What's Happening

October 20, 2023, Adrian, Michigan – Halfway around the world from the war and turmoil in Israel and Gaza, Adrian Dominican Sisters and representatives of Siena Heights University gathered on October 17, 2023, for a Rosary prayer service for the suffering people of the Holy Land.

The General Council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters issued a statement that morning, supporting the call for prayer from the churches in Jerusalem and Pope Francis and inviting the public to this time of prayer.

“Any time there is the kind of war and division and conflict that exists in the world right now in such stark terms in the Middle East, it calls on all of us people of faith to prayer,” Sister Elise D. García, OP, Prioress of the Adrian Dominican Congregation, said during an interview with WTOL-TV News, based in Toledo, Ohio. 

“We all live busy lives, and our students, our faculty, our administration – we’ve got many things going on,” said Douglas Palmer, PhD, President of Siena Heights University. “But I think every time we call a pause and reflect in prayer, I think that has power.”  

Watch the coverage by WTOL.

September 28, 2023, New York, New York – Adrian Dominican Sister Joan Delaplane, OP, was one of two homiletics teachers recognized by Father Manuel Williams as instrumental in his preaching training. A member of the Congregation of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ and a preacher of revivals and missions, he praised the women for teaching him not to take his privilege of preaching for granted and not to “step into that preaching moment unprepared.”

Sister Joan, now a spiritual director and retreat leader in Adrian, taught homiletics at Aquinas Institute of Theology, a Dominican graduate school in St. Louis, Missouri. She was the first woman to serve as President of the American Academy of Homiletics.

Sister Joan was recognized along with Ven. Sister Thea Bowman, FSPA (1937-1990), an African American member of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration who, as a consultant for intercultural awareness, offered lively presentations throughout the country. Her Cause for Canonization is ongoing.

Read more about Father Manuel and the influence of Sisters Joan Delaplane and Thea Bowman in an article and podcast published by America Magazine.