Dominican Sisters of Peace: ‘A Chapel is Reborn as a Gift to the Community it Served’

Watertown, MA: Rosary Manor was founded in 1888 as an outgrowth of Dominican Sisters of St. Catharine, KY. Mother Regina of the Kentucky Dominicans, now the Dominican Sisters of Peace, sent seven Sisters to Watertown, MA, to help manage the new schools in the parish. Over the more than 130 years that the Sisters of Rosary Manor served the people of the Boston Diocese, they founded more than 20 ministries, including schools, community outreach, and an ecology center at Crystal Spring.

As the long history of Rosary Manor draws to a close, the Sisters made a final gift to the religious community in the diocese by donating their chapel furnishings to Sr. Mark’s Church in Dorchester, MA. Sr. Blaise Flynn has prepared a reflection about this special gift.

Parishioners pack and move items from the Rosary Manor to the chapel at St. Mark’s Church.

On the feast of St. Catherine, Fr. Joseph Linh T. Nguyen, pastor of St. Mark’s Church in Dorchester, arrived with several of his parishioners to move the Rosary Manor chapel to its new home in the basement of St. Mark’s church. There is a very large and long-standing Vietnamese community connected to the church, as well as a newly-arrived Irish community, many of whom still speak Gaelic. They have four masses every Sunday, and many standing-room only.

May 25, 2020

Dominican Sister of Adrian Sharon Spanbauer, OP, Appointed Mission Prioress of Local Mission Chapter

Sister Sharon Spanbauer, OP, Mission Prioress-Elect for Holy Rosary Mission Chapter, in her clinic at Siena Heights University.

May 7, 2020, Adrian, Michigan – Sister Sharon Spanbauer, OP, a nurse practitioner who served retired Sisters at the Adrian Dominican Congregation’s Dominican Life center (DLC) from 2001 to 2014, has been appointed Mission Prioress to work with the Sisters in the Holy Rosary Mission Chapter. Sister Patricia Siemen, OP, Prioress of the Congregation, made the announcement May 4, 2020.

Sister Sharon will begin a four-year term on July 1, 2020, and will share collaborative leadership with Sister Patricia Dulka, OP, Chapter Prioress of Holy Rosary Mission Chapter. She succeeds Sister Joanne Peters, OP, who on June 30, 2020, completes her three-year term as Co-Chapter Prioress. The Holy Rosary Mission Chapter is comprised of retired Sisters residing at the DLC.

May 25, 2020

Dominican Sisters of Adrian: ‘St. Rose Dominican Hospitals and Local Community Strengthen Bonds during COVID-19 Crisis’

A sign in front of the Siena Campus of St. Rose Dominican Hospitals pays tribute to hospital employees during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Similar signs were placed in front of all three campuses of St. Rose Dominican Hospital.

May 12, 2020, Henderson, Nevada – The signs in front of all three campuses of Dignity Health-St. Rose Dominican Hospitals in Henderson and Las Vegas, Nevada, say it all: “Heroes work here.” The signs pay tribute to the staff members of the three campuses, who, like health care workers throughout the world, are risking their own lives to heal patients with the COVID-19 virus. The hospital buildings are also lit in blue to recognize the efforts of their partners, the first responders who bring patients to the hospitals.

As of May 8, 2020, Clark County, Nevada – which includes Henderson and Las Vegas – reported 4,616 cases of COVID-19 and 253 deaths, according to the Southern Nevada Health District. Patients with the virus are treated at the Siena and San Martín campuses of St. Rose Dominican Hospitals. The original facility, St. Rose de Lima Campus, has only 10 beds and has not treated patients with the virus.

May 12, 2020

Dominican Sisters of Hope Buy Lunch for Healthcare Workers

Dominican Sisters of Hope Anne Marie Bucher, OP and Margaret Anderson, OP deliver pizzas and thank you cards to the nursing home and rehab facility at The Wartburg on Thursday, April 30.

“The Dominican Sisters of Hope can’t visit with their members in senior living/nursing facilities, so they’re doing the next best thing: buying lunch for the healthcare workers who are tirelessly caring for them. This week, the Dominican Sisters of Hope bought for the employees at the Wartburg in Mount Vernon, NY and Brandywine at Wall Senior Living in Wall, NJ. Both senior care facilities are home to a number of Dominican Sisters of Hope.” Read article

April 20, 2020

Adrian Dominican Sisters and Co-workers Sew Masks for Use at Dominican Life Center

April 6, 2020, Adrian, Michigan – In these days of the COVID-19 pandemic, protective equipment for healthcare workers is in high demand and in short supply. But at the Dominican Life Center (DLC) – the residence of retired Adrian Dominican Sisters –Nursing Co-workers are getting a supply of masks, thanks to the efforts of Sisters and Co-workers.

“The truth of the matter is, we can’t even get [the masks] from other sources,” said Lonnie Kison, Nurse Manager at the DLC. “There are other places that have a greater need than us.” Yet, she said, the masks are crucial for the protection of nurses and nurse’s aides who work with the Sisters.