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October 31, 2023, Adrian, Michigan – While many people throughout the United States were observing Columbus Day on October 9, Adrian Dominican Sisters, Associates, Co-workers, and friends were celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day – and exploring the cultures of Native Americans, the injustices, and ways of reconciliation with the dominant U.S. culture.
The event was planned by a committee of The People of the Four Winds of Lenawee County, a local Native American organization, as well as Adrian Dominican Sisters, Co-workers, family members, and friends.
The day-long event began with the lighting of the Sacred Fire outside of Weber Retreat and Conference Center, the site of the teach-in, by Firekeeper Kenneth Johnson. The fire remained lit throughout the event.
Elder Joseph Brave-Heart, a full-blooded descendant of the Oglala Lakota Nation, opened the morning session by speaking of his own experiences and those of his people with the arrival of Europeans and the need for healing and reconciliation of all people. “It is my personal hope that we establish a balanced and cohesive relationship or association, that we may honor the Creator,” he said.
Elder Joseph recalled an address by Pope John Paul II to Indigenous People in the United States. “The early encounters between your traditional cultures and the European way of life was an event of such significance that it profoundly influences your collective life even today,” he quoted the pope. “The cultural oppression, the injustices, the disruption of life and your traditional societies must be acknowledged.”
After reviewing several past hurts – such as the boarding schools in which the U.S. and Canadian governments tried to force Indigenous children into abandoning their cultures and ways of life and adapting to the dominant culture – Elder Joseph encouraged a spirit of reconciliation between descendants of Indigenous peoples and Europeans. Historically, the “fickle nature” of human beings has led us to forget the words of Jesus: “Love others as I have loved you,” Elder Joseph said. “It is only through true empathetic love, understanding, and humility that we may all heal and go forth as the children of God – or the Creator.”
Sister Susan Gardner, OP, Director of the Native American Apostolate for the Diocese of Gaylord, Michigan, spoke about the Doctrine of Discovery, predominantly made up of three 15th-century papal bulls, letters written by popes.
Inter Caetera, the bull most often associated with the Doctrine of Discovery, was written by Pope Alexander VI to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. The bull stated that any land not inhabited by Christians “could be claimed and exploited by Christian rulers,” Sister Susan explained. “The presiding theory of the time was that indigenous people, because they were non-Christian, were not human, and therefore the land was empty” and could be claimed by Christian settlers, she said. Christians who claimed the land were also encouraged to convert the indigenous people to Christianity but had the authority to enslave and exploit them.
Sister Susan said the Doctrine of Discovery has been used over the centuries – and even in recent times – to settle court cases. For example, the 1823 U.S. Supreme Court case Johnson and Graham’s Lessee v. McIntosh involved a land dispute between Johnson, who bought the property from a Native American, and McIntosh, who bought adjoining and overlapping land from a white person. Justice John Marshall granted the land to McIntosh.
“The decision allowed our government to legally ignore or invalidate any Native claims to property,” Sister Susan said. “It’s still used by courts to decide property rights cases brought by Native Americans in the United States against non-Natives.” The ruling “stands as a monumental violation of the natural rights of humankind, as well as the most fundamental human rights of Indigenous Peoples,” Sister Susan said.
Pope Francis rescinded the Doctrine of Discovery in March 2023. A joint statement by the Vatican Dicasteries of Culture and Education said the concepts in the Doctrine of Discovery are not part of the teaching of the Catholic Church. “In no uncertain terms, the Church’s magisterium upholds the respect due to every human being,” the statement reads. “The Catholic Church therefore repudiates those concepts that fail to recognize the inherent human rights of the indigenous peoples, including what has become known as the legal and political ‘doctrine of discovery.’”
Participants concluded the morning by attending one of two break-out sessions. Some chose to participate in a Talking Circle, a sacred way of listening for Native Americans and a private experience for those who attend.
From left, Sisters JoAnn Fleischaker, OP, Marilyn Francoeur, OP, Janice Holkup, OP, and Mary Rae Waller, OP, offer a panel discussion on their experience as either a Native American or a minister with Native Americans.
Others attended a presentation by a panel of Adrian Dominican Sisters: Sister Marilyn Francoeur, OP, a native of Adrian and a member of the Citizens Band of the Pottawatomie Nation; Sister Mary Rae Waller, OP, whose father was of Cherokee descent and who learned about the meanings and principles of Native life during a summer with her grandmother; Sister JoAnn Fleischaker, OP, who ministered for 21 years among the Cheyenne/Arapaho Tribe in Oklahoma as part of a collaborative Dominican ministry; and Sister Janice Holkup, OP, who for three years directed a summer school work-study program for children, funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. View a recording of the morning session.
The afternoon session allowed participants to watch and – when invited – participate in traditional native dancing led by McKell Johnson, a Shaw Dancer and leader of the People of the Four Winds. View a recording of the afternoon session.
April 13, 2023, Adrian, Michigan – She is a joy to be around. Her constant, prayerful presence, sitting and keeping vigil with many of the Sisters as they lie dying. Her great smile lights up every room she enters. She is committed to showing up every day with joy and gladness. She always looks out for everyone.
These are some of the many ways that Adrian Dominican Sisters, Associates, Co-workers, and friends to describe Sister Miriam Joseph Lekan on the occasion of her 100th birthday. The spirit of gratitude, admiration, and love was present April 12, 2023, during a birthday celebration, which began with Mass in her honor.
Birthday Celebration
Sister Sharon Spanbauer, Mission Prioress of Holy Rosary Mission Chapter based in Adrian, greeted the assembly, noting that Sister Miriam Joseph was joining the ranks of beloved Adrian Dominican centenarians. “We pray that Sister Miriam Joseph’s heart will be overflowing with joy, knowing the countless ways she blesses our daily lives,” Sister Sharon said.
In a reflection on the Gospel story of the risen Jesus’ encounter with two disciples on the road to Emmaus, Sister Judy Friedel, OP, Chapter Prioress of Holy Rosary Mission Chapter, noted the similarity between Jesus’ outreach to the disciples and Sister Miriam Joseph’s to the people she encounters. “Jesus and Miriam enjoy the vitality and wonder of communion with God’s people,” Sister Judy said. “May we endeavor to do so as well, even more consciously and eagerly these Easter days.”
Left: Sister Judy Friedel, OP, Chapter Prioress of the Holy Rosary Mission Chapter, offers a reflection during a special Mass on April 12, 2023, marking Sister Miriam Joseph Lekan’s 100th birthday; Center: Father James Hug, SJ, priest chaplain for the Adrian Dominican Sisters, greets Sister Miriam Joseph Lekan; Right: The assembly at Mass offers the traditional Dominican Blessing to Sister Miriam Joseph Lekan
During the afternoon celebration, Sister Judy read some of the many responses to the question of the importance of celebrating Sister Miriam Joseph’s 100th birthday. Sister Miriam Joseph also received a proclamation from Angela Sword Heath, Mayor of Adrian; a Pontifical Blessing from Pope Francis; more than 100 birthday cards; and two bouquets: one from Holy Rosary Mission Chapter and the other from St. Augustine Health Campus, a senior living facility in Cleveland where Sister Miriam Joseph ministered for many years.
Sister Elise D. García, OP, Prioress of the Adrian Dominican Congregation, also paid tribute to her. “Such great love we have for you,” she told Sister Miriam Joseph. “I think you can feel that deep gratitude to you for the life you have given to so many of us and to so many people on God’s Earth.” Sister Elise also spoke of the blessing she received from Sister Miriam Joseph’s presence during daily Mass and her loving presence to the Sisters who are dying.
Sister Miriam Joseph responded with heart-felt thanksgiving to all assembled for her birthday.
Left: Sister Judy Friedel, OP, Chapter Prioress of Holy Rosary Mission Chapter, presents a proclamation from Adrian Mayor Angela Sword Heath to Sister Miriam Joseph Lekan; Right: Sister Elise D. García, OP, Prioress of the Adrian Dominican Congregation, offers words of gratitude and appreciation to Sister Miriam Joseph Lekan.
Sister Miriam Joseph’s Early Life
“Living a religious life is all planned for me, [involving] complete trust in God in every challenge that came up,” she said in an interview before the celebration. She expressed her “deep appreciation for all the friendships and the assistance that I had throughout all these years – and it doesn’t feel like 81 years as a nun and 100 years chronologically.”
Born on April 10, 1923, in Cleveland, Ohio, and baptized Josephine Bernadette Lekan, she was the ninth of the 12 children of Joseph and Frances (Perko) Lekan. Like most men in their neighborhood, Joseph worked in the American Steel and Wire Company. “Growing up during the Depression years, we all learned what it meant to live a life of hardship,” Sister Miriam Joseph said.
The family was very happy when Josephine entered the Adrian Dominican Congregation in June 1942. “I went to school with Adrian Dominican Sisters for eight years” at St. Lawrence in Cleveland, Sister Miriam Joseph recalled. While attending Holy Name, a co-ed high school with the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, she felt a call to religious life. She delayed entering the Adrian Dominican Congregation for a year so that she could spend time with her oldest brother, who was returning home from the seminary in Switzerland.
Years in Mission
She took her religious name, Sister Miriam Joseph, when she was received into the novitiate on December 31, 1942. She professed first vows on January 4, 1944, and final vows on January 4, 1949. Sister Miriam Joseph received a bachelor's degree in Latin from Siena Heights College (University) in Adrian in 1952 and a master's degree in Latin from DePaul University, Chicago, in 1959.
Sister Miriam Joseph spent the first 37 years of ministry in education and recalled the years when Adrian Dominican Sisters received an assignment to ministry every year in August. “Each appointment was kind of a challenge – not knowing what that new appointment was going to be and yet it always ended up in a happy ministry, wherever it was,” she said.
Education ministry took Sister Miriam Joseph to classrooms in Illinois, Michigan, Florida, and Ohio. While she enjoyed her time in all of the schools, two stand out in her memory. She was one of two Adrian Dominican Sisters sent to Grand Ledge – near Lansing, Michigan – to open St. Michael School. “I couldn’t believe when I was assigned to open a school,” she said. “The first summer I had to come to Adrian and take administration classes.”
She also has special memories of Bishop Quarter, a boarding school for boys in Oak Park, Illinois. “If you know anything about boarding school, you’re on duty 24 hours out of 24,” she said. She worked with the first- and second-grade students. She recalled one young student still awake after 10 p.m. because he couldn’t go to sleep. She asked if he was feeling lonesome. “He sat up and threw his arms around me,” she recalled. “That’s all he needed was giving a hug to someone besides his mother.”
During her last teaching assignment at St. Francis Xavier, Medina, Ohio, Sister Miriam asked for – and received – permission to train to be a licensed practical nurse. She studied at Lakewood School of Practical Nursing in Lakewood, Ohio, and, when she had passed the Boards, was hired at St. John Hospital in Cleveland. She worked there for eight years – until the hospital closed. She then worked for the newly established St. Augustine Health Campus, a senior living facility, until her retirement in July 2000. “I loved both teaching when I did it and I liked nursing,” Sister Miriam Joseph said. “It might be my inner liking to serve people.”
Sister Miriam said she was surprised to be turning 100. “I don’t look at the numbers,” she said. “I don’t think of it as 100. I’m just so grateful for these 81 years that I’ve been an Adrian Dominican. God was just in the divine plan for me, 81 years ago.”
View highlights from the celebration below.