OUR APOSTOLATE

Apostolate of the Lay Dominican Chapter, The Woman Clothed With the Sun

Born from the call of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Medjugorje — “Form and make prayer groups through which we will pray for your healing and the healing of this nation to draw closer to God and to Me” — our chapter has responded by establishing a weekly gathering known as the Thursday Upper Room Cenacle at the Dominican Upper Room.

Each Thursday, the day of both the Lord’s Supper and His Betrayal, we assemble in prayer and reparation. We begin by invoking the Holy Spirit, following the counsel of St. Louis de Montfort (True Devotion to Mary, Preliminary Remark 11), that all Marian prayer must be animated by the Spirit of God. The Rosary is then prayed with deep solemnity, concluding each decade with the Ave Maria, and followed by the reading of Matthew 6, as requested by Our Lady in her messages at Medjugorje.

The celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which incorporates the Liturgy of the Hours, forms the heart of the cenacle. In the absence of a memorial or feast, the priest wears black vestments, offering the Mass for the souls of the faithful departed. This act of charity unites the Church Militant, Suffering, and Triumphant in one offering of mercy. At the Offertory, members place their silver devotional companions — the Purity Medals — at the feet of the Virgin of the Globe, fulfilling Our Lady’s command: “Come to the foot of this altar.” Through this act of alms giving, we present both our material and spiritual offerings for the healing of souls and the sanctification of our nation.

We conclude the liturgy with the Leonine Prayers, invoking St. Michael the Archangel for the defense of the Church, and the final commemoration, “May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.”

Following Mass, we share a simple meal and fellowship, after which the members resume the work of their apostolates. In this way, the sacred seamlessly gives rise to the social: prayer flows into labor, and offering becomes economy. Our apostolic works — especially those providing just and non-usurious means for the poor, the immigrant, and the widow — are extensions of this Eucharistic life.

In every respect, the Thursday Upper Room Cenacle fulfills the Marian invitation to form prayer groups that unite heaven and earth: where Our Lady, the priest, and the souls in purgatory intercede together for the healing of humanity and the restoration of divine order. Through prayer, offering, and charity, we seek to make reparation for sin, to build the City of God, and to draw our nation ever closer to the hearts of Jesus and Mary.