With Rigabera Menchú
A Get It Done Nun
St. Louis comes to the West Coast
Sister Marion Honored
Accompaniment and Solidarity
A Trip to Fort Benning
Graduation
Chapter Proceedings

A Get It Done Nun

Sisters Marion Irvine and Patricia Bruno are greeting Rigaberta Menchú, a Nobel Peace Prize award winner, at the annual dinner for the Center for Justice and Accountability in San Francisco, CA.  Rigaberta was awarded a special honor in recognition of her work in Guatemala for social justice and ethno-cultural reconciliation based on respect for the rights of indigenous people. Menchú was born into a poor Indian peasant family, and raised in the Quiche branch of the Mayan culture in Guatemala

A Get It Done Nun

Sister Marion Irvine was honored by a lovely tribute in the Sunday, May 6th, edition of the Marin Independent Journal. The writer calls her the "Get It Done Nun," and a "tireless crusader [who] fights for social justice, human rights."  If you would like to read this marvelous feature story, please click on this link. There are no pictures included on the IJ's website, but the pictures below are the ones from our archives that the newpaper used, with the exception of the last two.

Sister Marion when she was known as Sister Bonaventure.	Sister Marion running, with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.
Sister Marion as principal at Sacred Heart Elementary School.	Sister Marion tolling the bell for peace.
Sister Marion working on a Habitat for Humanity project.	ister Marion with Sister Imelda and Sister Alicia.

St. Louis comes to the West Coast

Since August 13, 2006, Sister Roselli Tria has been in St. Louis, MO, with 5 other Dominican novices at the Dominican Collaborative Novitiate. They have been living Dominican life - the four pillars: common life, common prayer, study and service - in a concentrated way. During March, all of the novices came to the West Coast on a Dominican field trip. The following are some photos from that trip. To learn more about the stages a new sister experiences in becoming a Dominican sister please go to the following link: How to Become a Sister.

The novices posing at the lookout at Twin Peaks, a special spot overlooking San Francisco.	The novices came to the administrative offices in San Rafael.
Learning about the different congregations' roots is always important. The novices' study was enhanced by a visit to the archives.	The sisters at Lourdes Convent enjoyed meeting Sister Roselli's companions.
The novices enjoyed a lovely lunch on the beautiful grounds at San Domenico School.	Sisters from a variety of congregations (Adrian, Mission San Jose, San Rafael and Sinsinawa) gathered to meet the novices at Hildegaard House.

Sister Marion Honored

The Marin County Human Rights Commission, at its 25th Year Celebration, selected Sister Marion Irvine as one of its Martin Luther King, Jr., Humanitarian Awards recipients. She was honored for her work of social justice "around issues of immigration, worker justice and affordable housing [which] has led to her involvement with Habitat for Humanity, Marin Interfaith Council, Marin Organizing Committee, Worker Justice Alliance, death penalty opposition groups, and immigration rights groups. Her passion is to provide equality and quality to the lives of those individuals in Marin County who are unable to participate fully in the blessings afforded to many who live here." Truly she breathes life into the Mission and Vision Statements of the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael.

Sister Marion is the second Dominican Sister to receive this award. In 1984 it was awarded to Sister Anne Dolan.

Sister Marion addressing the group upon receiving the award

Sister Marion with award

Accompaniment and Solidarity

Sisters Anne Dolan, Pat Farrell, Ann Providence Frasinello, and Patty Riley went to El Salvador as part of a SHARE delegation to accompany poor communities in El Salvador as they work for economic justice, democracy and sustainable development alternatives at the local and national levels. While there, they were able to attend the Mass commemorating the murder of the Four Churchwomen twenty-six years ago.

One of the women of the cooperative shares with Sister Anne Dolan her experience of how SHARE has benefitted her family and community.	This Salvadoran cooperative farms fish - tilapia. Sister Pat enjoyed being able to share in the tremendous economic hope and stability to this community.
Sister Ann Providence was delighted to have a moment with Father Jon Sobrino, SJ, at the University of Central America. The chapel commemorates the six Jesuits and their housekeeper and her daughter who were murdered in 1989.	Sister Patty and Father John Kemper (another one of the pilgrims)share a poignant moment as they look at the names of the murdered and disappeared children, women and men listed on the memorial wall - from the years of the war in El Salvador.

A Trip to Fort Benning

Sisters Pati Bruno and Pat Farrell travelled to Fort Benning, in Columbus, GA, to join others in a demonstration against the School of the Americas (SOA). This school is now known as WHINSEC. This school is a combat training school for Latin American soldiers, some of whom were responsible for the assassinations of Archbishop Oscar Romero, the 6 Jesuits, and the 4 church women, just to mention the most well known. Hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans have been tortured, raped, assassinated, “disappeared,” massacred, and forced into refugee by those trained at the WHINSEC.

Below are some photos from the weekend.

Sister Roselli Tria is with novices from the novitiate, and by Sisters Katie McGrail and Judy Rimby.	Colleen McDermott and Sister Roselli. Colleen's cross has the name of a deceased victim of the SOA.
Sisters Pat Farrell and Pati Bruno call out "Presente," as part of a litany of names during the memorial funeral procession.	Sisters Pat and Pati placing their crosses at the gate of Fort Benning.

Graduation
Sister Patty Riley graduated from the Clinical Pastoral Education Program (CPE) at St. Mary's Hospital, San Francisco on August 25, 2006. This is a demanding program for individuals who feel called to minister as chaplains, usually in hospital settings. Sister Patty looks forward to her new ministry as a chaplain at St. Mary's Hospital, Reno. The pictures below show her with her "classmates" and supervisor, and with some of the sisters who joined her at the graduation celebration.

Chapter Proceedings
General Chapters are an important part of the life of our congregation. We invite you to go to our Chapter page to learn more about it.

Sister Patricia Simpson, OP, Prioress General welcomes Father Carlos Azpiroz Costa, OP, Master General of the Dominican Order as he joins us at our Eucharistic celebration.

Endorsing the Earth Charter was one of our Acts of Chapter. Learn more about this by going to our Chapter Page.