A Bottle Full of Tears ~ Moving Through Grief (In Person)

Friday, Sep 29 • 6:30 – 8:30 pm & Saturday, Sep 30 • 9:00 am – 4:30 pm

GRAND RAPIDS, MI –Grief is love that has nowhere to go. Grief is deeply personal and can be one of life’s most difficult challenges. Grief is an emotional reaction occurring in response to loss and impermanence, and it is inevitable to the human experience. Begin or continue your healing journey at A Bottle Full of Tears, a retreat on moving through grief. We will explore the stages of the grief experience in a two-day, in person interactive retreat. Using a variety of transformative practices alongside reflective pauses for integration, we will honor ways we might be worked by loss, learn from it, and love through it. For more information call 616-514-3325 or visit dominicancenter.com. Dominican Center Marywood, a ministry of the Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids, is located in West Michigan off Fulton Street East, on the campus of Aquinas College.

Details & Registration: https://dominicancenter.com/programs-and-retreats/bottle-full-of-tears/

Season of Creation Prayer Service: Let Justice and Peace Flow (In Person)

Saturday, Sep 30 • 10:00 am

GRAND RAPIDS, MI –This month during Season of Creation, we are called to join the river of justice and peace, to take up climate and ecological justice, and to speak out with and for communities most impacted by climate injustice and the loss of biodiversity. We will gather on the banks of Coldbrook Creek in the St. Francis Sculpture Garden. This is followed by the Canticle Prayer reading and Blessing of the Animals. Feel free to bring a chair. For more information call 616-514-3325 or visit dominicancenter.com. Dominican Center Marywood, a ministry of the Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids, is located in West Michigan off Fulton Street East, on the campus of Aquinas College.

Details: https://dominicancenter.com/programs-and-retreats/season-of-creation-prayer-service-let-justice-and-peace-flow/

Fall Sacred Seed Retreat ~ A Contemplative Journey into Creation (Online and In Person)

Friday, Oct 6 – Sunday, Oct 8

ROCKFORD, MI –This soul-soothing retreat will help unearth guidance from nature so enable you to gently quiet everyday distractions and access deep spiritual tranquility. Dominican Center, in collaboration with Plainsong Farm, invites you to let your senses be revitalized by nature. Take part in an experience that will cultivate your ability to become silent and still, as you deeply listen and rest in God’s presence. While you nurture and attend your inner garden it is our hope that you discover solitude in nature as a meaningful spiritual practice. In silence, we learn to listen — to ourselves and to God. In silence, we come to know ourselves and the reality of our lives more deeply. Allow prayerful silence to seed sacred spiritual growth for your journey. For more information call 616-514-3325 or visit dominicancenter.com. Dominican Center Marywood, a ministry of the Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids, is located in West Michigan off Fulton Street East, on the campus of Aquinas College.

Details & Registration: https://dominicancenter.com/programs-and-retreats/fall-sacred-seed-retreat/

Awakening Spirituality: Art & Craft as Extraordinarily Sacred Landscape for the Ordinary Soul (In Person)

Friday, Oct 6 • 6:00 – 8:30 pm & Saturday, Oct 7 • 8:30 am – 4:00 pm

GRAND RAPIDS, MI –Engaging all of our senses, ART of all forms can awaken the soul, invite healing, and inspire joy. Come retreat in sacred community to explore how arts nurture contemplative spirituality. Discover beauty and wonder through playful listening and creating. Whether you are seasoned or new in the arts, you will experience the weave of arts and spirituality through intentional hospitality, interactive presentations and explorations, supported contemplative arts-based play and prayer, and slowed rhythms for spiritual reflection and sacred sharing. We invite you to consider the spiritual potency of poetry and word play, fiber and mixed media, watercolor, and Zentangle. For more information call 616-514-3325 or visit dominicancenter.com. Dominican Center Marywood, a ministry of the Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids, is located in West Michigan off Fulton Street East, on the campus of Aquinas College.

Details & Registration: https://dominicancenter.com/programs-and-retreats/awakening-spirituality-art-craft-as-extraordinarily-sacred-landscape-for-the-ordinary-soul/

Ignatian Retreat ~ Seeing God’s Presence in Your Daily Life (Online)

Tuesdays: Oct 10, Nov 14, Dec 12, 2023; Jan 9, Feb 13, Mar 12, Apr 9, May 14, 2024 • 6:30 – 8:30 pm
Do you seek spiritual deepening and wisdom? Do you yearn for spiritual strength as we move through these uncertain times and as we try to quiet the static and noise around us… Discover a discipline and practice that will move you to greater spiritual depth. The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola immerse you in deep noticing for the Divine in all things, revealing the face of God in our daily lives. Prayer practices (spiritual exercises) and weekly Scripture passages will guide and support us as we pay attention to the holy around us. For more information call 616-514-3325 or visit dominicancenter.com. Dominican Center Marywood, a ministry of the Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids, is located in West Michigan off Fulton Street East, on the campus of Aquinas College.

Details & Registration: https://dominicancenter.com/programs-and-retreats/ignatian-retreat/

Whole-Making with Our Ancestors

SINSINAWA, Wis.—Join us at Sinsinawa Mound on Saturday, October 28, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., for learning and discussion on ancestors. Through the passing along of information, guided meditation, conversation, and gentle ceremony, participants will receive insight, ask questions, and be shown sets of tools, all intended to help in the continuing process of whole-making. Participants are asked to bring with them the names of their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, if able. Registration ends October 25, and the fee is $40 per person. Contact Arrangements at 608-748-4411 or visit our website at sinsinawa.org/moundcenter for more information. Sinsinawa Mound, the motherhouse for the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa, is located in southwest Wisconsin on County Road Z, off Highway 11, about five miles northeast of Dubuque.

Forest Ecology at the Mound 

SINSINAWA, Wis.—Join us to hike and learn all about forest ecology in our little slice of the Driftless at Sinsinwa Mound on Tuesday, October 10, from 5 to 6 p.m. Laurana Snyder, Sinsinawa Mound’s Horticulturist and Farm Coordinator, will be leading the hike. This is an outdoor activity, and we will be hiking on and off trail so be sure to bring sturdy hiking boots and weather appropriate clothing. Please register by October 9, and the fee is $10 per person. Contact Arrangements at 608-748-4411 or visit our website at //www.sinsinawa.org/moundcenterfor more information. Sinsinawa Mound, the motherhouse for the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa, is located in southwest Wisconsin on County Road Z, off Highway 11, about five miles northeast of Dubuque.

INAI Exhibit Features Artwork by Members of the Adrian Center for the Arts 

Art lovers can be inspired and instructed not only by the work of famous artists worldwide. Visitors to INAI, an art gallery adjacent to Weber Retreat and Conference Center, can also be inspired as they explore the next exhibit: artwork in various media by local artists, members of the Adrian Center for the Arts (ACA). 

ACA at INAI is open from Friday, October 6, 2023, through Sunday, January 28, 2024, with an artists’ reception from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Sunday, October 22, 2023. INAI is open daily from 9:00 a.m. through 4:00 p.m.; call 517-266-4090 for an appointment.

Pi Benio, Director of Programming for the ACA, said the exhibit includes paintings, drawings, clay work, metals, glass, printmaking, and fiber art. “It’s a pretty good range of everything we have as a studio,” she said. The ACA offers classes on those media and will soon expand its offerings to include sculpture and hot glass. About 100 members benefit from the organization; residents have established studios in the ACA complex.  

“I’m really excited to collaborate with INAI” on the exhibit, Pi said. “We’ve partnered in a variety of ways in terms of supporting each other’s programming. INAI will have an opening, and we’ll have an opening at the same time” to attract people to both sites. Pi often helps Sister Suzanne Schreiber, OP, the Director of INAI, with the installation of art exhibits.

An art professor at Adrian College for 36 years, Pi brought art therapy to the Adrian Girls Training School, a state-run institution for girls who were recommended to it by the juvenile court. “I thought it would be a really great art center,” Pi said. When Michigan closed the school, and after she retired, Pi was part of the group that established the ACA at the school’s site. The parent organization is the Lenawee Council for the Visual Arts.

“Art is about every feeling a human can have,” Pi said. “Art lets you express what you feel.” She noted that art is an essential outlet and safe way for people to express anger or other emotions. In addition, art benefits people who view it. “People who go to art shows might be connecting with a feeling, experience, or a place,” she said. “There are a variety of ways that art can reach people.”

Weber Center is on the campus of the Adrian Dominican Sisters Motherhouse, Adrian, Michigan. Traveling east on Siena Heights Drive, pass the Adrian Rea Literacy Center and turn left just before the solar panel-covered parking lot. Follow the signs to Weber Center. For information, call the Weber Center at 517-266-4000.

A Spirituality Named Compassion

Compassion seems to be the center of spiritual traditions worldwide. In his live stream workshop, A Spirituality Named Compassion, Rev. Matthew Fox, PhD, explores compassion’s many dimensions, including how today’s physics gives us a basis for genuine compassion. The workshop is from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, October 12, 2023.

An author, theologian, and activist priest, Rev. Fox has called people into the Creation Spirituality lineage for more than 50 years, awakening them to become contemplative artists who honor and defend Earth and work for justice. He sought to establish a new education model for learning spirituality and founded the University of Creation Spirituality. 

The cost is $20, and registration is required to receive the live stream link. To register, visit www.webercenter.org and click “programs”; call 517-266-4000; or email webercenter@adriandominicans.org. 

Living “Laudato Si’”: Exploring the Spiritual Depths of Eco-Responsibility 

SINSINAWA, Wis.—On Tuesday, October 17, from 7 to 8 p.m., Beth Piggush will lead Living Laudato Si via Zoom. Beth, the Ecology Director for the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, will help us more deeply respond to Pope Francis’s profound call for an ecological conversion in his hugely important 2015 encyclical, “Laudato Si”: On Care For Our Common Home”. Please register by October 16, and the fee is $10 per person. Contact Arrangements at 608-748-4411 or visit our website at //sinsinawa.org/moundcenterfor more information. Sinsinawa Mound, the motherhouse for the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa, is located in southwest Wisconsin on County Road Z, off Highway 11, about five miles northeast of Dubuque.

Women Doctors of the Church 

SINSINAWA, Wis.—Join us on Saturday, October 21, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., in person or via Zoom to learn about the women doctors of the church. Mary Ellen Green, OP, will lead this program. Of all those named by the Roman Catholic Church as doctors, only four are women. Hildegard of Bingen, Catherine of Siena, Teresa of Avila, and Theresa of Lisieux. Each has a remarkable story that will open up new spiritual dimensions for you. Please register by October 18, and the fee is $30 per person. Contact Arrangements at 608-748-4411 or visit our website at //sinsinawa.org/moundcenterfor more information. Sinsinawa Mound, the motherhouse for the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa, is located in southwest Wisconsin on County Road Z, off Highway 11, about five miles northeast of Dubuque.

Workshop Focuses on Relating to People Most in Need of Compassion

How do Scriptures call us to relate to people most needing compassion? Sister Maribeth Howell, OP, PhD, STD, addresses that question in a workshop, The Poor, the Widow, the Orphan, and the Stranger in your Land, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. EDT Saturday, October 21, 2023, at Weber Retreat and Conference Center and via live stream.

In the workshop, Sister Maribeth explores our call to relate to people in need by examining texts from the Hebrew Scriptures, particularly Exodus, Deuteronomy, and several books of the prophets; New Testament writings; and church teachings.

An Adrian Dominican Sister, Sister Maribeth is a Congregation’s Vocations Team member and a spiritual director. She taught at Aquinas Institute of Theology and Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis and St. Mary Seminary in Wickliffe, Ohio. She holds a Licentiate of Sacred Theology from St. Paul University, Ottawa, Canada, and a PhD and Doctorate of Sacred Theology in Hebrew Scriptures from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium.

The cost is $45, including lunch, for those who are attending in person, and $35 for those participating via live stream. Registration is required. To register, visit www.webercenter.org and click “programs,” call 517-266-4000, or email webercenter@adriandominicans.org. Limited scholarships are available.

Weber Center is on the campus of the Adrian Dominican Sisters Motherhouse, Adrian, Michigan. Traveling east on Siena Heights Drive, pass the Adrian Rea Literacy Center and turn left just before the solar panel-covered parking lot. Follow the signs to Weber Center. For information, call the Weber Center at 517-266-4000.

Glass Art Class: Christmas Ornaments

SINSINAWA, Wis.—Join glass artist, Barb McKinlay, at Sinsinawa Mound to create a glass wall hanging on Saturday, October 7, from 1 to 3 p.m. Design your own wall hanging using a paint and frit technique or pieces of glass to create your own design. Create a holiday design or a design of your own. Feel free to bring a lunch and come to the morning class to make Christmas ornaments and a small tray. Registration ends October 2 and the fee is $80 per person. Contact Arrangements at 608-748-4411 or visit our website at //sinsinawa.org/moundcenter for more information. Sinsinawa Mound, the motherhouse for the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa, is located in southwest Wisconsin on County Road Z, off Highway 11, about five miles northeast of Dubuque.

Speak with the Earth: Learning from Trees, Rivers, Hills and Clouds

SINSINAWA, Wis.—Join presenters, Julia Burkey and Daniel Cooperrider, at Sinsinawa Mound on Saturday, October 7, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for the retreat, Speak with the Earth. “All important ideas,” as poet Mary Oliver once put it, “must include the trees, the mountains, and the rivers.” In this eco-spiritual retreat, we will attend to our relationship and conversation with the more than human world. Over the course of the day, we will dialogue with the four classical elements (water, fire, earth, air) as they express themselves in the evocative landscape of the Driftless area of southwest Wisconsin, and through our own bodies. Registration ends October 4, and the fee is $60 per person. Contact Arrangements at 608-748-4411 or visit our website at sinsinawa.org/moundcenter for more information. Sinsinawa Mound, the motherhouse for the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa, is located in southwest Wisconsin on County Road Z, off Highway 11, about five miles northeast of Dubuque.

From Nowhere to Now Here

SINSINAWA, Wis.—Have you ever apologized because your mind or your heart was somewhere else than where your body was at the time? Join presenter, Pat Pintens, on Saturday, October 7, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. via Zoom for her presentation From Nowhere to Now Here. When we’re pulled in many directions, we can feel like we’re in the middle of nowhere. Let’s explore how to regain our sense of presence, of mindfulness, of being attentive to where we are, who we are with, what is happening and our sense of being now here. Registration ends October 2, and the fee is $20 per person. Contact Arrangements at 608-748-4411 or visit our website at sinsinawa.org/moundcenter for more information. Sinsinawa Mound, the motherhouse for the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa, is located in southwest Wisconsin on County Road Z, off Highway 11, about five miles northeast of Dubuque.

Weekend Workshop Integrates Practices of nonviolent Communication and Eldering

Dorothy Henderson, a member of the Religious Society of Friends (the Quakers), offers a weekend workshop to help participants to make their faith more available to them and to strengthen their relationships and sense of community. Listening to God, Listening to Each Other: Finding Truth in Love is held from 7:00 p.m. Friday, September 29, 2023, through 11:30 a.m. Sunday, October 1, 2023, at Weber Retreat and Conference Center. The workshop is limited to 20 participants.

Dorothy leads participants in individual and interactive exercises to teach Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication (NVC), a spiritual tool to help us speak our truth and hear another’s, with eldering, the practice of deepening the spiritual grounding of an individual or group by accompany them in an intentional relationship with God.

Dorothy has taught NVC for 20 years in workshops, retreats, and classes. Recently, she has been presenting eldering workshops to Quaker meetings and communities.

The weekend cost – including meals – is $55 for commuters, $175 per person for double occupancy, and $225 for single occupancy. Registration is required and available at www.webercenter.org; click “programs.” Registrations may also be made by calling 517-266-4000 or emailing webercenter@adriandominicans.org. Limited scholarships are available.

Weber Center is on the campus of the Adrian Dominican Sisters Motherhouse, Adrian, Michigan. Traveling east on Siena Heights Drive, pass the Adrian Rea Literacy Center and turn left just before the solar panel-covered parking lot. Follow the signs to Weber Center. For information, call the Weber Center at 517-266-4000.

Autumn Equinox Celebration

The quiet whisper of autumn is upon us. Join your neighbors in welcoming this season at the Autumn Equinox Celebration from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday, September 24, 2023, at Weber Retreat and Conference Center.

Sister Esther Kennedy, OP, a Dominican Sister of Adrian, facilitates the celebration. A retreat leader and a spiritual director, Sister Esther conducts a monthly Day of Mindfulness at Weber Center.

The celebration is free and open to all. Children are welcome. Bring a poem, a song, a reflection, or a treat to share.

Weber Center is on the campus of the Adrian Dominican Sisters Motherhouse, Adrian, Michigan. Traveling east on Siena Heights Drive, pass the Adrian Rea Literacy Center and turn left just before the solar panel-covered parking lot. Follow the signs to Weber Center. For information, call the Weber Center at 517-266-4000.