Strive to be proclaimers of the truth

The beginning of our institute marvelously highlights God’s infinite wisdom and love shown through His Divine Providence. To reflect on this divine call, it is imperative that we ponder the rich legacy, passed on to us by our predecessors, for their heroic lives laid the foundation of what we are today.

The Religious Missionaries of St. Dominic was founded by a group of Dominican priests belonging to the Province of the Holy Rosary of Spain in 1887. It was the time when they were rebuilding the mission in the Orient after the Opium War of 1843. Indeed, “the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few” (Matt. 9:37).

Prompted by their missionary zeal, they realized that the prayers and works of their Dominican Sisters were exigent to their work of evangelization. The situation in their mission cried for the sacrifices of consecrated women, who, driven by the love of Christ, would accept the life of hardships and uncertainties in a foreign country. Inspired by the exemplary life of the missionaries, a group of 17 young women responded to the call. 

After a period of training, they embarked for China with Mother Josefa Alzua as their first prioress. Nourished by a life of sacrifice and dedication, their apostolate flourished and, more and more young women joined them.

However, a tragic episode loomed over the country. The Communist takeover of China threatened their very existence. The life of the missionaries and their evangelization became extremely difficult. The priests and sisters were jailed and whatever properties they had were confiscated. Finally, they were expelled from their beloved mission in 1950.

The tragic event in China did not deter our institute from seeking new frontiers in our Lord’s vineyard. Fr. Juan Zabala, a Dominican priest, invited our sisters to take the administration of St. Joseph School in Alice, Texas. Our superiors, with the blessings of Bishop Mariano Garriga, accepted the invitation in 1951. 

God blessed our educational apostolate. Eventually, the sisters took charge of the parish catechetical work, youth and adult ministries, spiritual retreats and other pastoral ministries needed in the parish. The institute’s service for the Church spread throughout Corpus Christi, Beeville, Laredo, Robstown, Houston, and as far as Santa Paula and Oxnard in California. 

Our consecrated life is sustained by our three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience and its four pillars of prayer, community, study and preaching. The celebrations of the Hours that start with Lauds as the Morning Prayer and Vespers as the Evening Prayer foster the contemplation of the Word of God. Compline is the final prayer of our apostolic activity with “Salve” sung in procession in honor of Our Blessed Mother and the “O Lumen” to express our filial love for our founder St. Dominic. Like him, we are devoted to the Rosary and fervently spread its devotion.

Since we strive to be proclaimers of the truth, we engage in the study of the Word of God and the teachings of the Church assiduously. We draw strength and support for our apostolate by our life lived in community. We wear a habit to express our identity as consecrated religious belonging to a distinctive institute. Sustained by the daily Eucharist, we try to be faithful to our motto, “Contemplare Et Contemplata Aliis Tradere” (Contemplate and share to others the fruits of contemplation). 

Our Lord continues to bless our apostolic presence in the service of the Church in Spain, Portugal, Philippines, Italy, United States, Japan, Guam, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, South Korea, Chile and Taiwan. Therefore, for the glory of our Lord, we endeavor to pursue the Dominican vocation to praise, to bless, to preach.