Dominican nuns planning Fraser Valley monastery

By Laureen McMahon

What’s the perfect 800th anniversary present?
If you happen to be a group of Dominican nuns in Vancouver celebrating 800 years of Dominican spirituality, the ultimate gift would be land for a monastery to lead others to the glories of monastic life as envisioned by St. Dominic in 1207.

Laureen McMahon / The B.C. Catholic Celebrating 800 years of Dominican spirituality on Nov. 3 at St. Mary’s Church were (at top) special guests Sister Mary Thomas, OP (left), prioress of the Dominican foundation at Farmington Hills in Michigan, Sister Mary Magdalen Coughlin, OP, and Archbishop Raymond Roussin, SM. Members of the Vietnamese Dominican community from St. Joseph’s Parish in Vancouver (bottom) made a colourful procession.

Dreams do come true, with God’s grace, said Sister Claire Marie of Jesus, OP, vicaress of Queen of Peace Monastery, as she announced on Nov. 3 that the nuns have purchased land in the Fraser Valley to build a convent, a church, and a guest house.

“We pray this site near Mission will prove to be the right decision,” the vicaress said at a reception after Mass as the anniversary was celebrated at St. Mary’s Church in Vancouver; the parish is served by Dominican friars.

Archbishop Raymond Roussin, SM, offered the Mass, with Dominican friars from St. Mary’s and elsewhere and members of the Vancouver clergy concelebrating.

“Where we are now we cannot welcome new members, let alone the guests who would like to come and pray with us. We are confident that one day we will have the home we have wished for for so long.”

While showing a few picturesque slides of the property, Sister Claire Marie sketched in how it could be developed.

“With help from Farmington Hills Monastery we hope to be able to create a sacred space in British Columbia, a monastery of wood and stone,” she explained.

The concept should flow well with the natural geographical wonders of the area, she added.

Langley site ideal but for local zoning bylaws

“We do not yet know the form but we do hope that all who enter the space will sense that they are on holy ground. We want it to be simple, even spare, but stunningly and naturally beautiful, that all might be drawn to prayer and to listening to God, and experience it as a place of peace.”

Two years after coming to Vancouver in 1999, the contemplative nuns moved into a hilltop house close to Fort Langley. Amid gently rolling pastures graced with breath-taking views, they began to raise sheep and other livestock and became friendly with their farming neighbours.

Several nuns from the U.S. took out Canadian citizenship as they looked forward to making the foundation their permanent home.

Last spring the nuns welcomed Sister Claire Marie as vicaress from Prouilhe, France, the site of St. Dominic’s original monastery for his first nuns.

She carried with her from France a fragment of the original keystone of Prouilhe, which is destined to be placed within a new monastery should one be built in this archdiocese.

While the Langley site has been ideal in many ways, she said, the expansion the nuns have in mind is a problem because of local zoning bylaws, so they have been searching for some time for an alternative.

“We want to have a place to offer the Dominican monastic experience, preferably within an hour’s radius of Vancouver,” she said.

The next step is to go through the proper channels to make sure the construction, designs, etc. can be formally approved.

“It may take awhile,” she told The B.C. Catholic, “but we know that God is guiding our every step. We are also so thankful to our benefactors for their support and confidence.”

Sister Mary Thomas, prioress of the Dominican community in Farmington Hills in Michigan which founded the Vancouver Dominican community, was at the celebration. Three Dominican sisters from the Diocese of Prince George also came, as did the Dominican provincial, Brother Yvon Pomerleau, who preached the homily.

“A disciple of Jesus,” said Father Pomerleau, “is not the one who knows a lot about religious issues, but more the one who longs to know more about Jesus and His plans for us.

“At the source of our vocation and the source of the vocation of our nuns is the merciful love of Our Lord, in spite of any plans we might have.

“We give thanks to Our Lord not just for the wonderful things our nuns have done through the 800 years of their history but for the merciful love He has shown to them during all those years.”