ather
Chenu used to say that there are two doors through which
one enters the Order: the call to the contemplative life
and the call to the apostolic life. This is true even
for the nuns. Some choose the monastery in order to pray
always, in search of purity of heart and to focus completely
on the mystery of God. As they come to know St. Dominic
they in turn discover mercy and intense intercession for
God’s beloved people.
Others wish
to serve their fellow men and women by leading them to
paths of faith. They discover that one of the best means
of realizing this ideal is to offer themselves totally
through prayer and silence, the father of Preachers, and
not through any particular work except the “work”
of “believing in Him whom the Father has sent.”
The
vocation of the nuns places them at the heart of the Order.
Such was the desire of St. Dominic in order to emphasize
in a radical way the grace of contemplation, which is
the very source of the itinerant apostolic life begun
by him. In solidarity with the mission of their preaching
brothers as well as that of the whole Dominican family,
the nuns, by their prayer, accompany “the Word which
does not return to God without accomplishing that for
which it was sent.” This contemplation takes root
both in silence and liturgical prayer, in the day-to-day
of life lived in common, but also in meditation and assiduous
study of the word of God, informed and inspired by the
theological and spiritual masters.
As
in the days of the “Holy preaching of Prouilhe”,
the monasteries serve as oases of rest and refreshment
for the friars, sisters and laity of the vast Dominican
family. It is there that the Word can reach guests and
friends who come seeking light. There the universal mission
of the Order begins; where the suffering, tears and despair
of humanity are received in the “inmost sanctuary
of compassion”, that is, in the heart and prayer
of every nun. 
(Source
: Duval, André. Dominicaines moniales de l'Ordre
des Prêcheurs. C.I.F. Éditions, Paris.
1993.)
