“Almost all of the people I know don’t have papers,’ Rosaria said. “I wanted to drive safe, have insurance, live legally here.’ The young Mexican immigrant came to central Illinois on a short-term tourist visa, desperate for work she couldn’t find at home. She found a factory job, began studying English, and applied for permanent …
Dominicans in Ministry Feel the Heat of Immigration Reform Debate Read More »
“The people called forth the preaching charism in me,” Sister Charlotte Rebbe said, “They expected me to be a preacher.” That, in a nutshell, is how one Springfield Dominican sister came to understand a life she’s committed herself to decades earlier. Sister Charlotte served as parish director in a rural Wisconsin diocese when she experienced …
The Preaching Life: Women in the Order of Preachers Read More »
Somewhere in the United States there is a Coca-Cola employee with HIV who has the life-saving drugs she needs because of action taken by the Dominican Sisters of Springfield. Throughout Asia, factory managers are receiving the training they need to implement safe labor practices, protecting the lives and dignity of thousands of workers, because the …
Socially Responsible Investing:
“Touching the Lives of People We can’t Count” Read More »
In 2004, the authors, Sister Elise Bocke, OP and Sister Alverna Hollis, OP, lived at St. Edward Convent and welcomed the Nigerian Dominican Sisters. August 15 was a happy day for the sisters of St. Edward Convent in Chicago. Sisters Perpetua Chime and Cecilia Madu from Dusau, Nigeria, finally arrived at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. …
Long Journey Brings Nigerian Sisters to St. Edwards Read More »
By Dana Hinton IN 2004, Dana Hinton was communication director for the Dominicans of St. Catharine Kentucky. She prepared this story as part of a collaborative effort of the Dominican Alliance congregations. In December 1992, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring March 22 of each year as the World Day of Water. …
When facilitators from Crossroads Ministry told the Dominican Sisters of Springfield that becoming an anti-racist institution is a twenty-year struggle, many people found that difficult to imagine, Sister Beverly Jean Howe among them. “I must admit I’m somewhat overwhelmed that the organizers say this is a twenty-year process,” said the Rockford, Ill.-based canon lawyer. “But …
Walking to the Crossroads:
Springfield Dominicans Engage in
Anti-Racism Process Read More »
“I worked down at the school board as a reading specialist, but that wasn’t as much fun as this.” That is Sister Elise Bocke’s assessment of her latest ministry assignment. After sixty-three years in education, Sister Elise finds herself happily on the frontier of computer-assisted learning at St. Edward School on Chicago’s north side. “A …
“It seems that it is God’s will that we are here.” That is Sister Luma Khudher’s summary of the odyssey that brought her and Sister Rihab Mousa to the United States during one of the lowest points in the historically difficult relationship between the United States and their homeland, Iraq. “I thought after that tragedy …
Sisters Luma and Rihab:
Growing the Seeds of Peace Read More »
Life is an adventure for Hermana Mila Diaz Solano. You can see it in her smile, hear it in her voice, and read it in her every move. That sense of adventure served her well when she and Sister Kathlyn Mulcahy opened a mission in the remote Peruvian Andes in January 2000. After almost two …
‘Missionary Impulse’ is Hermana Mila’s Foundation for Ministry Read More »
This is a copy of Sister Samuella’s hometown newspaper, the Mt. Sterling Democrat-Message, from January 11, 1950. The BIG NEWS, on the front page—just below the report of the Mt. Sterling city council meeting—is the story about the day Sister Samuella gave her life to God as a novice with the Dominican Sisters of Springfield: …
Thank You for Making an Impact: Sister Samuella is Thrilled Read More »
“It’s so good to be with her,” Billy said on a windy spring day four years ago. He could scarcely believe that he was standing with his first-grade teacher on the grounds of Jubilee Farm in Springfield, Ill., reminiscing about the times they shared together in Duluth, Minn. “Even before I was in your class, …
When you are six, grown-ups can be scary. Sister Samuella was not a scary grown-up. That’s what Springfield Dominican Sister Lori Kirchman remembers now more than 50 years after encountering her first real-live Catholic sister at St. Joseph School in Bradley, Ill. “I remember that she was a wonderful, kind person. Full of energy. She …
Oh! I thought to myself as I read kind, reasoned words, cautioning against alienating our immigrant neighbors who contribute so much to our community. O Wisdom of our God Most High, guiding creation with power and love: come to teach us the path of knowledge! Oh, I groaned, at the latest news of unethical and …
Sister M. Xavier’s Services Visitation: 4:00 p.m.—6:15 p.m., Monday, December 16, 2019, Sacred Heart Convent Chapel, 1237 W. Monroe St. in Springfield. Visitation begins with a prayer service. Funeral Mass: 6:30 p.m., Monday, December 16, 2019, Sacred Heart Convent Chapel, Dominican Father Peter Witchousky, celebrant. Morning Prayer, Remembering, and Final Commendation: 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, December …
The first thing 8-year-old Leo noticed about his third-grade teacher was that she was small. This is true! Sister Samuella Volk is still small. She was never taller than four feet nine, she’ll tell you. Now approaching 90, she’s a little shy of that! It doesn’t keep her from the 101 tasks she accomplishes everyday …
