Mass of Professions January 27, 2024
On Saturday, January 27, 2024, the chapel of the Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary was again the joyful site of the Holy Rosary Fraternity’s Mass of Professions. The date was the feast of St. Angela Merici, herself an example of a layperson brought to holiness through prayer and apostolic work.
Five novices, Geraldine, Jessica, Sarah, Lee, and Valiree, made their first profession, promising to live by the Dominican rule for three years. This time will provide them with more advanced formation and deeper participation in the life of the fraternity, enabling them to discern whether to make final promises after those three years.
In addition, five members who had already made their final profession—Richard, Marie, Edwin, Anthony, and Margaret—received the symbol of lifelong commitment, the large scapular, which was not available for them at the time. In lay Dominican custom, small scapulars, to be worn at all times under one’s ordinary clothes, are given when one is received as a novice, and a much larger scapular, worn only on certain occasions, at final profession. These scapulars, “which our holy forebears established to be worn as an expression of innocence and holiness” (Rite of Profession), were blessed during the Mass; the five life-professed members were then clothed in them as a sign of being clothed in Christ.
Two special guests also attended the Mass: the Regional President, Yolanda Leavy, and the Provincial President, Kathy Kendrek. The celebration of the fraternity’s growth was thus also a re-affirmation of bonds within the larger Dominican family, and a privileged occasion of joy to visitors and local members alike.
Lay Dominican formation, both during the discernment period and after final profession, is intended to shape apostles and saints. The Holy Rosary Fraternity of Summit is blessed and thankful for its steady growth in members eager to pursue that very goal.
