Adrian Dominican Sisters, Associates and Friends
Celebrate 125 Years of Ministry and Service

	Letter from Bishop Earl Boyea, Bishop of Lansing		Blessing from Pope Benedict
	United States Senate Proclamation

Daily Telegram: Dominican Sisters celebrate 125 years    Sisters seek to serve community, world
Dominican Sisters trace Adrian history to 1800s    Marking 125 years

Michigan Catholic: Adrian Dominicans mark 125 years

Detroit News:  Nuns' mission and clothes stay current

Catholic New World:  Following path laid by St. Dominic Adrian:
Dominican Sisters celebrate 125 years of serving the Midwest

ADRIAN, Mich. – Some 700 Adrian Dominican Sisters, Associates, and special guests gathered from as far away as the Philippines, Norway and the Dominican Republic and throughout the United States at the Motherhouse campus over the weekend of May 15-17. They came to express their gratitude and joy for the blessings and grace of God throughout the Congregation’s 125 years of ministry and service to Adrian and beyond, and to ponder with hope the years ahead.

The weekend marked 125 years since, in 1884, six Dominican Sisters from Holy Rosary Convent in New York City arrived in Adrian, Michigan to open St. Joseph Hospital for injured railroad workers. The hospital was the first foundation of what would later become the Adrian Dominican Motherhouse in Adrian, Michigan. The community in the Adrian area grew and was eventually named a province. In 1923, under the leadership of the first Mother General, Mother Camilla Madden, the community was canonically separated from the Newburgh Congregation in New York to become the Congregation of the Most Holy Rosary, the Adrian Dominican Sisters.

The weekend celebration began on Friday morning with a media reception and continental breakfast. The formal program included the presentation of proclamations and certificates from Gary McDowell, Mayor of Adrian; Jim Van Doren, Chair, and Commissioner Karol “K.Z.” Bolton of the Lenawee County Board of Commissioners; Kali Fox, from the office of Senator Debbie Stabenow; and Tara Clark from the Office of U.S. Representative Mark Schauer. Senator Carl Levin had read a tribute and the history of the Adrian Dominican Sisters on the Senate floor earlier that week.

The opening prayer service on Friday night set the tone for the weekend, as Sister Rosa Monique Peña, OP, greeted the guests and welcomed her Sisters home. The moving ceremony included a procession with the Easter candle; liturgical dance with incense; and intercessions read in six languages, representing the diverse cultures of the people assembled in the chapel. Sister Lorraine Reaume, OP, a pastoral minister serving in Anchorage, offered a reflection, offered a reflection, encouraging those present to deepen their love for one another by drawing on God’s “superabundant love” and rooting their hearts in holiness. 

Saturday began with a welcome and prayer for all participants before they divided into two separate tracks. Adrian Dominican Sister Sarah Sharkey, OP, a Scripture scholar and professor at the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas, addressed her Sisters. She focused her talk on religious life as an Adrian Dominican in the 21^st century. Quoting the elders from the Hopi nation in Arizona, Sister Sarah reminded her Sisters that “we are the ones we’ve been waiting for,” and that this is the time that they’ve been given to make a difference in the world. She encouraged the Sisters to “step out on God’s word” as they begin to forge new forms and challenges to religious life.

During the afternoon session, Sister Sarah set Mary of Nazareth, the Mother of Jesus, and her kinswoman, Elizabeth, as models of prophetesses, as women who heard to word of God and acted on it. She challenged the Adrian Dominican Sisters to follow in their footsteps as prophetesses and as members of a prophetic community. The Sisters concluded their afternoon session by viewing a new DVD, “A Living Journey,” which details the history of the Congregation.  

Other guests heard a presentation on Dominican spirituality, presented by Sister Rosa Monique Peña, OP, a member of the General Council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters. St. Dominic, the founder of the order, based his spirituality and his mission on the Scriptures, particularly the Gospel of Matthew and the letters of St. Paul. In contrast to traditional monastics who lived apart from the world, St. Dominic “reintroduced the apostolic ideals of the Gospels,” she said. “He and his first friars underscored the ties between preaching the word of God and the active ministerial life.” Dominican spirituality is also based on four pillars: prayer, study, preaching (ministry) and community. An additional key component of Dominican spirituality is joy, which “springs from deep faith and hope even in the face of suffering,” Sister Rosa added.

After lunch, guests watched “A Living Journey” and then had the option of taking part in a number of programs, including a tour of the Dominican Ashram on campus; a presentation by the Portfolio Advisory Board in the Weber Auditorium; a presentation on the Dominican Life Center (DLC) Continuum of Care in the Rose Room of the DLC; and a tour of the Historical Area in Madden Hall; and, weather permitting, a Labyrinth Prayer Experience on the labyrinth outside of Weber Center.

Sister Barbara Cervenka, OP, Associate Professor of Art at Siena Heights University, offered a presentation for all guests on the famous Dominican artist, Fra Angelico, OP.

The anniversary celebration concluded on Sunday morning with a closing Liturgy. Most Reverend Earl Boyea, Bishop of Lansing, presided. The Most Reverend Thomas Kelly, OP, Emeritus Archbishop of Louisville, Kentucky, was the guest homilist. The weekend closed with a festive brunch, served in the Madden Hall Dining Room and at Benincasa Dining Room at Siena Heights University.

The Adrian Dominican Sisters are a Roman Catholic Congregation of more than 850 vowed women religious who trace their heritage to St. Dominic de Guzman in the 13^th Century. Their roots go back to Holy Cross Convent in Regensburg (Ratisbon), Bavaria, established in 1233.