Saints, Snow and Sledding

One of the finest Catholic blogs, Moniales OP, is written by our sisters, the Dominican Nuns of Summit, New Jersey. Through the Nuns’ posts we get an inspiring glimpse into female monastic life in the twenty-first century. Their first post of 2010, Blessing for the New Year, really encapsulates the essence of the blog: that religious life is not a fairytale but a real and joyful life.

The juxtaposition of the community gathering in the chapter hall to draw patrons, prayer intentions and personal scripture quotes for the year 2010, and the novices playing in the snow really capture the full spectrum of monastic life. But what is really amazing is what we cannot really experience from reading the blog: their life of prayer, silence and contemplation which underlies everything they do. It is so essential for the whole church and is the heart of holy preaching. Please pray for the Dominican Nuns of Summit and visit their site. I hear that they also produce top-notch soap and hand-creme.