
So, Dominican women's cloisters in the United States, at one point, could be either Second Order monasteries, or Third Order religious institutes, depending on whether their European roots came from Dominic, and Prouilhe, or from fr. Saintourens and Belgium.
Things have since changed, and they didn't wait for the Second Vatican Council either -- they made these changes in the first part of the 1900's.
Summit, New Jersey's roots come from what used to be popularly known as the Blue Chapel. On the western side of the Hudson, close to today's Holland Tunnel, the Blue Chapel was as close to New York as you could get, and still be in the state of New Jersey. The municipality is Union City, and the community there was founded directly from the European Third Order Religious Institute of the Dominican Sisters of the Perpetual Rosary.
On the other hand, the Newark, New Jersey monastery of Dominican Nuns was always Second Order, with roots straight back to Prouilhe.

Edited September 5, 2010 by sistersintigo

[vee]

[quote name='krissylou' timestamp='1283553812' post='2167622']

About two hours away there are Dominicans

[url="http://www.vocationws.com/"]http://www.vocationws.com/[/url]


[/quote]

Wow they look wonderful! My problem is everytime I see a pic of the back of
a Dominican like this
[img]http://www.stjudemonastery.org/adoration1.jpg[/img]

I kind of confuse it for a certain other Order
[img]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_wr40QTymJRc/Sqbshx4bLAI/AAAAAAAAA-Y/27Id5fCs0JA/s320/carmelites+communion.jpg[/img]

*sigh* I think I have brain damage