Saturday, August 19, 2023 - Sacred Heart Convent Chapel, Springfield, Ill.—The culmination of a year-long celebration of 150 years of ministry for the life of the world took place at 10 a.m. this day, as more than 450 Springfield Dominican sisters, associates, friends, and honored guests celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving for the many gifts God has bestowed on the congregation since its founding in 1873.
On August 19 that year the congregation’s founding sisters arrived in Jacksonville to begin a mission that would take root in the fertile soil of central Illinois and bear fruit for the life of the world.
Bishop Lou Tylka, of the Diocese of Peoria was the principal celebrant. A graduate of Marian Catholic High School, a sponsored ministry of the congregation, Bishop Tylka wouldn't let us rest on our laurels. “God’s plan continues to unfold. It’s been 150 years, but I’m serious: think about the next 150,” he said. “We have much work to do. Our world needs to see us preach the Gospel, our world needs to see us witness the faith.”
As Sister Rebecca Ann Gemma, OP, the congregation’s prioress general, welcomed the guests—those who filled the chapel and those online—she said “Our foundresses’ communal trust in the Holy Spirit, fortified by prayer, apostolic common life, and the generosity of others, planted the seeds of vowed Dominican religious life in Illinois, a consecrated Dominican lifestyle which stretched beyond this country’s borders all the way to Peru.”
Present in the chapel were two Peruvian members of the congregation: Sister Mila Diáz Solano and Sister Edith Vila Alania. Sister Mila, a member of the congregation’s leadership team, lives in the U.S. Sister Edith’s ministry is to the people of Jarpa in Huancayo Province, located in the Andes Mountains. The rest of the Peruvian sisters were gathered with Dominican associates at the center house in Lima where they watched the livestream and enjoyed a festive celebration.
Other honored guests included many diocesan and religious priests who’ve been taught by or ministered alongside Springfield Dominican sisters, and the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis. The two congregations have enjoyed a close relationship for many decades. There was a significant presence of members of the Dominican family, which for more than 800 years has included nuns, friars, and laity. Present for the celebration were Dominican associates, laity, friars from the central and southern provinces, and nuns from the Monastery of Mary the Queen in Girard, Ill.
Concelebrating with Bishop Tylka was Bishop Kevin Vann. Now the bishop of Orange County, Calif., Bishop Vann grew up in Springfield and spent a lifetime in relationship with Springfield Dominican Sisters, including his aunt, Sister Margaret Sienna Jones.
During his remarks after communion Bishop Vann offered a “litany of gratitude” for all he had received from our sisters throughout his lifetime: music, education, community, family, faith, ministry, and hospitality.
He concluded with words from Sister M. Jeremiah Sullivan, prioress general during the centenary year. Speaking to the congregation at midnight Mass on January 1, she said:
“…On August 19 of this year of 1973 our religious community will complete one hundred years of serving the people of God for the sake of His Kingdom. Humbly we stand today—in wonder and deep gratitude for all that has been—in faith and hope in all that will be—knowing without a shadow of a doubt that God loves us and that we are precious in His eyes.
“We praise Him at all times—the best of time and the worst of times. We thank Him for all things—all the joys and all the sorrows.
“In this Eucharistic celebration honoring His Mother, we offer our love, our praise and our thanksgiving in union with the infinite love, praise, and thanksgiving offered by God-made-man, and we ask God to let us see His Light so that we can walk in His Spirit. We pray that each of us imitate Mary’s openness to the Spirit of God. Because of this openness she was able to bring Christ into the world. We ask that by our openness to the same Spirit each of us may bring Christ into our own hearts and to those whose lives we touch.”
Then, closing his copy of Lest We Forget, a community history from which he had been reading, Bishop Vann said “That’s been my experience of all of you all these years.”
The celebration continued with a light lunch and the joy of friendship as the sisters and their guests conversed and enjoyed one another’s company.
Those wishing to deepen their relationship with the Springfield Dominican Sisters are invited to visit springfieldop.org/dominican-mission/ to learn ways they can join the sisters in living out the preaching mission to which God calls all people.
I think Saturday offered me a little taste of heaven!!!! So thankful to be invited and included in this celebration. I pray God continue to bless you and your work now and in the years ahead..
Thanks Nancy! Glad you could join us!