By: Chelsea Zhao
With prayers and gratitude for the community, Dominican sisters at the Sinsinawa Mound Center take precautions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Mound is currently closed to public. Programs, meetings, retreats and gatherings have been cancelled until June 15 in compliance with Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines.
According to Sister Georgia Acker, the Mound Prioress, despite being a large group, the Sinsinawa Mound sisters are considered a household or a family, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Sinsinawa Mound took several precautions during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as quarantine for 14 days the sisters returning back to the Mound from travel. The Sisters also wear masks except while dining, staying in their rooms and going outside. Social distance is also kept in the hallways, bookstores, and chapels.
Meals at the Mound are now separated in two shifts with two people at each table. In spite of the changes, Sister Mary Therese said the new setting allows people to get to know each other better. The quarantine also adds emotional fatigue to the seemingly repetitive routines.
“It feels like Groundhog Day,” Sister Mary Therese said in a Zoom interview. “Because you wake up and it’s there, COVID-19 is still an issue. Pandemic is still there. Some people say this is getting old”.
During this uncertain time, Sister Janet Welsh said she appreciates the Wednesday Memos, Bag lunches and the Dominican University’s initiative for sisters to send postcards to the community.
“There is always an upbeat or inspiring message from an administrator, staff, faculty member or an alum every week” Welsh said in an email reply. “Distance does not diminish our interest!”
Sister Janet Welsh also extends her prayers for the Dominican community, medical workers, COVID-19 victims and their family, and the nation.
“There is so much to pray for these days. We are blest to participate in daily mass, we pray together in the afternoon and have time for personal prayer too” Welsh said. “Our faith in a loving God gives us hope that we will get through this unprecedented time in history.
Let’s pray for one another”.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also disrupted personal plans. Sister Mary Therese had to cancel her visit to family cabin and miss a time to connect with her family.
“I haven’t been up there for years and now I am retired, and I can’t go. That’s hard” Sister Mary Therese said.
From the personal challenges, Sister Melissa relates to the increase of domestic violence and the stress of medical staff that are the results of the pandemic. She commented on the unity and care needed for all humanity.
“Their sufferings affect all of us” Sister Melissa said, “And also, we know, the world will never be the same, you young people, and people younger than you are, growing up in a world to which the greatest contestments have to be made. May we somehow find ourselves bonded as a world, not just a nation”.
Image credit to Amanda Zygarlicke