Sister Dolorita Martinez, OP
Jubilarian 2026 – 70 Years a Sister
Prayer Ministry
Pray for immigration reform and undocumented women.
70th Jubilee Reflection
“Act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with your God.” ~ Micah 8:6
The art of weaving has become a meaningful metaphor for my life as I celebrate 70 years as a Grand Rapids Dominican Sister. The colorful threads of family, ministry, culture, and relationships have formed the tapestry of my journey.
Looking back: my heart is filled with gratitude. God’s loving mercy and steady presence have guided me from the beginning. I am thankful for my faith‑filled family, whose love and prayers supported my vocation, and for my Hispanic roots and the mountain village of my childhood.
In 1955, I left New Mexico for Michigan. That train ride began an adventure of answering God’s call. My path unfolded in unexpected ways as ministry opportunities and education broadened my world. Being bilingual, along with my early spiritual formation, prepared me to serve others with compassion and joy.
I am most grateful to my Dominican community who provided education and experiences that equipped me for ministry. I enjoyed teaching junior high and high school and later moved into full‑time Hispanic pastoral ministry. I served communities in Grand Rapids and throughout the Pacific Northwest — Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska — as well as in Nebraska, Texas, and New Mexico. Teaching, leadership formation, preaching, Scripture sharing, and social justice advocacy became meaningful parts of my mission.
In every place, I met people with a deep hunger for God’s Word and a beautiful openness to sharing their faith. Together, we formed caring relationships and strong communities.
As I celebrate this Jubilee, I am deeply grateful for every blessing, challenge, and grace that has shaped my life. I trust the God who continues to weave my days with hope, love, and service.
With gratitude, I step into the future, ready for whatever new patterns God will weave.
Additional Thoughts
As I ponder in gratitude the many graces and blessings that have been showered upon me, I have come to discover God’s loving Mercy and an unfolding plan for my life.
I was born in a small mountain village in northern New Mexico, named Truchas. I am the youngest of nine children. I was born into a loving and religious family, and can now look back and see that my vocation was nurtured from the beginning within this family. My parents, Victor and Agueda, never dreamt I would choose religious life, and were as surprised as I was by my calling. After a year of college, at age 19, I joined the Grand Rapids Dominican Sisters. I am ever grateful for my Dominican vocation, my loving and supportive family and the privilege of sharing my life with my Dominican Sisters.
Read Sister Dolorita’s vocation story.
“My father felt it was important for women to be educated, and he wanted it for his daughters,” said Sr. Dolorita Martinez, OP.
“He would plant our farm in Truchas in the Santa Fe Mountains in the spring; then we would move to Peñasco where he worked in the copper mines. That is how my older sisters were able to go to school, and where we met Grand Rapids Dominicans. They not only educated children in Peñasco but children in the villages around it. The people are so very proud of their education – and we are grateful to the Dominican Sisters for coming to our home state to serve as teachers.
“I taught a total of six years in New Mexico,” said Sr. Dolorita. There, I taught Pueblo Indians (Ohkay Owingeh) in San Juan. It was a bilingual and bicultural community. I learned what it meant to be enculturaterd in somebody else’s culture. Little by little, I was invited into their homes to pray. I prayed what they prayed, in their language. I tried really hard to learn and speak their language; but my tongue did not always work well. At one point, they said, `We have a name for you’: Mountain Flower. It was because, from the Pueblo, we could see my birth home in the mountains. My heart was full.” Read more
