Jubilarians Return Home to Celebrate
June 27, Adrian, Michigan – Joyful reunions; prayer; reflection; special memories; informal times of laughter and sharing; and celebrations with family friends and other Sisters marked Jubilee Week, June 23 through 27, as 57 Adrian Dominican Sister gathered at the Motherhouse to celebrate their Silver, Gold and Diamond Jubilee.
In all, 29 Adrian Dominicans marked their 60-year (Diamond) Jubilee; 27 celebrated their 50-year (Golden) Jubilee; and one celebrated her 25-year (Silver) Jubilee. For a complete listing of this year’s Jubilarians, please click here.
Jubilee Week kicked off officially during the weekly Evensong for Peace, held in Holy Rosary Chapel. The Jubilarians ended their first evening together with a social in the Adrian Room, which included a welcome by Sister Donna Markham, OP, Prioress of the Congregation. Special events throughout the week included a meeting with the General Council, followed by High Tea; crowd gatherings during the evening; a reconciliation service; and a piano concert by Sister Magdalena Ezoe, OP, a musician, composer, and Professor Emerita at Siena Heights University. On Friday, the Jubilarians’ thoughts turned toward their classmates who had gone before them when they celebrated a special Liturgy for Deceased Jubilarians at St. Catherine Chapel. This was followed by a special ritual in the cemetery.
The week culminated on Saturday with the Jubilee Liturgy, held at St. Catherine Chapel and open to the Jubilarians’ invited guests – family members, friends, and other Adrian Dominican Sisters and Associates. Sister Christa Marsik, OP, a Golden Jubilarian, welcomed the assembly and expressed deep gratitude to family members, friends and Sisters in the community.
“You are a gift,” Sister Donna told the Jubilarians, thanking them for their years of fidelity to the Congregation and to their service to the Church. She reflected on the Gospel and on the compassion that Jesus showed to a crippled man who, for 38 years, had been unable to be the first to plunge into the waters of the pool in Bethesda and thus be healed. Jesus’ cure of the man on a Sabbath brought criticism from religious leaders. Sister Donna reflected on the number of times in the past 25 to 60 years that the Jubilarians had set aside their own needs, risked being criticized or worse, to extend acts of mercy and compassion to people who are “on the edges of troubled waters.”
After Sister Donna’s reflection, the Jubilarians renewed their vows, promising obedience to “Almighty God, to the Blessed Virgin Mary, to our Holy Father St. Dominic” and to Sister Donna and her lawful successors until death. The Liturgy was followed by a festive dinner for Jubilarians and their guests.
After the week’s events, Jubilarians had the opportunity to reflect on their experience of the past week – and of their years in the Congregation. Sister Delores DeBets, OP, a Golden Jubilarian, said that Jubilee Week left her feeling “revisited, refreshed, renewed…truly a week of celebrating life in community.” She added that the experience challenged her “to strengthen our commitment to living out Gospel values and deepening our support of one another.”