[caption id="attachment_3660" align="alignright" width="200"] Blog by Sr. June Fitzgerald, OP[/caption]
Morning Prayer –
+ O God, come to my assistance.
O God, make haste to help me
+ Glory be to the Creator, to the Redeemer and to the Holy Spirit
As it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever.
Amen.
Each morning we begin our Morning Prayer from Dominican Praise with this sequence of calls and responses. Each morning the psalms flow between us, within us and around us as we pray these ancient hymns of praise, lamentation, and glory.
There is a comforting rhythm to this prayer time – there is a grounding and a weaving together of our day.
Each community I’ve lived in within our Dominican congregation prays the same words and yet the style and rhythm is a bit different. Just as each community is different because of its members – so too it is different because of our ministry schedules, preferences, and personalities. Yet, it is the same prayer.
I have come to appreciate community prayer, especially the Liturgy of the Hours as I’ve lived this life. At first, praying the Hours was awkward as I fumbled for pages, hymns and the cards with the Canticles that always seemed to be falling from my book just when I needed them. I recall sitting next to Sr. Barbara in our retreat chapel in McLean, Virginia when I was first learning how to pray the Hours. I would rush in on the way to work – looking forward to praying Morning Prayer and Mass with the Sisters. She patiently pointed out where to place the ribbons – which canticle card to use and even nudged me when I got confused as to which group I was supposed to be praying with. Now, I am the one pointing out where to place the ribbons and which canticle card to have cued up next.
I live in our House of Welcome here in New Haven, Connecticut and have the blessing of living with the women who are new to the congregation – our Candidates. It gives me great delight to see them become more familiar with community prayer – to begin leading us in prayer and even stretching their spiritual wings as they add a little spice with Lectio Divina or a short preaching on the scripture reading for the day. We are all enriched by our lives together, the giftedness and willingness of each to embark on this amazing journey of religious life.
Each morning as we begin our Morning Prayer we sing as one to God and we live what it means to be a community of disciples committed to something greater than ourselves.
Interested in learning where the ribbons go? Being called by God to something more? Contact one of us to begin the conversation or consider attending our next Come and See Discernment Retreat on September 7 – 9, 2018 at our Motherhouse in St. Catharine, KY.
Blog by Sr. June Fitzgerald, OP[/caption]
Morning Prayer –
+ O God, come to my assistance.
I live in our House of Welcome here in New Haven, Connecticut and have the blessing of living with the women who are new to the congregation – our Candidates. It gives me great delight to see them become more familiar with community prayer – to begin leading us in prayer and even stretching their spiritual wings as they add a little spice with Lectio Divina or a short preaching on the scripture reading for the day. We are all enriched by our lives together, the giftedness and willingness of each to embark on this amazing journey of religious life.
Each morning as we begin our Morning Prayer we sing as one to God and we live what it means to be a community of disciples committed to something greater than ourselves.
Interested in learning where the ribbons go? Being called by God to something more? Contact one of us to begin the conversation or consider attending our next Come and See Discernment Retreat on September 7 – 9, 2018 at our Motherhouse in St. Catharine, KY.