The Dominican Blessing

It's the feast of our Holy Father Saint Dominic de Guzman again! I was at the Santo Domingo Parish- National Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary, La Naval de Manila earlier for the Eucharistic celebration.

I took this picture of Saint Dominic, which I found at the
Basilica of Holy Trinity in Kraków, Poland.
It is a church and monastery of the Dominican Order. 

One of the things I learned from formation, and which I truly treasure, is the 13th century-Dominican Blessing or prayer below:

May God the Father bless us.

May God the Son heal us.

May God the Holy Spirit enlighten us,

and give us

eyes to see with,

ears to hear with,

hands to do the work of God with,

feet to walk with,

a mouth to preach

the word of salvation with,

and the angel of peace 

to watch over us 

and lead us at last, by our Lord’s gift, 

to the Kingdom. Amen.

I absolutely love it when some members of our chapter, the Our Lady of La Naval Lay Dominican Fraternity, (which meets monthly at the Santo Domingo convent) sing it during our monthly meetings. It was of course sung after the Mass earlier. 

Below is a video by the students of the Saint Dominic Priory in St. Louis, Missouri who sang it so beautifully. (In the future I hope to record one with our chapter members singing.)

Happy feast day, Saint Dominic! And to my Dominican family across the globe!

O most Holy Trinity, have mercy on us.

Our Lady of the Holy Rosary - La Naval de Manila, pray for us.

Saint Dominic de Guzman, pray for us.

Saint Francis of Assisi, pray for us.

Saint Catherine of Siena, pray for us.

All you Dominican Saints, pray for us.

O Lord, When?

A dear friend and brother in the Faith has recently asked me when I intend to get back on my blog. I have not written about anything in a while, except for some required "home work" for my Dominican formation. I have a draft of some reflections about my writing hiatus which I will post here soon. But for now, I'd like to post a timely message which I came across almost serendipitously! 

I have chosen the above blog post title because I think  I have been "bugging" the Lord too much for a certain prayer request I still have not received a clear answer to. Patience does not come by too easily, and I beg Him for the grace to be able to bear it all for love of Him!

Wisdom from the Saints:

I was reading through some  quotations by some saints, which I have compiled for future use. I am tasked at work to post something about the holy men and women of God, if possible, on a daily basis, except perhaps on ferial days. Before I post, I verify these quotations by going through several related articles, which of course, I get from Google.

While checking on a quotation from Saint Vincent de Paul, I read a letter he penned on April 25, 1659 for Father Guillaume Desdame, a missionary. 

Saint Vincent de Paul, was a French Roman Catholic priest, the great apostle of Charity, who founded several religious congregations that belong to the Vincentian Family. This is an excerpt of that letter:

Saint Valentine, the Martyr

According to the 1962 Missal of Saint John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, February 14th is the feast of Saint Valentine. He was a priest of Rome, (some sources say he was even a bishop), who was beheaded in about 273 A.D. 

Pope Julius I built a basilica on the Flaminian Way, believed to be the site of his martyrdom.

Greater love hath no man than that he lay down his life for his friends. (Jn1:13)

During the time of Claudius II, a decree was issued which forbid marriage. Saint Valentine defied this decree and urged young lovers to come to him in secret so that he could join them in the Sacrament of Matrimony. Eventually he was discovered by the Emperor, who had Valentine arrested and imprisoned. 

Saint Valentine held steadfast in his Faith and in turn attempted to convert Claudius to Christianity, at which point the Emperor condemned him to death.

Even When It Hurts

I have been meaning to write about one particular unforgettable experience during my visit to Poland, but have not really sat down to do it. Although I did write a draft of this blog entry while still in Chudow, I never got to finish it there. So after more than four months of having restless sleep because all the words flow in my head while I am lying in bed, I am finally trying to work on this now. And it's the wee hours of the morning on a Friday. I am hoping my caffeine fix will take care of the impending headache later due to lack of sleep.

At the Jasna Góra Monastery in Częstochowa, Poland
with my foster family

Will Work For Travel
If wanderlust were like pixie dusts that accidentally spilled over my head, I am certain I almost got buried underneath lots of it. 

I love going places. The travel bug bit me deep enough to make my desire for globetrotting ridiculously insatiable. If only I could just pack my bags any time and go somewhere instantly! In every place of course, I have had memorable adventures and misadventures. Poland is stunningly unforgettable no doubt. I was expecting to be gobsmacked, and the country did not disappoint. But a misadventure happened to me there. And I put the blame solely on me.

Believe

This is a long-overdue journal about my trip to Poland last July 2016. There's so much to write about to unload my heart, and to bring to recollection all the lessons of that pilgrimage. 

I begin with Auschwitz.

"Arbeit macht frei"means "work sets you free".
This appears on the entrance of Auschwitz,
and other labour camps. (c. July 2016)

I was able to visit the WWII German Nazi Concentration camps, Auschwitz I, and Auschwitz II-Birkenau, located near the industrial town of Oswiecim in Poland, during the Days in the Diocese prior to the World Youth Days in Krakow. It was a most poignant experience, walking on its grounds, touching the barbed-wire fences, taking a peek inside the gas chambers, and seeing first-hand where millions of innocent lives perished. There was a moment I recall when I passed by the Auschwitz gallows ~ I tried to envision myself present in that period of World War II, and wondered how I would have met death had I been one of the prisoners. I could not fathom the cruelty and brutality of the Nazis. The horrifying atrocities of the Holocaust was too much to bear, let alone imagine.  

Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Today is a very special day in my Faith journey. I have been temporarily professed as a Lay Dominican during the Eucharistic celebration earlier presided by Rev. Fr. Roland Mactal, O.P., the spiritual director of the Our Lady of La Naval Lay Dominican Fraternity.

As there are no coincidences in the designs of Providence, I was overwhelmed by an unspeakable joy that of all days, our simple yet solemn vestition ceremony fell on the Solemnity of the Pentecost.

Fr. Roland only uttered one word to me after the Mass: "Persevere." And so I call upon the Holy Spirit, to aid and strengthen me.

Prayer for the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit

A Prayer by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

I came across this prayer by Antoine de Saint-Exupery from Bright Side. 

The Little Prince fan that I am, I just had to re-post this in my blog. Thank you Bright Side! 

The prayer: 

Indulgences

Lay Dominican Novitiate/ O.P. Notes
Lecture given by Dr. Bernardita Garcia, O.P.

An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints. (CCC s.1471)

The gaining of indulgences requires certain prescribed conditions, and the performance of certain prescribed works. To gain indulgences, it is necessary that the faithful be in the state of grace, at least at the time the indulgenced work is completed.

An indulgence can either be partial or plenary. A partial indulgence remits only some of the temporal punishment due to sin, while the plenary indulgence remits all temporal punishment.

Partial Indulgence

Saint Dominic's 9 Ways of Prayer

Lay Dominican Novitiate/ O.P. Notes

Saint Dominic praying
by El Greco

The great founder of the Ordo Praedicatorum  (Dominicans) Holy Father Saint Dominic, teaches not only his spiritual children, but also all the faithful nine forms of prayer that include a certain, disciplined physical posture.

The manuscript containing the 9 ways of prayer was discovered in a German monastery basement, and was written by an anonymous author between 1260 and 1288, the source being Sister Cecilia of the Monastery of Saint Agnes at Bologna, Italy. (Sister Cecilia received her Dominican habit from Saint Dominic in Rome, and she witnessed the foundation of the monastery of San Sisto. In 1223 she went to Bologna with three other sisters. Sometime between 1272 and 1288, she dictated her reminiscences of Saint Dominic to Sister Angelica. Sister Cecilia remained a member of the Bolognese monastery until her death.)

The First Way of Prayer: 

The Bow

(Humbling oneself before the altar of God)

The three forms of this gesture, according to the Dominican Tradition are: the simple bow of the head, a bow from the shoulders, and the profound bow from the waist.

In Defense of Judas

I remember as a young girl, I learned a declamation piece called "Despair of Judas", in which Judas did not have hope in the end, that's why he opted to take his own life. But as I grew older, I have come to personally believe that even Judas was redeemed by the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ. I personally believe that I cannot pass judgement on Judas. Only God knows whether his soul is for heaven or hell.

And then, I came across this piece by Kalookan Bishop, His Excellency Most Rev. Pablo Virgilio "Ambo" S. David, D.D. 

What a powerful message of forgiveness and mercy in this Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy!

In Defense of Judas
By Bishop Ambo David