This blog is about my spiritual journey as a Dominican Sister of Mission San Jose serving the young, the poor and the vulnerable through the ministry of chaplaincy and working for social justice by promoting the sustainability goals of the United Nations.
Saturday, February 1, 2020
Normalization
View from Beaterio San Miguel
The Sanctuario de Atotonilco and the Beaterio Santo
Domingo both suffered under the persecution of the Church under President Benito Juárez. When
Porfirio Díaz came
to power relations between the government and the Church were normalized and the beaterios were reopened, but their way of life had been disturbed. The women lived in small cells each with its
own door to the center courtyard and a private stairway to the roof.The Oratorians continued to provide
Mass and Confession for them and supported them in practical ways. Each beata was self-sufficient and had a serving girl to buy her books and food and help with domestic chores. In return the girls were given religious instruction. They prayed the rosary together as a community and said the Little Office of the Virgin Mary in the choir loft.The beatas practiced the penitential discipline of common to third order Dominican every evening. After a visit in 1874 the local bishop, Don José
María de Jesús de Sollano y Dávalos, reported that the beatas kept to the horarium and strictly observed the rule
of profound silence in the enclosure.The door to the church was kept locked at all
times except during Mass when both the beatas and their attendants were hidden from view behind an iron grating in the choir loft. Only the bishop,
canons, prelates and provincials on official Church business were allowed to visit the Beaterio itself. They were most diligent in the lessons offered the girls entrusted to
their care. In short, he concluded that the foundation was in good order, and
the beatas were conscientiously dedicated to the service of
God offering perpetual
penitence to the honor and glory of God.[1]
