In a few minutes we will sing the second great ‘O’ antiphon in Latin, just before the Magnificat. The translation in our breviaries reads:

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

The first Advent ‘O Antiphon’, ‘O Wisdom’, is woven from the book of Wisdom of Sirach (24:3) and the book of Wisdom (8:1). The wisdom that has come from the mouth of the Most High is His Son, the eternal Word of God. As St. John of the Cross say, in this one Word that the Father spoke, there is hidden everything he had to say - all Divine Wisdom. According to it, he created the world, according to it, he rules it and saved it.

The Mass readings for this first Sunday of Advent provide us with a wake-up call: St Paul tells us “you must wake up now” and in the Gospel Jesus tells us to “stay awake!” while the Prophet Isaias invites us to “walk in the light of the Lord.” So as we begin a new Church year we are invited to come into the light – to remove the blinds from the windows of our hearts and to let the light shine in – remembering that the true Light is Jesus Himself. He is the True Light shining on us and who desires to penetrate and posses our inmost being.

Vocation Discernment Weekend For single women, (20 -40), who are wondering if the Lord is inviting them to Dominican Monastic Contemplative Life

In our preparation for the Feast of our Father St. Dominic we had an 8-Day Retreat with Fr. Vivian Boland O.P. who awoke in us a thirst for the Face of the Lord. On the Feast of the Transfiguration (6th August) we finished our Retreat with the blessing of new icons that some of our sisters had 'written' during an Icon Course with Mihai Cucu at the end of July.

Vocation Discernment Weekend For single women, (20 -40), who are wondering if the Lord is inviting them to Dominican Monastic Contemplative Life

The rock from which we were hewn - Mother Catherine Plunkett, our foundress.

Fondly know as “The Siena” by the town’s people, the Monastery of saint Catherine of Siena has been part of Drogheda’s history for three hundred years. On this day 300 years ago we received official recognition from the master of the Order.
From our first beginnings in 1722 in a humble mud cabin on the banks of the Boyne to our present location in the Twenties our praying presence has enfolded the town and radiated the presence of God to the very ends of the earth. It is this consistent praying presence that we would like to honour and give thanks for, in this celebration of our third centenary.

On this day in 1722 (300 years ago), our Monastery in Drogheda was officially recognised and established by the Master of the Dominican Order at that time. Below is a copy of the English translation of his letter (together with a photo of the original letter from our Archives).

We often hear the phrase ‘the war is being fought on two fronts.’ This is as true for the war in the Ukraine as it is for any previous war. But there is also a deeper sense in which this war is being fought on two fronts. There is a battle going on between light and darkness, between good and evil, between grace and sin. It has never been put any better than it was by St. James over 2000 years ago. “Where do all these battles between your selves begin? Is it not in your own hearts? Is it not your passions that are at war in your members?