By virtue of our immersion into Dominican life, we are made aware that we are entrusted with the word of God for others.

The earliest charters of the Dominican Order called the nuns "sister preachers" because of their close association with their brother preachers.

Catherine of Siena presents a further model of the myriad ways in which the gospel can and must be preached. We have had in our membership from the beginning women who have embodied and shared their gift of preaching and teaching with each other and with those they served. Our foundress, Mother Agnes Magevney gave the first retreat to the sisters when they arrived in Texas in 1882 because the community had no money to offer a stipend for a retreat director.

As Dominicans we seek new modes and places for preaching and teaching that remain true to the original inspiration of St. Dominic.

Dominican Sisters - Houston, Texas
Constitution #29

Dominican theologian, Mary Catherine Hilkert, OP (Akron), author of Naming Grace: Preaching and the Sacramental Imagination, (The Continuum Publishing Co. - 1997) says :
"Ultimately ... what preaching is all about is handing on the Christian story in such a way that the experience of grace - God's presence in ordinary human life - is communicated."

Preaching cannot be limited to the pulpit of liturgical contexts. There are broader ways in which women and men preach the gospel today such as:

• in ministries to and with people in prison, halfway houses, shelters, nursing homes, and on the streets
• through legal advocacy and political lobbying on behalf of the poor and exploited
• in spiritual direction, teaching, theologizing, pastoral counseling, church leadership
• in missionary settings in other countries, on itinerant preaching teams, in retreat ministry
• and in a variety of forms of worship in both Catholic and ecumenical contexts.