As we are living through this strange time, I called upon a friend of mine who is a bit of an expert in social distancing for a little advice about how to deal with this Holy Week and Easter — a time when the thought of singing Alleluia on Saturday night and Sunday may seem such a foreign thought.
Sr. Mary Catharine (Perry) of Jesus, O.P., is a cloistered Dominican nun in Summit, N.J. Their Our Lady of the Rosary Monastery is home to their contemplative, monastic community of women religious. It’s always quite amazing to me to visit them — they are not a far train ride out of Penn Station in Manhattan. Even when you get there, as beautiful as the town is, there’s a gas station across the street. They do seem to be in the middle of everything. But then once you enter, you are welcomed with the kind of peace that most (all?) of us are aching for.
A native of Massachusetts, Sr. Mary Catharine and I talk about her recent op-ed with advice on “social distancing” and how not to lose your soul in all of this.
Listen here:
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And to read her op-ed, here’s the link.
For more information on the Summit Dominicans, here’s their website.
And the fiction book she’s written, which we mention along the way, Amata Means Beloved.
This is part of a new series of “virus-free forums” sponsored by the National Review Institute — providing content on, in this case, faith (one of the founding pillars of the mission of NRI), during these quarantine times.