Introduction
Twenty-three women from New Mexico entered the congregation during these last one hundred years; all have made a lasting impact on the character of this Dominican Congregation. The bravery and foresight of the leaders of the Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids, and the courage of the newly missioned Sisters to a different culture is admirable. Well over four hundred Dominican Sisters from our Congregation have served in this Land of Enchantment and changed lives for the better! Today, many New Mexicans attribute their success to The Grand Rapids Dominican Sisters.
In July, our Congregation gathered to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the Grand Rapids Dominican Sisters’ ministry to the peoples of New Mexico.
History
One hundred years ago, Mother Benedicta O’Rourke sent four young women to begin serving the people in this region of the United States at a small hospital and in public education.
These first four Sisters went to Dixon: Amata Baader, Theodosia Foster, Mechtilde Cordes and Ernesta Hogan. They responded with an adventurous spirit and trust in God.
The ministry began in Peñasco, New Mexico. The number of Sisters there grew quickly, and our ministries spread to Taos, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and many villages in between.
The Sisters lived, worked, and prayed with people in their indigenous tongue, serving the Pueblo, Navajo, and Spanish-speaking peoples of the region. Their presence, particularly in hospital ministry and public education, gave many people a chance to improve their quality of life and health.
In later years, Sisters continued in ministries of social work, social services, education and job training, and other programs to help meet the needs of underserved and economically disadvantaged people.
Thank you, God, for the foresight of our predecessors. Twenty-three women from New Mexico entered the congregation during these last one hundred years; all have made a lasting impact on the character of this Dominican Congregation.
Fiesta Time
On July 30, 2025, the Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids and friends, gathered at Chapel of the Word in Grand Rapids, Michigan to celebrate our 100-year presence in New Mexico.
Anniversaries, especially centennials, are best celebrated with friends, food, flair, and memories; with laughter, listening, and loving gratitude – all these good things and more surrounded us that evening.
On July 30, 2025, the Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids and friends, gathered at Chapel of the Word in Grand Rapids, Michigan to celebrate our 100-year presence in New Mexico.
Anniversaries, especially centennials, are best celebrated with friends, food, flair, and memories; with laughter, listening, and loving gratitude – all these good things and more surrounded us that evening.
Sister Dolorita Martinez, OP, opened the night with land acknowledgement: “The native peoples wisely stewarded their ancestral lands. We acknowledge and respect the first peoples of New Mexico. Long before the Dominicans arrived the land belonged to and was sacred to the Natives of New Mexico, including the Navajo Nation, Fort Sill Apache tribe, the Icaria Apache tribe, the Mescalero Apache tribe, and the nineteen pueblos that inhabited the land for thousands of years.”
One hundred years ago, at the invitation of Fr. Peter Kuppers, Mother Benedicta O’Rourke sent four women to begin serving the people in this region of the United States at a small hospital and in public education.
The Sisters responded with an adventurous spirit and trust in God.
The ministry began in Peñasco, New Mexico. The number of Sisters there grew quickly, and our ministries spread to Taos, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and many villages in between.
Sr. Orlanda Leyba, OP, who came to Grand Rapids from Peñasco in 1962 as a postulant, said: “Mother Benedicta O’Rourke made the decision for Dominican Sisters to go to New Mexico. “It was a new frontier. The first Dominicans arrived in 1925, and two years later the community was blessed with its first postulant. In all, twenty-three women from New Mexico joined the Congregation.”
“Our Sisters’ gifts were serving people with joy and accompanying them in their struggles and pains. The Sisters lived, worked, and prayed with people in their indigenous tongue, serving the Pueblo, Navajo, and Spanish-speaking peoples of the region. Their presence, particularly in hospital ministry and public education, gave many people a chance to improve their quality of life and health,” said Sr. Orlanda.
During the prayer service, musicians, Dominican Sisters Joan Thomas, Sandra Delgado, Mary Ann Barrett, and Lucia Zapata, accompanied Sr. Chela Gonzalez and all present in joyful and lively song.
Together we prayed in appreciation for the cultures we have encountered; for the people who befriended us; for the mutual faith we celebrated. We celebrate You, O God for the adventures and surprises.
Experiences Serving in New Mexico
Sisters who served in New Mexico were invited to share their experiences. Several spoke about arriving and falling in love with it: the mountains, the people, the music, the friendships. Several New Mexican Dominicans shared their experiences of their first meetings with Dominican Sisters, entering the Congregation in Grand Rapids, and then some ministering back in New Mexico.
“I fell in love with New Mexico right away as I was driving up the mountain. I knew I wanted to climb them and meet the people who lived there,” said Sr. Janet Brown, OP.
“I did not know Spanish, but I knew music. I learned to work with Spanish music. Guitar music was prevalent in their churches. Early on, I ended up teaching guitar to a class of fifty kids. My time in New Mexico was a wonderful experience. I loved it!”
Teaching Ministries Made Lasting Impact
Stories that were shared told of the great impact the Dominican Sisters made, especially in Northern New Mexico as the Sisters introduced the first educational school system to rural towns like Dixon and Peñasco.
“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.
Sr. Eileen Jaramillo, OP, recalled her early experiences with Dominican Sisters who were her teachers, and then their support from her earliest years at age 20 as a postulant in 1962.
“I had a passion for teaching, and they saw and supported me in becoming a teacher. I recently retired after 51 years teaching many grades of students. Middle school 7th and 8th graders were my absolute favorite. I taught in Michigan for 10 years and in New Mexico for more than 30 years.
