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Make a Pilgrimage of Hope for the Season of Creation

The public is welcome to open the 2025 Season of Creation by celebrating Mass with the Dominican Sisters at Sacred Heart Convent at 9:00 a.m., Monday, Sept. 1. “This day marks the opening of a month long, global, ecumenical celebration of the gifts of God’s Creation,” said Sister Sharon Zayac, OP, who chairs the Springfield […]

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New card designs from Sister Maristella

Springfield Dominican Sister Maristella Dunlavy made her mark on Illinois’ civic life decades ago when she was the official calligrapher for the State of Illinois, hand-lettering resolutions for the House and Senate for $10 per piece. Each resolution took about three hours to letter with no “white out” and no errors allowed. Now she spends

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Join Catholic Sisters nationwide in prayer for a more just and compassionate world

Springfield, Ill.— The Dominican Sisters of Springfield will participate in a national movement of prayer, fasting, and advocacy for a more just and compassionate world on Wednesday, July 23. Everyone is welcome to join them. The Dominicans are joining Catholic sisters from around the nation. Each congregation has selected a day to participate in this

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Daphne Skretvedt honored for work with United Nations

Daphne Skretvedt , a Dominican Associate since 2002, was recently crowned “queen” at a party of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNCHR) in Geneva, Switzerland on Friday June 20, 2025. Alejandro Henning, the Director of Human Resources during Daphne’s tenure, graciously combined the annual retirement party with a reunion of those UN field workers 

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Happy 108th Birthday Sister Elise Bocke!

Dominican Sisters celebrate longest-lived community member with a sock-hop About the photo: Sister Elise Bocke, second from right, celebrates her birthday with her nephew Joe Bocke, her niece Mary Ann Vahle, and Joe’s wife Janice. Sister Rose Marie Riley, decked out in a ginger wig and sunglasses, emcees the party. Just two months after the

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“Stand for Justice, Stand for Dignity” campaign roots civic engagement in Catholic Social Teaching

Sisters will hold weekly vigil on Monroe Street property, 4:30 each Wednesday beginning June 4. Springfield, Ill.—If you’ve driven the 1200 block of West Monroe or Washington Streets in the neighborhood of Sacred Heart Convent lately, then you’ve likely seen red, white, and blue signs sprouting along the perimeter of the Dominican Sisters’ property between

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Thank you for supporting our Butterfly Garden Project

We are Grateful! Thank you for bringing new life to our campus and being a constant support of our sisters! Your gift will truly create an urban jewel for our sisters, neighborhood and city! Your gift will help us: plant a privacy hedge along Washington street; purchase pollinator-attracting shrubs and perennial flowers; create a place

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“A place of plenty”: Who lived here?

The first residents of the land that will become our butterfly garden were likely, well—butterflies—and many other winged, and multi-footed species who thrived in the Eastern Deciduous Forest biome that makes up much of Sangamon County.  The first two-legged caretakers were likely the Kickapoo, members of the Illiniwek Confederation, or Potawatomi people. It was the

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Butterfly Garden is sanctuary for humans and all creation

Donate to the Butterfly Garden Here “In joy or sadness, flowers are our constant friends.” ― Kakuzō Okakura  The butterfly garden will be a sanctuary for humans and all creation, an unending source of spiritual renewal, and a place that creates a sense of social well-being for all who visit. Last but not least, the

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About the photo: Cyndi Callan enjoying a day with her son. Provided by the author.

Medicaid fulfills a Gospel Mandate

By Cynthia Gallo Callan Cynthia Gallo Callan, is a Springfield Dominican Associate who works for the Diocese of Springfield.  “Change is the only constant” is an expression that sometimes keeps people afloat. It has spun over the generations and is widely accepted as the norm.  But sometimes change comes too fast and furious, and when

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Butterfly Garden offers green urban space and beauty for all

Donate to the Butterfly Garden A growing body of research indicates that urban green spaces benefit people and Earth by improving physical and mental health, increasing social wellbeing, reducing crime, and curbing the hazards of climate change.  Is there a spiritual dividend as well?  “The world will be saved by beauty,” Catholic Worker founder Dorothy

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Taking in the news: Dominican Sisters respond to the election of first U.S. Pope, Chicagoan Robert Prevost, OSA

About the photo: Chicagoan Sister Marie Michelle Hackett, OP, shares her joy over the announcement of the Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV. When it was evening in Rome, the Dominican Sisters of Springfield were finishing their noon meal in the dining room at Sacred Heart Convent, having heard these encouraging words from their fellow Illinoisan, standing

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Spirituality: Every creature is a book about God

Spirituality is “the lifestyle of faith” according to the theologian Tomas Halik. “It is the sap of the tree of faith.”—a fitting description for this garden we are creating, a place where our spirits—and our spiritualities—can soar as we contemplate the greatness of the Creator. “Every creature is a book about God,” This is what

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New Associates Make Commitment at Sacred Heart Convent

Springfield, Ill. — A commitment ceremony for the 2025 Springfield Dominican Associate class was held at Sacred Heart Convent Chapel on Sunday, May 4, 2025. During the homily of the Mass Father Robert Kelly, OP, chaplain for the Dominican Sisters, thanked the associates for their commitment and preached on Sunday’s Gospel from John about the

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Creation’s sanctuary

Spirituality is “the lifestyle of faith” according to the theologian Tomas Halik. “It is the sap of the tree of faith.”—a fitting description for this garden we are creating, a place where our spirits—and our spiritualities—can soar as we contemplate the greatness of the Creator. “Every creature is a book about God,” This is what

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