Fr. Gerard Francisco P. Timoner III, OP Letter of Recognition

Monastery Dedication Ceremony | August 15, 2022

Dear Sr. Anna Marie and Sisters,

The dedication of the Monastery of Mary the Queen in Girard, Illinois marks the culmination of your journey which began in the year 2014 from Elmira in the Diocese of Rochester to Girard in the Diocese of Springfield. In the course of this journey, you generously accepted the nuns of the Perpetual Rosary Monastery in Syracuse who joined you in Easter 2020. And today, on the Assumption of Our Blessed Mother, you are finally
at home in your new Monastery!

As Mary sings: "my soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior", we also celebrate how her whole being, body and soul have been glorified by God in heaven. Our faith in Mary’s bodily assumption manifests our confidence in the absolute integrity of the human person. We are not just souls. Neither are we simply bodies. We are a substantial unity of body and soul. And when the Word became flesh, our corporeality was graciously touched by the grandeur of God.

Our celebration of Mary’s bodily assumption into heaven also gives us hope that although our bodies remain weak, God’s grace could transform it and make it "obey" and "follow" the heavenly yearnings of our spirit. You, dear sisters, by your dedication to a life of prayer and contemplation, remind us of the same heavenly yearnings for our true and eternal home. We hope that one day, we could sing with Mary a new song, a modified Magnificat: my spirit and my body, my whole being magnifies the greatness of the Lord!

With my prayers for God’s unending grace, I am

fraternally yours in St. Dominic,

fr. Gerard Francisco P. Timoner III, OP
Master of the Order