Was is St Thomas Aquinas who observed that the Law and the commandments laid down for the people of Israel, and even the new law of the Gospel, would kill, if it had not been for the grace and the mercy of God, revealed in and by Jesus?

The Gospel passage we heard this morning at Mass, of Joseph’s intention to quietly divorce Mary so as not to draw down scandal – and even death – upon her, seems to make this observation a startlingly real fact – it seems to manifest the logical consequence of transgressing the law, or of rigidly observing it.

O Wisdom, you come forth from the mouth of the Most High. You fill the universe and hold all things together in a strong yet gentle manner. O come to teach us the way of truth.

The Genealogy of St Matthew’s Gospel, which we read this morning at Mass, always evokes St Paul’s exclamation in his letter to the Romans: “O the depths of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments, how inscrutable his ways! To Him be glory for ever, Amen.” (Rom 11:33). Which one of us would have chosen a harlot, a prostitute, a murderer and adulterer as fitting ancestors of the Eternal Son of God?

The third Sunday of Advent is traditionally known as Gaudate Sunday – Gaudate means Rejoice – taken from the entrance antiphon “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice. The Lord is near!”

One may ask if we can really rejoice this Advent/Christmas when our brothers and sisters all over the world are suffering so much as a result of the Pandemic which has left no one untouched. These words “rejoice in the Lord always” are taken from St Paul’s letter to the Philippines which he wrote while in prison.

During Advent the Church brings us back in time to the centuries before the coming of Christ – the readings allow us to identify with the sentiments, longings and hopes of the people of the Old Testament who awaited the Messiah. We see how God was at work in their lives, leading them to the truth about their relationship with Him and each other. Last Sunday the Prophet Isaiah presented us with the image of God as Father and the Potter who formed His people. In today’s first reading God is the Shepherd who gently leads His flock, feeding them and gathering the lambs in His arms, holding them against His breast.

Advent does not mean ‘expectation’ as some may think. It is a translation of the Greek word ‘parousia’ which means ’presence’, or more accurately, ‘arrival’, the beginning of a presence.

His presence has already begun, and we, faithful, are the ones through whom He wishes to be present in the world.
‘The Christ child comes’ in a real sense whenever human beings act out of authentic love for the Lord.

We drew the winning ticket for our 'Noah's Ark' Raffle yesterday evening. The winning ticket, which was drawn by our Novice, Sr Leonie, and announced by our Prioress, Sr Mairéad, belonged to Helen McArdle, who is delighted with her prize. We would like to thank everyone who contributed to our Raffle, which raised €630.

In 1925:
Albania became a republic.
Paul von Hindenburg became the first elected head of state of the Weimar Republic.
Hitler published ‘Mein Kampf.’
John Logie Baird performed the first test of a working television.
‘The Great Gatsby’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald; ‘Mrs Dalloway’ by Virginia Woolf; ‘The Everlasting Man’ by G. K. Chesterton; and ‘The ABC of Relativity’ by Bertrand Russell, were among many books to be published.
Marion Harris was singing ‘Tea for two’; and Gene Austin sang, ‘Yes, sir, that’s my baby.’
‘Ben Hur’ was released in cinemas.

And ... In an Encyclical Letter entitled, ‘Quas Primas,’ Pope Pius XI inserted into the Sacred Liturgy, the feast of the Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Pope St Paul VI would, during his pontificate, re-name the celebration and raise it to a Solemnity, but as another year draws to a close and as we have celebrated again this great feast, we offer some wisdom from Pope Pius XI’s encyclical – which seem to be as relevant today as they were at the time of his writing them.

We now have beautiful Christmas Candles for sale in our Online Shop. Also, some handmade 'quilling' Christmas CardsIn addition to our more standard, printed Christmas Cards.

Our 'kitchen sister' carved a very nice pumpkin head and, as you can see from the photos below, we had a lot of fun with it. But because today (November 1st) is the Feast of All Saints, I was also thinking about what Vatican II speaks of as, "the universal call to holiness". This feast is a reminder that we are all destined to become Saints, to share in the divine life of the Trinity.

A short video clip of Sr Maria Breidge making First Profession as a Dominican Nun in our Monastery.

Due to Covid 19 restrictions her family and friends from County Donegal were unable to be with us and many of our Dominican brethren and sisters – who would normally join us – could not be present. Fr Gerard Dunne, vicar of the Master of the Order for our monastery, officiated at the ceremony, assisted by Fr Paul Clayton-Lea, our good and loyal friend from the diocese.

On the 7th October our community rejoiced and celebrated with Sr Maria Breidge as she made her first Profession as a Dominican Nun. Due to Covid 19 restrictions her family and friends from County Donegal were unable to be with us and many of our Dominican brethren and sisters – who would normally join us – could not be present. Fr Gerard Dunne, vicar of the Master of the Order for our monastery, officiated at the ceremony, assisted by Fr Paul Clayton-Lea, our good and loyal friend from the diocese.

This is the time of the year when we are usually planning our Vocation Weekends for the Autumn/Winter. Unfortunately due to COVID-19 we are unable to host any Vocation Discernment Weekends for the present. If, however, you are interested in exploring more about our way of life we would be happy to answer your questions or accompany you via (Zoom etc). Depending of the level of interest we could organize a virtual Vocation Weekend with Conferences (Questions and Answers) via Zoom (or Googlemeet).

We are raffling this lovely hand-knit 'Noah's Ark Set' as part of our ongoing fundraising efforts in respect of our Funding Appeal to recover the costs incurred in replacing the Monastery Roof (in 2019) and necessary work on our heating system (including replacing the 230kw central heating boiler in 2020).

The raffle tickets are €5 each and the draw will be held on the Feast of Christ the King (22nd November; in time to make a nice Christmas present for someone).

Those of you who admired our art and crafts display on the 15th of August will be pleased to know that most of those items are now available for sale through our online shop. We have kept some of the items to use as gifts etc. If, however, there is something that you particularly wanted and you can't see it in our shop, please don't hesitate to contact us and we will try to facilitate you.

As some of you may be aware by now, as part of our celebration of the Feast of the Assumption we have our annual 'art & craft display', where we all get to see and admire what our sisters have been working on over the past year. Enjoy the pics😊

It is a happy coincidence that the Feast of the Transfiguration occurs during the Novena to St. Dominic. Because I was thinking about the Mystery of the Transfiguration I was more alert to some elements of Dominic’s life than I might otherwise have been. Two things in particular caught my attention. In St. Dominic’s nine ways of prayer there is the following observation, to quote:
At other times he, Dominic, would remain quietly on his knees, his mind caught up in wonder, and this sometimes lasted a long time. Sometimes it seemed from the way he looked that he had penetrated heaven in his mind, and then he would suddenly appear radiant with joy, wiping away the abundant tears running down his face.

As we continue our Novena to St Dominic, let us reflect on a tradition of love and devotion of Our Father Dominic to our Blessed Mother and how his order of preachers influenced the growth, devotion and spread of the Most Holy Rosary.

Dialogue of night and day

When my youngest niece saw me
for first time in our Dominican habit ,
she stared at me and asked...

Do you always have dreams in white and black? Do We?

I love this question, children always look more deeply than we do.

I think that all of us privileged to belong to St. Dominic’s family have a great love for the hymn that concludes our Liturgy at nightfall – “The O Lumen”- after joyfully praising our father Dominic as LIGHT of the Church and Doctor of TRUTH, we move on to highlight him as ROSE OF PATIENCE.

There are so many facets associated with this vibrant virtue of patience –but we may ask why “Rose of patience” – what is the connection?

In recent weeks I have been asking myself what does it mean when we say “I give my life to the Lord”? Yes I’m sure that we all want to give Him our ALL – after all this was the guiding light which led us to the monastery. But how do I give my ALL? If I focus my attention on my giving I can become very discouraged and perhaps there is a danger that I can become oblivious to what the Lord wants to give me? Ultimately the Lord is seeking our hearts to possess them in such a way that He can pray his prayer and radiate His love in and through us. Once He has our hearts we can trust Him to do that rest

As we continue our short reflections on St Dominic in our Novena, I would like to say a word on St Dominic and Prayer. The following lines from the psalms are significant:
"I have called to you Lord: hasten to help me! Hear my voice when I cry to you;
Lord let my prayer rise before you like incense,
The raising of my hands like an evening oblation." (Ps 14:1-2)
This sums up for me so well St Dominic's prayer.

As we continue our Novena to St Dominic, I would like to share an extract from the book "15 Days with St Dominic" by Alain Quilici O.P.

It was from the gospel that Saint Dominic drew the ardor for his preaching. He had received it from his predecessors, tranmitted it to his brothers and sisters, and practiced it through lectio divina. The tireless preacher of the gospel was also a fervent reader of the gospels. For there was but one Word of God. That same one that must be proclaimed from the roof-tops must also be sung in choir, read and meditated in prayer, contemplated in preaching, and shared in fraternal life.

Here we are again, at the beginning of another novena to St Dominic, in anticipation of his feast, with whom we have, so to speak, ‘thrown in our lot.’

What have we done and what does it all mean?
What can we ask of St Dominic, as we daily take up the task of fidelity, of perseverance and of trust in the love and mercy of God?
... This Order of Preachers could be very much likened to a potter’s house, in which we present ourselves to the LORD, under the protection and through the unfailing, ceaseless intercession of St Dominic.

We share with you the good news that Sr Maria Breidge has been accepted by our community to make her first Profession. The following is a reflection by our prioress, Sr Mairéad, for the occasion. References to the Scripture Readings are for the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A.