Her Story Sister Inspiration

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  Sr. Marie Carla Moeggenborg Jubilarian 2023 – 60 Years a Sister

  October 6, 2023

  As I reflect on 60 years of Dominican life, I am amazed how these six words have guided me… I was born in Bay City, the daughter of Carl and Agnes Moeggenborg. The family eventually moved to rural Shepherd. There we lived among aunts, uncles, and cousins. In due time, our family welcomed additional children […]

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  Sister Inspiration: Laurena Alflen OP

  August 13, 2021

  “It was contemplation and I gift it all to you.” ~Sr. Laurena Alflen Escape the heat of August with a visit to a cool and contemplative art gallery featuring the beautiful work of Artist Laurena Alflen OP. Sister Laurena, a Dominican Sister of Grand Rapids, is exhibiting her work through August 30 at Terryberry Gallery […]

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  “Somewhere in the West” — An Archives Story Map Project

  January 29, 2021

  The Archives Department is excited to share our Story Map entitled “Somewhere in the West: The Historical Geography of the Grand Rapids Dominican Sisters” focusing on our Michigan pioneer predecessors. Story Maps are produced through an online application that combines text and images, and can include maps and other elements, to tell stories in a […]

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  Sister Inspiration: Is this all there is?

  September 18, 2020

  At the age of 96, Sr. Verona Wangler shares this thought. At 19, she says she was “drafted” into vowed religious life by Dominican Sister Cecile Byrne. Sr. Cecile had observed the young girl since she had transferred to St. Joseph School, West Branch, for seventh grade, having begged her parents to go to Catholic […]

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  Saturday Story: As We Sing We Pray

  September 12, 2020

  The Choir that sings the words that uplift our spirits and carry our prayers and hearts to the winds in all directions has been quiet for many months now at Dominican Chapel at Marywood. How we miss the voices, the presence, of our full Choir and Assembly. The fingers of Music Director Joan Thomas, OP, […]

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  Sister Inspiration: Resist Hunger. Resist Illness. Resist Hate. Sow Care and Community.

  June 26, 2020

  This urban garden is on the east side of our home, the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House in Washington DC. I asked to do the gardening three years ago when we moved here, but this is the first year that I’ve been here every day. (As you know we have been speaking about the Treaty […]

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  Sister Inspiration: Chela Gonzalez, OP

  February 7, 2020

  My entire work life has been in ministry – and I always aspired to do ministry at the diocesan level. And because I have such a love for study and learning, I took courses, earned certificates, attended workshops, and pursued advanced degrees in theology, formation and spirituality — in order to better prepare myself for […]

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  Sister Inspiration: Quiet Activist Angelina Abeyta, OP

  January 31, 2020

  In the early 1980s, Sister Angelina Abeyta’s attention was on the turmoil in Central America. Grand Rapids Dominican Sister Angelina recalled: “A Sister of Charity Missionary shared first-hand experiences of the turmoil in the countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. She showed us graphic photos of mutilated bodies, the activity of death squads. It […]

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  Sister Inspiration: Francetta McCann, OP

  October 25, 2019

  Here I am, Lord is Sister Francetta McCann’s favorite hymn. For a time, in her younger years as she lay in her bed at Marywood contemplating ministry, this song woke her night after night. “That’s when I knew I was being called to work with people with addictions.” A nurse by training, care-taking has long […]

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  Sister Inspiration: Dolorita Martinez, OP

  October 11, 2019

  “When I was 19, after a year of college, I felt the call. At first, I responded to an invitation to “Come and See.” This type of event is typically a day or weekend hosted by a Congregation for young women who want more information about vowed life,” writes Dolorita Martinez, OP, describing her vocation […]