Do I Believe in the Power of Prayer?

You may have seen this story about Sr. Donna Quinn of the Sinsinawa Dominicans. Sr. Donna has been working as an escort at a suburban Chicago abortion clinic for years because, she says, women need protection from aggressive pro-life demonstrators while trying to enter the clinic. After an uproar ensued, her order issued this statement.

All of us who write for this blog, along with many of our friends, were very disturbed by this news and wondered what we could do about it. We figured we had a couple of options. We could write letters to the order and to the appropriate bishops expressing our outrage. (Indeed, many did just that and I’m sure that’s a big part of the reason that this whole sorry situation finally is being dealt with.) We could just talk about it with each other, lamenting the degree to which religious life has eroded over the past several decades. And, to be honest, we did do that. But after a little bit of discussion, we decided to respond in a different way. We felt the best way to deal with our many strong feelings about this situation would be to send a spiritual bouquet of Rosaries to Sr. Donna and her Sinsinawa Dominican sisters. We pledged a total of 200 Rosaries and then sent a letter to Sr. Patricia Mulcahey, the prioress of the order, expressing our sadness and distress at the news, our desire to ask for the intercession of the Blessed Mother and St. Dominic in healing this terrible situation, and our hope that our gift would be accepted in the spirit with which we were offering it – a spirit of love for the Sisters, for God, and for the Church. As we stated in the letter, “We will pray that St. Dominic and the Blessed Mother will plead at the Throne of Divine Mercy that all of the members of the Body of Christ will be humble and obedient to the will of God in all things. We will also pray that the wounds being inflicted against Christ's Bride, the Church, will be healed.” We didn’t know what, if any, kind of reaction we would get.

Now we know. We just received a letter from Sr. Patricia thanking us for our prayers and expressing her belief that our prayers will be helpful for the community as they seek to resolve this situation. I felt a sense of real peace when I read her letter. It made me feel like the Blessed Mother inspired us to approach this situation with love and gentleness instead of with vitriol and anger. I don’t know what the response would have been if we’d written angry letters to Sr. Patricia, but I doubt she would have responded with thanks.

I feel humbled and privileged to be a part of a group that has, in a way, adopted this community of sisters and is praying for their well-being. Because, really, I don’t want the Sinsinawa Dominicans to collapse and disappear. No, that’s not what I want. What I want, what I sincerely hope for, is that the Sinsinawa Dominicans, and every other religious order that seems to have lost its way, will hear again the voice of the Good Shepherd – the one whose voice they must have heard all those years ago when they chose to consecrate themselves to Him – and follow Him back to the safety of the Sheepfold. I hope to see a renewal of religious life, a flowering of love and devotion to Christ and His Church. We have taken to referring to Sr. Donna as “our nun” and I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we now feel a sense of responsibility for Sr. Donna and her sisters.

I have no idea how God will use these hundreds of Rosaries in the economy of salvation, but I know that He will use them. I have wondered if maybe our Rosaries will help some of their Dominican sisters in Purgatory, sisters who will then be in Heaven interceding before the Throne of Divine Mercy for their fellow Dominicans. I don’t know. Maybe, maybe not. But for me, it’s the mere fact that we were able to offer something beautiful to these sisters, women who are obviously in need of prayers, that makes this project so wonderful. May God bring Sr. Donna, the Sinsinawa Dominicans, and all consecrated men and women closer to Him so they will seek to do His will for the salvation of souls. St. Dominic, pray for us and for all who are members of your Order of Preachers.