Our foundation and early days as told by one of our foundresses

Part 3 of 3

Our foundation and early days as told by one of our foundresses

Part 2 of 3

Our foundation and early days as told by one of our foundresses

Part 1 of 3

It is the custom for us here in our little monastery to daily make a procession in honor of St. Joseph….

“The first October Pilgrimage in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary was attended by about fifteen hundred people….”

His Excellency told us that when he had first visited us in February to cloister us, he had been very much disheartened. In fact, he admitted that our poor living conditions had prevented him from sleeping for a few nights…

Minor miracles are being performed in the print shop….

About this time, a few curious incidents occurred….

“On the twenty-fifth, the last Sunday of May, the first public pilgrimage in honor of Our Lady was held….”

“Sister Irene received the name of Sister Mary Martin of Jesus Crucified….”

“Reverend Mother with her two assistants, who wore white aprons, began to wash and kiss the feet of all the Sisters, beginning with the oldest…”

“Mr. Fusco and his men held their breath for fear that the barns would collapse….”

“Bishop O’Brien made a tour of the monastery with Reverend Mother and two of the Sisters. When he returned, he laughingly announced that he did not care to buy the place…”

“It was during the Office of the Dead that the Sisters first heard the strange noise…”

“All the angels looked on in wonder at the procession of nuns hopping through a window…”

“The sisters fit so snugly on the benches that there was scarcely room for any of us to put on weight; and if one sneezed rather suddenly, she was likely to give the sister near her a good jolt….”

The first nights in the new monastery were sleepless and the first days of work were difficult, but God never ceased to provide countless blessings upon the little community. Amidst all the trials and tribulations, the intercession of the saints and God’s providence guided the sisters in their efforts to make the old homestead into “God’s House.”

After breakfast the sisters began the task of exploring the old farmhouse and trying to make some semblance of livable order amidst the chaos that was before them.

On a chilly January morning, fifteen sisters boarded a bus in Summit, New Jersey and headed toward North Guilford, Connecticut. Read their story from our archives.

On a chilly January morning, fifteen sisters boarded a bus in Summit, New Jersey and headed toward North Guilford, Connecticut.

“Looking back, this year has been a time of profound memories and new blessings….”

Holy love raises the soul to heavenly thoughts and kindles in it a longing for eternal realities, arousing its desire for what neither passes nor dies….

The Dominican nun, and anyone who prays the Rosary devoutly, meditates on the mysteries of Christ’s life through the eyes of Our Lady….

Rather than being a sort of isolation, solitude is fundamentally a radical communion with the God who saves…

The nuns should make of their house, and especially of their hearts, a place of silence….

The vowed religious should be considered not just a sacrifice to God, but a holocaust….

What is Dominican government?

Even as a child, our foundress, Mother Mary of Jesus Crucified, had such a tender love for the Blessed Virgin Mary that she preferred carrying a statue of Our Lady to a baby doll….

Reflection by a sister of the monastery - “Why wait to offer yourself to the cleansing power of divine love?”

Reflection by a sister of the monastery - “Every Dominican nun knows that work can be a source of joy because joy is an effect of love….”

Reflection by a sister of the monastery - “The care of old and infirm nuns is a striking example of what “common life” means in a monastic community….”

Reflection by a sister of the monastery - “The human person is wonderfully created by God to need food in both body and soul…”

Reflection by a sister of the monastery - “The first line of Psalm 122 beautifully reveals the sentiments of a monastic heart…“

Reflections from a current postulant - “This November, on the commemoration of All Souls, I walked down to the monastery’s cemetery after Vespers to pray at the graves of all those sisters who have passed on to eternal life…“