Mary Magdalene, Dominicans, and Marian Days!

What is your native culture and language? Would you like to share who you are in a community open to welcoming Sisters, Associates, and volunteers of a variety of cultures and backgrounds? Dominican Sisters and Associates of Peace represent a variety of cultures and languages and work hard to accept and celebrate the diversity among us. One very visible example of this was at our Assembly on Sunday, July 22, the feast of Mary Magdalene, patron saint of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans). The prayer was deeply moving as Dominicans of Peace, representing different countries and cultures, led prayer in their native or second languages for Dominican nuns, friars, laity, and sisters on every continent. We heard the prayers proclaimed in a Nigerian dialect, Italian, Spanish, English, and Vietnamese. Earlier in the weekend, our Sisters from China and Hungary proclaimed the Scriptures in their native tongues.

Another example is that next week, Sisters Pat Dual, Mai-Dung Nguyen, Associate Xuan Lan Ho, and I will travel to Carthage, Missouri, to participate in the annual Marian Days celebration for Vietnamese and Vietnamese-American Catholics as they gather to pray and celebrate the intercession of the Blessed Mother in their lives. If you or someone you know is interested in discovering more about our varied cultures, or would like to know more about our lives as vowed Dominican women, please consider participating in the Labor Day Come and See event, or visiting us at our vocation booth at Marian Days, August 3 to 5, 2012.