To praise God, to love Him, and to beseech Him on behalf of others. For the Dominican nuns of the Dominican Monastery of the Perpetual Rosary in Syracuse, New York, this is an apt description. In a sense, they have become receptacles of prayer. In March 1925, twelve nuns from Camden, New Jersey, arrived in Syracuse to found a new monastery, and on March 25th, Mother Mary Louis Bertrand and the other sisters opened their doors, welcoming those from the surrounding area to join them for prayer and to bring their prayer intentions to the nuns. These nuns have made a point of continuing this practice by placing great emphasis on receiving the prayers of those near and far. Whether it is at the monastery turn, a revolvable opening in the cloister wall for an exchange of goods and messages, or over the phone, the nuns have been resolute that their monastery is at the service of the spiritual welfare of others. The nuns rejoice in listening to the joys and blessings, and they sorrow in listening to the troubles and heartaches of those who come to them, and they then bring all this before the Lord, beseeching Him to be merciful to His people.
As a monastery of the Perpetual Rosary, this life of intercession takes on a particular aspect—the hour of guard. Here, the nuns each take an hour of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, praying 15 decades of the rosary for those who have asked their prayers. In a sense, they hand over their prayers to the Blessed Mother and ask her to present them to her Son. Having maintained this practice since 7:00 a.m. on March 25, 1925, the nuns have offered countless decades and presented innumerable petitions to the Lord. All this to serve the faithful. As their day continues, the nuns keep these intentions in their hearts and unite them to the liturgical prayers of the Church. Offering those petitions along with the sacrifice of the Mass, the nuns join all these intentions to Christ’s Cross and the power of His redeeming grace. And through the Divine Office, the nuns once again bring their prayers to the Lord asking Him to continue to be generous with His grace at all hours of the day. From rising to rest, these nuns never cease to live a life of prayer and intercession. They truly live as receptacles of prayer.
