Ave Maria Living.com
Ave Maria, Florida – the town with a Catholic heart.©™ Stories & information for residents & visitors.Archive for Dominican
8 things to click: a click-worthy Ave Maria update
It’s May June. We’re all so busy. Here is a quick and dirty mash-up of things of note for Ave Marians (and those who love us):
1. For the past few years, Sister Albert Marie, OP, DSMME, has been a graduate Theology student at AMU. On Friday she will present her doctoral thesis. All are invited. Click the flyer for details.
2. On Friday the Donahue Catholic Shamrock 8-man football team played a spring game. This was the first game since losing in the Florida state title game, and the first game playing without 12 seniors who were on that team. The boys won 20 to 14.
3. Our former neighbor and friend, the always compelling Joseph Pearce, gave a lecture in the UK on the delicious things about which he always writes and talks. AMU Classics and Philosophy professor Joseph Yarbrough was kind enough to draw my attention to the podcast of it. Pearce talks about the Second Spring, a reference to the Traditional Latin Mass, which he explains through a chain of references to Coleridge, Newman, Hopkins, Wilde, Chesterton, Belloc, Greene, Waugh, Lewis and Tolkein (are you hungry yet?).
4. The joy of having the Dominican Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist here in town is temporarily tempered by the farewells that inevitably come each June when the Sisters depart for summer assignments. For some, the departure also marks the end of their assignment in Ave Maria, as it does this year for Sister Teresa Benedicta and Sister Mary Martha, who have been teaching at Donahue Catholic. Sister Teresa Benedicta has been teaching high school theology for the past five years, and next year she will be at a high school in San Francisco. Sister Mary Martha has been teaching in the grammar school for just one year, and next year she will be teaching in Peoria. Make sure you say goodbye and wish them well in their new assignments.
Comments off
Ave Maria University’s 10th Commencement
Some highlights from AMU’s 10th annual commencement exercises held today. The first two photos are from AMU student photographer Jeremiah Rappley’s excellent social media album that has a hundred more images of the weekend events.

More images and video clips below.
Being named after Saint John Paul the Great (a town where it’s common, and 1 young John Paul who is attending the canonization)
On the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday when Pope John Paul II will officially enter the canon of saints of Christ’s Church, many families in the town of Ave Maria are also planning a feast day for their sons – or their Sister! It is fitting that a town where one of the streets is named “Pope John Paul II Boulevard” – a town whose founding was inspired by that pope’s “new evangelization” – has so many boys and young men named after that extraordinary man.
His papacy saw a rise in the popularity of the name “John Paul” for newborns in the USA as shown in this graphic, with spikes in popularity based on events in his life:
Of course not everyone bearing the name received it as a newborn boy. Sister John Paul, OP, who teaches in Ave Maria at Donahue Catholic, received the name when she entered Religious life.

“I received the name John Paul as my religious name the day I received the holy habit of St. Dominic, August 5, 2001. ‘John Paul II, we love you!'” – window at the Mother House of the Dominican Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist
Among the estimated dozen John Paul’s in Ave Maria, several have provided photographs, below.

John Paul Moore – born second – was blessed while in the womb with his twin sister Rhodora by John Paul II. And while the parents had no idea they were having twins, the Pope knew because he gave them two extra rosaries (instead of one extra) for the baby!
One lucky Ave Maria boy bearing the name is having the trip of a lifetime with his mother – they traveled to Rome to attend tomorrow’s canonization ceremony! John Paul Allan’s friends and neighbors have been able to follow his special pilgrimage via Facebook. Mrs. Allan owns a Catholic gift and book store and home school supply store called By Way of the Family that she named after a phrase from Saint Pope John Paul”s apostolic exhortation Familiaris Consortio: “The future of humanity passes by way of the family.”

John Paul Allan and his mother Chelsea with the Vatican in background on their canonization pilgrimage in Rome.

Pope John Paul II canonization banner over the entrance to St. Peter’s Basilica with John Paul Allan standing under it at St. Peter’s Basilica.

John Paul Allan and his mom Chelsea sent this image showing where they are standing in line at 3:00 AM on the eve of John Paul II’s canonization.
Comments off
Youth 2000: Thank you!
This team led about 100 students in the Youth 2000 retreat in Ave Maria, Florida, this past weekend, with the assistance of dozens more volunteers. Pictured are Joey Haas, Martin Doman, Sister John Paul O.P., and six members of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal.
Comments off
Bishop Dewane in Ave Maria to support youth
On Saturday evening Bishop Frank Dewane celebrated the vigil Mass at the Ave Maria Oratory with parishioners. His visit was in support of the Youth2000 retreat being held in town this weekend.
Five Franciscan Friars giving the retreat and pastor Father Cory Mayer concelebrated the Mass. With nearly 100 local high school and college students participating, the retreat was organized by Sister John Paul, O.P., a teacher at Donahue Catholic academy, and supported by dozens of volunteers.
Bishop Dewane expressed joy in his own vocation while encouraging the retreatants to seriously consider whether God might be calling the young men to be priests or Religious, and the young women to enter Religious life. While in town he also spent time with middle school students.

Venice Bishop Frank Dewane distributes Holy Communion at the Ave Maria Oratory assisted by altar boy Joseph Klucik

A shaft of bright sunlight focuses attention on Venice Bishop Frank Dewane and Father Cory Mayer during Mass in Ave Maria
Comments off
One year ago: Habemus Papam
One year ago, a daughter of Ave Maria was among these holy women as they joyfully received the news “habemus papam”. Can you spot her big smile?
Comments off
Invitation from Sister John Paul: Youth 2000 in Ave Maria
The wise and wonderful Sister John Paul, O.P. (DSMME), wants everyone (especially students who might not have heard yet) to know about the upcoming Youth 2000 event. It is sponsored by Rhodora J. Donahue Academy of Ave Maria and will take place in the Ave Maria University ballroom. There is a requested fee, but scholarships are available to all who ask (just write “partial/full scholarship requested” on the application).
Forms are below. Here is the note that Sister sent me:
Comments off
Ave Maria: this is who we are
Road trip to the Mother House in Ann Arbor. Our daughter met the Dominican Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist back there when she was one of their students from 2000 to 2003. She was reacquainted with the Sisters in 2007 at their mission convent in Ave Maria where five Sisters live in our neighborhood (3 of them teach at the amazing Catholic K-12 school in town). In 2012 she became a postulant and she is now a Novice.
Comments off
What you missed if you weren’t studying at AMU
These posters Professor Michael Pakaluk has designed speak volumes about Ave Maria University (don’t worry, someone already let him know about one world-renown Thomist who should be added). Is there anyone else he missed? He also has a question for you at the link. For those who don’t already know: most of these lectures were open to the public, too. Another reason to love living here in Ave Maria.
Comments off
Did you hear the one about Harvard, St. Dominic, and Ave Maria?
But, it’s no joke. Some of you may recall reading about this impressive Latin scholar from Harvard a few years back. Well, a novitiate and some temporary vows later, and now she is a Dominican Sister studying theology here at Ave Maria University. Even though this story is no joke there is one thing that might make you smile: the irony of her very beautiful name, Sister Maria Veritas.
Comments off