Provincial News

The Dominican Friars

of the Province of Saint Martin de Porres

of the Order of Preachers

joyfully invite you to celebrate

the Diaconate Ordination of their brother

Friar Gustavo Adolfo Montañez Beltran

By the Most Reverend

Jose Gomez, S.T.D.

Archbishop of San Antonio

the 17 th day of November, 2007

at 9:00 A.M.

San Fernando Cathedral

San Antonio , TX .

Reception to follow

Rosaryville Friars Beatified

From Carl B. Trutter, O.P.

On Sunday, October 28, 2007 six Dominican martyrs with close connections to Rosaryville, Louisiana are being beatified at St. Peter's Square in Rome.  These friars from the Province of the Holy Rosary were martyred during the Spanish Civil War in 1936.

        The most prominent is fr Buenaventura García Paredes, former Master General of the Order, who had approved the establishment of the House of Theology at Rosaryville just west of Ponchatoula.  [This Rosaryville House of Theology existed in Louisiana from 1912 until 1938, when it was transferred to Hong Kong.]

fr Jesus Villaverde was prior of the Rosaryville convent from 1921 until 1924, before going to the Philippines for 12 years and then returning to Spain.

            Four other Spanish friars (Leoncio Arce, Antonio Varona, Jose Maria Lopez and Pedro Ibáñez) had studied at Rosaryville--some of whom were ordained there--and then went to the Philippines or other missions in the East, before returning to Spain, where they were killed during the 1936 Civil War..

            Several friars of St. Martin de Porres Province are attending the beatification ceremonies in Rome on October 27, 28 and 29.

New Book by Fr. Brian Pierce, OP

Orbis Books recently published Fr. Brian Pierce's new book We Walk the Path Together: Learning from Thich Nhat Hanh and Meister Eckhart. The book provides a dialogue on spiritual themes with input from two great mystics: Meister Eckhart (a Dominican), and Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk. Fr. Brian is a friar from the Southern Dominican Province and minsters as an itinerant preacher throughout the United States and Latin America. Copies of Fr. Brian;s book ar available through the Orbis website.

A New Year Begins for Our Student Brothers

Ten young brothers returned to our Studium (Housed of Studies) in San Antonio Texas to begin another year of graduate theoloigical studies. These student brothers spend five year studying theology and philosophy in preparation for full-time ministry as Southern Dominican preachers. Please keep our student brothers in your prayers.

Click here to learn more about our House of Studies.