Monastery News

Sr. Michaela Hedican Installed as 16th Prioress in St. Joseph

Sister Michaela Hedican was installed as the 16th prioress of the Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict in St. Joseph on Sunday, June 5, at Sacred Heart Chapel. The rite of installation, with Sister Susan Hutchens President of the Federation of St. Benedict presiding, was conducted in a private service Sunday at 9:30 a.m. with the Sisters, her family and members of the Sisters' federation in attendance.  More than 500 people attended a public Eucharist celebrating the installation at 1:30 p.m., followed by a reception. Bishop John Kinney of the Diocese of St. Cloud presided. Retired Bishop Joseph Charron, CPPS, of the Diocese of Des Moines, Iowa, was the homilist.
 
Sister Michaela served as prioress of Saint Bede Monastery in Eau Claire, Wis., from 2008 until the community joined the Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict in August 2010. She was also sub-prioress of that community from 1988-1992 and president of the Federation of Saint Benedict, of which both communities were members, from 2003-2009.
 
Born in Virginia, Minn., in 1945, Sister Michaela entered Saint Bede Monastery in Eau Claire in 1962. A graduate of the College of Saint Scholastica in Duluth, Minn., she was a middle school teacher from 1966-1984. Sister Michaela has master's degrees in religious education from Seattle University and in theology with an emphasis on monastic studies from Saint John's University School of Theology in Collegeville, Minn.