IN PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING!

On this day, February 11th, feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, in 1926, Perpetual Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament was inaugurated in our monastery. Our monastery history says that, "At the end of the day's Mass, the chaplain exposed the Blessed Sacrament in the monstrance and the sisters sang the Te Deum in gratitude for the special grace conferred upon the monastery. Day and night, the sisters took their turn for adoration before the Blessed Sacrament while contemplating the mysteries of the rosary. Thus began the Eucharist Rosary."

Actually, Bishop O'Connor had granted this privilege to the community two years before but because the rule was that fourteen candles be kept always burning, the poverty of the community was so great that the Sisters had to wait.

This feast of our Lady of Lourdes has a double significance for us for the Dominican Sisters of the Perpetual Rosary (which we were until 1955 when we became Moniales and fully Nuns of the Order of Preachers) was born at the grotto of Lourdes when Fr. Damien Saintourens, OP spent the whole night there in prayer before beginning the first foundation of cloistered Sisters.

We give thanks and praise to God for this wonderful grace of having Jesus solemnly Exposed in the monstrance. He is truly the center of our hearts and literally the center of our house! We ask our Lady intercession that we may continue to adore, praise and love Jesus through her Rosary for many more years to come!