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Sister Marie Paul of the Holy Spirit

On August 2, the feast of St. Dominic’s mother, Bl. Jane of Aza, we joyfully clothed our extern postulant Sr. Kendra with the Dominican habit, marking the beginning of her two years of novitiate and formally receiving her as a member of our community. She received the religious name Sister Marie Paul of the Holy Spirit, and will celebrate her feast day on the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul.

Through the intercession of her patron Saint Paul, let us ask the Lord to bless our new novice abundantly and to fill her with an overflowing outpouring of the Holy Spirit!

This is the sermon Sr. Mary Martin gave at her vestition ceremony:

I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul.

My Dear Sisters,

How often have we heard and sung these words! They are used as antiphons and readings on feasts of Our Lady and they are read at the ceremony of clothing, when we give a new sister the Dominican habit and formally introduce her into the novitiate. These occasions are not at all unrelated. As St. Augustine asks, who else shall we rejoice in besides the Lord, if we are to rejoice rightly? Our Lady tells us that in her Magnificat and in her whole life. In God is the joy of her soul. We Dominican nuns also rejoice in the Lord, who has, quite literally, clothed us with a robe of salvation and wrapped us in a mantle of justice. Today, our joy is multiplied as we give the holy habit to our sister, a white tunic symbolizing salvation and a black cappa symbolizing justice. Along with these are the scapular which Our Lady showed to Bl. Reginald and with which she protects us, and the veil which proclaims our betrothal to Jesus and no other Lover but Him.

Sr. Kendra, as an extern candidate, is called to absorb that joy within the cloister and then take it out into the world. She is meant to be the “face” of the community, our presence in all kinds of settings and on various sorts of occasions, both happy and sad. This is a huge responsibility, to represent us well. But her first responsibility is the same that we all have: to learn to rejoice in the Lord, to make Him the joy of our soul, so that even when we rejoice in simple human things like our sisters, our families and friends, a good meal, pleasant weather, behind them all stands the Triune God and the holy Mother of God.  Sometimes human life and even this way of life hands us sorrow and hardship rather than simple joy, just as Mary stood at the foot of the cross and watched her Son die. The challenge is to continue to find joy in the Lord, to see His will in all things and to desire His will above all else. This can only happen if we continue to remain faithful, to live obedience, chastity and poverty as we professed to do. Sr. Kendra is taking her first steps today in preparation for making this profession. Let us support her by our prayer and example, so that she can bear fruit like the garden in the reading that makes its growth spring up and so that we all together can be acknowledged as a race the Lord has blessed.