Pray the O Antiphons with the Dominican Sisters of Peace
On Dec. 17, the church’s liturgy begins the “O” antiphons which are ancient refrains dating to the eighth century. Each day until Dec. 23, a different “O” antiphon is sung at Mass and in the church’s Evening Prayer. The antiphons weave biblical imagery from the Hebrew Scriptures into a lovely theological tapestry celebrating the messianic titles of Jesus and what they might mean — yesterday, today and tomorrow.
These messianic titles are respectively, O Sapientia (O Wisdom), O Adonai (O Lord/Leader), O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse), O Clavis David (O Key of David), O Oriens (O Radiant Dawn/Dayspring), O Rex Gentium (O King of the Nations), O Emmanuel (O God-With-Us). From Global Sisters Report
As we enter the season of Advent, I have been thinking about some of the words that are used during the Advent Season… words like darkness, light, expectation, wonder, waiting, joy, hope, prepare, and gratitude.
These words describe the feelings that I have been experiencing as I have traveled around to meet you, the Associates of the Dominican Sisters of Peace. Many of you I have met in person, while I have met others by zoom, facetime and phone calls. Of course, there are still many of you that I have not met and I long to do that soon.
This year, I see Advent as the perfect time to wonder, to prepare, and to build wonderful expectations of what is to come.
I have also heard from many of you – your wonder, your hope, and your expectations.
As 2021 draws to a close, our hope and our joy are the possibilities that a New Year will bring.
Recently, Sr. Linda Lee Jackson, OP, and I were talking about the journey of being an Associate. Over our lunch at the Columbus Motherhouse, she asked me a challenging question: “What is my mission statement, and what is my vision”?
This led to a discussion about the importance of each of us knowing our personal Mission and Vision as an Associate of the Dominican Sisters of Peace.
As we talked, Sr. Linda introduced me to the concept of “savoring”- actively enhancing our appreciation of the good in our lives. She shared this reflection to help me understand the importance of savoring our walk with God.
My Advent gift to you is the gift of savoring. Of allowing your heart to expand and fully enjoy the Season of Advent and the gifts of our faith.
I hope that you will read this reflection and hold the thought of Savoring close to your heart.
In the days and weeks to come, I will invite each of you to create your own Mission and Vision Statement.
May this Season of Advent encourage you to wonder, anticipate and be Joy to all you encounter. I wish you Peace, Love, and many Blessings.
December is the fifth annual Dominican Month for Peace. After joining forces to help our Dominican family in Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, India, and Ukraine, the Dominican family now turns our attention to Venezuela – the country with the largest oil reserves on the planet, but for more than two decades, has been going through the greatest political, social, and economic crisis in its history. Please follow this page for resources to learn more about the nation and people of Venezuela and the Catholic Church and the Dominican family in the country. You will also find prayers for the people of Venezuela.
Please click here to view a video about the plight of the people of Venezuela.
In this first week of Advent, we prepare ourselves to wait for you,
Lord, to receive you with joy. Today we pray that your light casts
away the shadows surrounding the people of Venezuela.
May they live in freedom, with justice and peace.
May each one of us, Lord, open our lives to you
so that you may be born and keep hope burning in our hearts.
Join us for a free webinar on December 10, 2021, starting at 9:00 a.m. (EST),
to learn about the life, mission, and challenges facing the Order of Preachers
in Venezuela. Register here: https://tinyurl.com/PeaceTorch
Come, Lord. Wrap us in your light, warm us in your love!
Click here for a prayer service and homily for the Third Week of the Dominican Month of Peace
As we begin to prepare our hearts and minds for
the birth of our Savior, let us pray so that Christ’s
light and love surround the people of Venezuela.
Click here to join us on December 22, 2021, Noon (EST), for a special webinar hosted by our Dominican family in Venezuela, reflecting on compassion, hope, and the Dominican Charism.
Thank you to all who joined with us in praying for Venezuela
during the Dominican Month for Peace. May today’s
World Day of Peace serve as a reminder for us to continue to
build peace in our hearts and defend it throughout the world.
In many ways, the 1950’s was a world very different from today. Vatican II had not yet happened, and the church was very different as well.
Because friends of my mother were connected with the Dominican Retreat House in Elkins Park, PA, a young friend of the family and I were sent there for an overnight retreat for 7th and 8th grade girls.
The sisters there were friendly and welcoming, much more relaxed than the sisters I had in school. The program was inspiring. The priest director opened with St. Augustine’s, “Thou has made us for thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” I took that seriously, but not too seriously. However, because I had such a positive experience, I returned for retreats during grade school and later high school as often as I was able.
When I was in high school, I began to think about my future. Would I go to college? I felt drawn to the ministry of retreats, but not enough to want to become a sister. But, the beginning of Francis Thompson’s poem, The Hound of Heaven began haunting my thoughts:
“I fled him down the nights and down the days:
I fled him down the arches of the years;
I fled him down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind, and in the mist of tears
I hid from him, and under running laughter.”
This poem was grandiose for a high school girl, but it resonated with me. I felt drawn to the ministry of retreats and to community life, but I still did not want to become a sister. I put much effort into trying to get rid of that idea.
Sr. Mary Ellen Bennett OP on the left and her Novice Director, Sr. Mary Clare Manion OP, on the right in 1963 on the day of her first profession.
When Catholic Action Groups were popular, (this is really going back) their motto was See, Judge and Act. These three words had an impact on me while I wrestled with my life’s vocation:
SEE: be open to reality: my life, my world, my skills, my interests, my hopes and dreams.
JUDGE: What shall I do with my one, wild, precious life? (Mary Oliver)
ACT: Once you are given an answer, go for it! – go for whatever is life giving and fulfilling for yourself, for others, and for the planet.
After years of indecision and ambivalence, bargaining with God, and trying to convince myself that I could do a lot of good without entering the convent, I surrendered to the need to jump off the fence I was sitting on, and quit wheel spinning.
I finally realized that what I had understood as the Hound of Heaven’s relentless pursuit was actually a persistent invitation to explore becoming a sister. This invitation brought changes in myself and in my life.
A constant has been the vows:
poverty – the call to sharing and simplicity of life;
celibacy – the call to live in love for all creation;
obedience – the call to cultivate a listening and discerning life.
These vows give counter witness to some of the distorted values of our time: possessions, prestige, and power.
The moral of my story is to be honest with yourself and do not be afraid to take a leap of faith.
Mary Ellen Bennett, O.P. November 9, 2021 — 60 years later!
