50 + 70 = Celebration!

In July the Dominican Sisters will be celebrating the anniversaries all of our sisters who professed their vows 25, 40, 50, 60, 70, and 80 years ago. We call these celebrations Jubilees. On Sunday the 15th, Sister Anne Bertain, OP’s family threw a grand celebration for her on the day of her 70th birthday – which happily falls on her 50th Jubilee.

The celebration was held in Napa, where Sister Anne grew up. In spite of the rain, the hall at St. John’s was full. Many of the sisters attended, as did friends, family, students (who are now adults), parishioners that work and pray with Sister at St. Dominic’s in San Francisco, and the Dominican Friars that Sister Anne has know for so many years.

Indeed it was a tribute to her love of family, her faithfulness to community, her loyaty to friends, her service to the poor, her fidelity to prayer, and her steadfastness to Dominican life. I’ve been in religious life for fifteen years now, and I am still constantly inspired and encouraged by women like Sister Anne who have given their lives with
such generosity and joy. And I still say, “When I grow up,
I want to be like her . . . and her . . . and her . . .”