Joaquina Pacheco-Villar
Enters Adrian Dominican Initial Formation Program

October 8, Adrian, Michigan – Joaquina Pacheco-Villar, an Associate with the Adrian Dominican Sisters from the Dominican Republic, became a candidate for the Congregation during Vespers on October 7. The brief Entrance Rite was held in St. Catherine Chapel on the Adrian Dominican Motherhouse Campus.

Sister Durstyne Farnan, OP, Vocation Director, introduced Joaquina to the assembly, noting that she comes with a “heart open wide to God and a desire to enter more deeply into the discernment of God’s call to her as an Adrian Dominican Sister.” Sister Ana Feliz, OP, speaking in Spanish, welcomed and introduced Joaquina.

Sister Ana Feliz, OP, offers the welcoming address to Joaquina in Spanish. At left, Sister Durstyne prepares to ring the chime bowl, calling the assembly to prayer

During the brief ceremony, Sister Attracta Kelly, OP, Prioress of the Congregation, called Joaquina forward and welcomed her. “In faithfulness, you have listened to God’s call and have responded with a ‘yes’ to continue in a relationship of mutual discernment for vowed membership,” Sister Attracta said. “WE welcome you into our midst to share faith and life.”

Joaquina, for her part, expressed her desire “to have authentic spiritual experiences with the Adrian Dominican Sisters, in order to continue rediscovering and reaffirming my faith in God as the principal value of my life. I desire that through prayer, spiritual direction, communal and ministerial experiences I will be able to continue deepening my knowledge and love of God and learn to live unconditionally as a disciple of Jesus.”

Joaquina, in a reflective moment, prepares for Rite of Entrance

Sister Patricia Leonard, OP, Director of Formation, and the Sisters and Associates in the assembly promised to walk with Joaquina on her journey of discernment into vowed life, Sister Attracta presented Joaquina with a framed copy of the Congregation’s mission statement in Spanish and invited the Adrian Dominican Sisters and Associates in the assembly to proclaim the mission statement.  

The daughter of the late Joaquin Pacheco and Angela Villar, Joaquina earned her bachelor’s of science degree in clinical psychology from the University of the Third Age, in the Dominican Republic, in 2005. She has also studied in Costa Rica, Chile, Cuba, and Nicaragua, focusing on women’s issues, especially violence against women. Joaquina will earn her master’s in psychology in November.

Sister Attracta presents Joaquina with a copy of the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ Mission Statement

Joaquina’s professional experience has included teaching at the University of the Third Age, in the Dominican Republic; serving in private practice as a clinical psychologist; community organizing; working in the development of various women’s organizations; working for the Red Cross; and teaching popular education classes, especially in such areas as human rights.

Joaquina has known the Adrian Dominican Sisters for 30 years and, in 2002, became one of the first in the Dominican Republic to become an Associate. Associates are women or men who share the mission and values of the Adrian Dominican Sisters through a non-vowed commitment. Joaquina came to know the Congregation more deeply when she spent November, 2009 in Adrian to discern whether she felt called to join the Congregation.

Joaquina joins candidates Adela Langa and Roye-Nicholle Miles, who entered on April 29, the feast day of the great Dominican mystic and reformer, St. Catherine of Siena. As a candidate, Joaquina will live in community with others in initial formation and two vowed sisters; pray; engage in ministry on the Motherhouse campus or in the greater Adrian community; study the history and constitution of the Adrian Dominican Congregation, theology, English, and U.S. culture; and meet weekly with the director of formation for continued discernment. 

The Entrance Rite was one of many celebrations that took place on campus on October 7. The Sisters and co-workers on campus also attended an ecumenical prayer service, followed by a special brunch, to celebrate the Roman Catholic Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. he formal name of the Adrian Dominican Sisters is the Sisters of St. Dominic of the Congregation of the Most Holy Rosary, making October 7 the Congregation’s patronal feast day.