Dominican Sisters Grand Rapids

06/06/2026

The Grand Rapids Dominican Sisters have a vision and master plan for healing and restoring balance of ecological communities on Marywood Campus in the Michigan Oaks neighborhood of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Seeking land steward and gardening volunteers to join efforts.

Sister Kathi Sleziak, OP, emphasized, “It is crucial that we listen to what the Earth is telling us,” underscoring the Dominican Sisters’ vision for healing and restoring the ecological communities on the Marywood Campus.

Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids employees Mike Mora (Director of Facilities & Operations), Ian Todd (Land Manager), and Rebecca Marquardt (Landscape Architect), are members of the Team that supports the Mission of the Marywood Campus Land. Earlier this week they gave a detailed update on the landscape activities that are near completion, ongoing, scheduled for this summer and fall, and extending into 2027.

Read more: https://www.grdominicans.org/master-landscape-plan-healing-restoring-ecological-balance-at-marywood/

06/04/2026

What a day at the Dominican Derby! 🏇🎉

Fourteen teams, an energetic parade, and plenty of friendly competition made for an unforgettable event. From the walk from Marywood to the excitement on the course at Aquinata Hall, there were smiles everywhere.

📸 Keep an eye on our page—more photos from today's Dominican Derby are coming soon!

06/03/2026

A close friend and colleague of Pat McCormick SL, Carol Gilbert OP ...

06/02/2026

06/01/2026

🎈☀️Happy June Birthday Sisters! ☀️🎈
Celebrating this month (from top left) are:
Sister Marie Rachael Guevara OP
Sister Constance Fifelski OP
Sister Rosemary O'Donnell OP
Sister Linda Thiel OP
Sister Mario Pavoni OP
Sister Marie Carla Moeggenborg OP
Sister Ann Walters OP
Sister June Martin OP

05/30/2026

We Hold These Truths to be Self-Evident…

As we mark the 250th anniversary of the United States and the feast of St. Catherine of Siena, we begin this first issue of Silent Voices, Big Truths in a spirit of reflection. We are all immigrants in some way, and we offer this project as part of a broader 250th Anniversary initiative—inviting reflection on key national moments through the lens of Dominican values, especially Veritas, truth rooted in lived experience, and asking what that calls us to today.

Silent Voices, Big Truths shares brief, at times anonymous, reflections from immigrant experiences in our communities, letting lived truth speak for itself. In this first issue, we turn to a painful reality: individuals who have died in custody or been killed in encounters with ICE since September 2025. In remembering them, we are invited into grief, accountability, and a deeper commitment to truth, dignity, and solidarity.

Read more: https://www.grdominicans.org/silent-voices-big-truths-living-and-dying-in-detention/

05/25/2026

The earth is too small a star and we too brief a visitor upon it, for anything to matter more than the struggle for peace.” ~ Coleman McCarthy, writer

On this Memorial Day, we honor and mourn the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.

The Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War — the grave markers in every cemetery remind us of the men and women caught up in or committed to "the struggle for peace".

This Memorial Day, around the world political unrest, bloodshed, starvation, and persecution the words of writer Coleman McCarthy hold extra weight as we honor and mourn the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.
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05/18/2026

Dominican Sister of Grand Rapids Carol Gilbert, OP, we appreciate your commitment to peace and nuclear disarmament.

"We see the NPT unraveling and a proliferation crisis brewing," Gilbert said. "All nuclear-armed states are modernizing their arsenals with new delivery systems and doctrines that lower the threshold for use. The moral authority of the treaty depends upon the credibility of the disarmament commitment. That credibility is now in crisis."

More than a dozen sister congregations signed onto a public statement to "reaffirm the spirit" of the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty as an "urgent and binding commitment."

05/16/2026

A Blessing For You 🙏

Look about you!
See God’s gift of creation
as Earth opens wide her arms.

Look above you!
See the billowing clouds
and brilliant blue of the sky
showering and shining
their wonder upon you.

Look around you!
See the love of Christ
In the faces of those before you.

Enjoy these gifts!
Delight in God
as God delights in you.

~ Sister Megan McElroy, OP

Receive Daily Blessings from the Dominican Sisters Grand Rapids: https://www.grdominicans.org/a-blessing-for-you/
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