Dominican Sisters of St. Mary

It seems that much of what we hear about religious life in America is about its drastic decline over the past 40 years.  But then we have this amazing story, which simply flies in the face of all we hear about the state of religious life.  The Dominican Sisters of St. Mary of Ann Arbor, MI was founded in 1997 with 4 sisters, and has since grown to a vibrant community of nearly 100 sisters whose average age is 26.  The average age of Sisters entering St. Mary's is 21 years old.  I cannot tell you what an inspiration these beautiful devout Sisters are to us laypeople who struggle to live any degree of holiness in our daily secular lives.

Let us pray for all our beautiful Brothers and Sisters in Christ who have listened to and answered God's call into a life espoused to the Church.  Let us thank them for their continuous prayers for all and let us offer prayers of thanksgiving for their living and modeling lives of holiness for us all.  May we be inspired to follow their joyful assent.

The sisters recently appeared on Oprah, and I must say, it is the first time I have watched an 'Oprah youtube video'.  It was a very good interview.  The Archdiocese of Washington blog by Laura Ferstl has a writeup and links to the youtube videos.  More information on the Sisters can be found on their website.