Catholic Education and Vocations
During recent months, four churches in southern Ontario had the privilege to welcome two groups of visiting Dominican Sisters from Massena, New York, and three churches welcomed a Benedictine monk, Fr. Matthew.
Benedictine monks are usually in their monasteries – they take a vow of stability. Dominican sisters have more contact with the world, since they teach children, but this apostolate also keeps them busy at their school most of the time. Monks and religious sisters do not often get to visit ordinary parishes in foreign countries. So it was an unusual surprise for our parishioners to meet these servants of God.
Weekends are the best time to speak to large groups, so on the first Saturday of March, four Dominican Sisters gave a presentation at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Academy in New Hamburg, followed by the same presentation in Toronto on the Sunday. Our school in New Hamburg has a great need for these Sisters since we do not educate high school girls. Then, on a milder weekend in May, four Dominican Sisters gave their presentation at our churches in Orillia and St. Catharines. On the same weekend of Mother’s Day, Fr. Matthew, OSB, began his two weekend tour of our churches in New Hamburg, St. Catharines and Toronto.
As I said, Benedictine monks are usually in their monasteries, but Fr. Matthew is an exception. He is an American priest attached to the traditional monastery at Bellaigue, in France. However, this year he was given a temporary assignment as a teacher at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in the USA. Therefore he was available to visit us.
Fr. Matthew spoke from the heart about the practice of charity in the monastic family. He showed us two homemade videos with scenes from the daily life of monks at the traditional Benedictine monastery of our Lady of Guadalupe at Silver City, New Mexico, and the monastery of traditional Benedictine sisters in France. The big news is that several American girls (and one Canadian), who entered this monastery in France in order to learn the Benedictine way of life, are coming home. The monks of Silver City are building a separate monastery in order to accommodate them. Soon we will have a traditional Benedictine monastery for women in North America.
The Dominican Sisters also used modern technology to present a slide show with photographs of their school. The four sisters shared the presentation, allowing us to see the varieties of temperament which come together in a religious establishment. The Sisters made the five hour drive from Massena to Toronto in order to make us aware of their apostolate. Their good example has already convinced some parents to send their daughters to the boarding school at Massena next year.
We pray that many young men and women will be inspired to visit the monastery and the Dominican school. Some of them will have a vocation to stay and continue these good works for the sanctification of souls. O Lord, grant us many holy religious vocations!
