What's Happening

July 12, 2024, Mosul, Iraq – Sister Donna Markham, OP, traveled a great deal in the early summer, but she counts as most important her visit to the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena in Iraq – a community that over the years has had close ties with many of the congregations of Dominican Sisters in the United States.

Sister Donna first met the Sisters from Iraq during her years as Prioress of the Adrian Dominican Sisters from 2004 to 2010. The Congregation sponsored several the younger Sisters to earn advanced degrees in the United States, allowing them to spend some time away from the war in their home country.

“The trip to Iraq was important for the Sisters and for me to see one another,” Sister Donna said. “I have been there several times before for meetings and presentations.” She had planned in October 2023 to accompany Sister Raghad Saeed, OP, back home after she earned her doctorate in physics at the Catholic University of America but, at that time, the trip would have been dangerous.

Sister Donna visited the Sisters in May to offer support as they continue to struggle. In 2014, they had fled their convents on the Nineveh Plain with the incursion of the terrorist group ISIS and had spent years internally displaced. During that time, they ministered to others displaced by ISIS. They established schools and clinics and provided spiritual support and presence. Even after returning home after the Nineveh Plain was secured, they faced the challenges of rebuilding their churches, convents, and places of ministry.

Sister Donna found joy during her recent visit to Iraq as she learned about the Sisters’ ministries and how they continued service to the people. Sister Aman Miriam Mansoor, OP, is principal of a school in Baghdad, while Sister Ban Saeed, OP, conducts Montessori classes. Sister Nadiya Shamees, OP, ministers in a Baghdad hospital as a nurse practitioner. Sister Raghad teaches physics at the University of Mosul. 

Muslim and Christian children attending the school where Sister Aman Miriam ministers learn how to relate with one another as friends, Sister Donna added. “That seems to be a very important part of her ministry, so the children can grow up and not experience each other as enemies. The Sisters are highly regarded as top educators in the country, so parents of all religions are eager to send their children to the Sisters’ schools.”

While Sister Donna appreciated reconnecting with the Sisters, she also learned of the current hardships they face. “Clearly life there remains difficult because the Sisters really have little opportunity to leave the country. Many embassies have been closed to them,” Sister Donna said. 

In addition, the Sisters are seeing many Christian residents leaving Iraq. “Many of their homes were severely damaged by explosives that had been used by ISIS,” Sister Donna explained. “You see homes still burned out. Many Christians don’t see life as safe for their families. The Christian churches in Iraq remain very much in persecution.”

Sister Donna continued: “The Sisters’ resilience, focus on ministry, and efforts to help their people in ministry are remarkable. They pledge to minister there as long as long as there are Christians to minister to. But it’s a rough situation.”

Adding to the sadness of the flight of Christians from Iraq is the fact that many of the Sisters’ family members have left Iraq, Sister Donna said. Consequently, the Sisters remain separated from their own families who have relocated to other countries such as Australia, France, Jordan, Lebanon, and Italy.

Because of these challenges, Sister Donna said, it’s more important than ever for Dominican Sisters from the United States to visit them, if possible. “They were so grateful to have me come,” she said. “Any Dominican Sisters who might feel comfortable enough to visit them provide enormous support in this very tenuous time in Iraq.

“They said to tell the Sisters not to be afraid,” she said. “I certainly did not feel unduly afraid being there. The Sisters are very careful with where I go - they make sure that they’re safe and I’m safe.”

Still, Sister Donna acknowledged that traveling to Iraq can be a challenge. “It’s a very difficult trip and very long,” she said. “You have to be calm. I don’t think there’s imminent danger but, obviously, it can be rather disconcerting to go through so many military checkpoints.”

For those who might find a visit to Iraq particularly challenging, Sister Donna suggested other ways to show support for the Iraqi Dominican Sisters. “They always appreciate prayers,” she said. But they also appreciate connection with the U.S. sisters – if not through visits, then through email or Zoom calls. 

“It’s so important that we stay connected to them,” Sister Donna said. “They don’t need money or things. Their lives are simple and they seem to be doing OK financially. Connecting with the Sisters in any way you can is the greatest gift and support you can give them,” she added.
 

July 1, 2024, Adrian, Michigan – Joy, gratitude, happy memories, and a sense of homecoming permeated the Motherhouse Campus of the Adrian Dominican Sisters as the 2024 Jubilarians – Sisters marking milestone years of religious life – and their guests gathered for the June 20-22, 2024, celebration.

The 41 Jubilarians include one Sister celebrating 80 years, three 75-year Jubilarians, 22 Double-Diamond (70-year) Jubilarians, 14 Diamond (60-year) Jubilarians, and one Silver (25-year) Jubilarian. Together, the 2024 Jubilarians represent 2,710 years of dedication to the Adrian Dominican Sisters and to the people of God.

While the Adrian Dominican Sisters honor the Jubilarians throughout the year, the formal celebration began on June 20, 2024, with a meeting with the General Council, followed by dinner.

The Jubilarians remembered deceased Sisters who would have celebrated their Jubilees during a special Liturgy for Deceased Jubilarians. The liturgy marked the faithful lives of 44 75-year Jubilarians, 30 Double-Diamond Jubilarians, and six Diamond Jubilarians. 

In her reflection, Sister Joan Delaplane, OP, a 75-year Jubilarian, compared the deceased Jubilarians to the valiant women described in the Book of Proverbs, exhibiting spirit, courage, bravery, faithfulness, dedication, and risk-taking. She focused on the “faithfulness of our Creator to each deceased Jubilarian who was lovingly willed into life, cherished and cared for every sacred moment of life.”

Sister Joan noted that the bond of love between the Jubilarians and their deceased Sisters “is not severed by the thin veil that separates our physical selves,” and that the deceased Jubilarians will continue their own intercessions for the Adrian Dominican community, our nation, and our world.

“Our deceased Sisters utilized their diverse and wondrous gifts in so many beautiful ways,” while also remaining faithful throughout the difficult times and circumstances that they faced, Sister Joan said. She concluded by thanking God “for the gift of each of our deceased Sisters who shared faith and life with us on our journey.”   

The Jubilee events on Friday continued with lunch for Jubilarians and their guests; a happy hour for Jubilarians and Sisters who reside at the Dominican Life Center; dinner; and a piano concert offered by Sister Magdalena Ezoe, OP, composer, pianist, and Professor of Music Emerita at Siena Heights University.

The Saturday, June 22, 2024, celebration began with morning liturgy. “This is the day the Lord had made. Let us rejoice and be glad.” Sister Mary Louise Putrow, OP, 75-year Jubilarian, evoked that feeling as she quoted Psalm 118 in her welcome to the Jubilee Liturgy. “I rejoice that these 41 Dominican women – 80, 75, 70, 60, and 25 years ago – said yes,” Sister Mary Louise said. “They said yes to the whispering of the Spirit, and all of us were totally unaware of what that would mean. We began a journey that has brought us to this very moment.”

Sister Mary Louise noted the surprising changes brought about in the lives of the Sisters by the call of the Second Vatican Council, inviting the faithful in the Church to change and to continue in conversion. “God’s presence and spirit have remained with us,” she said. “We celebrate the many unspoken ways that we have been called to share our lives and enter into the mission of Jesus.”

In her reflection, Prioress Elise D. García, OP, expressed her gratitude for the Jubilarians and the “many shoulders we stand on, all who came before us and loved and guided us.” She recalled the gifts that the Jubilarians received from family members and friends, teachers and guides, Sister friends, and others who saw the Jubilarians through difficult times. “They are all part of the incredible journey that the One who began a good work in you continues to shape and mold in you to this day,” she said.

Sister Elise compared the companionship of the Jubilarians with that of Mary and Elizabeth, whose story was told in the day’s Gospel. “Two pregnant women, relatives, encounter each other at the opposite ends of child-bearing age – an unmarried teenager and an elder who thought herself well past child-bearing years,” she said. “But in their encounter with one another, they at once recognize the One who had begun a good work in each of them – and through them.”

Sister Elise noted that the companionship of Elizabeth and Mary is “mirrored by your companionship, as Dominican Sisters, as you worked together with so many others to advance the Mission in such an astonishing diversity of ways with extraordinary fruitfulness – through times of great joy and also, no doubt, of suffering.”

Sister Elise offered a litany of the many ministries that the Jubilarians were engaged in, from a variety of traditional educational ministries to those who “tended the hearts, minds, and spirits of so many in need of care” as chaplains, social workers, counselors, psychotherapists, spiritual directors, and directors of retreat centers. The Jubilarians served in various ways in parishes and dioceses, as mentors and social justice advocates, and in the Congregation as elected leaders and in congregational offices.

“You are a gift to us and to the world,” Sister Elise told the Jubilarians. “Your good works are still alive in the hearts of all those you served.” Yet, she said, those good works have not ended. She quoted canonist Kelly Connors, PM: “The first apostolate of all religious is the witness of their consecrated life. We carry out that witness until we breathe our last breath.”

The Jubilarians proved their continued commitment to the Mission of Jesus and the Adrian Dominican Sisters as they together renewed their vows. “To the honor of Almighty God, I, … make profession and promise obedience to almighty God, to the Blessed Virgin Mary, to our holy father St. Dominic, and to you, Sister Elise García, Prioress of the Congregation, and to your 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.”

A festive dinner for Jubilarians and their guests rounded out the formal celebration, but many of the Jubilarians continued to take the time to celebrate with family members, friends, and Sister friends. Their sense of Jubilee continues throughout the year.