Our work, our apostolate, is prayer.
The order of our day enhances and enables our life of intensive prayer.
The discipline of our spirituality helps us to be open to the presence of our Lord, free to respond to His call, open to receive His love.
We gather in the chapel to celebrate the Eucharist and to pray the Liturgy of Hours, joining the great prayer of the Church as it flows to God in worship from every part of the earth. Here we pray the Rosary, hour by hour, before the Blessed Sacrament.
The one thing necessary is for people to bear witness to the glory of God's love for the world, witnessing through adoration and adoring through witness.
- Hans Urs von Balthasar
The Evangelical Counsels
Our vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, are gifts that free us to belong to God. They impoverish and enrich us; living the vows we become empty before the mystery of the Triune God, open to receive His love, more available for His service and His people.
- Our Poverty places us in the state of disposability before the power of God. Unencumbered by abundance of material possessions, we are free to respond to God's call at any moment.
- Vowing Chastity for the sake of the Kingdom is our loving response to Jesus' invitation: Leave all things and follow me.
- By our Obedience we offer the full surrender of our will as a sacrifice of ourselves to God. In this we imitate Mary, the Mother of Jesus, whom He declared blessed because she heard the word of God and kept it.
The Rule
We follow the Rule of St. Augustine, which begins, "Let us love God above all things, dearest Sisters, then our neighbor, for these are the chief commandments given to us." It is here that our work for God begins. In consecrating our lives to God, we declare our faith in His love for us, in the love that brought about our salvation through the passion, death, and resurrection of His Son Jesus.
Contemplative monasteries are like the spires of the earthly Church, like a pennant high up, blowing freely in God's wind, declaring the love of God over all the land.
-Hans Urs von Balthasar
The spiritual life of a monastic community embraces every moment of the day. The Dominican charism of study deepens our relationship with God. As preachers of the Word, however silent, we read and ponder Scripture daily. We develop the habit of reflecting on whatever we read, from theological presentations and Church documents to Scripture commentaries, literature, and current events.
We read newspapers and news magazines to remain prayerfully aware of what is happening to people in the world around us. Our prayer apostolate reaches far beyond the boundaries imposed by our cloister and our limited "hands on" contact with other people. Prayer exists always, and extends everywhere. Everything that happens in the world concerns us, from the sick child across the street, to the friend struggling with mortal illness, to our Dominican Brothers and Sisters active in far-flung missions, to global leaders and the events driving the religious, economic, social, and cultural well being of the world today.
I can only place myself faithfully before God and offer the fullness of my being and my resources so that I can be, there where God awaits me, the link between this action of God and the world.
-Cardinal Yves Congar, O.P.
Praying the Rosary
In addition to community and private prayer, each Sister prays the Rosary during one hour of the day and perhaps a second hour at night. She prays the entire 15-decade Rosary, meditating on the mysteries of Christ's life in the company of His Mother Mary.
As we ponder the Rosary mysteries, the mysteries of our faith, we are mindful of Our Lord's presence, of His promise to be with His people always, of the hope and love He offers everyone.
We are present to Him on behalf of you and of each person who asks for prayers. You may be family members or close friends we know well. Possibly you are friends we know only by name or need. Sometimes you simply call, seeking support, comfort, courage as you struggle with anxieties, sorrows, and fears that come to all of us during our lifetime. Or you may want to share the joys and celebrations, the good news of your day.
We invite you to call on us for prayers any time, by telephone, letter, or e-mail. Prayer is our life. We remember to God all of you who visit our web site, and will be happy to include your special intentions in our prayers.