We are an American Community, founded in 1900 by Rose Hawthorne, daughter of Nathaniel Hawthorne and a convert to Catholicism. Rose's journey from an intellectual and artistic life to a life of service to the poor with incurable cancer is a moving testament to the power of faith and love of God.

We are Dominicans. Traditions of the Dominican Order ... love of the Church and the Holy Father, wearing the habit, devotion to the Passion of Christ and Our Blessed Mother ... are a major focus of the community's life.

We are committed to the traditional pillars of Dominican Life: prayer, community life, study, and preaching. As Dominicans, we are charged to preach to and serve the people of God. We preach God's love and His healing presence in the world today through our ministry to his sick poor. Each Sister is challenged to balance the two dimensions of Dominican life - contemplative and active - in her own life.

We consecrate our lives to God by the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. In professing the vows, we give glory to God and recognize His supremacy in our lives. The vows give us a freedom from self, which the spiritual life demands. This offers one the opportunity to grow in greater union with God. When we cooperate with God's special graces and accept this great challenge, we grow in the Holy Spirit's life of inner freedom.

Prayer

Dominicans center our lives on Jesus Christ, the true light, and are moved by the Holy Spirit who radiates God's healing presence in the world today. Dominican Spirituality is a primary part of our day, visible in our communal and individual daily prayer. Daily Mass, Sacred Scripture, private prayer, chanting - in the Dominican tradition - the Liturgy of the Hours, spiritual reading, devotion to the Blessed Mother and her Rosary, and annual retreats all give us the spiritual strength and graces we need to serve God.We seek an ever greater union with God, and our prayer and service are an expression of our love of God.

We live in community, praying and working together for love of God and in a common purpose. We share our lives with one another and hold all things in common. Each of us is supported by the community in our individual struggle to overcome our frailties and to achieve our full human and spiritual potential. The community nourishes the individual Sister and the individual Sister, in turn, strengthens the community through her spiritual life and apostolic service.

Study

The Dominican emphasis on study, initiated by Saint Dominic, opens our hearts and minds more fully to the human condition today, and continues to build on a rich history of tradition.

We preach, not from a pulpit, but through our one apostolate, to care for incurable cancer patients who cannot afford the care they need. This work is challenging, but not as difficult as one might think. God gives us the special graces we need in the particular state of life to which He calls us. And, we receive as we give! The work gives many rewarding experiences, some as simple as the joy one experiences at the smile from a suffering patient in thanks for the smallest kindness.