The Dominican nuns came into being when St. Dominic — a Spaniard born around 1170 and died in 1221 — preached the Gospel of Jesus in the south of France, brought some women to the Catholic faith and gathered them in a monastery at Prouilhe, France.
The year was 1206.
This small community of nine converts, dedicated to prayer and contemplation, was to serve as a model for other women’s groups, in Rome, Madrid and then most of the world.
Today, there are more than 2773 nuns living in over 219 monasteries (March 2013).
Together with the Dominicans, their brothers, the sisters of the various Dominican Congregations, and all the Dominican laity, the nuns of the Order form a large family, bearing in prayer the apostolic concerns of the Order and the Church.
In Canada, the Dominican nuns are at the Queen of Peace Monastery in Squamish, a monastery that is flourishing.
