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September 19, 2024, Caleruega, Spain – Four Adrian Dominican Sisters were among 48 Dominican Sisters from throughout the world who spent a week in St. Dominic de Guzman’s birthplace, Caleruega, Spain, sponsored by the Dominican Sisters International Confederation (DSIC).

The Sisters participating in the program were finally professed for less than 20 years. DSIC was established to enhance the communication and collaboration of apostolic Dominican Sisters throughout the world. Adrian Dominican Sister Patricia Siemen, OP, also attended as a member of the DSIC Coordinating Council

Other Adrian Dominican Sisters who attended were Katherine Frazier, OP, Executive Director of Dominican Youth Movement USA, Xiomara Mendez-Hernandez, OP, Executive Director of the Dominican Sisters Conference, and Salvacion “Salve” Valenzuela, OP, and Alma Zapanta, OP, Co-directors of the Dominicans in Bodø, Norway, Mission. 

“It was a spiritual Dominican pilgrimage … where all and each of us represented our congregations and each of us was a manifestation of the larger Dominican Charism, said Sister Xiomara.

Sister Pat said the gathering was a response to one of the priorities set by the Dominican Prioresses throughout the world during a 2022 online DSIC meeting: to focus on younger Dominican Sisters. The purpose of the gathering was to “bring a representative group together to build relationships, to explore our call as women preachers in light of the times, and to experience a global Dominican Sisterhood within the five continents where we have Dominican Sisters,” Sister Pat explained.

The program involved talks by Barbara Reid, OP (Grand Rapids, Michigan), on women prophets in Scripture and the prophetic call of consecrated women; Ana Francisca Vergara, OP (Colombia), on theological study and contemplation in the service of our preaching; and Sabine Schratz, OP (Cabra Dominicans, Ireland), on the history of communities of apostolic women.

The participants also visited various areas that were central to the life of St. Dominic: from his birthplace in Caleruega, the well where he was baptized, and his family’s watchtower to the neighboring Benedictine monastery where Blessed Jane’s dream about St. Dominic was interpreted, and the cathedral in Osma. While she was pregnant with Dominic, Blessed Jane dreamed that she gave birth to a dog that carried a lit torch around the world, signifying St. Dominic’s mission of preaching the Word of God. 

The tour was coordinated by Pilar del Barrio, OP, representing Europe on the DSIC Coordinating Council.

During the last two days, Sisters met in continental and language groups to discuss “what they can do to build up Dominican Sisters International so as to complete God’s dream for us as we move into a future committed to being women preachers,” Sister Pat said. She was pleased by the engagement of the Sisters and the quality of the presentations. The participants strongly recommended that this assembly be repeated for other younger Sisters, she said.

In reflecting on the experience, the Adrian Dominican participants spoke of being moved by the connection to St. Dominic and to one another – and by their hopes for the future.

“Visiting the birthplace of our founder, St. Dominic, was an incredibly moving experience,” Sisters Alma and Salve wrote in a joint reflection. “From the well to the tower, and our travels to the Silos and the Cathedral of Osma, we felt an incredible connection to our roots.”

Sisters Alma and Salve were especially moved by Sister Ana Francisca’s presentation on study. “We consecrated women are entrusted with the demanding task of infusing our lives with the spiritual and contemplative aspects of study,” they wrote. “Study is not a personal endeavor – rather communal and powerfully meant so to evangelize one another in the community and transform all members into evangelizers.” Read the entire reflection by Sisters Alma and Salve. 

Sister Alma is one of five Sisters elected to represent the group of younger Sisters during the DSIC assembly in Rome in May 2025. They will present the fruits of the discussions in Caleruega.

“We have started the creation of the document, how we see ourselves into the future,” Sister Xiomara explained. “I see a great movement toward collaboration and radical inclusion and a sense of globalizing our mission with a preferential option for relationship.” Sister Xiomara has been invited to attend the May assembly as a liturgist.

Sister Katherine said one of the highlights for her “was the opportunity to see the place where Dominic was born and where he knew his family of origin, to hear the stories of his mother Juana and his father and his brothers – and to do so when I was surrounded by all of these Sisters from all over the world. In a way, I was learning about his family surrounded by my chosen family.”

Sister Katherine appreciated the “unexpected gift” of being invited to attend the assembly in Caleruega. This gift has given her hope and the feeling of connection. “There was a sense of strengthening bonds to the international aspect of the Dominican Order – broadening horizons,” she said. She came away appreciating “how amazing the work that our Sisters are doing all over the world and the ways that they’re meeting the needs in their particular context. What a gift to be able to witness that!”

 

Caption for above photo: Nearly 50 Dominican Sisters finally professed for less than 20 years participated in the DSIC gathering in Caleruega, Spain.