Celebration of Five Women Professing and Renewing Vows during
of Feast of St. Dominic

August 8, Adrian, Michigan – The joyful spirit of St. Dominic was felt throughout Adrian Dominican Sisters Motherhouse campus as Sisters, Associates and guests gathered to celebrate the great feast of St. Dominic de Guzman, Founder of the Order of Preachers.

The formal celebration began with chanted Morning Prayer. In her reflection on the reading from Ephesians 3, Sister Elise García, OP, gave a brief overview of the history of the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ foremothers, beginning with the beguines, “women [who] embraced apostolic poverty, gathering to share prayer, study, work and ministry with the poor.” Sister Elise pointed out various eras when Dominican women proved their courage and dedication to their mission, concluding with the present and the many challenges facing the Congregation today.

During the feast day Eucharistic Liturgy the congregation celebrated the Perpetual Profession of Vows of Sister Janice Brown, OP; the First profession of Vows of Sister Ashley González; and the Renewal of Vows of Sister Elise García; Sister Mary E. Jones, OP, and Sister Jacqueline M. Stoll, OP.   

Sister Ellen Burkhardt, OP, Director of Formation, welcomed the assembly: Sisters; Associates; women in formation and women in discernment of vowed life with the Adrian Dominicans; friends of the Congregation; and, in particular, family members, co-workers and friends of the five women who professed their vows. 

In the reflection on the readings by Sister Lorraine Reaume, OP, it was noted, “We have a mission. We are preachers of the Word,” called to go out “two by two, twenty by twenty, two-hundred by two-hundred” to preach the Good News to a society and culture that needs to hear it. Noting the joy of the Adrian Dominicans in the commitment of Sisters Janice, Ashley, Elise, Mary and Jackie, she challenged those present: “Let’s all tighten up our sandals and announce the good news.”

The Rite of Profession began after the reflection, when the five women were called forward and lay prostrate during the singing of the Litany of Dominican Saints. Sister Donna Markham, OP, Prioress of the Congregation, first called forward Sister Elise, Sister Mary and Sister Jackie and invoked God’s grace upon them. One by one, each of the three temporary professed sisters renewed her vows for one year in the presence of their witnesses: Sister Carol Coston, OP,and Sister Rosemary Ferguson, OP, for Sister Elise; Sister Cora Campbell, OP, and Sister Sharon Spanbauer, OP, for Sister Mary; and Sister Aneesah McNamee and Sister Lorraine Reaume, OP, for Sister Jackie. 

After being called forward and hearing Sister Ellen’s testimony of her readiness to make First Vows, Sister Ashley then declared her intent “to live in God’s faithful love and unimaginable covenant as an Adrian Dominican Sister” and to “be part of a community that will encourage, comfort, and urge me to live my life worthy of God [and] to seek the heart of Christ with each and every person who has been willing to lay down their life for this common mission, as we bring love and hope to all God’s creation.” Sister Donna then received Sister Ashley’s vows, in the presence of her witnesses, Sister Kathryn Cliatt, OP, and Judith Rimbey, OP. After receiving Sister Ashley’s vows, Sister Donna presented her with the pendant of the Congregation’s logo, which indicates her status as a professed member of the Congregation.

The daughter of Gilbert and Betty Gonzalez, Sister Ashley is a native of Adrian, Michigan; her home parish is St. Mary of Good Counsel in Adrian. She earned her B.A. in Business Administration at Siena Heights University. There, she met the Adrian Dominican Sisters. After graduating, she entered the Congregation in January, 2007. Sister Ashley will continue her work toward a Master of Arts Degree in Pastoral Studies at Loyola University, Chicago while ministering as development coordinator at Aquinas Literacy Center in Chicago.

Sister Janice was then called forward. Quoting the Mission Statement of the Adrian Dominican Sisters, Sister Janice added, “I join a community who is eager to discover and identify themselves as women called together to share faith and life with one another and sent into the world to be bearers and recipients of God’s love, co-creators of God’s justice and peace.” She made her Perpetual Profession of Vows to Sister Donna, in the presence of her witnesses, Sister Patricia Spangler, OP, and Sister Marion Coppe, OP. Her intent is to “embrace this calling to be a voice of hope in a world that thirsts for Good News.” As a perpetually professed Adrian Dominican Sister, Sister Janice now wears a ring as a symbol of her fidelity to Jesus Christ.

The daughter of Julius and Martha Brown, Sister Janice was born in Deerfield, Michigan, where she attended St. Alphonsus Parish. Before entering the Adrian Dominican Congregation, she worked for National City Bank/First Bank of America in Kalamazoo, Michigan, for nearly 25 years. She was the retirement plan services section manager at Huntington National Bank in Holland, Michigan, from 2001 to 2003, when she joined the Adrian Dominican Sisters. Sister Janice is currently the director of Dominican Literacy Center in Detroit.

Sister Janice holds a Bachelor of Arts in business from Siena Heights and a Master’s in Business Administration from Western Michigan University. She is continuing her studies in theology at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit.

“Sister Janice brings to us a wealth of experience as a spiritual woman who has been married and as a mother – as well as her professional experience in the business world,” said Sister Ellen Burkhardt, OP, Director of Formation. 

Through profession of vows, a sister shares fully in the mission of the Adrian Dominican Sisters, and assumes the rights and responsibilities of the Congregation.