"sister, how can we help you?"
—

This is a question we often hear.  Like all Dominican monasteries, we are completely autonomous, which means we receive no financial support from the archdiocese, the Dominican province of friars, the Dominican Order, or the Church.  For our material needs, we depend completely on God’s Providence, monastic work including our Altar Bread Department and our books and gifts shop, and on freewill offerings and alms from our angels, like you. 

supporting our life of Dominican Poverty

In the early days of the founding of our Order, our Holy Father Dominic taught his sons and daughters to embrace a life of poverty that is apostolic, ascetic and practical.

It is apostolic in that by living a common life, we are freed from worldly cares and labors for the purpose of contemplation and preaching. All donations and offerings received by the sisters of the monastery go to support the needs of the community as a whole - when a sister professes her vows, she relinquishes her right to personal ownership of any and all earthly goods and chooses to have her individual needs met by the community from the common property of the monastery. In this way, we imitate the life of the apostles and early Church.

It is ascetic in that we live a mortified life in imitation of the poor Christ - together we must depend completely on Divine Providence, goodwill offerings from the faithful, and alms. By profession of our vows, we choose to live a simple and poor life, imitating our Spouse who was born and lived poor, and in solidarity with the poor of our time and culture.

It is practical in that by embracing a life of poverty, we protect the time we need to fulfill our primary mission: prayer, study and sacrifice for the preaching work of the Order and the salvation of souls. Our Holy Father Dominic allowed and even worked to secure property and stable income for the first monasteries of Dominican nuns because of the practical needs of cloistered life. Nonetheless, our Constitutions emphasize three points:

• the community should procure and hold in stewardship only what is necessary for a simple and poor communal life, and to meet the needs of the individual sisters;

• the work undertaken by the community is to be conducive to a cloistered, contemplative life; and

• prayer, study, and preparation for the liturgy are to be given priority in the use of our time and energy.

In this spirit, support in the form of foodstuffs, supplies, and other assistance is both needed and appreciated. Your generosity helps our monastic community survive and flourish.

Thank you for your prayerful support.