19 Dominican Volunteers Leave Adrian for Missions from Coast to Coast

August 10, Adrian, Michigan – In true Dominican fashion, 19 young women and men left the Adrian Dominican Motherhouse on August 9, the day after the Feast of St. Dominic, to preach the Word to people in need from one U.S. coast to the other. They were the 2012-13 Dominican Volunteers, newly commissioned at the 10:30 a.m. Liturgy in St. Catherine Chapel after a week of orientation.

The largest group since Dominican Volunteers USA (DVUSA) was founded in 2001, the 2012-13 volunteers were sent to serve in schools and various social service agencies in locations from the Bronx, New York to San Francisco, California, and including Racine, Wisconsin; Chicago; New Orleans; and Atlanta. Working with Dominican Friars and Sisters, they will serve such populations as Catholic school children, immigrants and refugees, college students, people who are homeless or recently released from prison, and people affected by domestic violence. The volunteers will live with Dominicans and with one another, experiencing community life and prayer.

Some of this year’s 19 Dominican Volunteers wait in St. Catherine Chapel for their commissioning Mass to begin. Photo by Melinda P. Ziegler

DVUSA is sponsored by 15 congregations of Dominican women and the Friars of the Central, Southern, and Western Provinces.

The volunteers arrived in Adrian on August 3 and spent their week getting to know the Dominican family and heritage, prayer, and one another. The orientation was led by Michael Chapuran, executive director of DVUSA, and assistant director Erica Greil.

Activities during the week included presentations on topics such as the Four Pillars of Dominican life, simple living, Catholic Social Teaching, and the Dominican call to justice. The volunteers also had the opportunity to witness the Renewal of Vows of Sister Xiomara Méndez-Hernández, OP; celebrate the Feast of St. Dominic with the Motherhouse community; and visit the Dominican nuns in the Blessed Sacrament Monastery in Farmington Hills, Michigan.

The Dominican Volunteers went their separate ways on August 9, anticipating the next 11 months of ministry and their reunion in January for their mid-year retreat and in July for their closing retreat.

With their Adrian Dominican Sister prayer partners behind them, the Dominican Volunteers face the assembly, prepared to be commissioned for this year’s mission. Photo by Melinda P. Ziegler

For their part, the Adrian Dominican Sisters welcomed the volunteers to their community. Individual Sisters volunteered their own time to offer presentations during the orientation; 19 served as prayer partners to the young volunteers and will continue to offer them prayer and correspondence throughout the year.

The orientation helped the Dominican Volunteers to feel better informed about Dominican life and better prepared for the year that lies ahead. Rachel Mustain, a recent graduate of Mississippi State University, is encouraged by the support and prayer she feels from the Dominican family. “Knowing they’re praying for us gives me a lot of confidence,” she said. “We can’t fail when we have so many people praying for us.” She was pleased by the orientation, by the setting of the Motherhouse, and by the opportunity to enjoy quiet time and to get to know the other volunteers.

Rachel will minister in the corporate office of Immaculate Conception Academy in San Francisco, sponsored by the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose. As and one of 25 Cristo Rey schools in the United States since 2009, Immaculate Conception serves only economically disadvantaged students and offers a work study program to prepare students for college and careers. Rachel’s many responsibilities will include escorting the students to their work places and seeking more corporate sponsors.

Prayer partners pass the candles – and the Dominican mission – on to the Dominican Volunteers, who are then commissioned to go forth and preach through their ministry. Photo by Melinda P. Ziegler

Erin Hallagan, who recently graduated from the University of Notre Dame, will live in community at the House of Connections in Chicago and minister at Sarah’s Inn, which offers a variety of services to women and their families who are faced with domestic violence. She was impressed by the ice breakers and group bonding activities, but also by the spiritual component of the orientation. “We learned new ways to pray, just to prepare us for living in community,” she said.

Teresa Roll learned about DVUSA while earning her master’s degree at Ohio Dominican University in Columbus. She will teach English as a Second Language at St. Rita’s Center, a refugee and immigrant center in New York.

“I’m a non-traditional volunteer,” she said. “I’m not 20-something and I’m not Catholic.” But she said she was very excited when she heard about the volunteer program. “I’m at a time in my life when I can do this,” she said. “It was perfect timing.”