From Denise Harvey, Lay Provincial Council President:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
May the Grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, be with you!
I wanted to give you a few updates on Chapter Meetings, LPC Meeting, Ordinations and Prayer Partners.
First, as our local state and counties have recently re-opened, many of our chapters have received permission to begin meeting in person. This is a great grace and a sure sign of hope. But, several of our chapters have not yet been granted that permission. For those chapters, we encourage the continuation of Zoom meetings.
Also, there are some members who are uncomfortable with meeting in person, either now, or in the near future. This can be due to age or health risks. We ask the chapters to accommodate those members by continuing to provide the option of attending via Zoom.
This accommodation brings up the possibility of admitting new members, who are geographically distant, to participate virtually. Our recent experience with the pandemic, has given us the format to do this. A few chapters have already begun the practice. If a chapter is willing to consider the idea, there are a couple of aspects to keep in mind.
First, this allowance would have to be approved by the chapter. Second, a member participating virtually would still be required to attend the annual retreat and profession ceremony. Third, the formation director would need to be in contact with the member individually, to ensure that formation and our daily duties, are being carried out. As a reminder, the option of receiving/ professing a member in a private meeting, is still in effect. This option was given by our Master, due to the pandemic.
Regarding our LPC, since California is among the states that fully opened this past week, we hope to have a date for our next in person meeting very soon! That said, the state has allowed individual businesses to impose certain restrictions, as they see fit. We will be working with the retreat center, to work out the logistics. I will be in touch with the reps as soon as we have a date confirmed.
And, as you know, our Mini LPC Zoom Meeting is scheduled for Saturday, August 14th at 9:30am PST. I will be sending out an Agenda closer to the date.
Second, as many of you know, our former president and member of the Holy Rosary chapter, Tony Galati, has been studying for the priesthood for the past several years. On Friday, June 26th he will be ordained in his local diocese! This is a great blessing to the Church. Please keep Tony, and all the newly ordained priests, in your prayers. Please also make sacrifices for an increase to the priesthood.
Finally, Fr. Augustine has blessed all our chapters with a special grace. He has asked the Nuns at our Menlo Park Monastery to be prayer partners for all our chapters! Each Nun is assigned a few chapters and is committed to praying for them each day. The list of Nuns/chapters is attached. I encourage each chapter to reciprocate by praying for the Nun who is assigned to them. This is a wonderful fellowship. It reminds us of our Order’s origin, when St. Dominic established the Nuns first, so they would pray for the Friars.
I hope you, your families and chapters are doing well.
You are in my daily prayers.
May God bless you and Our Mother, together with St. Joseph, protect you.
Your sister, Denise
From The Dominican Nuns at Menlo Park (Corpus Christi Monastery):
We are now set to praying for our Dominican Laity. Below are the sisters’ names. We are honored to pray for our Dominican Laity chapters.
| No. | Chapter Name | City and State | Prayer Partner |
| 1 | St. Dominic of the desert – CIF | Green Valley, AZ | Sr. Mary Isabel, OP |
| 2 | Mary, Mother of Truth | Mesa, AZ | Sr. Maria Christine, OP |
| 3 | Holy Trinity | Phoenix, AZ | Sr. Amata Marie, OP |
| 4 | St. Mary Magdalene | Temple, AZ | Sr. Mary of the Holy Family, OP |
| 5 | St. Martin de Porress | Tucson, AZ | Sr. Maria Christine, OP |
| 6 | St. Rose of Lima | Antioch, CA | Sr. Andre Marie, OP |
| 7 | St. Monica | Benicia, CA | Sr. Andre Marie, OP |
| 8 | St. Dominic | Eagle Rock, CA | Sr. Joseph Marie, OP |
| 9 | Bartolome de las Casas | Fullerton, CA | Sr. Andre Marie, OP |
| 10 | Queen of Angels | Los Angeles, CA | Sr. Mary Bernadette, OP |
| 11 | Corpus Christi | Menlo Park, CA | Sr. Joseph Marie, OP |
| 12 | Bl. Fra Angelico | Modesto, CA | Sr. Marie Dominic, OP |
| 13 | St. Albert the Great | Oakland, CA | Sr. Maria Carmela, OP |
| 14 | St. Joseph | Oakland, CA | Sr. Marie Dominic, OP |
| 15 | St. Andrew | Riverside, CA | Sr. Mary of the Holy Family, OP |
| 16 | Mary, Mother of the Eucharist | Sacramento, CA | Sr. Joseph Marie, OP |
| 17 | St. Dominic | San Diego, CA | Sr. Katherine |
| 18 | St. Dominic – CIF | San Francisco, CA | Sr. Cecilia Marie |
| 19 | St. Thomas Aquinas | Santa Paula, CA | Sr. Mary Isabel, OP |
| 20 | San Jacinta | Visalia, CA | Sr. Katherine |
| 21 | Sts. Catherine and Vincent – CIF | Yuba City, CA | Sr. Maria Christine, OP |
| 22 | Saint Margaret of Castello | Boise, ID | Sr. Amata Marie, OP |
| 23 | Bl. Bartolo Longo | Las Vegas, NV | Sr. Cecilia Marie |
| 24 | St. Thomas Aquinas – CIF | Reno, NV | Sr. Katherine |
| 25 | St. Agnes of Montepulciano | Eugene, OR | Sr. Mary Bernadette, OP |
| 26 | Holy Family | Portland, OR | Sr. Maria Carmela, OP |
| 27 | Holy Rosary | Portland, OR | Sr. Mary Isabel, OP |
| 28 | St. Catherine of Siena | Salt Lake City, UT | Sr. Amata Marie, OP |
| 29 | Our Lady of Victory – CIF | Salt Lake City, UT | Sr. Cecilia Marie |
| 30 | Blessed Sacrament | Seattle, WA | Sr. Marie Dominic, OP |
N.B. We are #27. Please pray for Sr. Mary Isabel, OP.