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S I S T E R H I S T O R I A N S O F T H E O R D E R OF P R E A C H E R S
News from Fanjeaux
 + 33 468788760
[email protected]
http://shop.op.org
S.H.O.P.
3 rue du Bourguet Nau
11270 FANJEAUX
France
N°15
ALL S AINTS
2014
Dominican vocabulary - historical reflections
As the 7th November approaches - the date recently designated as
one of celebration of and for the Dominican family - it may be helpful to
see how the different branches of our family tree were referred to in past
centuries. Most of us grew up with the 1, 2, 3 approach, that is to say: 1 =
friars, 2 = enclosed nuns and 3 = apostolic sisters and laity. This scheme
of things was however not in use before the 19th century, so in an Order as
old and venerable as ours, this approach could justifiably be described as a
recent invention… and hence due for revision. Attempts have been made,
but these old categories still linger on. Nuns are still regularly referred to
as “Second Order”. As far as we can judge, the first person to use this appellation was Fr Marie-Ambroise Potton op, who wrote a commentary on
the Constitutions of Dominican nuns in the 1860’s. In the prologue we
read: “although they go back further in time than the friars, the sisters bear
the name of second order, the first rank, as is fitting, being reserved for the
male religious.”
Heading
The Dominican Family protected by the Blessed Virgin, 1510, St Andreas Dominican Church, Cologne, Germany
In previous centuries, the approach was different, as
is manifested by the title page of a book by the Dominican
historian, Jean de Réchac, published in 1635 and entitled:
The Lives and Memorable Deeds of Women Saints and
Blesseds, Daughters of the First and Third Orders of the
Glorious Patriarch St Dominic. Thus by a process of deduction, here it is the friars who constitute the “Second
Order”. This same author said of the nuns, in Latin: “sunt
Ordinis sed non de Ordine” - a distinction that my knowledge of Latin has never permitted me to grasp. If any of
our readers can throw light on this, I would be most grateful. But such distinctions are surely unnecessary, and undesirable. As Fr Bruno Cadoré has written: “The Dominican Family is not primarily a matter for definition, but it is
constructed wherever we are learning together to live this
joy of carrying the Gospel into the world, by preaching
and contemplation”. This concept of family as all inclusive is surely preferable and much to be celebrated. This
expression is also used extensively in historical texts, at
least from the 17th century onwards, and is by no means a
recent invention.
S T U D Y T H E H I S T O R Y O F D O M I N I C A N W O M E N : F O L L O W S. H . O . P .
D I S T A N C E L E A R NI N G C O UR S E S O N D O M U NI
www.domuni.eu
N°15
PAGE 2
The Fate of Disaffected Dominican Convents - two
examples recently visited
Many Dominican convents and monasteries have disappeared from the map over the course of the
centuries, as a result of either war, revolution or repressive legislation, and more recently, for the first
time in history, simply from a lack of vocations. Many convents were simply demolished, some converted
into prisons or army barracks, others into cow sheds or garages. A rather different fate awaited two
which have recently entered a new lease of life as gourmet restaurants!
Such is the case with the former monastery of nuns at Dinant, Belgium. This community, which
goes back to 1895, indeed had its moments of glory, having founded two monasteries in Belgium in the
1920’s, the first monastery of our Order in Japan in 1936, and two missionary congregations for service
in the Congo. The sisters left their enormous buildings in the early 1990’s to live together in a “minimonastery” in the grounds of a retirement home. After several false starts, the monastic buildings have
now been converted into a restaurant and luxury hotel. The chapel remains intact with its carved choir
stalls and stained glass windows of Dominican saints, but now houses… a museum of the history of beer
brewing! (Leffe is just down the road in the centre of Dinant). But the most unfortunate aspect of this
conversion is that the check-in desk in reception is... the altar from the chapel. Such insensitivity is unfortunate to say the least. When closing convents, perhaps we should ensure that all such “sensitive” items
are removed carefully by ourselves before the property goes on the market.
The bar and restaurant at
“Le Couvent de Bethléem”, Dinant –
if only the nuns could see it now...
.
The conversion job was easier at Collioure, on the French Mediterranean coast, as much of the new
restaurant is outdoors, under covered terraces. It is alongside the former conventual church, which, as
summer visitors to this beautiful seaside resort will remember, has long housed a winery where the local
wines and the Banyuls aperitif are produced. Despite this most secular of uses, the 13th century Dominican church is in a good state of repair; as the winery manager told us, if the vine growers co-operative had
not taken it on, the buildings would have fallen into ruins. The cloister is also well preserved, and houses
the local museum of modern art.
The winery and the new restaurant at the Dominican convent at Collioure, France
NEWS
FROM
F ANJEAUX
PAGE 3
Iconography of Dominican Saints - Recent
Acquisitions at Fanjeaux
The S.H.O.P. Association’s concern for the history of Dominican
women is of course mostly oriented towards books and printed material
of all kinds. There is however a significant section devoted to the iconography of Dominican women saints and blesseds, particularly those who
do not feature prominently in the artistic tradition of the Order.
It was in this spirit that S.H.O.P. recently commissioned an icon of
St Margaret of Hungary (1242 - 1270) - queen and Dominican nun - from
the Monastery of St Catherine of Siena, Drogheda, Ireland. This beautiful
icon was written for us by Sr Dominika who was born in Byelorussia,
and whose talent and sensitivity for this form of religious art are manifest
in this portrayal of the holy nun.
Sr Miryam Ana op, who spent some months
helping at S.H.O.P. headquarters this year, brought
us from a visit to the Czech Republic a beautiful
statue of St Zdislava. This was especially made for
S.H.O.P. by a young sister of the Czech Dominican
Congregation who teaches ceramics in one of their
schools. St Zdislava (c.1220 - 1252) is one of the
rare saints to be celebrated liturgically as a wife
and mother. She was an early member of the Dominican family, and is venerated at the basilica in
Jablone, near to her family home at the castle of
Lemberk, situated at a point where the three countries, Czech Republic, Poland and Germany converge.
The third recent acquisition concerns this time a very well
known Dominican saint and brings us back to the seaside and Collioure. On a recent visit there, SHOP members visited the studio of
Guylaine Legentil, an artist who continues the tradition of those
painters who made Collioure famous in the early 20th century, notably Matisse and the fauvist school. Guylaine’s art is essentially religious, and it is great that in today’s world, this young woman can
make a living as a Christian artist. We chose a small watercolour of
St Vincent Ferrier - born in Spain but who really lived the life of the
itinerant preacher, travelling through many countries of Europe. Tradition has it that he preached in Collioure - which is extremely
likely, given its strategic position on the coast road from Spain to
France and Italy. Indeed at the time Collioure belonged to the kingdom of Majorca, not France. Given the presence of a Dominican
convent (the one that is now a winery!) it would have been an obvious stopping off point for him. In the background of this painting
the façade of the Dominican convent of Collioure can be recognised
on the shoreline, and St Vincent himself is poised between two impressive towers, representing his
preaching mission to the universal Church.
3 rue du Bourguet Nau
11270 FANJEAUX
France
Phone + 33 4 68788760
E-mail:
[email protected]
S.H.O.P. office holders:
PRESIDENT
Sr Mary O’Driscoll op
(Cabra, Dublin, Ireland)
SECRETARY
Sr Patricia Dougherty op
(San Rafael, California, USA)
TREASURER
Sr Barbara Beaumont op
(Fatima, Portugal)
The Association of Sister Historians of the Order of Preachers is
defined in its statutes as: “a resource for documentation, communication and formation at the service of Dominican women,
religious and lay, through the study of their histories.” Statutes
Recent visitors
On Sunday 19th October, in the context of
the visitation of the parish of St Dominique-enLauragais, to which Fanjeaux belongs, by the
Bishop of Carcassonne, Mgr Alain Planet, the
S.H.O.P. Association was invited to send two
representatives to a lunch for the religious of the
parish. This took place at the old Dominican convent in Fanjeaux. After the meal, Mgr Planet
kindly accepted an invitation to visit the
S.H.O.P. house. He seemed very interested in our library (he has a great personal interest in history), and found the house “well suited to purpose”.
Recent books
We recommend to our readers this recent publication of the Dominican Nuns
of Summit NJ:
Become a member of
the S.H.O.P.
Association!
It is easy! Send us a note of
your name and address (by
e-mail or by post) and send
20€ (by post - cash or
cheque - or by bank
transfer). You will then
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regularly and be informed of
publications and events. You
can also make use of the
facilities—accommodation
and library — at Fanjeaux.
All donations are most
gratefully received — they
go towards acquiring new
books for the library devoted
to the history of Dominican
women.
To Courageously Know and Follow After Truth—the life
and work of Mother Catherine Abrikosova
by Sr Mary of the Sacred Heart op
$ 9.95
Available from Amazon
It tells the courageous story of a married couple, the
Abrikosovs; the husband became a priest of the Byzantine rite Catholic church and his wife founded a Dominican Congregation, also of the Byzantine rite. This book recounts their
many difficulties, first in Tsarist Russia, then under the Bolshevik regime.
The sisters were mostly sent to prison camps where they suffered great depravation and many died. The author of this very readable account is a Dominican nun of the Monastery of St Jude, Marbury, Alabama. She spent several
months in Russia exploring the possibilities for a new foundation.
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