By Sisters M. Clare Fichtner, OP, and Elyse Marie Ramirez, OP
Walk with us, please, into Sacred Heart Convent Chapel. You will notice several things all at once. First, you are reminded of how spacious God is. Then, you are aware of being wrapped in the simple beauty of concrete, colored glass, wood, and untold thousands of tiles in the mosaics. As light finds its way into the space, one often finds herself fully aware of the presence of Holy Mystery.
The reredos behind the altar is a larger-than-life mosaic of the Dominican saints contemplating the passion of Jesus Christ crucified. From this center, the tiles radiate out in the shape of a seed, its contour embracing Saints Dominic, Catherine of Siena, and sixteen other Dominican saints, visual reminders of the 800-year tradition of Dominican life that touches the hearts and minds of those who gather in the chapel every day.
The first general chapter of the Order of Preachers, convened by St. Dominic in 1220 at the convent of Santa Sabina in Rome, helped seed the order’s response to the Gospel. Our congregation has met periodically for chapter since 1929, when our constitutions were approved in Rome. The constitutions say that general chapter “calls us together for the good of the Church, and by its decisions challenges us to a renewed fidelity to the mission of the community in the spirit of St. Dominic.” Sisters are elected to leadership during chapter and mandated to keep us focused on the goals the chapter sets.
As we reflect back on a quarter-century’s-worth of chapters, a palpable presence of the Holy Spirit emerges, through discourse, dialogue, disagreement, consensus—each illuminating like light through chapel windows our vow of obedience, that is, radical listening. In this spaciousness emerges the vibrant mosaic of our ongoing, evolving, living response to the Gospel for the Life of the World—as it says in Latin on the chapel reredos— Pro Mundi Vita.
We read in our constitutions that “Our call to preach the Gospel demands a governmental structure that frees us for mission.” General chapter gathers our sister-delegates to set direction as a way of freeing us corporately and individually for mission. During the first 25 years of this century there have been six chapters. Besides electing leadership, during those gatherings we also contemplated how God was calling us into mission in these times of dramatic change in our world.
These cyclical, communal, discerning moments renew our commitment to our vowed Gospel lives, united and dedicated to “the life of the world” in North
America since 1873, and in Peru since 1965.
A look at the output of these six chapters reveals a pattern of development with mission at its core; each chapter contributing to the mosaic of our response to mission.
Unity and justice
Technological developments, world conflicts, and a deepening realization of those on the peripheries of society have brought about dramatic changes in society, government, church, family—and in our religious community. Unity and justice, constitutive to the Gospel, are the demanding singular thread through it all.
Sister M. Clare lives at Sacred Heart Convent and is committed to a life of study and integration of her Dominican call.
Sister Elyse Marie is a member of the current leadership team and lives at Jubilee Farm in Springfield.
2001 and 2005:
Listening together
Thus, in 2001, the chapter expanded how we elect
delegates, meaning that the 2005 chapter included many
sisters previously unable to participate. All of our
sister-delegates from the U.S. and Peru were present
and participating, aided by technology and trusted
interpreters, all were able to listen to each other.
2009: Embracing diversity
At the 2009 chapter, a two-fold promise emerged to “embrace the diversity of people and stand in solidarity with people who live in the margins.” As we listened to the Holy Spirit, we were called to advocate for those who are often silenced or ignored, as does Jesus in the Gospel
2014: Creation’s call
Our eighteenth chapter, in 2014 saw a profound naming of our Spirit “for the life of the world.” We declared it by calling the gathering “Birthing Anew.” Earth’s cry held the suffering of so many persons and creatures, and called us to deepen our evolutionary consciousness and our commitment to living sustainably.
2019: The Rostros Concretos
Gathering in chapter in 2019, we heard the continuing cries of the whole of creation including persons around our globe, and emerged from chapter with a Prayer for the Life of the World, addressed to God as “Holy Mystery.” We used an expression familiar to our Peruvian Sisters: “Rostros concretos” which challenges us to really see the faces of the poor and those on the margins of society.
2024: Unity and collaboration
Emphasis on the grace of unity so needed throughout our world, society, and church, beckoned us into the truth of our belonging to Holy Mystery during our 2024 chapter. The need to strengthen unity among ourselves and with our associates, partners in mission, and collaborating Dominican communities became a recommitment to right-relationship for the life of the world. Being, in a sense, wrapped in the beauty of our commitments, discipleship, and the joy of the Gospel, our lives are joined in communion with the saints in the chapel reredos and its mosaic of color, glass, wood, and thousands of brothers and sisters who have ministered in the Order of Preachers for more than 800 years.
