Tonight we sing to the Lord and address Him as the ‘Root of Jesse’ who stands as a signal for the nations, and the question could arise as to how a root can be said to stand so that it is visible to our sight. But Isaiah also prophesied, ‘a shoot shall spring from the stock of Jesse.’

Thus Christ is both root and fruit of Jesse. He is the One source and foundation of existence which is impregnable, indestructible, unchanging and therefore utterly dependable.

Oh Adonai and leader of Israel, you appeared to Moses in a burning bush, and gave him the law on Sinai.
Oh, come and save us with your mighty power.

Recently I saw two photographs that have stayed with me and have inspired me to write this refection. The first was taken seconds after a healthy baby girl was born. By the expression on her face, and her little arms and fingers outstretched, it looked like she was in awe and praise of God for this gift of life. The next photo was this same baby all wrapped up snug in her mother’s arms.

This evening we begin the first of the ‘O’ Antiphons. These antiphons are a set of seven Magnificat antiphons used at Vespers during the last seven days of Advent in Western Christian traditions. They are also known as the Great Advent Antiphons or the Great ‘O’ Antiphons. The texts of these antiphons are believed to have originated in Italy in or before the sixth century.

Each antiphon is a title of Christ, one of his attributes mentioned in Isaiah 11:1-2. We sing these antiphons from December 17th to December 23rd. The first letter of the titles, from last to first, appear to form a Latin acrostic. “Ero cras,”

Art and Prayer

We would like to share the images of a few new icons that some of our sisters have 'written' during an Icon Course with Mihai Cucu at the end of August (see below), and this reflection by Pope Benedict XVI on Art, Beauty and Prayer.

"A work of art is a product of the creative capacity of the human being who in questioning visible reality, seeks to discover its deep meaning and to communicate it through the language of forms, colour and sound. Art is able to manifest and make visible the human need to surpass the visible, it expresses the thirst and the quest for the infinite.

The feast of the Transfiguration is a celebration of God’s revelation. The glory of God that was veiled in the law and prophets - from Moses to Elijah - is now unveiled before the Church,to the apostles and us who receive their message.
‘Christ, during his earthly life, was always resplendent with the divine light, which remained invisible for most men.The Transfiguration was not a phenomenon circumscribed in time and space, no change took place in Christ at that moment, even in his human nature, but a change was produced in the consciousness of the apostles, who received for a moment the ability to see their Master as He was, resplendent in the eternal light of his divinity’. (V. Lossky)

One of the mottos of the Dominican Order is “Truth.” St Dominic founded the Order to preach the truth about the goodness and beauty of God’s creation and Christ’s saving Incarnation in response to the heresy of his time, which taught that the created physical world was evil and that abortion, murder and suicide were therefore good acts.

Dominic’s knowledge of the truth flowed from his intense prayer and contemplation of the Scriptures: “If you make my word your home you will indeed be my disciples; you will come to know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (Jn 8:31-32)

I would like to focus this reflection on St Dominic as a man of prayer.

Jordan of Saxony tells us in the Libellus that Dominic was familiar with Cassian’s Conferences, and that they were among his favourite reading. From Cassian we learn that humility, simplicity and charity are the foundations of all prayer. St. Dominic practised all these to a heroic degree.

An extract from the testimony of Bro. Buonviso, a witness in the canonization process of our Holy Father St Dominic.

The fourth sworn witness was brother Buonviso of the Order of Preachers. He was with the blessed Dominic, as he says, at Bologna, in the cloister of St. Nicholas, and at Rome and at Milan and he looked after him when he was ill. So he said that when the brethren left the church in the evening to go and rest, the blessed Dominic used to remain secretly in the church to pray,

One of the sayings of St Catherine of Siena, which is quite well known, is

“Be what you are called to be, and you will set the world on fire.”

It is unceasingly amazing that this Order of Preachers, enriched through many centuries by the wisdom and teaching of saints like Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas, Catherine of Siena, Vincent Ferrer; the beauty of Blessed Angelico; the humility of St Martine de Porres – and countless others, known and known to God, was established by St Dominic, who left little behind by way of writing – little enough that he could so easily have passed into obscurity and been forgotten within a few generations of his death.

And yet he didn’t. By his life, his love and his understanding of the grace he received from God, he was truly a fire-starter.
Here we are, over 800 years later, thanking God for His gift to us of this simple man, who simply loved God and was utterly absorbed in Him.