Nuns preach, too – in unexpected ways
During this year, 2011, the Order continues its journey towards the Jubilee year of 2016, guided by this year’s theme: “We hear them speaking in our own tongues the mighty acts of God” – (Acts 2:11): Preaching and Culture / Community Preaching
As I travel around the world, visiting the nuns in the Order´s almost 240 monasteries, I am frequently asked: “How can cloistered, contemplative nuns belong to an Order of Preachers? Do the nuns preach?” I usually smile, ask the person if he or she has a few minutes, and then I pull from my bag of stories one or two examples of how I have seen the nuns preach. Their preaching is a marvelous witness to the spirit of St. Dominic alive among us today. Allow me to share just one of the more beautiful communal preaching that I have had the privilege of discovering during the past few years.
The nuns from the monastery in Krakow, Poland with the encouragement of the Polish provincial, fr Henryk Jakubiec (who told them that they were too many and that it was time for a new foundation), made the decision to found a new monastery in the city of Vilnius (or Vilna, which was then part of Poland, and today the capital of Lithuania). On July 11, 1938 the eight nuns (two of whom were originally from Vilnius) moved into their new convent, dedicated to St. Joseph. The new foundation was blessed the following day by Archbishop Romuald Jalbrzykowski.