The liturgy, especially the divine Eucharistic Sacrifice, is the summit towards which the activity of the Church is directed, and the fountain from which all power flows. Our life is centered in Christ’s Eucharistic sacrament and sacramental presence.

~ Constitutions of the Congregation

 Jesus Christ is the goal of our life, and each day the Sisters work tirelessly for His greater honor and glory. Getting up early to pray, going out to school joyfully to teach all day, comforting, challenging, and encouraging students and parents, coming home to duties and lesson plans.  What sustains these Sisters whose generosity seems to know no limits? The True Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the source and summit of all our work, prayer, and activity throughout each day. Our life is so ordered that He is the One to whom we turn throughout the day, whether that be through private or community prayer - the One who invites us to “come” to the Source from whom all truth, goodness, and beauty flows.

The Sisters begin each day with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which, as a community act of worship, signifies and strengthens our common consecration to the Lord. Thus nourished and sustained by the Bread of Life, the Sisters go forth into the apostolate renewed to bring the truth of Jesus Christ to each person they meet.

Another characteristic element of our Eucharistic centered life is times of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.  Each school day in our Motherhouse chapel, Our Lord is exposed in the monstrance and the Sisters take time out of the busy day to spend time with Him for whom their hearts long. The retired Sisters especially use this time to pray for the Sisters who are out teaching in the apostate, that their message of truth may be planted and come to fruition in the hearts and minds of their students.

Many other opportunities for adoration of our divine Spouse abound in the life of a St. Cecilia Dominican. Each Sunday, Our Lord is exposed in the Blessed Sacrament for a holy hour, which culminates in Vespers, the Rosary, and benediction. On the Third Sunday of each month (commonly known as Retreat Sunday), during the annual community retreat, or on other special feasts such as Corpus Christi, the Blessed Sacrament is exposed all day for the Sisters’ silent adoration and prayer. Further, in keeping with the tradition of celebrating the Sacred Heart of Jesus in a special way on the First Friday of each month, each Sister has the opportunity to adore the Lord exposed throughout this day.

Twice during the year, we pay extra special homage to the Real Presence through prolonged times of adoration and Eucharistic processions. A fond community tradition is the Forty Hours of Devotion, which consists of an opening and closing procession, as well as three days of adoration in thanksgiving for Christ’s gift of Himself and for the needs of the Church and the word. Moreover, on the feast of Corpus Christi, after a full day prayer before our Eucharistic Lord, evening Vespers culminates with a Eucharistic procession. This procession winds itself around the exterior of the Motherhouse, stopping at two outside altars, culminating the triple benediction at the altar in the Motherhouse chapel.

Yet another tradition the Sisters cherish is the holy hour to usher in the New Year. While neighborhood fireworks can be heard in the background, the Sisters give thanks to God for the year gone by and look with hope to the coming year as they pray for the needs of the world. As the clock strikes midnight (and the neighborhood fireworks reach their climax) the Sisters intone the Te Deum, giving glory to God for His overflowing goodness.

Our chapel, whether in a mission convent or in the Motherhouse, is the most sacred and cherished place in our home, for here our Bridegroom dwells in the tabernacle. The chapel is the place where we daily come together with Him for our community meditation, Mass, Rosary, Lauds, Vespers, and Compline. It is the sacred place where Sisters daily spend extra time in contemplation of Love Himself. Sisters can also be seen stopping in numerous times each day for a brief visit just to say “hello” or “thank you” to their Spouse, and to be refreshed for the next passing hour of the day. These quick visits dedicate and rededicate every moment of the day to Him for whom our hearts yearn.

Our life is centered on Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, and these Eucharist traditions serve to renew within us that deep love and desire for the One to whom we have dedicated our lives through the treasure of poverty, chastity, and obedience. He is the Fountain from which we must drink deeply, the nourishment which gives us life and sustains us, the One whom we contemplate in order to go forth and share the fruits of our contemplation. There can be no greater love, no greater gift. Down in adoration falling…

[The Eucharist] is the heart of the Church’s life, and also of the consecrated life. How can those who are called, through the profession of the evangelical counsels, to choose Christ as the only meaning of their lives, not desire to establish an ever more profound communion with him by sharing daily in the sacrament which makes him present, in the sacrifice which actualizes the gift of his love on Golgotha, the banquet which nourishes and sustains God’s pilgrim people? By its very nature the Eucharist is at the center of the consecrated life, both for individuals and for communities. It is the daily viaticum and source of the spiritual life for the individual and for the institute. By means of the Eucharist all consecrated persons are called to live Christ’s Paschal Mystery, uniting themselves to him by offering their own lives to the Father through the Holy Spirit. Frequent and prolonged adoration of Christ present in the Eucharist enables us in some way to relive Peter’s experience at the Transfiguration: “It is well that we are here.” In the celebration of the mystery of the Lord’s Body and Blood, the unity and the charity of those who have consecrated their lives to God are strengthened and increased.
~ Pope John Paul II
Vita Consecrata