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June 24, 2025, Adrian, Michigan – In a spirit of joy, homecoming, and happy reminiscence, the Adrian Dominican Sisters welcomed to the Motherhouse Campus 46 Jubilarians – Sisters celebrating milestone years of commitment to religious life. The June 19-21, 2025, celebration marked a total of 3,080 years of commitment to religious life by two 80-year Jubilarians; 10 75-year Jubilarians; 20 70-year (Double-Diamond) Jubilarians; 12 60-year (Diamond) Jubilarians; and two 25-year (Silver) Jubilarians.  

While many Jubilarians and guests came a few days early to reunite with friends and celebrate their lives of ministry, the formal Jubilee celebration began on June 19, 2025, when the Jubilarians met with the General Council and later broke bread with them.

The event took on a thoughtful yet grateful tone on June 20, 2025, when the Jubilarians, guests, and other Sisters, Associates, and friends gathered to honor the deceased members of each crowd (class) of Jubilarians. 

“We are here today to remember the 113 Sisters from those celebrating crowds who are no longer with us in the body,” said Sister Andrea Balconis, OP, a 60-year Jubilarian. “This is not a sad day,” she added, noting that the Sisters were celebrating in heaven.

The Liturgy began with the solemn, respectful recitation of the names of the 41 deceased 80-year Jubilarians, 46 deceased 75-year Jubilarians, 23 deceased 70-year Jubilarians, and five deceased 60-year Jubilarians.

In her preaching, Sister Marilyn Winter, OP, a 70-year Jubilarian, reflected on the mysteries of life and death. “We … know the transient nature of physical reality and that we need to aspire to lead good lives, to prepare to come before the judgment seat of God,” she said. The words of the readings of the Mass helped to make sense of death and gave a sense of hope in Jesus’ promises, Sister Marilyn said, adding that she was left with a desire for more.

She reflected on the ways that rituals help the survivors, recalling her recent experience at cemeteries on Memorial Day. The people who gathered “gained strength to continue their journeys from the stories of the past lives, not just of those who gave their full measure,” but of mothers, grandfathers, teachers, and coaches. In the same way, she said, the 2025 Jubilarians remember those who have gone before them: teachers, housemates, travel companions, and “those only known to us by their silent presence.”

In gatherings of Adrian Dominican Sisters and Associates, “we see the face of God,” Sister Marilyn said. “We recommit each day to this life we have been given. We relish the time to share with those with whom we live and minister and those who have supported us through it all, and we value the precious times and spaces we have remaining.”

The Jubilarians, their guests, and other Sisters and Co-workers spent the rest of the day sharing time and building memories together: through a special lunch for Jubilarians and their guests; a happy hour in which the Jubilarians mingled with the Sister residents of the Dominican Life Center; a barbecue dinner; and a concert of classical piano music, performed by Sister Magdalena Ezoe, OP.

Sister Rosemary Finnegan, OP, 60-year Jubilarian, welcomed fellow Jubilarians, guests, Sisters, family members, and friends to the Jubilee Mass on the morning of June 21, 2025. “It’s a privilege to walk with these women as we journey down many changes, praising God and touching hearts along the way,” she said. “All of us feel privileged to spread the Gospel graces by our Creator, nurtured by our lives together.”

Sister Elise D. García, OP, Prioress of the Congregation, noted the fitness of the focus of the day’s readings on the Holy Spirit. “How else would you have responded to the call if it were not for the presence of the Spirit?” she asked. But, she added, they responded not only to the initial call to enter the Adrian Dominican Congregation, “but to each of the calls that have summoned you over the years, calls that took you to places near and far, to ministries you thought were beyond your reach, to a multitude of challenges and opportunities you never imagined.”

Sister Elise delineated the specific ways that the Jubilarians served the people of God through the years: through various ministries in education, parish and diocesan services, religious education and faith formation, healthcare, community and congregational leadership, justice and peace advocacy, and advocacy with marginalized groups. She noted that they served in 22 states and numerous countries. 

“You have given witness to the depth of love … at the heart of the Spirit who animates us all,” Sister Elise concluded. “Wisdom’s radiance shines upon you.”

The Jubilarians demonstrated their willingness to continue their call to religious life and the Adrian Dominican Sisters as they renewed their vow of obedience “to Almighty God, to the Blessed Virgin Mary, to our holy father, Saint Dominic,” and to Sister Elise and her lawful successors “according to the rule of St. Augustine and the Constitution of the Sisters of St. Dominic of the Congregation of the Most Holy Rosary until death.”

February 3, 2025, Adrian, Michigan – Ever since the Dominican Sisters of the Our Lady of Remedies Congregation, based in Pampanga, the Philippines, merged with the Adrian Dominican Sisters in November 2011, the Sisters in both countries have sought ways to get to know one another and to experience one another’s culture and country. Recently, an exchange was initiated in which Sister Nancy Jurecki, OP, was to spend about eight months in the Philippines and Sister Abegail Santos, OP, was to spend about three months in the United States. Below is Sister Abegail’s story.

Thanksgiving, snow, U.S. football – these are some novelties that Sister Abegail Santos, OP, has experienced since she came to the United States on November 25, 2024, to integrate with Adrian Dominican Sisters at the Motherhouse in Adrian, Michigan, and in Chicago. She reflected on her experiences, ways of being involved at the Motherhouse, and love for the Sisters as she prepared to return to the Philippines on February 19, 2025.

During her time in Adrian, Sister Abegail has been living in community in the Regina Residence with Sisters Lorraine Brennan, OP, and Victoria Dalesandro, OP. The small community has helped her to feel at home, making sure among other things that she has rice, a staple in the Philippines. 

Back home in Mining, Angeles City, Pampanga, Philippines, Sister Abegail ministers as the treasurer and auditor of the Dominican School of Angeles City. She has used those skills in volunteer work with the Motherhouse’s Finance Office. She has also expanded her skills, serving as sacristan during Mass and helping the Resident Services Department present activities for the resident Sisters. “When they have activities like a birthday celebration, I join the staff in serving the Sisters,” she said. “I really appreciate being with the Sisters, knowing them a little bit. I’m so grateful for that.”

Sister Abegail also joins the Sisters in daily prayer – Mass in St. Catherine Chapel and the Divine Office, Dominican Praise, and the rosary in a small group every afternoon in the Regina Residence Hall. “What I like and really appreciate with our Rosary is, we pray it bilingually,” she said. “When it’s my turn to lead the mysteries, I pray in my dialect [Kapampangan] and they respond in English.” Other Sisters lead the rosary in Spanish and German.  

Highlights of her time in Adrian have included the Christmas liturgy. “It was sad missing my family and my Sisters [in the Philippines], but the Liturgy was so beautiful” in Adrian, she said. She particularly appreciated events she had never experienced in her home country: from Thanksgiving to snow. “We don’t have the experience of winter in the Philippines,” she said. “The snow made me thrilled. During my first snow experience, I took a picture and sent it to my family.”

Sister Abegail has also been exposed to a U.S. ritual – watching football. “I watch it with the Sisters and am starting to learn about it,” she said.

Sister Abegail has also taken the opportunity to visit other parts of the United States. Before arriving in Adrian, she spent time with family in Haywood, California. She also traveled to Chicago with Sisters Kathleen Nolan, OP, and Bibiana “Bless” Colasito, OP, General Councilor who is also from the Philippines, to visit Sisters Mary Priniski, OP, and Mary Soher, OP.

“Sister Kathy toured us around the City of Chicago, particularly Navy Pier,” Sister Abegail recalled. “When we were there, it was raining, but we were able to see the city, the downtown. It’s a big place, with a lot of beautiful buildings.” 

Sister Abegail said her greatest challenge in the United States has been the difference in language. Although she speaks English well, it is not her first language. “You can’t spontaneously express yourself, what’s on your mind” in English, she said. “When I don’t know how to say something, I just keep quiet. It’s not as spontaneous as speaking in your own language.” She is grateful for the time she can spend with Sister Bless, speaking in her dialect, she said.

Still, Sister Abegail said, she has been inspired by the Sisters at the Motherhouse. “I love our liturgy – the Sisters sharing and preaching,” as well as the remembrances of the Sisters who have died. “They were so inspiring,” she said. “You want to be good and kind and holy. I love how our Sisters take care of our [elder] Sisters, and also the staff – so kind with the Sisters.”
 

Caption for above feature photo: Sister Abegail Santos, OP, serving as acolyte and sacristan, accepts a ciborium of hosts from Sister Lenore Boivin, OP, after Communion during the 2024 Christmas Liturgy at St. Catherine Chapel at the Adrian Dominican Sisters Motherhouse.