New Card Ministry Holds Your Loved Ones in Prayer
“More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.” — Tennyson
When Sister Maristella Dunlavy recently left a much-loved ministry of Catholic education, she found herself envisioning new ways to share the power of prayer with others. “People are so grateful to be told the sisters will be praying for them,” she said. “What could link our prayer to those who are in need of compassion and love?”
Sister Maristella, a gifted artist, has put her talents to work on the answer to that question. She has created a line of sympathy, get-well, and thank-you cards that are now available to anyone who would like to assure their friends and loved ones of the promise of prayer. The messages of comfort, hope, and gratitude include a remembrance in the prayers the Springfield Dominican Sisters and serve as a reminder of the senders’ love and concern.
“Someone once said, ‘There is only one prayer – the prayer of Jesus,’” said Sister Maristella. “Our own prayer is a way of connecting to the grace of Jesus already within and among us.”
Prayer is one of the four pillars of Dominican life, along with study, common life, and preaching, or service. It is the tradition of the Dominican Sisters of Springfield to devote a significant portion of their day to liturgical prayer and to solitary contemplative prayer. The sisters pray the Liturgy of the Hours in common each morning and evening for the needs of the church and the world, and attend daily Mass. For the retired sisters, prayer becomes their ministry in a special way. After years of serving the church, they now spend their days offering their joys and pains, and the world’s, into God’s hands. |
