New Orleans, LA – The Dominican Sisters of Peace were blessed by the First Profession of Vows for Sr. Phuong Thuy Vu on December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

The ceremony was held in the Chapel at St. Mary’s Dominican High School, New Orleans, LA, which was founded by the Congregation in 1860. Sr. Phuong ministers as an assistant in the Guidance Department at the school.

Sr. Dorothy Trosclair, as delegate of the Prioress, received Sr. Phuong’s vows. Providing the music was the school’s Laudare Music Ministry, led by Lauren Bordelon with accompaniment by Kenny Lannes. Dominican Sisters of Peace Prioress, Pat Twohill, OP, and Formation Coordinator Pat Dual, OP, addressed attendees via video link Columbus, OH. Fr. John Restrepo, O.P., St. Martin de Porres Province, presided at Eucharist.

Sr. Phuong entered the Dominican Sisters of Peace as a candidate in 2016. She spent her candidacy at our House of Welcome in New Haven, CT, before attending the Collaborative Dominican Novitiate in St. Louis. 

A native of Vietnam, Phuong and her family immigrated to the United States with her parents and siblings in 1989. She is a naturalized citizen. She holds a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Phuong first encountered the congregation when Dominican Sister of Peace, Sr. Binh Nguyen, OP, spoke at Phuong’s Texas parish, Mother of Perpetual Help.

It wasn’t until my first retreat (with the Dominican Sisters) that I strongly encountered God,” Sr. Phuong says. “As I am more grateful for the many blessings that I have received in my life, I want to share God’s love with others.”

“Being a Sister,” Phuong continued, “I have learned to embrace God’s people more. I strongly believe God will continue to give me the grace I need to fulfill my calling.”

“We are inspired by Phuong’s faith, and the depth of her commitment to Dominican Life and Mission. Not even a pandemic could keep her from responding to God’s call!” said Sr. Pat Twohill, OP, Prioress of the Dominican Sisters of Peace. “She has caught the Dominican spirit, and deeply desires to embrace our Order’s preaching mission.”

Wendy S. Grubb, NCC, LPC, Director of Counseling/College Advisor at St. Mary’s Dominican High School and Sr. Phuong’s supervisor at the School, said Sr. Phuong has been an asset to the department during her two years there. “She is very professional, kind, helpful, and determined to complete every task perfectly. Sr. Phuong takes her job very seriously and we continue to grow together.  She is a role model for all as she lives the four pillars of Dominican life.”

Sr. Phuong will continue her ministry at St. Mary’s Dominican High School, as she also continues to discern her call to Dominican vowed life.

November 6, 2020, Henderson, NV – Sister Victoria Dalesandro, OP, received the 2020 “Croc a Mile in Our Shoes” Award recently from Susan G. Komen Nevada and Dignity Health Wellness Centers for her “continued superior service to breast cancer patients and the embodiment of the values and guiding principles of Dignity Health Wellness Centers.” These include compassion, inclusion, integrity, excellence, and collaboration.

Susan G. Komen Nevada is an affiliate of the national nonprofit organization, which “is dedicated to combating breast cancer on every front.”  

“I was so surprised,” Sister Vicki said. While she no longer works exclusively with breast cancer patients, she became involved about four years ago with Dignity Health St. Rose Dominican Hospitals’ Responsible Early Detection (RED) Rose Program. Begun in the early 2000s, the program provides detection, diagnosis, treatment, and, at times, financial assistance to uninsured, underinsured, and undocumented women facing breast cancer.

In her years of service in the RED Rose program, Sister Vicki said, she worked primarily with undocumented women, helping them to get the detection they needed through mammograms and biopsies provided for free through the hospital. “It has really saved a lot of people’s lives,” she said.

Through grants from organizations such as Susan G. Komen, RED Rose also assists the women with food, gasoline, and utility bills if they need the financial help. “Sometimes they can keep working but sometimes they can’t” during their breast cancer treatment, Sister Vicki explained. She gave the example of servers at the casinos in Las Vegas, who often can no longer carry the heavy trays because of their treatment. 

“The ladies I worked with mostly spoke Spanish and wanted to get the help that they needed,” Sister Vicki said. “Some were in Stage 4 when they got the diagnosis, which means they may not live long and will need ongoing treatment.

Sister Vicki also worked with women in a breast cancer support group at St. Rose. “You learn from other women and what they’re going through,” she said. “You learn from each person.” Group members included a woman who suffered with seven types of cancer, as well as a young mother who was going through liver cancer as well as breast cancer.

Sister Vicki also learned much about breast cancer the hard way: from experiencing it herself. Her first bout occurred at age 33, when she had a mastectomy but did not need chemo. 

The next time she was diagnosed with breast cancer, in 2011, she needed both chemo and radiation and after surgery at St. Rose Dominican received her treatment at a nearby cancer center. “There was a class for us before chemo and then another class on how to eat when you’re on chemo,” she said. “Your body can’t handle some things.”

But she found radiation even more difficult, partly because no classes were offered to prepare her for it. “They do the initial mapping and tattoo you,” marking the area that they’re going to radiate, she explained. “They can never radiate in that area again.” The radiation took away much of her energy, forcing her to work four days a week rather than five.

Now, Sister Vicki sees an advantage in having gone through breast cancer herself. “I always tell people I’m a survivor because they know I can understand what they might be going through as well as about chemo” and other treatments, she said.

Currently, Sister Vicki ministers at another outreach program offered by St. Rose Dominican Hospitals. She works with Senior Peer Counselors, who are volunteers, at least 50 years of age, who receive 51 hours of intensive training to prepare them to offer informal counseling to seniors suffering from a variety of challenges. “Often they’re lonely because their husband died, or they moved and can’t find friends,” Sister Vicki said. 

Her ministry involves training and coordinating the peer counselors with clients who need their help, as well as working with Sister Judy Nelson, OP, Ph.D., the clinical supervisor, and Sister Kathleen McGrail, OP, to offer the peer counselors regular supervision. “They’re not professionals, but they can work with people suffering from depression, anxiety, loneliness, at times financial stress” and other difficulties.  

Watch the video of the Croc a Mile in My Shoes award presentation.

To coin a well-worn phrase, it was a Dominican Sisters Conference Elected Leaders Annual Meeting like no other. Held entirely in the virtual space, the gathering saw Sisters and guests throwing air kisses, lighting candles, dancing and praying in the electronic “cloud” of a zoom call. While over 190 attendees were far flung around the world, the conference was lively, prayerful, and, despite being conducted through computer screens, intimate.

What made the meeting even more special was the presence of about 100 younger Dominicans who were invited to engage in conversation with elected leaders about the future of Dominican Life and Mission in the US.  The scriptural image of Visitation, the encounter between Mary and Elizabeth, provided a context. 

After Anne Lythgoe, OP (Peace) welcomed everyone to the virtual space, the meeting opened with prayer led by Diane Morgan, OP (Amityville). Pat Twohill, OP (Peace) set the stage for the meeting’s conversation on the future that would take place Thursday and Friday.

Thursday’s day-long session, facilitated by author and leadership development expert Patrick O’Neill, took Sisters and guests through a series of questions designed to deepen relationships among the “Marys and Elizabeths.” 

Kelly Biddle, OP, (Houston) described it like this: “We’ve all gotten used to new ways of praying and worshiping together…but this meeting, in terms of organizational complexity, has topped all that.”

“I especially enjoyed our many small group sharing circles,” said Lorraine Reaume, OP (Adrian). “It was a chance for everyone to be heard and have what was important to us shared with the whole.”

Thursday’s small group discussions were followed by six casual breakout sessions, where Sisters of all ages could enter separate Zoom rooms for conversation and sharing in virtual “happy hours.” 

“People were very happy to connect and to share, even in a virtual context,” comments Gina Scaringella, OP (Caldwell). “As a recent participant in the CDN, I … developed a deep sense of inter-congregational connection among sisters. This year’s DSC was an extension of that communal experience”

The final day of the meeting focused on the commitments that participants would make to a series of ideas intended to bring the movement toward the future forward. Those commitments were ritualized in a candlelight ceremony.

Mary-Han Nguyen, OP (Mission San Jose), saw these discussions as directional for all Dominican Women. “The future of the USA Dominican women is not only in the hands of the Marys or Elizabeths but in both, a big part of the collaboration,” she said. 

Friday afternoon’s Business Meeting featured reports from the Dominican Sisters International (DSI) Coordinator Sr. Margaret Mayce, OP (Amityville) in Rome, as well as DSI Continental Coordinator Gene Poore, OP (Peace), Reg McKillip, OP (Sinsinawa), North American Co-Promoter of Justice and Peace, and Dusty Farnan, OP (Adrian), NGO Representative at the United Nations.

Gloria Marie Jones, OP (Mission San Jose) Program Director of the Dominican Charism Initiative, and Terry Rickard, OP (Blauvelt), DSC Executive Committee, reported on the ongoing progress of creating online materials and structure which promotes Dominican Charism and Spirituality. The plan to financially sustain the Dominican Charism Initiative was affirmed by the members and they expressed deep appreciation to Sr. Gloria Marie. 

Anne Lythgoe, Maryann McMahon, OP (Racine), and Mary Ellen O’Grady, OP (Sinsinawa), of the Executive Committee presented a Road Map document focusing on steps to take over the next few years to strengthen the DSC. Its intention is to create stronger and clearer communication among DSC sisters, associates, and leaders, and to promote Dominican charism and mission. That document was overwhelmingly approved, along with the budget.

In closing, Sr. Mary Ellen expressed the groups’ thanks to members of the DSC Planning Committee, the OP Futuring Task Force, the DSC staff, facilitator Patrick O’Neill, and the technical team from the Dominican Sisters of Peace, who facilitated the meeting. She also recognized the DSC Executive Committee and those who presented at the meeting.

Corrinne Thompson, OPA (Sinsinawa) found the experience eye-opening. “I had an appreciation for how large the Dominican family really is and feel very blessed to be part of this family and looking forward to all it will become and its possibilities.”

Interim Executive Director Mary Ellen O’Grady said, “What caught my attention during the DSC Virtual Gathering was the participation, presence and engagement by the Sisters and Associates who gathered remotely across the continent and across the world,” she said. “I appreciated the creative and effective use of technology and the experience of our process facilitator and our technical team that helped move our process forward.”

Anne Lythgoe, OP expressed the feelings of everyone in thanking Sr. Mary Ellen for her on-going work on behalf of the DSC. 

The DSC Planning Committee includes Anne Lythgoe, OP (Peace), Rebecca Ann Gemma, OP (Springfield), Diane Morgan, OP (Amityville), Mary Ann McMahon, OP; Mary Ellen O’Grady, OP; MaDonna Thelen, OPA (Sinsinawa).

The DSC Executive Committee includes: Anne Lythgoe, OP (Peace), Maryann McMahon, OP (Racine), Pam Mitchell, OP (Sinsinawa), Terry Rickard, OP (Blauvelt), Corrine Saunders, OP (Adrian), new member Janice Brown, OP (Adrian) and outgoing member Carol Mayes, OP (Houston).

View “We are Family” video from DSC Meeting

Sister of St. Dominic of Amityville Dolores Christi Gartanutti’s house burned down on Monday, August 31.  It happened when she left to bring communion to her 90+ year-old friend. One hour later, her house exploded and burned to the ground. Her dog, Danny Boy, passed away in the explosion.  She is lucky to be alive.

Her friend, Erin Orjuela Radziewicz, has started a “Go Fund Me” page which, as of publication time has raised more than $24,000, to help rebuild a handicap-accessible home at the same location.  Funds will also go to furnish the new space as well as clear the land of debris.  The goal is to raise $150,000.   

It is touching that Erin is helping S. Dolores (Dee) rebuild her home, especially since Dee helped her find a home years ago.  Erin was one of the first people to live with S. Dee as part of a ministry Dee founded in 1974 called Noah’s Ark, a foster home in Richmond Hill, Queens.  In this ministry that spanned more than 20 years, S. Dee helped nearly 2,000 adolescents.  

“I had been homeless for three days before I met Dee,” recalled Erin. “In addition to her giving me a safe place to live and continue my education, she loved me into being.”

In 1997, Dee retired to Parksville to her cabin.  Although she is “retired,” she continues to work with adults in a detox center and to help children in the court system.  

“If we get even half of the support Dee has given to countless people over her lifespan we will have more than we need,” stated Erin. 

For more information, please visit the Go Fund Me Page at https://www.gofundme.com/f/resurrection-of-dee039s-cabin.