In the quadrangular enclosure at Santa Sabina on the Aventine Hill in Rome, there is an orange tree.  According to a legend, St. Dominic planted the seed from which it grows.  In the nineteenth century, when the tree sent off a new and healthy shoot, having many oranges, someone noted that it was when Pere Lacordaire was a novice.   Some took that as a symbol of the new vigor of the Order which was soon restored in France and of its increase in other provinces.  And so the legend grew that when the orange tree produced well, there would be a flowering of the Order.

Some years ago, on a trip to Rome, Fr. Zammit (Western Dominican) picked an orange from the Santa Sabina tree.  He carefully preserved the seeds and took them to Corpus Christi Monastery where he asked the nuns to nurture the seeds in their enclosed garden.

When he became the chaplain at Mission San Jose, he took the little plant with him.   It was planted near the house that then served as the chaplain's residence.   There it slowly grew and developed into a little tree.

Returning to live at St. Albert's,  Fr. Zammit was careful to be sure the little tree was not left behind.  Its next home was in the garden behind the apartment I enjoyed on Harwood Avenue.  The little tree grew into a sturdy small tree with long thorns but no fruit.  When a branch was taken to a good local nursery, the horticulturist was amazed.  He noted that it had to be originally from a very old, even ancient ungrafted tree.  He assured me that, for years and years, orange trees had been grafted and cross-fertilized to develop trees that have no thorns and produce much fruit.  I told him where the seed had come from which seemed to confirm his thoughts.

When I had to leave Harwood Avenue and my beloved garden, I made sure that the little tree was not left behind.  It was carefully dug up and planted where it now flourishes by the sidewalk leading to the Priory Chapel.

So the little tree has lived among all branches of the Western Dominican Family and now, for the first time, it has produced some lovely bright oranges.

Do you suppose that for the Western Province the legend is being renewed?  Well, let us pray!

Ellen Logue, OPL
February 1997