Dominican Sisters of The Immaculate Conception - Identity & Mission

Identity & Mission

The ministry of the Dominican Sisters of the Immaculate Conception focuses on Christian education, care of the sick and elderly persons, and assistance to the poor throughout the world. A typical, daily routine for the sisters includes Divine Office, meditation, Mass, Holy Hour of Eucharistic adoration and Benediction, rosary, spiritual reading, recreation, and apostolic work. The apostolic work ranges in nature from teaching, facilitating retreats, caring of the sick and elderly, to preparation for the Sacred Liturgy (see Mass), etc.

The Dominicans – also known as “Order of Preachers” – adhere to the motto of “contemplare et comtemplata aliis tradere", which translates from Latin as “contemplate and pass on the fruits of contemplation". They were founded by St. Dominic in the 13th century. He was motivated by the society’s need for greater education, and strove to confront heresy and defend truth by proper educational formation and devotion to prayer.

All religious institutes share certain practices in common, such as community prayer (primarily the Divine Office), community meals, work, private prayer, meditation, study, and, finally, religious vows (typically, the vows of evangelical counsels; poverty, chastity, and obedience). Often, the formation process is divided into five “stages” of discernment: observant/aspirant, postulant, novice, simply professed, and solemnly professed (or perpetual vows). Until solemn profession of vows, the discernment process typically continues for about 5–8 years and the novice can leave at any time during this period.

A typical schedule for a religious community might look like the following: 5:00 AM, Rise 5:30 AM, Office of Readings (Matins)/ Morning Prayer (Lauds) 6:30 AM, Holy Mass 7:45 AM, Breakfast 9:30 AM, Morning Chores/ Classes 12:50 PM, Midday Prayer (Terce/None) 1:30 PM, Lunch (with spiritual readings) 2:30 PM, Free Time/ Siesta 4:30 PM, Vespers, Meditation 6:00 PM, Private Study 7:30 PM, Supper/ Free Time 8:30 PM, Night Prayer (Compline) 9:30 PM, Lights Out

Institutes that are more “contemplative” (e.g. Benedictines) tend to allot more time to community prayer and have a more fixed schedule as listed above. On the other hand, the Dominicans, who are more “active", allot more time to an apostolate (serving the community in some capacity). Regardless of being contemplative or active or both, however, every religious community shares in common both the heart of life is prayer and dedication to a life of self-conversion and renunciation for the sanctification of the Church. Across all religious communities is a shared breath of prayer, because they all recite the same Divine Office every day across the world.

Active institutes are perhaps better labeled “active-contemplative.” They are those, such as the Franciscans, Dominicans, Missionaries of Charity, etc., who tend to have more worldly interaction compared with contemplative orders. Saint Thomas Aquinas suggested that these active-contemplative orders are the most perfect form of religious life. However, in the words of Saint Francis of Assisi, one cannot be in the world without amounting “a little dust on his shoulders" and these orders must be the most vigilant. The closer one draws to the world, the more at risk he is of being sucked into it and conforming to the flesh instead of the spirit. Dominicans draw inspiration from St. Paul, who reminded the faithful: “Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.” Thus, the more active a religious, the more prayerful he must be also. The power of conversion relies entirely on one’s recourse to prayer.