Brothers blog about Dominican Extern Sisters!

Over at the Dominicana Blog, Br. Mannes Matous, OP, has written an article on our Dominican Extern sisters! Our community is blessed with two wonderful externs, Sr. Maureen and Sr. Mary Cecilia, who are the "face" of our community.

They go to funerals of the monastery's friends, benefactors, and volunteers; they do our weekly grocery shopping (and sometimes run out for last minute needs!); they attend vocation fairs, our travelling soap sales and liturgical events like Archbishop Hebda's installation; they take care of our guest quarters, parlors, and outside chapel area; they meet with laity in need of a listening ear and a praying heart, and so much more!

Brother Mannes explains, "Despite these very tangible tasks, the extern sister is not simply a cloistered nun who is permitted to leave the cloister. Rather, being an extern sister is its own vocation. It is in a sense a vocation within a vocation. It is first and foremost a vocation to the contemplative life but it is also a further calling from God to serve the cloister."

You can read the full article, "At the Service of the Cloister: The Dominican Extern Sister", at the Dominicana Blog here.