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August 31, 2026, La Grange Park, Illinois – Three women and five men preparing to profess their perpetual vows in their respective religious congregations had the benefit this summer of the wisdom and experience of two Adrian Dominican Sisters. Sisters Xiomara Méndez Hernández, OP, and Sara Fairbanks, OP, gave presentations on the vows of obedience and celibacy, respectively, during the July 2026 Life Commitment Program offered by the Religious Formation Conference (RFC) at the Wells Spirituality Center in La Grange Park, Illinois.

The participants were preparing to profess perpetual vows to the Servite Fathers, the Society of the Divine Word, the Sisters of St. Francis of Dubuquey, the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, and the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word. Six of the participants were from countries outside of the United States, including Togo, Nigeria, Haiti, and Honduras.   

The intent of the 42nd Annual Life Commitment Program was to give those preparing for perpetual profession the opportunity to reflect “on what it means to embrace a lifelong ‘yes’ to God – not only on the day of final vows, but through a lifetime of growth, challenge, renewal, and faithful discipleship,” according to the brochure. Each day of the conference focused on the message of one of the four presenters and included input and time for participants to reflect on the message and engage in group discussion. 

Sister Xiomara has been involved with the RFC for seven years and gave two presentations for the Life Commitment Program in Spanish. Last year was her first time presenting in English, the language she presented in this year as well. 

Vow of Obedience 

Sister Xiomara’s focus was to “help the participants to reclaim obedience” and not to see it as passive, to go beyond the cultural idea of obedience as docile, predisposed to submit readily to control; tractable, permitting easy handling; or bidable, easily led. Instead, Sister Xiomara spoke of obedience as a “mature, conscious, and relational practice” and as the act of saying “yes” to God.  

She spoke of four motives for obedience: fear-based, reward-based, duty-based, and obedience-based. “At the end, my hope is that we land in the last type of obedience: love-based obedience.” Sister Xiomara presented Jesus as an example of living out love-based obedience, as described in Philippians 2:8: “Being found human in appearance as a man, [Jesus] humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross.” 

Sister Xiomara challenged the participants to reflect on their source of joy and whether obedience leads to joy. “When we are obedient, we need to trust and fall in love with God, and that will help us decide everything,” she said. 

In her presentation, Sister Xiomara drew on her own experience, particularly in her choice for the vow formula that she proclaimed. “I had special permission to make vows for eternity,” she said. The traditional vow formula professes obedience until death. “I brought my own story into the presentation so they see I went through many struggles as I discerned religious life before I made my final commitment,” she said. “I was very conscious about the language, professing perpetual vows. I see this as a continual ‘yes.’”

Vow of Consecrated Celibacy

Sister Sara spent much of Friday with the participants, eating meals and attending Mass with them, and even watching World Cup soccer games with them. She gave her presentation on Saturday. 

Sister Sara first contrasted consecrated celibacy – abstinence from any sexual relationship – to cultural celibacy, which for some means merely not being married. “Consecrated celibacy is at the heart of religious life because it expresses our personal response to God’s invitation to our radical intimacy and mutual commitment for life,” Sister Sara said. “In this response to God’s call, we commit ourselves totally to God to the exclusion of other commitments – to spouse, family, or projects.” 

Still, she said, consecrated celibacy does not mean isolation from other people. “It’s about developing intimacy with God, self, and others.” She focused much of her talk on developing relational skills for those three areas of relationship. Skills for relationship with God include “attentiveness to God, prayer as an act of receptivity, asking God the right questions, right thinking about God … and finding God in the silence of our heart.” 

Skills for the love of others include empathy, interpersonal trust, communication skills, capacity for self-disclosure, and fidelity. “You’re in ministry with all kinds of people, and in community with all kinds of people, and you need to develop relational skills, having friends who nurture your growth and development,” she said.

Sister Sara emphasized one relationship that many neglect: relationship with oneself. “If you don’t have healthy self-esteem, it’s hard to believe that God loves you,” she said. She pointed to the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas, who, even in the 13th and 14th centuries, understood the importance of correct self-love. For Thomas Aquinas, “self-love is the pillar of spirituality,” Sister Sara said. “All the good that we desire for our loved ones, we most desire for ourselves.”

Sister Sara said she benefited from the process of preparing her presentation. “I enjoyed reviewing some of that material. I’ve done a lot of inner work myself and integrating my life experiences in my relationship with God, and my growth in my own self-esteem and self-compassion. Developing relational gifts was so foundational for me.”

Hope for the Future

Both Sisters Xiomara and Sara came away from the experience with hope for the future of religious life. Sister Sara noted that, when she entered, only two or three women were entering religious life in a typical year. “I knew from my experience that this wasn’t a popular choice, but the desire to serve God is expressed in other lifestyles as well – the Associates and lay people who are lay ecclesial ministers,” she said. “I’ve met a lot of people dedicated to proclaiming the Gospel. I don’t know how religious life is going to evolve, but I trust that it will.” 

She also finds hope from the three women who have recently entered the Adrian Dominican Congregation: Sister Elizabeth Guerrera, who was received into the novitiate on August 7, 2026; Sister Jamie Caporizo, OP, who made her First Profession of Vows on August 8, 2026; and Sister Katherine Frazier, OP, who professed her perpetual vows on August 11, 2024.

Sister Xiomara found hope in the readiness of the diverse group of participants to profess their perpetual vows. “They were joyful. They were real,” she said. “I felt so much hope and joy for the Church through them. What is dying is the old religious life pattern. But God continues to call…. The ones who are entering are really, really committed.” 

Caption for above feature photo: Sister Xiomara Méndez Hernández, OP, shares her wisdom with men and women preparing to profess perpetual vows in diverse religious congregations.

July 13, 2026, Adrian, Michigan – Children, parents, teachers, and school administrators from Detroit to Arizona and California have cause for gratitude as Sister Teresa Estrada, OP, turned 100 on July 2, 2026. Sister Teresa ministered as teacher, principal, colleague, and friend.  

In addition to celebrating her birthday this year, Sister Teresa was one of the Adrian Dominican Congregation’s Jubilarians; she marked 70 years as an Adrian Dominican Sister. 

Sister Teresa’s birthday was celebrated at the Adrian Dominican Motherhouse on July 2, 2026, with a special Mass, lunch, and a party, attended by Sisters, Associates, Co-workers, and friends. During the party, she received proclamations from Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, State Senator Joseph Bellino, and State Representative Nancy Jenkins-Arno. 

“I’ve had a happy life,” Sister Terry said. “I still get letters from one of the teachers going back 40 or 50 years. I loved teaching children, and I thought it was a gift that God gave me. I tried to find the best way that I could help these children.” She also appreciated the parents and the opportunities to help the parents raise their children to be the best that they could be.

“I love what we did today,” Sister Teresa told her group of well-wishers. “I am filled with such joy for this celebration of my jubilee ... and my 100th birthday .... Thank you for the written and spoken messages of love, unity, and support, which I will hold in my heart forever.”

Born on July 2, 1926, in Pirtleville, Arizona, Sister Teresa was the daughter of Manuel and Maria (Rodriguez) Estrada. She entered the Adrian Dominican Congregation on June 26, 1956, and received her high school diploma from St. Joseph Academy in Adrian in 1958. She was received as a novice on December 27, 1956, taking on the religious name of Sister Marie Manuel. She professed her first vows on December 28, 1957, and her final (perpetual) vows on December 28, 1962.

Sister Teresa holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from Siena Heights College (University), Adrian, and a master’s degree in elementary education from the University of Arizona in Tucson.

After teaching at St. Philomena in Detroit from 1958 to 1962, Sister Teresa began her final years of ministry in the Southwest. She ministered in education for 30 years in Arizona: as a teacher at St. Anthony, Casa Grande, 1962-1968; as both teacher and principal at St. Joseph, Winslow, 1968-1974; and as a teacher at Santa Cruz Elementary, 1974-1987.

Sister Teresa spent the rest of her formal ministerial life serving at St. Jeanne de Lestonnac School in Tustin, California, as teacher from 1987 to 2007 and then as plant supervisor from 2007 to 2017. In 2018, she took on the role of altar server coordinator until 2021, continuing to serve the school in any way she could until 2022, when she retired and moved to the Dominican Life Center in Adrian.     

Sister Teresa also appreciated the Sisters she worked with and the leaders of the Adrian Dominican Congregation. “I have been blessed with religious women in leadership in the Adrian Dominicans and in the Little Company of Mary [founders of St. Jeanne de Lestonnac School], who have been remarkably supportive in all my ministries. I am grateful and humbled by the trust with which the parents have placed their children under my care,” she said.

Sister Teresa also influenced the Adrian Dominican Sisters who came to know her through the years. “I was influenced by her presence and her joy, always participating in whatever was going on and always coming prepared,” said Sister Lorraine Brennan, OP. “Her quiet prayerfulness was another influence. She would listen intently and if she had something to say, she would say it.” 

Sister Victoria Dalesandro, OP, has known Sister Teresa since Sister Victoria first entered the Congregation, when Sister Teresa was a Novice. “No matter where she went, she had good relationships with people. Even the nurses who take care of her right now, she calls them her students or her kids. I think her legacy is love – love of people. That’s what you pick up from Terry.”

Watch the video of Sister Teresa’s birthday celebration. 
 

Caption for above feature photo: Sister Sara Fairbanks, OP, standing right, Mission Prioress of Holy Rosary Mission Chapter, offers a tribute to Sister Teresa Estrada, OP, seated left. Seated with her, from left, are her sister Salud “Sally” Estrada, ODN, and Sister Marie Luisa Vasquez, OP. Sister Patricia Leonard, OP, standing, right, is Chapter Prioress of Holy Rosary Mission Chapter.