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Dominican Sisters Open Mic
Ep. 16: O Blessed Mother, We Pray to Thee – Miracle of the Rosary (Sr. Mary Samuel, O.P.)
00:38:58
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Sister Mary Samuel
Got a basketball game right after. And he said, okay, that's fine. He said, but you'll never guess who's here today. And I said, who? And he said, elvis. And I said, no, he's not five different groups. And I said, you have to have a president. You have to have treasure and all that. And we're going to. Whatever you're going to sell, we're going to make some money. You know, I could hear in the back room, you're fired. Wait a minute.
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Sister Miriam
Do you have a hobby, Sister?
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Sister Mary Samuel
I do. I have a hobby. I like to play pickleball and tennis.
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Sister Miriam
Oh, yes. Hi, and welcome to Dominican Sisters Open Mic. My name is Sister Miriam. I'm one of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist. And on our podcast, we're talking all things Dominican. And we have a very special guest today with us, and it's Sister Mary Samuel. She is one of the four foundresses of our community, which was founded in 1997 by four sisters, now has grown to 140 sisters through the grace of God. He has done many beautiful things through our foundresses and through Sister Mary Samuel. Thank you so much for coming on our show today, Sister.
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Sister Mary Samuel
Thank you. Pleasure.
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Sister Miriam
It's such a blessing to have you and to just learn from you and from your fruits of your devotion to the Rosary, which is what we're going to be talking about in today's podcast. But before we get to that, we want to have a little bit of biographical information so our viewers can know a little bit about you. Now, you're from Memphis.
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Sister Mary Samuel
Memphis, Tennessee. Yes. Yeah.
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Sister Miriam
Wow.
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Sister Mary Samuel
In the South. Down there.
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Sister Miriam
Down in the South. What. What's a exciting thing about Memphis that
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Sister Mary Samuel
comes to your mind if you don't know? This is we live down the street from Elvis Presley in Graceland. So, okay, you know, I was raised in Memphis. I wonderful parents. I had seven brothers and two sisters. So it's a very active family. But went to a girls academy. My brothers went to a boys academy. And a lot of times the girls that lived out in our area, they would say, you know, Elvis is out in the backyard over at the public school playing football, tag football. So we would go over there, take our little Brownie. Glamorous. I have some good pictures of Sister.
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Sister Miriam
I think I've seen your pictures.
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Sister Mary Samuel
I probably sell them for millions of dollars, Elvis.
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Sister Miriam
But I know people have tried to get those from you and you haven't.
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Sister Mary Samuel
Well, they're not the right persons yet, but. So he lived down the street, you know, probably about Half a mile from Elvis, and kind of kept up when he was in town. And I played a lot of sports, had all these brothers. And I was at that, my academy, and my mom called and said to the principal, go tell Sissy, they call me Sissy, that she has a dentist appointment before that basketball game and not to miss it. So I said, okay, okay. So I get to the dentist and I say, you got to hurry. I've got it. He's putting his little cape on me. I've got a basketball game right after. And he said, okay, that's fine. He said, but you'll never guess who's here today. And I said, who? And he said, elvis. And I said, no, he's not. And he said, he is. I've been working on his teeth. He's taking a break. And I said, well, I'm not going to open my mouth. You go back and ask him if I can meet him. And he said, he's not going to let you. And I said, just go back and ask. So he goes back and he comes back, and he said, okay. He said, you can come back. So my claim to fame is I could. Shook hands with Elvis Presley.
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Sister Miriam
I always admired him in that moment.
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Sister Mary Samuel
Yeah. Just, you know, that, you know, I don't know. I don't remember what I said. Shook hands. He had a couple of his guys next to him. You know, they were. You know, he was taking a break, and he said, I like your music. And, you know, as we talk about the rosary today, he did a beautiful song on. It's called the Miracle of the Rosary, and he's singing the Hail Mary. It's beautiful. You know, I don't know what year that was or whatever it was, but. And, you know, his mother was a very devout person, so his prayer life, and I'm sure was influenced by her. And. But it's. It's. It's beautiful, you know, especially when I hear Elvis sing the miracle of the Rosary, since we're talking about the rosary.
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Sister Miriam
Yes. And to have a celebrity of that caliber honoring Our lady is beautiful.
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Sister Mary Samuel
Yeah.
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Sister Miriam
So you entered the convent in many years ago? Yeah, 1965.
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Sister Mary Samuel
65, yes. I was a sophomore in college.
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Sister Miriam
Wow.
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Sister Mary Samuel
And I was studying at Siena College, and it was run by the Kentucky Dominicans. And then I was in school in Memphis, and the high school and grade school was the Nashville Dominicans. So that was the influence that I had on religious life for these wonderful women.
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Sister Miriam
Right. So you discern your vocation to the religious life. You entered religious life. You have Done so many different things in that time. You have taught every grade level.
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Sister Mary Samuel
Right.
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Sister Miriam
You have been the principal.
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Sister Mary Samuel
Yes. Wonderful opportunities.
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Sister Miriam
Of course, you founded our community, which
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Sister Mary Samuel
is huge on the side. Of course.
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Sister Miriam
On the side. But you're also into construction.
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Sister Mary Samuel
Sister all my brothers were in construction. Still in construction now. So it came pretty natural to me to see something mostly designs, you know, how to lay it out. And then when we were beginning the new foundation and we. We built three new schools, you know, so that's what we were working with Tom Monahan, who wanted to build Catholic schools in Ann Arbor. And that's how he invited us into the area. And then of course, you know, a lot more happened after that, because if you invite us in, you got to help build us economy, you know, and there was only four of us, so no big deal. And then ended up three phases and four schools later, you know, that we built and had beautiful 200 seat chapels in each of the schools. So it was beautiful, you know, that what he has provided for the sister. So when you talk about the Holy Spirit being open to the Holy Spirit and, you know, tracking all he need, always love, Mother Angelica would say. And they would ask her, how did you start this network all over the world? And she would say, well, he only needs dodos. Here's a dodo. I'm speaking for the other three. I'm not speaking for them, for myself, but, you know, I think to be docile and. And we could see how he was leading us so quickly. We were building and we were growing in Jill's. Vanya was taking care of the vocations. John Dominick was taking care of the finances, working with the people. And Mother was whipping us all three in place, you know, so. But I had the privilege of helping to design the convent and the schools and many of our convents that we've had in the last 20 years.
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Sister Miriam
Right. So I had the pleasure of learning from you when we founded that Kansas City, Missouri mission. And we had to set up a convent out there.
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Sister Mary Samuel
We went to Europe to get the furniture, didn't we? Ordered it from.
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Sister Miriam
That's why we ordered from Europe. But I just remember, I mean, I could see how much experience you'd had in doing this. And we went in there and you knew, and you knew just what to do and what the sisters needed in order to have a home that was conducive to the contemplative life and to a life centered in Christ.
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Sister Mary Samuel
So, yeah, the architects, they don't have a clue. You say you want to Build a convent. What's a convent? Okay, I need this and this. And I'll be back next month. So put it down. So he'll come back. She's back. So, yeah, it was pure fun, you know, just to do it. It was natural. It wasn't any problem. And Sister Mary Teresa helped with the paperwork and keeping up with him during the. During the weeks when we were. We were the first nine years, we were building four schools and three phases of the contract. And, you know, I would come and I was principal in this school. So, you know, it was just kind of on Monday, I would go over to a convent and sit with the architects and we'd lay out what we needed. And then, you know, Teresa was there during the week to kind of help make sure it happens, you know. So it was. It's a beautiful. It was a wonderful opportunity. You know, the Lord we knew, he was working the whole time through us.
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Sister Miriam
So you could see it.
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Sister Mary Samuel
Yeah, we could see it all so well.
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Sister Miriam
Sister, I would like to get into the devotion to the Rosary, which I know you've fostered in so many people. But could we first talk about your own personal devotion and how did you grow in your devotion to the Rosary? And even thinking back to your upbringing
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Sister Mary Samuel
and your family life, I think that you have to have a devotion to Our lady before you can have the devotion to the Rosary, you know. And so that devotion was instilled in school. And I remember even in high school, grade school and high school, where our high school was the girls Academy, the high school, and the next year was the convent, and next to it was the church, so you could go out after lunch across the convent yard and into the side door of the church. And that was where Our lady was. And so, you know, we would go there. And I always, you know, help me to be what you want me to be, you know, and just ask, you know, I didn't know I was going to do. You know, we're in high school, freshman in high school, and. But that devotion developed there, and I. The Hail Mary, it's such a beautiful prayer. And people say, yeah, but it's so monotonous when you say it in a rosary. Well, if you think about it, you know, you're praising her, you know, and then you're. You're asking, pray for us sinners, you know, now, not down. How many times can we say that? You know, not just one time. We need to say it 50 times or 150 times so that. That, that love for Our lady and instilling that in others is. Is so important. You know, people say, well, might have a vocation to religious life or to marriage. Well, if you don't have a devotion of Mary before you, you're not. You're not going to do very well. I'll tell you right now, you've got to have the devotion to Mary. And just starting with the Hail Mary at night, you know, kneel down by your bed, say the Hail Mary. You wake up in the morning, say the Hail Mary. You know, if you have an opportunity to. Beautiful pictures are available of Our Lady. You can. You can go online and you can print it and put it in a zip drive and take it over to Kinko's and put it on canvas. You know, that's easy. Well, put that in your home. You know, have something of Our lady that's very visible to remind you to
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Sister Miriam
turn to her, which is something very beautiful that you and the foundresses have done in our convents and in our mother house is having so many beautiful images of our Lord and our saints and of Our Lady.
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Sister Mary Samuel
I said, kinko, the artist did them, but you can kind of pull those down and they're beautiful. They're on canvases, you know, really.
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Sister Miriam
And it does. It does inspire the devotion to. What about your family life? Did you pray the rosary together?
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Sister Mary Samuel
No, we didn't pray the rosary, but we prayed. My mom had a great devotion to the Sacred Heart, and we had a beautiful Sacred Heart picture in our living room. And she'd have electric little vigil light there, and we would go out the door in the morning and she would say, now say it before you get in the car. Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in you, Sacred. Okay, Mom. All right. Sacred Heart of Jesus, place my trust. Say it three times. Sacred Heart of Jesus. Sacred Heart. Yes, Mom. You know, so, yeah, you know, prayer, you know, was important and that. That our Lord was watching over us and. And he loved us and. And that's kind of. Kind of grew and, you know, so it wasn't like, okay, we're going to say the rosary tonight. We didn't say that, but we, you know, mass on Sunday or special days, you know, we would certainly honor. And she would go daily mats. You know, she'd get up early and go to mass. Your mom did down. And then she goes to the grocery store and there were 10 of us, so when she got home, she'd unpack everything out of the grocery. So we never see any of it, you know, so she was able to keep it. Otherwise, when she's late, and we help her out. It's like, yeah, look at here. You know, so she's a smart woman. She was very, you know, she was great. She was a wonderful mom. And so, yeah, we. So that. That devotion of Sacred Heart was. Is with us.
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Sister Miriam
Well, since founding the Sisters, you are our community. You have even chosen Our lady as patron, the founder says, in the naming of our community.
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Sister Mary Samuel
Yeah, Mother of the Eucharist, Mary Mother
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Sister Miriam
of the Eucharist, and we're under her patronage. We do the consecration through St. Louis de Montfort. We renew that yearly, which is beautiful. We pray the Rosary. So many of these things built into our life so that we can. We can benefit from the intercession of our Blessed Mother.
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Sister Mary Samuel
Yeah, so you can have a, you know, particular devotion to Our Lady. You know, I. I particularly love Our lady of Perpetual Help and that beautiful icon. We have it around the house, different places, and I. I think if you looked it up to icon, a lady Perpetual Help, they'll show a picture of her, and she's looking straight at you. And then you have two angels, Michael and Gabriel, and they're holding the instruments of torture, you know, for her son. And Jesus is in her arms, one arm, and his sandals are falling off of him because he's running to his mother. But the most beautiful part that I love about it is that Jesus is holding on to both his hands, to her thumb. If you look at the picture, you know, it's just that, you know, he. He trusts his mother, you know, and. And she's looking at us. I. You can. I can help you too, you know, So I. I think to have, you know, find which image you love of her devotion and put around your house and. And pray. Pray to her, because she's invaluable help to us. And she's. It's perpetual. It's not ongoing, so it's not just for this cause on this, you know, and then say the Hail Marys, you know, if people don't know the Hail Mary, can look it up online, pray the Hail Mary, you know, and say it often. You know, it's. She's wonderful, beautiful.
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Sister Miriam
Did you know that the Sisters of Mary offer more than just this podcast? Our apostolate, called Open Light Media, offers a wide variety of resources for faith formation, virtue education, and catechesis development. One of the programs that we're really excited to be able to offer is called Raised in Grace. It's the only Catholic social emotional learning program that explicitly integrates faith with modern neuroscience. Raised in Grace. Is for both adults and children, and it invites them to participate in their own neurodevelopment with strategies based on cutting edge neuroscience. To learn more about race and grace and open Light media, please visit openlightmedia.com or click the link on this description. Where faith meets learning. You'll find us at openlight Media. So now you've instilled. I know that you have instilled devotion to Our lady and the rosary in your students, both as a teacher but also as a principal, principal of schools over the years. But recently you were able to put together a rosary book with openlight Media. And I wondered if you could tell us how this came about, how that come about.
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Sister Mary Samuel
Yeah, it's wonderful.
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Sister Miriam
It's so precious.
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Sister Mary Samuel
Yeah. So, you know, I do a lot of traveling for the community. I visit our benefactors across the country and I take a week at a time. We have wonderful, we call mission advancement lay people that work with us and you work with us, too. And they line up the visits. So. And when I'll go, I'll be down in Florida. And they'll say, oh, Sister, you didn't have to come. I said, yes, I did. It's 82 here, it's 12 back in Michigan. I had to come this week. Anyway, so I was home one Thursday night, and in that community room, which was our special place that we gathered together for an hour each night with the sisters with recreation. Recreation. Hanging out, playing games, playing games, playing card games. Got beat really badly last night and was fast. Yeah. So anyway, so one of the principals, Sister Maria Faustina is one of the principals of our school. And she said, you know, I need a sub tomorrow for the first grade. And I said, I can do that. And she said, oh, you're going to be home? And I said, yeah, I'll be glad to help out. I love that age, you know, it's. No, it's easy, easy peasy to be with Sixth, seventh, eighth grade.
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Sister Miriam
You have a special knack for that, though, Sister.
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Sister Mary Samuel
Well, I think raising all, you know, those younger brothers and, you know, you know the tricks. Yeah. You know the trick. You know, the fun stuff to do.
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Sister Miriam
Yeah.
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Sister Mary Samuel
And so then she came later to my office and said, do you want me to get the lesson plan? And I said, no, I'll be fine. He says, well, what are you going to teach? And I said, I'm going to teach them the 20 mysteries of the rosary. And she said, well, you only have one day. And that's. That's all I need. So that night I, I pulled these beautiful 20 mysteries of Brian Jellicoe, beautiful art prints. Pulled them down on an Internet print them out and they had little bullet points of just summary of what that mystery is. And put them on little cards, laminated the cards and finished making little bracelet rosaries. Just a decade of rosary forum so that they went through the next day we went through math and art and you know, Spanish and lunch and reset. And then finally it came time for religion. And we have beautiful 200 seat chapels in our school and daily mass, you know, here in Ann Arbor at our two Spirit of Sanchez Academy schools. So I gave the children each a picture. There were 20 of them, which was perfect. And I said, I want you to take these pictures to the chapel and I want you to meditate on what you're thinking in the picture, you know, and then you come back and tell me, oh yeah, they were all excited, so they'll be thinking, so we go down the chapel and they're about 10 minutes and they come back and they sit on the floor. And so the first one, you know, I had my iPad, so I've, I've really had these beautiful testimonies from these six and seven year olds. And so the first one says my meditation was on the Nativity. And I was thinking that when Jesus was laying in that straw, how itchy it was, it's like our sins. And I go, okay, next child, next one says my meditation was on the crowning of thorns. I just couldn't imagine, you know, how hard that was for Jesus, for us. Okay, next one. So each one. And then there was a cute one where she. My meditation was when Jesus was in the garden and it was the Olive Garden, and my name is Olivia, so I was named after the Olive Garden, each one. So these, my little Dominicans, and they're giving the fruits of their contemplation to others. And that's what we're to do in the rosary. The rosary is, it's a synopsis of the life of Christ, you know, so it's the whole gospel is in the rosary. And you start with the meditations, you know, so I went to teach them to meditate first. Then you can say the 10 Hail Marys for whatever intentions do you want, you know, so even, even as we grow older and you know, maybe not can't say the whole rose, maybe you just say a decade, but maybe you pick one of these mysteries. Pick the mystery of Our lady going to Elizabeth, you know, the visitation, you can say, Mary, go to my brother, he needs help right now. So you send her with Jesus and then you say, tell her Mary's right. Are you. Whatever you're suffering or the Assumption and Mary is returning to heaven, and you think of the poor souls who are ready to go to heaven too. So you pray a decade of rosary for the poor souls. So you want to integrate your life with the rosary. It's not just, okay, I said it and I'm finished. Now think about the mysteries and think about, you know, make them come alive for you. And it's just a beautiful gift, you know, that. That we have the rosary. I mean, we wear it. We. It's our, you know, weapon. And we say on the side of it, you know, they'll say, what is that? You know, and get a chance to explain the round stream.
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Sister Miriam
Yeah, powerful weapon, Sister. Here, pass the book and maybe I'll. Just. So people could see what you compiled here. And you did use the Fra Angelico.
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Sister Mary Samuel
Yes. Beautiful.
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Sister Miriam
So we have. This is the Nativity. Yeah, the Nativity. So we have the beautiful artwork from Fra Angelico and then some reflective questions. We have a scripture and then reflective questions for people to think, like, think more about it. Enter into the scene of the Nativity
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Sister Mary Samuel
and what virtue that they possess and
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Sister Miriam
the virtue that goes with it. So this one is listed as temperance for the Nativity, and it gives the definition of that virtue. How do you recommend people use this book? I think especially families that have. That have younger children
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Sister Mary Samuel
have the book. You should. You should have the book, actually, because it's beautiful. You want beautiful art in front of your children. And I think if you. If a family, you know, maybe they can't say the whole, you know, missed five decades of the rosary, but if each morning you just took one and you had a little easel and you put this. So today we're going to think about the agony in the garden, and we'll think about Jesus, you know, what he's thinking about, getting ready to die and the suffering he was going through. And then you can say, you know, the little bullet points that would help them to remember that. And you could read the scripture that. I mean, it takes five minutes, you know, and then you can say, these are the virtues that prayerfulness we want to practice today. And then when they come home later or the next day or something like that. How was your. What kind of prayerfulness were you today? When did you have time and pray? And what did you say? You know, so you can take piece by piece with that, you know, and it's. But you can. You can also Sit somewhere outside or somewhere and say all five mysteries. You know, the joyful, the glorious, the luminous, you know, the sorrowful mysteries. And just, you know, pray that so that. That. That you incorporate that more into your life. You know, you want to integrate the mysteries. And that's the point. We want to become more like Christ so that we can, you know, you sit in the. We sit in our beautiful chapel and you have the Stations of the Cross, you know, and you, you know, you look at the suffering, you know, and I mean, here we can say a prayer, but he. We should do more. We should be able to offer our day, our sufferings, our frustrations or whatever it is, and to say, I give this back to you so you have, you know, time for that prayer, and they help. So the meditations will help you.
- [24:17]
Sister Miriam
The meditations are, yes, beautiful. And something I love about the rosary, too, is being able to incorporate it into other times of my day. Maybe I'm just walking somewhere. Maybe I'm just driving in the car. A lot of times I think people might be listening to things at that time, but turning it off, turning the music off and just praying a decade of the rosary.
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Sister Mary Samuel
Somebody needs our prayers. We can pray for them. And at that time, like, you're walking or something like that. Who needs my prayers now? Where can I send Our lady now? To this house or to this son or to this daughter, into college or my husband or whatever it is that you need to say 10 Hail Marys when you get home. Say, you know, I pray 10 Hail Marys for you tonight. You know, you can imagine how they would feel that you stopped and thought about them and prayed for them.
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Sister Miriam
I've always found it very freeing, too. If there's a situation where I don't know what to pray or how to pray that I might do a decade while I'm walking and just giving it over to Our Lady. It's very freeing.
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Sister Mary Samuel
Yeah. I think, again, the mysteries are so important with the Rosaries. I have to emphasize that, because that. And we want to integrate ourselves and that we can know Christ. You know, if someone says to you, what's your favorite story about Christ? And you go, let's see what you know. Well, think about the 20 mysteries, and you can figure out right away, you know, this particular mystery. And when I think about that, you know, it's very helpful to me. And if it is, that I'm sending Our lady to someone who needs my help. And the Satan am I. So you. And you think of the suffering or your frustration or whatever it is. You think, look what he did for me. What can I do for him? He just doesn't need a prayer for me. He needs my suffering, you know, to know that. That you love him.
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Sister Miriam
So thank you. Thank you for sharing about your devotion to Our lady and the Ros. And I wondered if you had any kind of closing thoughts just in the spiritual life in general. Maybe if there's someone listening today who's having difficulty that they're struggling with. What. What words would you share to encourage them?
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Sister Mary Samuel
Well, I. I think first of all, say the Hail Mary. You know, just get in the habit of turning to her. You know, we. I was telling you earlier we had a opportunity to teach in one of my classes, first grade class in Nashville, and we were talking about Russia, actually, and I was here there, first grade. You know, it was during Yeltsin's time, and he was changing the system and trying to get into small marketing, which was a struggle. And I was telling the children how difficult that would be to start your own business. And that next day, Tom Monaghan, who is owner of Donna Mo's Pizza, was on the campus. And I had invited him to come. And he sat down, he. He talked about how he started the pizza store. You know, that. And the main thing he said, it takes money to make money, you know. So then after he left, I said, okay, let's. Let's start our own company. So I put them into, you know, five different groups. And I said, you have to have a president, you have to have treasure and all that. And then we're going to. Whatever you're going to sell, we're going to make some money. You know, I got here in the back room, you're fired. Wait a minute. I'm president. So they were electing themselves, you know, anyway, so. So it was wonderful. I mean, they were so enthusiastic. And that's what that age group, you know, their. Their development is so fast growing, and they want to be challenged, and they do. So we. Anyway, so we started our. Our little business and we had a few days and they talked about it and what. And then we had cookies for. You know, cookies are us. And somebody else had lemonade. Somebody else had popcorn. Somebody else. One of the groups, we're going to just make beautiful holy cards, pictures, you know, just half a sheet of paper and draw a lady. And that's what you were asking about, you know, the title that we put on it. And I had them, they printed in their work, mary, Mother of God, be my mother now. And that was a famous Quote from Mother Teresa.
- [28:29]
Sister Miriam
Okay.
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Sister Mary Samuel
And so we. They made those. Made a lot of them. So then it was time Friday, we were going to get our business outside and start. Well, the parents came in and helped them, and they had wagons. So I had an expo of small businesses out on the playground with the wagons and all the goods they were selling. And the girls who had. They wanted to make the holy pictures because we go to a holy school and we know they're going to buy them. And they went over to the high school and sold all those pictures at lunchtime. And then the next day, I went down the hallway to the high school and all the lockers were these beautiful pictures. And the quote, mary, Mother of God, be my mother now. So again, the question is, you know, that's. Go to Mary, you know, just. And say your prayer. Say, mary, help me now, Mary, do this. You can't. You're not gonna be able to do anything without her, so you might as well just call on her. You know, she's there. Perpetual. Perpetual Help. You know, Our lady of Perpetual Help. She's there for us, and she'll be there.
- [29:36]
Sister Miriam
She comes through, Sister. Thank you. Okay, you ready for speed round?
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Sister Mary Samuel
Sure. Yeah.
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Sister Miriam
Okay. What is your favorite liturgical season and why?
- [29:47]
Sister Mary Samuel
I like Christmas, because Christmas, I always remember that at home in Memphis and Santa Claus, we would help Santa put out the gifts and things around in the living room, and they'd have their. I mean, there are 10 of us, you know, have their names on it. But the fun part about this is, after Santa was finished, my dad would take a nail and nail the door closed because no one can go up in that living room till everybody was awake. And so, Here we go. 5:00 in the morning, little one jumping on you. Get up. Get up. Santa's here. Go to the next room. Get up. Santa's here. It was a joy. A joyful time. So I love. I love Christmas.
- [30:26]
Sister Miriam
Do you have a hobby, Sister?
- [30:28]
Sister Mary Samuel
I do. I have a hobby. I like to play pickleball and tennis.
- [30:31]
Sister Miriam
Oh, yeah. Yes. Sister, I have seen you out there.
- [30:34]
Sister Mary Samuel
We have good competition.
- [30:35]
Sister Miriam
You meet me at pickleball. And you are currently instructing the postula.
- [30:43]
Sister Mary Samuel
Yeah. Playing some tennis.
- [30:44]
Sister Miriam
How to play tennis?
- [30:45]
Sister Mary Samuel
Yes. Yeah. So they're doing well. So there's a lot more practice, but they're getting there.
- [30:50]
Sister Miriam
Good for you, Sister. I need some tips, too. So what is a book that has impacted your spiritual life, besides the Bible, that you would recommend for reading I.
- [31:05]
Sister Mary Samuel
Early in religious life? The divine providence of the saying Khazad. Has the providence of God, you know, and just to understand what that means, that we're in his providence. And the root word of that promise is provide, and he will provide for us. But how do we see the day unfold or things that happen, you know, is this part of his plan, you know, and always to trust? Yes, it's part of his plan and it's going to be good because it's his will. So if we can accept his providence daily and know that, you know, he's in charge and he's going to make it good, because he loves us. He loves us.
- [31:48]
Sister Miriam
Sister, do you have a favorite game at the moment that.
- [31:52]
Sister Mary Samuel
Oh, yeah, my favorite game is backgammon.
- [31:54]
Sister Miriam
You're good at backgammon?
- [31:56]
Sister Mary Samuel
I learned. Yeah, I learned backgammon from my brother. So I used to play, you know, a lot. And, and even after I entered a convent and I was in Memphis and down the convent, my brothers, three of my brothers lived in the apartment. And then we'd go down and just play them. And Sister Mary Angela is my good friend and we would go down and try to play Viking and she got, she caught onto it and then I kept beating her. And then she said, you're not going to beat me anymore. I got a book and I said, oh yeah, what's the name of it? She said, backgammon for blood. I'm gonna beat you. Yeah, it's just fun.
- [32:34]
Sister Miriam
Do you. Well, you've already mentioned your favorite title of Our Lady. Our lady of Perpetual Help. What age group do you most enjoy teaching and why?
- [32:44]
Sister Mary Samuel
Yeah, I like the 4 or 5 and 6 year old. I love all the ages, but those, because you can just see their little minds and leaps and bounds on the grow. You know, you teach them a fountain, the sounds, then they make a word, then they make a sentence, and then they make paragraphs and they're just so excited and so happy and they want to show you what they've written and what they've done. And that was with math or whatever we would do. You know, they just were so enthusiastic and, you know, they took responsibility. It's just fun to be with them. High energy. I mean, not like high school kids, high energy. So, you know, I loved it.
- [33:21]
Sister Miriam
Sister, I've had the pleasure of being able to travel with you and visit classrooms and schools with you, and you're good with all ages, but I think you have such a beautiful. The way that you can connect with those little ones. But can you share the story about the special prayer that you taught the kids? One time when we were in the classroom. So a very simple prayer. This is how you pray. Got to recall the sign with the sign of the cross.
- [33:56]
Sister Mary Samuel
Oh, yeah, that we want to. You know, when you think about the. The mystery of the rosary, the. The crowning with thorns, you know, we. Again, to integrate, you know, how do. How do we respond to the king? He's a king, you know, crown of thorns, you know, and, you know, that. That we have respect for him, you know, even how we go into the chapel, how we receive Holy Communion when we take the holy water to bless ourselves very carefully, you know, that's again, the cross and that. That he is. He's our king. He deserves our honor. And how we can do that.
- [34:40]
Sister Miriam
And doing it reverently.
- [34:42]
Sister Mary Samuel
Doing it very reverently. Yeah, just the simple thing is across. You know, even when you're frustrated, something or parents or anybody, just very carefully make the cross and say, Mary, Mary.
- [34:54]
Sister Miriam
Sister, if you could have dinner with any saint, who would it be and why?
- [34:59]
Sister Mary Samuel
Well, St. Catherine Siena is one of our patron saints, but Catherine talks about fire and love. I think I'd have to have a fire extinguisher when I'm sitting next to a ratchet. But I think more so would love to sit down with St. Teresa of Avila because she. She was contemplative. Catherine was very active, you know, politically. You know, she. She was everywhere. And Teresa of Avalon was very practical, and she was renewing her convents and the communities. And so she gave, you know, practical advice. And so I would. I would think that I would benefit more of that. I'm not sure that I can be the flame of love that Catcher would like us to be, though we should be.
- [35:50]
Sister Miriam
But I think it would certainly be interesting to. To meet her.
- [35:54]
Sister Mary Samuel
Oh, yeah, it would be. I mean, the mystical. I mean, she's talking to the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, you know. Okay, well, I don't understand that. So can we talk about something else,
- [36:08]
Sister Miriam
Sister? Last one. What's an activity that brings you peace and refreshes your spirit?
- [36:16]
Sister Mary Samuel
Well, I like silence. And I would go walk through our woods. We have beautiful trails, the wood, and we have waters and tributaries. And to sit there, and that's relaxing to me. And it's prayerful. So I think that's. I mean, you live in a community with 40 other women. They're constantly. Don't know that
- [36:45]
Sister Miriam
we laugh a lot.
- [36:46]
Sister Mary Samuel
We have the rhythm of our day. It's beautiful. We have prayers and silence, which is great, and community time and meals together. It's Community life is wonderful. It's beautiful. And, you know, the sisters bring their own gifts and talents, and you see their struggles that we can help each other. You know, we kind of, you know, we picked that up. So it's. It's so Dominican life is beautiful. You know, we live together and we get to where proud to wear these habits. You know, you get stopped all the time. You know, I was going down the airport, catching a plane, and a young guy was, right, kind of keeping up with me. Next to me, I was dragging my bag, and he had a backpack. And then all of a sudden, he's got in front of me and he kept walking backwards. I kept walking forward and he says, sister, do you have time to hear a confession? And I said, you know, I can't hear your confession, but I'm going to pray you find a priest. Okay? Then off he went. So the habit does that, you know, attract it? So we're. I'm proud to wear the habit, you know, and it's grateful I don't have to worry about anything else.
- [37:48]
Sister Miriam
Your wardrobe.
- [37:49]
Sister Mary Samuel
Yeah, wardrobe.
- [37:51]
Sister Miriam
Well, Sister, thank you so much for your time. I know there's so many topics that. That you could talk with us about. Maybe we could have you back at another point in time. But thanks for sharing about your devotion to Our lady and the Rosary. And we want to thank you for listening today and also encourage you if you. If there's anyone that you know among your family or your friends or your colleagues that might benefit from listening to our podcast and learning more about Our lady and devotion to Our lady and to the Rosary, please pass along our podcast and also know that we keep you in our prayers. The Dominican sisters are praying for you. We pray for our Lord to bless you, and we entrust you to Our lady and her intercession as well. So God bless you and have a wonderful day.