What's Happening

By Madelyn Birmingham - Content Writer, Siena Heights University

November 28, 2022, Adrian, Michigan – The Siena Heights University Department of Music returns to Holy Rosary Chapel on the Motherhouse Campus of the Adrian Dominican Sisters for the annual Service of Lessons and Carols at 5:00 p.m. Sunday, December 4, 2022. 

The traditional Festival of Lessons and Carols is a Christian service of Scripture and song that dates to the late 19th century. Included are nine Scripture lessons, each followed by a carol or other song that reflects the lesson’s message, as well as a brief prayer. 

“This has become a powerful tradition in the Adrian community each year,” said Kelly Ford, Director of Choirs. “Our attendance grows each year, and we now have a packed house to join in our singing and prayer. It’s a perfect way to start your holiday season!”

The service includes University Chorale, Chamber Singers, and members of the Siena Heights University Brass Ensemble. Admission is free and the event is open to the public. Doors will open at 4:30 p.m. and the concert will last approximately one hour. Masks are required.

For more information, contact Shelley Holly at 517-264-7890 or through facebook.com/shuchoir.

Siena Heights University is a Catholic university founded and sponsored by the Adrian Dominican Sisters. A coeducational North Central accredited institution founded in the liberal arts tradition, the university is headquartered in Adrian, Michigan, with degree completion centers throughout the state.

November 25, 2022, Adrian, Michigan – The General Council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters issued the following statement in observance of the United Nations’ International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women, November 25, 2022.

As a community of women of faith with a global presence – in the United States, Dominican Republic, Philippines and Norway – we join in observing the United Nations’ International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women, and call for an end to gender-based violence in our world. 

We are especially mindful of the courageous women in Iran who have been engaged in daily protests following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman who died in police custody days after her arrest on September 13, while visiting family in Tehran, for allegedly wearing her head scarf or hijab “improperly.” As The New York Times reported later that month, “Tossing head scarves into bonfires, dancing bareheaded before security agents, young women have been at the forefront of these demonstrations, supplying the defining images of defiance.” 

Despite brutal crackdowns and the arrest of more than 16,000 people, the protests continue. According to Iran Human Rights, at least 416 people have been killed, including 51 children and 27 women, and hundreds more injured in gruesome videotaped police beatings. The woman journalist, Niloufar Hamedi, who first brought attention to Amini’s story, is among 48 journalists, including 18 women, held under arrest. 

Valuing human dignity and aware of the injustice of patriarchy which maintains the subordinate status of women and girls throughout the world, we stand in solidarity with the courageous women of Iran, and the men who support them, in their decades-long cry for gender equality. We pray for their safety and for the uplifting of their inherent rights and dignity – and those of all women and girls around the world – beloved by God and made in God’s image. 

The General Assembly adopted this day of observation in honor of three heroic sisters in the Dominican Republic – Patria, Minerva, and María Teresa Mirabal – who resisted the reign of terror of then-dictator Rafael Trujillo. Under his order, they were brutally murdered on November 25, 1960. The Mirabal sisters, also known as Las Mariposas (the Butterflies), have become international symbols of popular and feminist resistance against oppression. 

Members of the General Council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters are Sisters Elise D. García, OP, Prioress; Lorraine Réaume, OP, Vicaress; and Corinne Sanders, OP, Janice Brown, OP, and Bibiana Colasito, OP.