Update on Cloistered Sisters in NJ

If you recall, on January 2nd of this year, I posted a prayer request for the the Dominican Nuns of the Perpetual Rosary in Union City, NJ. Click HERE

Recently, someone left an update in the comments section of that post and I'd like to share it with you:

Post-Easter update, Monastery of the Perpetual Rosary, Dominican nuns, Union City, NJ: I phoned the monastery and spoke with Sr. Carol Marie OP, the sub-prioress, to find out what happens next.

It is resignedly accepted that the Union City foundation must be closed. They received attention within their Order, from a report in MONIALIBUS, the international newsletter of the Second Order of cloistered Dominican nuns (recommended- you can find it online). At the time, the OP promoter of the nuns, fr. Manuel Merten OP, reported on his visitation at Union City. When he visited, Union City had a community of six women. The oldest was over ninety, and had been solemn professed for over sixty years, always at that location. She wanted to remain, die, and be buried in Union City. Other nuns accepted the alternative of moving on and being absorbed into the Dominican nuns of a different monastery somewhere else.

Here is how things stood at Easter this year. Sr. Mary Clare OP, the elderly nun referenced above, died last year and is buried in Union City, so her wish was granted. The oldest of the five surviving nuns is Sr. Mary Gemma OP. Physically too weak to go back and forth through the cloister, she is excused from community events, and confined to her monastery cell. The prioress, Sr. Mary Jordan OP, apparently afflicted with the complications of progressed diabetes, cannot walk. She was graciously admitted to the nursing care facility which the Caldwell NJ congregation of active Dominican sisters reserve for their own elderly and infirm women.
Sr. Mary Charlotte recently hurt herself in a fall. The physicians can no longer be persuaded to visit the enclosure to give first aid to an injured "moniale"/nun. She had to be sent to a hospital and remains there while the nuns wait for the doctor to get the X-rays back from the lab, to determine if Sr. Charlotte has any fractures.

If you are keeping track, we have accounted for four of six women, including the one who went home to her Lord last year.
Sub-Prioress Sr. Carol Marie OP, and Sr. Maria Aquinas OP, at about seventy years of age the youngest in the community, are now the only two able-bodied women in the Union city foundation.

Sr. Carol tells me, that discernment for their community proceeds slowly with many interruptions. Their short list of "next homes" is: Syracuse, NY; Hunts Point, the Bronx, NY; and Lancaster, PA. With each of these Dominican monasteries, one nun from Union City has been dispatched to live with them in the cloister for a period of two weeks, then return to her house and disclose to her sisters what she observed.

Obviously, illness and injury complicate and delay the process by which Union City must be closed, and the surviving nuns absorbed into another monastery of the Second Order of St Dominic's Order of Preachers. Please, keep these nuns in your prayers.

Another Saintly Quote

Thanks Sue.

If you truly want to help the soul of your neighbor, you should approach God first with all your heart. Ask him simply to fill you with charity, the greatest of all virtues;with it you can accomplish what you desire.

Saint Vincent Ferrer (1350-1419)

Saintly Quote

Thanks Sue.

The secret of happiness is to live moment by moment and to thank God for all that He,
in His goodness, sends to us day after day.

Blessed Glanna Beretta Molla (1922-1962)

Thoughts to Ponder

Thanks Froggy!

Practice makes you perfect so be careful what you practice

Love dissolves hate. Kindness melts cruelty. Compassion calms passion. Cooperation evokes love and when we bow, others bend. This creates harmony.

A racing mind that reacts sensitively to little things indicates thinking that has lost its spiritual strength. Meditation restores that power.

Whatever you give comes back to you. Whatever you take will not stay with you.

Success comes in cans, failure in cant's.

New DVD Collection - The Catholic Mass Revealed

Normally, I do not post about things for sale. However, today I am making an exception. My friend Sue shared a link to a DVD collection which artistically demonstrates and teaches about the beauty of the Catholic Mass.

Take a moment to view the clips and audio samples.

CLICK HERE

The mission of Thy Kingdom Come is to promote a renewal of love for the Catholic Church by deepening the commitment and understanding of the people of God. With this renewed commitment, we aim to open and strengthen society’s participation in the Christian life, and establish a sense of hope in the future of the Catholic Church.

We believe that only through personal relationships can a sense of community be reestablished that will awaken in lay people the commitment to follow through on their path to holiness with a sense of purpose, humility and joyful anticipation. We hope that our projects will provide an opportunity to create these relationships in local communities.

Though many educational opportunities exist in the Church, many lay people do not take advantage of these opportunities. To accomplish our goals, our material must be in a format that is easy to access, simple to navigate, visually appealing, emotionally moving and, most importantly, compiled into truth-filled presentations.

Over time, Thy Kingdom Come will create projects that will be an invaluable resource to the Church, both pastors and lay faithful, and society.

Thy Kingdom Come, Inc. A new kind of Catholic Publisher

Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Shared by Sue.

Act of Consecration to the Most Holy Sacred Heart

by Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque

I, ( your name. . .), give myself and consecrate to the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ my person and my life, my actions, pains, and sufferings, so that I may be unwilling to make use of any part of my being save to honor, love, and glorify the Sacred Heart.

This is my unchanging purpose, namely, to be all His, and to do all things for the love of Him, at the same time renouncing with all my heart whatever is displeasing to Him.

I therefore take Thee, O Sacred Heart, to be the only object of my love, the guardian of my life, my assurance of salvation, the remedy of my weakness and inconstancy, the atonement for all the faults of my life and my sure refuge at the hour of death.

Be then, O Heart of goodness, my justification before God Thy Father, and turn away from me the strokes of His righteous anger. O Heart of love, I put all my confidence in Thee, for I fear everything from my own wickedness and frailty; but I hope for all things from Thy goodness and bounty.

Do Thou consume in me all that can displease Thee or resist Thy holy will. Let Thy pure love imprint Thee so deeply upon my heart that I shall nevermore be able to forget Thee or to be separated from Thee. May I obtain from all Thy loving kindness the grace of having my name written in Thee, for in Thee I desire to place all my happiness and all my glory, living and dying in true bondage to Thee.

Promises of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Of the many promises Our Lord Jesus Christ did reveal to Saint Margaret Mary in favor of souls devoted to His Sacred Heart the principal ones are as follows:

1. I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.
2. I will give peace in their families.
3. I will console them in all their troubles.
4. I will be their refuge in life and especially in death.
5. I will abundantly bless all their undertakings.
6. Sinners shall find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
7. Tepid souls shall become fervent.
8. Fervent souls shall rise speedily to great perfection.
9. I will bless those places wherein the image of
My Sacred Heart shall be exposed and venerated.
10. I will give to priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.
11. Persons who propagate this devotion shall
have their names eternally written in my Heart.
12. In the excess of the mercy of my Heart, I promise you that my all powerful love will grant to all those who will receive Communion on the First Fridays, for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance: they will not die in my displeasure, nor without receiving the sacraments; and my Heart will be their secure refuge in that last hour.

Sacred Heart of Jesus an offering prayer - The Raccolta

O Divine Heart of Jesus, grant, I beseech Thee, eternal rest to the souls in purgatory, final grace to all who are to die today, true repentance to sinners, the light of faith to pagans, Thy blessing to me and to all who are mine.

To Thee, O most loving Heart of Jesus, do I therefore commend all these souls, and for them I offer all Thy merits, together with the merits of the most Blessed Mother and of all the saints and angels, and also together with all the Sacrifices of the Mass, the Holy Communions, the prayers and good works that are made today throughout the entire Christian world.

Some Would Want Us to Believe Anti-Catholicism Doesn't Exist

H/T to Custos Fidei Make sure to read his commentaries on the article in question.

ARTICLE - AntiCatholicism - A Phony Issue

The woman who wrote the article reminded me of one of my mom's favorites sayings or dichos - "No hay peor ciego que el que no quiere ver" or There is no one blinder than he that doesn't want to see.

Something I've Always Suspected...Now Confirmed

Planned Parenthood of Western Washington, a local affiliate of the nation's largest abortion business, is claiming to have a financial relationship with eBay, one of the top web sites on the Internet. Though confirmation hasn't been able to be obtained, PPWW claims a Planned Parenthood affiliate could get as much as $5,000 from the company. ARTICLE

After boycotting Ebay for a few years, I recently started buying from them again...mainly looking for baseball cards for my dad. Originally, we boycotted because they were selling consecrated Hosts and also first class relics. Then I started hearing rumors that they were supplying money for ESCR.

With this new reason to boycott, my dad will just have to find his missing baseball cards somewhere else.

Divine Mercy for Physically and Sexually Abused Children

Divine Mercy I beg of You to protect all those helpless children who are physically and sexually abused, especially by those whose duty it is to guide and protect them on earth. Send Your enveloping cloak of Mercy and wrap it around those poor children and enfold them in Your love and protection. Send forth Your rays of blood and water to cleanse and renew the souls of those who perpetrate these vile acts of Satan. Let there be a way to get Your powerful Image of Divine Mercy into the homes of these sad families, from where graces will flow as You promise, and they shall be renewed. O Blood and Water which gushed from the heart of Jesus as a fount of Mercy for us, we trust in You. Amen

A Saint for Abused Children

After reading the story of St. Germain Cousins (Germana) of Pribac, I have no doubt she is the patron saint of abused children.

1579-1601, Feast day p June 15, Canonized in 1867 by Pope Pius IX,

The story of little Germain is so heart wrenching, it would make the hardest of hearts weep. She was a little girl who tended the sheep for her father and cruel stepmother. She is described as a very unattractive little girl who was half-starved and her body covered with ugly bruises. She was forced to go around barefooted. She was a cripple and had only rags to clothe her. Yet, she had a very sweet, generous and kind nature and she never complained against the injustices and cruelty done to her.

For some reason, her stepmother hated this little girl. Germain never knew kindness or love from a human being in her short live. The only one who loved her was God and His blessed Mother and she loved them.

She was not permitted inside the house and would be forced to sleep in the barn with the cattle to keep her warm. She wasn't permitted to come in contact with her half-siblings. Her stepmother forbade it. It is not known why her father permitted the treatment of this girl. One theory is that he really wasn't her father but took her into his home when her own parents died. It is really not known.

The villagers also treated her badly as they seemed to follow the cruel stepmother's example.

Towards the end of her life, her saintly nature caught the attention of the village and even her stepmother tried to be kind in her own way. But it was too late for God rewarded this suffering little soul by bringing her to live in Heaven.