What's Happening

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.”