
Ep. 39: Effortlessly Classic – The Story of our Habits (Sr. Maria Reginald, O.P.)
Why do the Dominican Sisters wear what they wear, and where did it come from? Sr. Maria Reginald, O.P. sits down with Sr. Miriam, O.P. to tell the story behind the habit, starting with her own patron, Blessed Reginald, who received the scapular from Our Lady herself in a vision. It was a bold addition to what the early Dominicans were wearing, but as Sr. Maria Reginald points out, when someone says Mary appeared and asked for something, St. Dominic was not the one to doubt it. From there, she and Sr. Miriam walk through the meaning woven into every piece: the unbleached white that speaks of simplicity and poverty, the black that signals the vows and a life given constantly to God, and the difference between the novice’s white veil and the blessed black veil received after vows. A Texas native who knew by first grade she wanted to teach, Sr. Maria Reginald also shares how a high school teacher’s habit of praying the Liturgy of the Hours after tests, an app she started praying on the bus, and a junior-year retreat in Michigan led her to realize she couldn’t wait until after college to give her life to Christ. She makes the case that the habit is not a loss of individuality but a kind of freedom: it tells the world she belongs to God, and lets what’s truly unique about a Sister – her virtue, her love, her way of being with her students – shine through. Download the Torch App Take the Virtue Survey Shop Virtue Cards Join the Openlight Media Community: TikTok Instagram Facebook YouTube Twitter/X Website Download the Torch App Teachers Pay Teachers Pinterest Linktree


















