Community News

By Katie Beckmann Mahon, Communications Manager

Throughout the pandemic, several of the Sisters of Saint Dominic of Blauvelt, New York, have often been asked, “How has faith shaped your response to the challenges of living with COVID-19?”

This question is the inspiration behind our upcoming Catholic Sisters Week Virtual Discussion: Living Through COVID with Faith & Hope.

This virtual discussion will occur on March 4th at 3 PM EST and moderated by Sr. Terry Rickard, President and Executive Director of RENEW International.

Catholic Sisters from 24 congregations in four states this March will launch a yearlong, live-streamed conversation series on the leading social justice issues of our time. Each episode is free and open to the public.

Titled “Exploring Intersections: Catholic Sisters on Racism, Migration and Climate,” each month this series will focus on a different social issue in a thought-provoking and engaging conversation. Three panelists, including Catholic Sisters, will bring unique perspectives to each session.

By Katie Beckmann Mahon, Communications Manager

On Sunday, February 7th, Sr. Kathleen McManus, OP, a Sister of Saint Dominic of Blauvelt, York, reflected on her vocation, ministry, and World Day of Consecrated Life, at the Mass in Celebration of Consecrated Life for Religious in Rockland County at St. Francis of Assisi in West Nyack.

World Day of Consecrated Life, which is celebrated on February 2nd, but observed in parishes on the following weekend, highlights how consecrated persons are gifts for the whole church. 

By Katie Beckmann Mahon, Communications Manager

When traveling to the Sisters of Saint Dominic Motherhouse in Blauvelt, most people pass the Prayerful Art Center at El Shaddai without even realizing it.

El Shaddai, which recently celebrated its 30th Anniversary in 2019, has been a retreat and prayer center for many of the Sisters of Saint Dominic of Blauvelt, New York.

Seeking a spiritual renewal?
February 22 – April 1

Mondays-Thursdays, 9-10:30 am CST

The Hesburgh Renewal Program is a new six-week online program beginning in late February that fosters personal, professional and spiritual renewal through daily, 90-minute lectures featuring renowned CTU faculty and guest speakers. All are welcome, and sessions are recorded.

                                                                Ministry to Transgender Persons

A new initiative of the Dominican Sisters of Springfield is meant to hold a space for young adult women to find encouragement, companionship, and the “space and grace” to meet themselves and uncover the purpose of their lives.

Cor Unum House is both a physical space in an historic Springfield, Illinois, neighborhood and a virtual gathering place that has sometimes included women from as far away as Zambia. 

 International Day of Prayer Against Human Trafficking

RENATE in Europe Event being launched on February 8th, 2021.

The theme: 'An Economy without Human Trafficking'. 

Please join us for this film online.  All are welcome.

Link for this event:  https://www.renateevents.net/an-economy-without-trafficking

cf www.renateevents.net and also www.renate-europe.net

By Katie Beckmann Mahon, Communications Manager

February 3rd is National Women Physicians Day.

This annual observance celebrates how women have influenced and enhanced the practice of medicine and the 200th birthday of Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to obtain a medical degree in the United States. 

Sister Agnette Bengal will turn 107 years old on February 4.  A milestone in the Sisters of Christian Charity.  Another huge milestone, possibly a first in the country, is the fact that Sister is celebrating her 90th year in Religious Life!  With God's grace, the community celebration will be held in June.  Sister Agnette still comes to meals and participates in community as much as she is able, with assistance.  She resides in Sacred Heart Convent, Willmette, IL.  God bless her!!

Would you like to join your little sisters of Marian House Poor Clare Colettines in Nottingham, UK, praying together?
We will be inviting Saint Colette to pray with us, as usual around her feast, for those who long to conceive a child, expectant mothers and the sick, especially sick children.
We join in prayer to the Lord for the healing of our world from the coronavirus and a new beginning in God’s love.

Kathryn Getek-Soltis, Assistant Professor of Christian Ethics at Villanova University and former Catholic chaplain at Suffolk County House of Corrections in Boston, explores the U.S. prison system through the eyes of Christian mercy and ethics. Her workshop, Christian Mercy and our American Prison System, is offered virtually from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. EST Thursday, February 18, 2021, through Weber Retreat and Conference Center.

Monday, February 8th marks the feast day of St. Josephine Bakhita and the International Day of Prayer to End Human Trafficking. The Ursuline Sisters of Louisville are collaborating with the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth to present a virtual prayer service. It will be held at 7:00 pm ET, Monday, February 8th, on Zoom. All are welcome to join this 30-40 minute service. 

Link to the Zoom call:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85477079527?pwd=KzZPU0VQRmVqY3k4Rk9zSXBzQUpzQT09

By Katie Beckmann Mahon, Communications Manager

Before the pandemic, Sr. Maggie McDermott, OP, used to attend Mass every morning at St. Barnabus Church in the Bronx before she started her ministry as Executive Director of the Tolentine Zeiser Community Life Center.

Those daily masses were an ideal way to start her day, as once she arrived at her ministry, she was quite busy overseeing the pre-kindergarten program for three and four-year-olds.

The Dominican Sisters of Peace were blessed by the First Profession of Vows for Sr. Phuong Thuy Vu on December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

The ceremony was held in the Chapel at St. Mary’s Dominican High School, New Orleans, LA, founded by the Congregation in 1860. Sr. Phuong ministers as an assistant in the school’s Guidance Department.

The Dominican Sisters of Peace welcomed Maria Tram Bui, 41, as a candidate on December 7, 2020, the vigil of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Born in 1979 in Binh Gia, Vietnam, Tram and her family, including her eight siblings, immigrated to America in 1999. The family moved to Houston, TX, in 2005.

Tram earned a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Texas Tech University Health Science Center, Lubbock, TX. She served as a full-time physical therapist in North Houston.

We are an Adult Education Centre, located in Dublin, Ireland and our website is www.lumenop.ie. 

On our website you can read our Mission Statement:

Lumen Dominican Centre derives its mission from the educational ideal of the Congregation of Dominican Sisters, Cabra within the Order’s tradition of teaching and preaching.

by Gloria Switzer, Dominican Associate of Grand Rapids, January 19, 2021

Today, Friday, January 22, 2021, the International Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) enters into force and becomes International Law.

How inspired and inspiring were the messages of unity coming from the steps of the United States Capitol in Washington D.C. this week!

Did you know that the 59th Inaugural National Prayer Service on Thursday featured two vowed women religious? Sr. Carol Keehan helped get the Affordable Care Act passed under the Obama Administration; and Sr. Norma Pimentel is the director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley and has been working among immigrants at the border in Texas.

Dear people, our/your human presence at the boundaries makes a difference!