Federation of Saint Benedict

New Monastery - New Prioress

The Sisters of St. Benedict, St. Paul's Monastery, St. Paul's Minnesota elected Sister Lucia Schwickerath, O.S.B. prioress on Saturday, May 23, 2009. Sister Lucia is presently Director of Development for her community. Previously, she was a music teacher and has served as liturgist for the monastery.

In photo: Sister Carol Rennie (right), present Prioress, greets Sister Lucia Schwickerath, the Prioress-elect.

In February of this year, the sisters moved into a new monastery located on the same property as their former monastery. The Tubman Family Alliance will be using the former monastery to serve families in need. Affordable housing for families and for seniors are being built on another area of the property by CommonBond.

Saint Benedict's Monastery, Muroran, Hokkaido, Japan

On May 5, 2009, The Sisters of St. Benedict elected Sister Martha Ueda, prioress for a four year term. The election took place in the newly completed addition to the monastery which houses the community's chapel.

Sister Martha has been working in the finance office and with computer technology for the monastery.

Federation Chapter 2009: Monastic Witness: Gift, Challenge, Hope"

The 2009 Federation Chapter will be held at Saint Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph Minnesota, July 21-27, 2009.  The theme of the 23rd Chapter of the Federation of St. Benedict is “Monastic Witness: Gift, Challenge, Hope”.  Sister Shawn Carruth, a member of Mount St. Benedict Monastery, Crookston, Minnesota, will be the keynote speaker. She holds a BA degree in French from the College of St. Catherine, an MA in Theology from St. John’s University, and a PhD in New Testament from the Claremont Graduate University. She is currently Professor of Religion at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. In addition to teaching, Sister Shawn has served as President of the American Benedictine Academy and was a staff member in the Benedictine Prioresses’ Renewal Program in Rome from 1998-2007. She has given a number of presentations on biblical and monastic topics and many retreats for monastic communities of men and women. She has published essays and articles on monastic, biblical, and feminist topics that have appeared in volumes of essays as well as The Bible Today, Tjurnga, and The American Benedictine Review.

Sister Shawn reflects as follows on her sharing with the Federation Chapter: “We are heirs of a very long Christian monastic tradition. Embodied in those who responded to its call, it has been treasured by those who lived by its inspiration; it has also given witness to the Church and to civilization in many places and times. In each of those times and places monastic men and women met many and sundry challenges and so do we in our place and time. We honor the gift we have received from the monastic men and women who have gone before by our truthful discernment of our own challenges and by our faithfulness to the gift we have been given. Thereby, as we have taken hope in the constancy of others, we desire to be signs of hope in our day.

To discern the character and shape of our own witness, we will take time in these sessions to reflect especially on some of our women forebears as we encounter them in Scripture and the earliest shaping of monastic life for women. We will ask how they were and how we can and will be witnesses to the eschatological vision of Christianity in a contemplative way of life that is our gift for the Church. We will ask about how the patterns and practices of monastic life to which they gave shape and meaning have meaning for us and our contemporaries as we face the challenges of civilization in our time. With consideration of the formative aspects of the civilization of our own time and place, we will ask how the sensate aspects of the monastery itself are formative for the distinctive character of our monastic witness. And, in an era in which our very humanity seems at risk, we will ask what wisdom we have received from the tradition for the discernment of humanity and the hope of human flourishing”.

The 2009 Chapter will elect a new president and two council members for a six-year term, 2009-2015.  Federation Council members, Sister Maureen O’Larey, St. Placid Priory, Lacey, Washington and Sister Agatha Muggli, Annunciation Monastery, Bismarck, North Dakota as well as Chapter Delegate, Sister Linda Soler, St. Paul’s Monastery, St. Paul, Minnesota are coordinating the election process.  Sister Maria Tasto, Monastery Immaculate Conception, Ferdinand, Indiana will be the facilitator for the election process.  Sister Michaela Hedican, the present president, is completing her six-year term and is ineligible for another term since she was elected prioress by her community.  Sister Mary Benedict Pratt, Prioress, Saint Martin Monastery, Nassau, Bahamas is completing her second six-year term as a council member and is ineligible for another term.  Sister Nancy Bauer, Prioress, Saint Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph, Minnesota is completing her first six-year term as a council member and is eligible for re-election.

Sister Jeanne Marie Vanderlinde and Sister Jeanne Marie Lust serve as the on site coordinators for the Federation Chapter.  Sister Barbara Kort will serve as the recording secretary for the Chapter. All of theses sisters are from Saint Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph, Minnesota.

Members of the 2009 Federation Chapter

Saint Benedict's Monastery, MN

Sister Nancy Baucer, Prioress/Councilor
Sister Ephrem Hollermann
Sister Mary Jane Berger

St. Scholastica Monastery

Sister Lois Eckes, Prioress
Sister Mary Catherine Shambour
Sister Mary Rochefort
Alternate: Sister Mary Christa Kroening

Saint Bede Monastery

Sister Michaela Hedican, Prioress/President
Sister Judith Kramer
Sister Ruth Feeney
Sister Karen Streveler, Secretary/Treasurer

Saint Benedict Monastery, Japan

Prioress
Sister Maria Beda Oka
Sister Teresia Saito
Alternate: Sister Martha Ueda

St. Paul's Monastery

Prioress
Sister Marie Fujan
Sister Linda Soler
Alternate: Sister Mary White

Saint Benedict Monastery, Taiwan

Sister Austin Chang, Prioress
Sister Luca Chin
Sister Emmanuel Hsiang

St. Placid Priory

Sister Maureen O'Larey, Prioress/Councilor
Sister Angela Hoffman
Sister Monika Ellis

Saint Martin Monastery

Sister Mary Benedict Pratt, Prioress/Councilor
Sister Cecelia Albury
Sister Jacinta Neely

Saint Mary Monastery

Sister Phyllis McMurray, Prioress
Sister Ruth Ksycki
Sister Susan Hutchens

Mount Benedict Monastery

Sister Danile Knight, Prioress
Sister Iris Beckwith
Sister Mary Zenzen

Annunciation Monastery

Sister Nancy Miller, Prioress
Sister JoAnn Krebsbach
Sister Kathleen Atkinson
Sister Agatha Muggli, Councilor

Monasterio Santa Escolastica

Sister Carmen Dávila, Prioress
Sister Myriam Pacheco
Sister Mary Ruth Santana

Conference of Benedictine Prioresses

Prioresses of the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, met at Sacred Heart Monastery, Cullman, Alabama January 29 - February 4, 2009. Along with the regular business meeting the prioresses spent time in retreat. Sister Irene Nowell, O.S.B., Mount St. Scholastica, Atchison, Kansas, led the retreat entitled, "The Goal of Wisdom is a Good Life."

Prioresses attending the Conference (L to R):
Sister Mary Benedict Pratt - Saint Martin Monastery, Nassau, Bahamas; Sister Danile Knight - Mount Benedict Monastery, Ogden, Utah; Sister Nancy Bauer - Saint Benedict Monastery, St. Joseph, Minnesota; Sister Carmen Dávila - Santa Escolastica Monasterio, Humacao, Puerto Rico; Sister Michaela Hedican - Saint Bede Monastery, Eau Claire, Wisconsin; Sister Phyllis McMurray - St. Mary Monastery, Rock Island, Illinois; Sister Nancy Miller - Annunciation Monastery, Bismarck, North Dakota, Sister Maureen O'Larey, St. Placid Priory, Lacey, Washington.

Visitation

The Federation of St. Benedict conducted a canonical visitation at St. Mary Monastery, February 16 - 22, 2009. The community focus for the visitation was "Contemplative Dialogue."

(L to R):
Sister Nancy Bauer, Visitator - Saint Benedict's Monastery, St. Joseph, Minnesota; Sister Michaela Hedican, President of the Federation of St. Benedict; Sister Phyllis McMurray - St. Mary's Monastery; Sister Jean Maher, Visitator - St. Scholastica Monastery, Duluth, Minnesota; Sister Diane Cook, Visitator - Mount St. Benedict Monastery, Erie, Pennsylvania; Sister Elizabeth Theis, Secretary - Saint Benedict Monastery, St. Joseph, Minnesota.