110 Years of Profession of Irish Dominican Nuns in Fatima, Portugal

Sr Diane OP from Enniscorthy and Sr Angela OP from Cabra, Dublin

 

A pilgrimage to Fatima in Portugal has provided me with the opportunity to visit the Dominican nuns at Pius XII monastery located in the town. The monastery is relatively new having opened in Marian Year in 1954 and the international community of nuns has had a strong Irish influence over the years.

 

Today I met with two amazing sisters who between them have lived 110 years of professed religious life in that monastery. Sr Diane, originally from Enniscorthy in County Wexford joined the new community prior to its official foundation and has been in Fatima for 60 years. She recounted today the story of how she came to be a Dominican nun having earlier tried her vocation as a Loreto sister, then subsequently as an office worker. A feisty woman, she has held many posts of responsibility in the cloistered community. The dynamic Sr Angela from Cabra in the northside of Dublin who maintains her strong Dublin accent remined me that on Monday (May 13th) she will be celebrating her 50th anniversary of entering the Order. Joy and happiness of living the contemplative life marked the tone of our conversation. Despite many struggles, the community now has a novice and has enquiries about their way of life. They maintain great hope that the nuns will be able to continue to serve the many pilgrims who come to our Lady's shrine at Fatima. Their twofold mission of prayer and spreading devotion to Our Lady of Fatima is as necessary today as it was when the monastery was founded.

 

I felt proud of these two extraordinary Irish women who live the Dominican charism in quiet contemplation and who continue to give an example to the world of the gift of the vocation of the Domincan nuns. Long may they continue to flourish.

 

For more information on the life and mission of the nuns, please visit their website: http://www.fatima-dominicans.com/

Credo Video Series - No.4

"One Lord Jesus Christ" is the object for discussion in the fourth instalment of the Credo video series from the Irish Dominican student brothers.

Dr Carole Brown is interviewed on the identity of Jesus Christ touching opinions in other religions about Jesus, Old Testament background to Christian belief in Jesus and, of course, evidence from the New Testament itself. 

Follow this link to the student brothers' website to watch the 30 minute video: http://dominicansinteractive.com/series/credo8/445-credo-series-episode-4

Lay Dominicans at Queens University Belfast receive new members

 

 Left to right: Francis McCaughan (president), Sorcha Nic Bhloscaidh, fr Gerard Dunne OP, Karen Gilloway and Lisa Hanna (secretary).

A newly formed lay Dominican chapter in Belfast received two new members at a special event in the Catholic chaplaincy at Queens University Belfast last night (May 8th, 2013). The chapter which is just eighteen months in existence and under the patronage of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati is the youngest chapter of the lay Dominicans in Ireland.

Karen Gilloway and Sorcha Nic Bhloscaidh are both teachers and were received into the chapter during the celebration of the Eucharist at the Catholic chaplaincy in Elmwood Avenue. They have spent the past number of months in preparation and have undergone a formation programme prior to being received. They join the present members Francis McCaughan and Lisa Hanna in the new chapter which has as it's mission the reflection on Dominican and church documents and the regular prayer life of other such lay Dominican chapters around the world. The chapter has already run a number of successful events to mark the Year of Faith.

The Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati chapter is indebted to the Catholic chaplaincy at Queens University Belfast and the chaplain Fr Gary Toman for facilitating their presence and also for his tremendous support. The author of this blog is the spiritual promoter of the chapter.

The vocation of the lay Dominican is an important one in the life of the church and the Order. Lay Dominicans make a significant contribution by the witness of their lives as Dominicans and are a source of support to the local church. For more information on the lay Dominicans in Ireland visit their website: http://new.laydominicans.ie/home and for news of the Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati chapter in Belfast you can follow them on Facebook under Lay Dominicans QUB chapter

Dominican Connect - May 2013

Irish Dominicans in the New York Times, 'Credo' video series & Final Profession South America - these are the three main stories of Dominican Connect May 2013.

The May issue of the vocations' office newsletter also looks forward to the summer events hosted by the two Dominican Retreat centres - one in Cork, one in Dublin.

And finally, Fr Clement Greenan OP, (pictured above) the second eldest member of the Irish Dominican friars, is featured on page 4.

Click here to download an electronic copy of Dominican Connect May 2013.

Printed copies of Dominican Connect May 2013 are available in Dominican churches and other centres in Ireland from the first weekend in May.

Credo Video Series - No.3

Maker of Heaven & Earth" is the object of discussion in part three of the 'Credo' video series from the Irish Dominican student brothers.


Brother Conor McDonough OP, a student at St Saviour's Priory, Dublin, is interviewed in this third instalment.

He presents very clearly the Jewish-Christian understanding of God's creation and compares it to other, ancient and recent, ideas about the origin of the universe.

Watch the video on YouTube here:
 

Vocations Prayer Initiative in Tralee, County Kerry

People attending Mass in the Dominican church (Holy Cross) Tralee with the icon of Saint Dominic

 

 The ongoing prayer initiative for vocations to the Dominican way of life headed to the south west of Ireland this weekend and arrived at the Dominican church (Holy Cross) in Tralee, County Kerry. For the past year and a half, the prayer campaign has been brought to Dominican churches and centres around the country in a bid to broaden the base of those praying specifically for Dominican vocations. The specially commissioned icon of Saint Dominic that provides a focus for those invited to pray has been remarked on by very many people. It is, of course, the work of the Redemptoristine community in Drumcondra, Dublin under the watchful supervision of renowned iconographer, Mihai Cucu.

In preaching on vocations this weekend in Tralee, I was struck by the response of the people to the invitation to pray. Several people are taking the opportunity to create circles of prayer in the town on a regular basis to pray for the Dominican Order and especially for an increase in vocations to our province and also to the other branches of the Dominican family in Ireland. It is a response like this that makes this prayer initiative more than worthwhile. 

 

The icon remains in Tralee until the end of May before moving on to the next location in the mid-west. 

Credo Video Series - No.2

Theologian Dr Carol Brown is interviewed in the second video in the 'Credo' series from the Irish Dominican student brothers.

The second instalment in the Credo video series examines the first phrase (or 'article') of the Nicene Creed, 'I believe in one God, the Father almighty'.

While opening up the meaning of the words, this week's interview discusses the Creed in connection with ordinary experiences of engaging with religious practice with experiences from enthusiastic faith to unbelief.

Follow this link to watch the video on the student brothers' website: http://dominicansinteractive.com/series/credo8/438-credo-series-episode-2

Download the app to keep in touch with this and other Dominican content: http://itunes.apple.com/app/idoms-portal/id503647825