Sister Dominic Genevieve Slawuta, SSMI
1923 — 2010
Sister Dominic Slawuta died on March 30, 2011, at Mary Immaculate Hospital – Long Term Care in Mundare, AB, in her 88th year and 66th year in religious life.
Her life
Sister Dominic (Genevieve) Slawuta was born in a village near Ternopil, Ukraine, on October 26, 1923, the youngest daughter of Roman Slawuta and Theodosia (Bilozir). Her parents and the entire family of eight children, immigrated to Canada in 1927 and settled on a farm in Iron River, AB, located about 30 kilometers from Bonnyville.
Through the efforts of Sister Dominic’s father and another layman, Father Josaphat Tymochko, OSBM, celebrated the first Divine Liturgy in Iron River before Easter in 1932. This Divine Liturgy and subsequent church services were celebrated in the Slawuta home until August 1936, when the church building was completed. Sister Dominic’s oldest sibling, Mary (Kruk) had hand-crafted the tabernacle for the church.
The Slawuta family were not only steeped in their Christian faith, but loved their Ukrainian culture and the arts. They took the leading role in organizing a “Drama Society” at the parish, encouraging the youth to develop their talents and grow in appreciation of their heritage. No doubt, these influences were an important part of their daughter Genevieve’s religious and cultural formation.
Genevieve attended the elementary school in Iron River and high school at Sacred Heart Academy, Yorkton, SK, a day and residential school for young women, conducted by the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate.
Having experienced the call of Jesus, after her graduation at Sacred Heart Academy, Genevieve entered the Novitiate of the Sisters Servants in Mundare, AB, on September 8, 1945. Sister Dominic (Genevieve’s religious name) made first profession of vows on March 14, 1948, and final profession, August l5, 1954.
After the completion of her Novitiate, Sister Dominic attended Teachers’ College (Normal) in Hamilton, ON. After Teachers’ College, she taught grade three at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Toronto for two years. She then attended St. Michael’s College in Toronto, graduating with a B.A. degree. She studied French in Montreal during the summer months. In 1968 she received a M. A. (History) degree from the University of Ottawa, specializing in Canadian History.
A gifted and zealous educator, from 1953 to 1966, Sister Dominic taught history, English, French and religion at Mount Mary Academy in Ancaster, ON, a day and residential school for young women. She was the principal at Mount Mary from 1954 to 1966. From 1967 to 1970, she taught at Sacred Heart Academy in Yorkton, SK and was also the local superior. While in Yorkton, she also taught History at St. Joseph’s College – University Division. She returned to teach at Mount Mary in Ancaster in 1970, but had to terminate her teaching apostolate in 1972, because she had been elected General Councillor in 1968, and had to take up responsibilities at the Mother House in Rome.
Sister Dominic loved her teaching apostolate and loved her students. Her students were inspired by the witness of her wholehearted dedication and compassionate heart. An excerpt of a letter she sent to the participants of the 1984 Student Reunion held at Mount Mary in June testifies to the important formative influence she had in their lives.
With you in spirit as you hold your reunion, I shall be praising God with you and thanking Him for giving me the privilege of sharing a part of your life and enriching me by it.
God bestows life on every person and touches and moulds each according to His eternal plan. And it is precisely within this plan that God destines each person to be a living member of the Body of Christ, with a specific role and function. However, this plan of God can become truly effective only when and in so far as we respond and correspond with Him.
Living is a celebration of God. The best things of life are free – things like health, love, freedom and life itself. The pity is that we do not really take the time to enjoy them. We worry about the fact that we do not have enough of the things that are secondary – money, travel, fame. Yet we cannot enjoy things money can buy if we lose the things money cannot buy. The day that we become grateful for every single trifle in our life, our heart will be filled with deep contentment and with continual joy. The secret of being always happy is to be always grateful.
Living means to accept the present situation and yourself in that situation. It is only by recognizing and accepting them that things can be bettered. Living means acknowledging your talents and possibilities and accepting your limitations in health, education, character, while at the same time trying to overcome them. Living means saying “yes” to the lives of others and giving them the space and encouragement they need.
Life is meaningless unless you bring meaning to it!So, celebrate life! This world of ours with all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams is still a beautiful world. We have no other for the time being.
Sister Dominic loved her religious congregation and served it devotedly as local Superior and Provincial Councillor for the Canadian Sisters Servants (1959-1968); Formator of Junior Professed in the late 1970s, Novitiate Directress (1981-1982); General Councillor in Rome, Italy (1968-1974); Vice-General (1974-1980); General Secretary (1980-1986). As Councillor, she had the opportunity to visit the Sisters Servants in Brazil (1967) and Soviet Ukraine (1977, 1987). In 1976, 1978, and 1979 she visited the Sisters Servants in Yugoslavia to conduct on-going formation sessions, which they greatly valued.
Many today know Sister Dominic best as the postulator for the cause of canonization of the first Sister Servant, Josaphata Hordashevska, and Sister Tarsykia Matskiv, Martyr. Both were beatified by Pope John Paul II in Lviv, Ukraine on June 27, 2001. In 1984 she was appointed the vice-postulator for the cause of Sister Josaphata, and postulator in 1995.
Sister Dominic wrote extensively about Blessed Josaphata: Josaphata, a short biography (1985); a longer, documented biography, Prayer and Service, (1996); a biography in Italian, Una donna per gli altri, (1997); With All My Heart series of three booklets, based on Josaphata’s consecrated life and the charism of the Sisters Servants (2003, 2005); Encounters with Blessed Josaphata, (2007); The Journey of the Blessed Josaphata from Soviet Ukraine to Rome: The transfer of her mortal remains in 1982, (2010). She also gave talks about Sister Josaphata to various groups and was interviewed by the media.
An excerpt from an address given in Toronto in 2000 exemplifies Sister Dominic’s deep insights into the sanctity of Blessed Josaphata and her relevance to our lives in this century:
Josaphata was able to unite prayer and service into one act of love. Her spirituality could be defined as a deep love of God incarnated in dedicated service to the needs of her Sisters and her people.
Josaphata speaks to us today about radical Gospel living, of dedication to the Church and loving concern for the poor and marginalized. We cannot imitate her works; our times have different needs, but we can imitate her self-giving and tireless zeal to ennoble the hearts of the people.
There were no great phenomena or extraordinary events in her life, but what was extraordinary was how she related to God, leaving space for Him in all her being. Because she was totally His, God acted through her ministry.
Sister Dominica also translated many works from Ukrainian to English, the most notable being She Followed the Call: Blessed Tarsykia SSMI, Martyr, by Sister Lubomyra Nadych, SSMI, (2007); I Found the One Whom My Heart Loves, by Sister Julia Fliak, SSMI, (2008); and The Spiritual Heritage of Father Jeremiah Lomnytskyj, OSBM, by Sister Oresta Borshovska, SSMI (2009).
In order to fulfill her responsibilities on the General Curia and in the Office of Postulator to the best of her ability, Sister Dominic once again became a student. Having to reside in Rome and conduct “business” in Italian, she studied that language. She also took courses/ seminars; among them were the following: Prayer and Discernment, Formation, Canon Law, Religious Government, Mariology, Eastern Spirituality, canonization process, sainthood.
Sister Dominic returned to Canada in 2008 and was missioned to St. Joseph’s Home in Mundare, AB. She spent much of her time and energy researching and writing a biography of Sister Ambrosia Lenkewich, Superior of the Canadian Sisters Servants from their arrival from Ukraine in 1902 until 1926. She took on this challenge with her customary zeal, enthusiasm and endurance, sitting at her computer for hours, even when her health deteriorated and the pain level increased.
Sister Dominic was predeceased by her parents, sisters Catherine, Mary (Kruk), Helen (Zatylny) and their spouses and brothers Peter and Walter and his wife Mary Anne.
She is survived by her sister Anne (Machny), of Montreal, and her brother William and his wife Betty of Edmonton, AB and beloved nieces and nephews with their families.
