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August 14, 2024, Adrian, Michigan – In a spirit of joy and a celebration of community, Adrian Dominican Sisters, Associates, family members, and friends witnessed the Perpetual Profession of Vows of Sister Katherine Frazier, OP. The Rite of Perpetual Profession was held on August 11, 2024, during liturgy in St. Catherine Chapel at the Adrian Dominican Sisters Motherhouse Campus in Adrian.

“I am so grateful for this opportunity to make my perpetual vows with the Adrian Dominican Sisters,” Sister Katherine said. “Throughout my formation, I have been rooted in an 800-year Dominican tradition, and I know that those roots will sustain me as I continue to discover where God is drawing us in the future. At this same time, I see my commitment not only to being with the Adrian Dominican Sisters, but to my Dominican family all around the world, and my desire to preach a message of love and mercy to the world.”

The older of the two daughters of Lee and Lynne (McKenna) Frazier, Katherine is native to the Fort Wayne, Indiana, area and formally entered the Adrian Dominican Congregation in 2015. She holds a bachelor’s degree in medieval studies from St. Mary’s of Notre Dame, Indiana; a master’s degree in world archeology from the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England; and a Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies (MAPS) from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. 

Sister Katherine has spent much of her adult life working with youth. At the time of her entrance, she was Director of the Bishop Donald Trautman House at Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania. After her First Profession in 2018, she served in Mission Integration at Regina Dominican High School, an all-girls school in Wilmette, Illinois, formerly a sponsored institution of the Adrian Dominican Sisters. She spent a year working in refugee resettlement in New Haven, Connecticut, helping refugees to find their way in the United States. 

In June 2022, Sister Katherine became Executive Director of the Dominican Youth Movement USA, overseeing youth outreach programs such as the Dominican High Schools Preaching Conference, the Dominican Colleges Preaching in Action Conference, and Dominican Young Adults USA. Through the years, she has served on the Vocations Team, reaching out to young Catholic women who are considering a call to vowed religious life.

Sister Patricia Walter, OP, Sister Katherine’s mentor and Dominican Charism Formator, and Sister Mary Priniski, OP, Chapter Prioress, both testified as to Sister Katherine’s readiness for perpetual vows. 

“Through the years, I have seen Katherine’s commitment to prayer and her delight in leading groups of young people in reflection,” Sister Patricia said. “She has developed insights and skills which serve her well in meeting the challenges of community life and ministry …. She has discerned her call to religious life prayerfully and faithfully, fully aware that religious life is undergoing significant transformation.”

As Chapter Prioress, Sister Mary has worked with Katherine for several years. “Her creativity in those ministries has been evident,” she said, adding that she also experienced Sister Katherine leading prayer, preaching, serving as cantor, and using the creation of art in her contemplation. “I can enthusiastically attest to the readiness of Sister Katherine for perpetual profession.”

Sister Lorraine Réaume, OP, Vicaress and General Councilor, reflected on the Sunday readings: the prophet Elijah’s rest and refreshment on hearth cakes before beginning a nonstop 40-day walk and Jesus’ treatise on the Eucharist, food that brings eternal life. She noted the “mysterious journey” that Sister Katherine is committing to at a time when the future of religious life is unknown. “But she knows, and we know, that the sustenance and love needed will be provided,” Sister Lorraine added. “We trust in the God who calls us from the future.

“Katherine, today is a stopping point on the way of your journey,” Sister Lorraine said. “This commitment you and we are making to each other will feed and nourish you so that you can go forward and fully live the Dominican religious life you have begun with such fidelity.”

During the Rite of Profession, Sister Elise D. García, OP, Prioress of the Congregation, formally questioned Sister Katherine on her willingness to unite herself more closely to God by a bond of religious profession, to live a life of charity, and to center her ministerial activity in contemplation. 

Sister Katherine professed her vow of obedience to God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Dominic, Sister Elise, and her lawful successors “according to the Rule of St. Augustine and the Constitution of the Sisters of St. Dominic of the Most Holy Rosary until death.”

Sister Elise presented Sister Katherine with a ring, symbolizing her perpetual fidelity to Jesus Christ. The ritual concluded with the signing of the profession documents by Sister Katherine and Sister Elise; Sister Katherine’s two witnesses, Sisters Emmy Chelagat Choge, OP, and Carol Gross, OP; Sister Mary Priniski, OP; and Father Dennis Woerter, OP, celebrant, a Dominican Friar of the U.S. Central Province.

On behalf of the Dominican family – and particularly the Dominican Sisters of Adrian – Sister Elise affirmed Sister Katherine in her perpetual profession. “We joyfully congratulate you and pray that God continues to inspire you to enter into each day with a generous heart.”
 

August 13, 2024, Adrian, Michigan – Sister Jeanne Stickling, OP, (Adrian) received the Fra Angelico Award, the highest honor bestowed by the DIA, during the closing Liturgy of the Dominican Institute for the Arts (DIA) gathering, July 22-25, 2024, at Weber Retreat and Conference Center in Adrian. Named after the great Dominican artist, Fra Angelico (1395-1455), the award is given to a DIA member who “exemplifies Fra Angelico’s dedication to furthering the Holy Preaching through art.”

Sister Jeanne, a sculptor and potter, also taught pottery classes. Her sculptures can be found throughout the country. A long-time, active member of the DIA, she has served on the DIA Board and on planning committees.

“I believe that working with clay can bring you into contact with the sacred,” she wrote in her DIA profile. “Your hands touch and grasp all four of the essential elements of Creation: earth, water, air, fire. For a Dominican artist, working with clay becomes a tactile centering prayer.”

Sister Catherine Anderson, OP (Grand Rapids), received the 2024 Spirit Award in recognition of her many years of service to the DIA. Most recent of her many services was her leading a workshop on bookmarks. 

Sister Catherine uses her experience of painting as an opportunity for contemplation. “The last few years I have been more aware how art can influence people in our culture in reference to the needs of the times especially in the area of justice and healing,” she wrote in her profile on the DIA website. “I continue to learn daily.”

About 50 DIA members attended the annual gathering, under the theme, Artists for the Earth. 

Begun more than 25 years ago, the DIA is a grassroots organization of Friars, Sisters, Nuns, Laity, and Associates who preach through the arts. Members range from painters, sculptors, and photographers to musicians, poets, dancers, filmmakers, dramatists, and appreciators of the arts.

Sister Joye Gros, OP (Peace), began her keynote address on the morning of July 23 by affirming the gifts that artists bring to the world. Their gift of seeing and feeling requires attention and intention, she said. “As an artist, your gift is to help others see. You see things others don’t see, and that’s what Jesus did …. We are given gifts that we might share them.”  

Sister Joye, who spent 13 years in leadership positions for the Dominican Sisters of Kentucky, played a key role in the formation of the Dominican Sisters of Peace. She co-directed the Collaborative Dominican Novitiate (CDN) for eight years and now helps congregations of women religious as they plan for their future. 

She spent much of her talk on the theme of the conference, drawing from Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ prophetic encyclical on the environment. “This conference calls you not only to respect Earth, but to praise and honor God through your art.” 

Sister Joye challenged the artists to connect to Laudato Si’ through their artistic gifts. “As artists of the Earth, you stay close to the Earth,” she said. “Your eyes and ears, your nose, all your senses can bring you close to the Earth.” She encouraged them to “stay close to the ground to hear the cry of humanity and the cry of Earth.”

While artists focus much of their work on beauty, Sister Joye said, they also need to be connected to the suffering of the world. “The cry of the Earth is the cry of beauty and joy, but it’s also a cry of devastation and pain,” she said. She made reference to Hildegard of Bingen’s image of the need to fly with two wings: joy and suffering. “Trying to fly with one wing will leave us Earthbound and unfulfilled,” Sister Joye noted. She gave specific examples of artists who were transformed by suffering and pain and who used their new gifts to reach out to others in pain. 

Finally, Sister Joye spoke of the need for artists to find healing and comfort from the devastation that they have witnessed and experienced. She held up gratitude as one way to find grace. “Gratefulness allows us to nurture a keen eye that no longer passes the small moments that make up the greater part of our lives,” she said. 

Members of the DIA can also bring encouragement and support to one another in facing times of devastation and struggle. “You artists are part of the great cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1),” she said. “We are surrounded by great company.” 

Throughout the afternoon of July 23, participants had the opportunity to attend workshops that helped them to experience other forms of art: from liturgical movement and watercolor painting to percussion and other musical instruments and the creation of bookmarks. In recognition of the conference theme, they were also invited to visit the Permaculture area of the Motherhouse of the Dominican Sisters of Adrian.

Activities on July 24 included a business meeting and a presentation by Sister Mary Navarre, OP (Grand Rapids), a writer, poet, and storyteller, on the archiving of works of art.

The closing Liturgy continued the participants’ celebration of the arts, with upbeat music and liturgical dance. Sister Nancyann Turner, OP (Adrian), a weaver, preached on the Gospel, focusing on the sower and the seeds. “Jesus invites us to plant seeds and to be very careful where we plant them,” Sister Nancyann said. “We do this by our preaching, our relationships, our shared values, and our ability to disagree without doing violence.”

As artists and sowers, Sister Nancyann said, “we must preach far and wide for the healthcare of our Mother Earth. Speaking out for creation will not just be an activity but a conversion.”

The celebration of the arts continued with dinner and a gala of art, music, and song.

The DIA is open to any Dominican who is dedicated to preaching through the arts or who appreciates the arts. For information on membership or on the organization, visit https://www.diartsop.org.