Meet Our 2025 Jubilarians

Friends and family are invited to join us in a Jubilee Eucharistic Celebration at 2 pm on Saturday, July 26, 2025. Mass with a reception to follow will be held in the Gathering Space.

Register here

Jubilee—a wonderful celebration of answering God’s call and entering into vowed religious life, and marked at milestone years. The word vocation comes from the Latin word vocare, which means to call. Being a Sister is a way of life, pursued to live out a baptismal call to be Christ’s hands and feet in the world. Regardless of age, our Sisters are always in ministry in the sense that they always welcome opportunities to live the Gospel in service to others.

Meet Our 2025 Jubilarians

60 Years
Sr. Patricia Ottoboni, OP

Ring Motto
“…consecrated in Truth”

Reflecting Back:
“Today, I find myself living in a world that I could not have imagined sixty years ago. The ring motto I chose was ‘…consecrated in Truth.’ (John 17:19) I prayed that Jesus’ consecration would allow my consecration to be one of living a life in Christ’s presence with my Sisters, and bringing Christ to the people I served as an educator and then as a therapist. I then came full circle as a Catholic school counselor until recent retirement.

Our loving God sustains me in my personal and communal prayer life as well as the support of my religious community, my family, and my friends. Hikes to the mountain tops at Tahoe, travel with students and friends, and a day at an art museum or the SF Ballet help, too.

I treasure my life as a San Rafael Dominican and celebrate all that we have been and done as our life and mission have evolved in dramatically different ways. It is both exciting and disconcerting to be journeying together into the next phase of religious life, with its joys and challenges.

Now my energies are focused on praying to the Spirit for emotional energy and personal openness so that I may bear witness to Gospel values that bring hope and faith to a deeply troubled world.”

Ministry:

• St. Anne School (Teacher)
• St. Vincent Elementary School (Teacher)
• St. Mary’s High School (Teacher)
• St. Rose Academy (Teacher)
• Justin-Siena High School (Teacher, Counselor)
• Catholic Charities, Napa (MFCC Therapist)
• Napa Valley Unified School District (Teacher Adult Education)
• Napa State Hospital (Director of Adult Education Program)
• Marriage Family Child Counselor (private practice in Napa)
• Director of Catholic Charities psychology clinic in Eureka, CA
• St. Peter’s Church, Cloverdale (Religious Education)
• Oakland Diocese Director of Catholic Charities Counseling Services
• St. Raphael’s School (Counselor)
• St. Anselm’s School (Teacher, Counselor)

50 Years
Sr. Patricia Riley, OP

Ring Motto
Alive for God

Reflecting Back:
I chose “Alive for Gad” because it summed up my reason and purpose for living: both why I am and whose I am. It comes from Romans 6:11:
You must see yourself as being dead to sin
But alive for God in Christ Jesus.

It was 1971 when the Vocation Director asked Sr. Patty Riley why she wished to enter. She remembers replying a bit hesitantly, “To serve.” To which Sr. Imelda responded, “Then what about your soul?” At first, Sr. Patty thought she had given the wrong answer, but after much reflection, she believes Sr. Imelda was referring to the contemplative side of Dominican life. It was six months later when Sr. Patty was reading: Seven Story Mountain and Dracula that the concept became clear.

“My fifty years in religious life has afforded me a life centered in God where I have had opportunities to serve many: children, parents, men, women, the unborn, the sick, the dying, delinquent teens, my own sisters—all while living in community with sisters who desire the same life. It has always been a relational ministry patterned on Jesus’ own, for which I am grateful.”

I am also especially grateful for the freedom to receive schooling and training that allowed me to move from teacher to ultrasound tech to chaplain to spiritual director throughout my ministry.

Over the years, my life has been enriched by the opportunities to live with sisters from other communities were enriching for me. The times I went apart for retreat helped me grow in knowing my soul and the God who is present there. And thus, the seed of the Word sown in me has grown through much transition.

Over the past ten years, I am glad that my “short burst” sort of energy has been accepted and appreciated, while growing fatigue has taken its toll on my stamina. It is an honor to be able to celebrate this jubilee – this journey of grace upon grace. I can never forget all those with whom I have journeyed and those with whom I journey now. I treasure being alive for God.”

Ministry:

• St. Michael’s School (Teacher)
• St. Anne School (Teacher)
• San Joaquin Middle School (Teacher)
• San Domenico School (Campus Ministry)
• Marin Catholic High School (Teacher, Retreat Coordinator, Tutor)
• St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center (Sonographer)
• Los Olivos Women’s Medical Center (Diagnostic Medical Sonographer)
• St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center (Chaplin)
• Our Lady of Lourdes Convent (Administrative Assistant)
• Juvenile Justice Center SF (Volunteer visitor)
• Marin County (Spiritual Director)