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Meet the Sisters

The Sisters of Saint Benedict's Monastery value their personal relationships with family and friends. Links to short profiles written by the Sisters can be found on this page. Sisters are listed alphabetically by their first name. If you would like to contact a Sister, you may call 320-363-7100 or e-mail sisters@csbsju.edu.

For more profiles of our Sisters, click here to visit our jubilarian page with biographies of this year's jubilarians. 

• Ann (Virginia) Arceneau, OSB
  

  “You can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl.” Sister Ann’s farm roots are firmly established. To this day, when she goes to her brother’s place on weekends, one can find her outdoors mowing the lawn and helping her brother. As the second oldest of eight children, S. Ann always enjoyed outdoor work. She and her older brother helped their father with the farm work. Together they shocked grain, pitched hay, milked the cows and did all the farm chores.One day while they were in the field with a team of horses, a swarm of bees came at them. They both started to run away and left the horses stand. When their father saw this, they quickly learned never to leave hitched horses unattended.

  Living and working in the country during the Depression, S. Ann learned to live simply, to make do with what was available, to respect the land and all resources and to share them. They had a large garden, apple trees, hogs, cattle and chickens, so they seldom needed to shop for food. One of her favorite tasks was sausage making. It became a custom to do this with her cousins, the Webers, on the day after Thanksgiving.

  S. Ann is known for her common sense attitude toward life. While valuing work and prayer, she also knew the importance of leisure. Sundays were always kept holy. After going to church and enjoying a family dinner together, including the weekly dessert, all 10 piled into the car to visit relatives. Playing ball cemented the relationships.

  In ministry, S. Ann dedicated most of her life to elementary education as a teacher and principal. She continued to grow in appreciation of the values she learned on the farm and while in initial formation at the monastery. After retiring from education, S. Ann was the driver for St. Scholastica Convent for 15 year. She did this with great patience while marveling at the care shown by everyone. Currently, she helps in the kitchen and does housekeeping at the monastery.

  By Bernadette Weber, OSB

• Bernadette (Mary Ann) Weber, OSB
  

  “My family life was very much like the monastery,” Sister Bernadette says, “with common prayer and meals, emphasis on faith, loving attention to one another, service to others.” Is it surprising then that in this milieu there stirred in her heart, already in early childhood, a “call” to the monastery, a call heard over and over again as she delved into a rich life of one ministry after another? 

  Forty years spent in caring for those blessed with developmental disabilities perhaps accounts for the calm in her demeanor, the softness in her smile. Nothing was too much, even learning sign language to reach children with hearing problems. Her next step was to Saint Scholastica Convent, where in ministering to our older Sisters, often at their last moments, she found immeasurable grace.

  A favorite among favorites in ministries was working with volunteers in the Special Religious Education Program. In 2006, she took the opportunity to “indulge” her love working with people  again by directing monastery volunteers for the Development Office.  Nor do social issues escape her energies as a one-time coordinator, still a current member in St. Cloud Pax Christi. Her vital presence in the St. Cloud Diocese (including Director of Renew, Catholic Charities), prompted Bishop George Speltz to select her as the poster girl for billboards around the diocese.

  Though S. Bernadette can appear determined, almost driven to a task at hand, she is gifted with levelheadness and treasures fun moments like baking, cooking, gardening, reading, chatting around and clowning where she can be her best self.   

   

• Cecelia Prokosch, OSB
  

  When did I join and why did I join? Why did you join?

  Did it all start on that day in 1956? A senior at Saint Mary’s High School in Bird Island, Minn., I decided to skip school with classmate Doris VanderHagen and visit the College of Saint Benedict. We were allowed one school day off to visit colleges and we hadn’t taken advantage of that yet. Already registered at the College of Saint Catherine, I went to St. Joseph, Minn., with no intention of changing. In spite of that, something told me Saint Benedict’s was the place for me. And so in fall 1956 I was a first year student, living in F-13, Aurora Hall. I believe it was the warmth and the humanness of Sisters Luke Hoschette and Joanna Muggli in the college resident area which caught my heart.

  In the course of that first year I remember Sister Mary Patrick Murray, Dean of Students, querying me if I had ever considered entering religious life. That cinched it. In fall 1957, I entered Saint Benedict’s Monastery as a postulant and continued classes at the college. When receiving the habit (traditional dress of a Sister) as a novice in summer 1958, the name Sister Josita was assigned to me. We could suggest three choices; both my grandfathers’ names were Joseph. The novitiate year was spent studying the Rule of Saint Benedict, Scripture, Latin, etc. Following my first profession on July 11, 1959, fall found me back in college as a Junior Sister. My major was home economics education; I was granted a Bachelor of Science degree in June 1961. My fondest memory as a college student is the intellectual motivation given me by way of Sisters Incarnata Girgen and Enid Smith. To this day it motivates my love for learning.

  What do you appreciate most about being a member of the monastery? What has kept you here – what has sustained your monastic life?

  Living, praying, working and playing with so many generous, creative, talented, dedicated women seeking God while serving others and being enriched by them sustains me in this Benedictine monastic way of life. I appreciate it deeply.

  What type of work have you been doing as a Sister?

  Home economics was my field as a high school teacher: three years at Cathedral High School, St. Cloud; two at Pierz Memorial High School, Pierz; and one at Saint Boniface High School, Cold Spring, before it closed. Michigan State University granted me a master’s degree in institutional administration at graduation in 1969. Then came a stint as director of food service for the college and monastery—22 years! This was along with teaching food and nutrition courses in the Home and Community Service Department, sometimes part-time, for four years full-time. On the side, as they say, I served as Prefect/Faculty Resident for the college students.

  In 1991, Prioress Mary Reuter appointed me director of personnel/ministry for the monastic community. I remained on her Administrative Team until 1995 when a new prioress, Sister Ephrem Hollermann, came on the scene. I found myself in the role of subprioress and, of course, was on her Leadership Team until 2005. Now here I am, coordinator of hospitality for our monastic community. The Guest House, Reception Desk, invited guests, unexpected visitors, requested or casual tours and conversations, and more fall into my sphere of responsibility. Still serving on task teams and committees also keeps me in the heart of the community. I find all this wonderfully satisfying.

   

• Christopher (Mary) Weber, OSB
  

  Originally from Glasgow, Montana, Sister Christopher Weber attended the College of St. Benedict where she became acquainted with the Benedictine Sisters. She found them “admirable, caring women” who became strong role models for her. Between her freshman and sophomore years, S. Christopher decided she wanted to join the Benedictine community.
  
  S. Christopher spent most of her professional years in education—elementary and high school teaching and principleships. She earned an M.A. in school administration from Iowa State University in 1965 and attended the University of Maine from 1970-1972, earning an M.Ed. Certificate of Advanced Study in Counseling and Guidance. In the fall of 1972 she joined our Manchester, New Hampshire mission at St. Anselm College and was hired to teach in their Education Department. She remained a member of both the convent and the college faculty in Manchester for the next 36 years. S. Christopher “liked the experience of living in a smaller community of Sisters but still being able to be part of an academic community where I was stimulated by interaction with students, faculty and the monastic community at St. Anselm’s Abbey.”
  
  In her ministry, S. Christopher made placements for student-teaching in both public and parochial school systems. She “liked the idealism and enthusiasm of students who were preparing to teach in middle school and/or high school.” Her work involved her with administrators as well as classroom and special needs teachers. “ I value the many friendships that grew out of the long tenure of my association with so many of them.”
  
  S. Christopher is grateful that our community gave her the “flexibility and freedom to teach, learn and grow as part of the larger Benedictine family, namely the St. Anselm College community where I spent over half of my religious life.” She adds that she is “very proud of my community for its courage and persistence in seeking to find a contemporary mode for living out the monastic ideals of St. Benedict.”
   
  Written by Carol Berg, OSB

• Dorothy (Louise) Noll, OSB
  

  Thecla and Peter Noll were twice blessed on February 28, 1933, in the birth of their youngest children, Dorothy and Dolores. Twins was nothing unusual for Thecla. She herself had a twin sister, S. Ursulita. Her sisters, Sisters Christella and Servilia, were also twins. All were Benedictines.

  S. Dorothy said she really enjoyed growing up with a twin sister. They worked, played, sang and got into mischief together. One day in school Dolores was called to do her math at the blackboard. Dorothy got up and did it. Eventually the teacher caught on.

  Since they only lived four blocks from school, they went home for dinner. S. Dorothy said they ate fast and did the dishes. They didn’t want to do the dishes and miss out on playing ball. One day they decided to take a longer way home. After dinner they said they would be late for school if they did dishes. Their mother was wise to their tricks and they did their dishes.

  The feeling that there was something missing in her life, the desire for deeper union with God and gratitude for her life prompted Dorothy to become a Sister. She has never regretted it.  S. Dorothy is known for her gentle and compassionate spirit and happy disposition.  She liked all her ministries. Among them were serving as a nursing aide at St. Raphael’s and at Albany Nursing Home.  For the past 33 years S. Dorothy has graciously and faithfully worked in the monastery mailroom.

  by Bernadette Weber, OSB 

• Galen (Patricia) Martini, OSB
  

  From her home in St. Cloud, Minn., Patty Martini could hear the bells of St. Mary’s Cathedral where she sang in the choir under Sister Mary Helene Juettner and learned to love the rhythms and language of the liturgy. Poetry about Wisdom said what she couldn’t put into words yet: “I am the mother of fair love, of fear and of knowledge and of holy hope. In me is all grace of the way and the truth” (Sir 24:24-26). At St. Mary’s Grade School and Cathedral High School, Pat’s Benedictine teachers were sensitive to each student’s gifts, seeing in Pat a gift for poetry and encouraging her to write and publish. After entering the monastery, Sister Galen studied English, Latin and art at the College of Saint Benedict and became a teacher, inspiring her students to create, ask real questions and refuse easy answers.

  As S. Galen says, her “landscape is the inner world.” Writing poetry is one way to reach the depths of that world. She has published a book of poetry, The Heart’s Slow Race, and received both a Bush Foundation Fellowship and a Loft Mentor Award in recognition of her work.

  Another way to that inner landscape for S. Galen is Jungian psychology. With two master’s degrees and after years of rigorous study, by 1999 S. Galen was certified as a licensed psychologist and a Jungian psychoanalyst, one of only nine in Minnesota. Specializing in dreamwork and art therapy, she helps many people, especially those at midlife crossroads, do the brave inner work of transforming the self—work that also helps transform our world.

  by Mara Faulkner, OSB

• Hilda (Yvette) Keller, OSB
  

  Frances Keller was pregnant with her eighth child when she visited with Sister Yvette Bechtold to thank her for her excellent teaching of the Keller twin boys, and asked what she could do to repay her. S. Yvette's request was that she name the child she was carrying after her. And so it is that Sister Hilda was named Yvette.

  S. Hilda learned all about farming at her first teaching assignment at Pierz Memorial High School. Bernice Langer would come to school early and visit about life on their Lastrup farm. Sister Hilda remembers first being saddened by Bernice’s comment that their cows were dry – only to happily learn that it meant they would have calves!

  Sister Hilda chose to come to Saint Benedict’s Monastery because she wanted to teach; her own Benedictine education at Holy Angels and Saint Paul’s Grade Schools and Cathedral High School showed her it was a good life. Sisters DePaul Froncak and Clare (Clarion) Shadeg stand out in her memory.

  Sister Hilda taught English and Latin in Pierz. She recalls the students were excused from school to pick rocks. Though it was in secreto, she also learned that some had beer-making set ups under their beds!

  It was while teaching at Saint Boniface High School in Cold Spring in 1968 that Sister Hilda began having double vision, the beginnings of her Multiple Sclerosis. She also taught for 15 years at Cathedral High School and John XXIII.

  Sister Hilda’s greatest joy is music. She loved to sing with her sister Petra at the piano. Now at Saint Scholastica Convent, she sometimes bribes Sister Ellen Cotone with chocolates to come play the grand piano in the dining room. Sister Ellen likes to play and just hearing a melody hummed is enough for her to recall how to play it.

  Helen and Vern Prokosch always remember the time they picked up Sister Hilda and other Sisters walking from Cold Spring to the monastery one Easter Sunday morning.

  Sister Hilda is so grateful for contemplative living, for humor and for the employees and Sisters who work at Saint Scholastica Convent!

  by Cecelia Prokosch, OSB

• Janet (Elizabeth) Thielges, OSB
  

  Sister Janet always wanted to be a nun. The Notre Dame Sisters who taught her all through grade school may have planted the seed. And there was her fun-loving aunt, Sister Norita Dittberner, as well has her mother, “who esteemed religious life.” She firmly states: “I know I belong here—it’s the kind of life I resonate with. I appreciate it because of the peacefulness and serenity and the availability of resources to deepen my spiritual life and share it with others.”

  For more than 40 years, S. Janet was happily involved in elementary school teaching and administration. When Mother Henrita ssigned her to be a supervising elementary principal, she was delighted. But taking on this role in 1968 at St. Boniface Grade School in Cold Spring, she faced a huge challenge. St. Boniface High School had closed several weeks before school began. Along with administering the grade school, her task included working alongside departing high school staff and a new staff at Rocori High School.

  When a professor in a class she attended said, “The colleges are getting grants and I think the grade schools should try,” she embraced the idea, and she has been writing grant proposals ever since. Currently she works for the St. Cloud Hospital, thankfrul to be utilizing her administrative skills in the hospital’s Elder Network program.

  S. Janet is glad she entered at an early age because otherwise, “I might not be here. I feel that the ministries I was given always fit my abilities and inclinations.”

  Written by Sheila Rausch, OSB

• Joan Felling, OSB
  

  When did you join Saint Benedict's Monastery? Why did you join?

  When I was a senior in at St. Benedict's high school, a friend asked me if my future plans were to join the monastery. My answer was a definite "No!" But why did I cry all the way home that day? This may sound strange but I could only interpret the incident as a strong invitation from God to join the Sisters of Saint Benedict here in St. Joseph. I did. That was 1953. God acts in strange and mysterious ways, we know!

  What do you appreciate most about being a member of the monastery?

  The daily Liturgy of the Hours, praying together as a community, is very important in my life. Though I live in a small group, our prayer together is important to each of us, just as it is at the larger group in the monastery. It is my firm belief that this prayer together and the daily Eucharist are what have sustained me during good and difficult days in the monastic community.

  Another special blessing in my life has been the satisfying, challenging, enjoyable (most days!) work that has been mine. It seems it's always been reaching out to others. In my early years as a musician (and still am) a musician, I taught music to grades K-9. Many a boy and girl learned to play the piano under my private tutelage the first 22 years of my life as a Sister. Add to that era playing for liturgies at Church services.

  Fifteen years in school administration followed my career in music, another challenging but stimulating phase in my life. Since 1993, and specifically at the St. Cloud Hospital since 1995, chaplaincy beckoned to me. What a privilege it is to walk with individuals on their journeys, often one of suffering. I also appreciate offering spiritual direction to individuals.

  I must say, my life as a Benedictine Sister has been a full one, a good one.

• Johanna (Lucille) Becker, OSB
  

  When Lucille Becker left the grandeur of her dearly loved Colorado mountains for the lakes of Minnesota and entered Saint Benedict’s Monastery in 1949, could she possibly have visualized the wide stage on which she would play out her life? As a professional art teacher and potter, with other remarkably wide interests such as current social concerns, inter-faith dialogue, world religions and educational projects, she often found herself traveling abroad.

  One of her fondest recollections is of Spain with its music and dancing, its picturesque life. Southern India, traditional in its cults and its people, was a formative experience where she forged lasting friendships. Extended research in Japan with 14^th generation Karatsu potters honed her skills and led to her book, Karatsu Ware: A Tradition of Diversity (Kodansha Int’l., 1986). Her interest in things Japanese is immortalized in the wood burning Johanna Kiln, the largest in the U.S., at Saint John’s University, named by her student Richard Bresnahan. She also played a unique role in the development of The Saint John’s Bible as a member of the Committee on Illumination and Text.

  S. Johanna’s parents, a Denver Fire Chief and a Colorado congressional secretary, were significant in her life. In their wisdom, they felt no need to direct her, but always gave her full support and encouraged her independent thinking. They made special efforts not to spoil her. An only child, she grew up in a close, enriching community of cousins.

  S. Johanna found the “treasures” which first attracted her to the monastic way of life in 1948 in the richness of its active-contemplative mode.

  Written by Olivia Forster, OSB

• Joyce Willenbring, OSB
  

  If anyone is known by her big smile and friendliness in this community, it is Sister Joyce. She is definitely a “people person” who, she says, makes the best of where she’s at with her gift of adaptability. “It’s important to be part of life as it is,” she adds, and wherever S. Joyce is, that’s the stuff of her life.

  Children have always been special to her. Born in Pierz to Charles and Ann Willenbring, Joyce was the youngest of six siblings. “I took care of nieces and nephews,” she says. So naturally, she became a teacher. To begin with, she taught all elementary grades and served as principal at Little Falls, Richfield, Hutchinson and Pierz. Since she has a background in music, she carried her guitar with her wherever she went, which meant also entertaining adults in the Shared Vision Program and participating in KOINONIA. After receiving BA and MA degrees in elementary education and administration, S. Joyce took a course at Abbot Northwestern in Clinical Pastoral Education and went on to serve in pastoral ministry in Richfield.

  S. Joyce spent a month in Rome in 2002, which broadened her love for her Benedictine roots. In 2006, S. Joyce moved to the monastery, where she continues her outreach to people through programs with college students, committees and as receptionist and coordinator of transportation at Saint Scholastica Convent. She loves the prayer and liturgy of the monastery and finds many opportunities for celebration—that is, when she is not otherwise engaged in a friendly game of bridge!

  Written by Owen Lindblad, OSB

• Julie (Juliette) Schleper, OSB
  

  The desire to seek God and love of learning characterize the life of Sister Julie Schleper. These led her to use her creative talents in both study and teaching. She pursued an MA degree in Religious Studies with a focus in Scripture after obtaining an MA degree in elementary social studies. She has taught people of all ages from children to adults and many people refer to her as a “master teacher.”

  S. Julie began her teaching career as a fourth grader in a one-room school where she was asked to help the younger children whenever her own assignments were completed. Juliette was a quick learner and was delighted when asked to teach a class. Growing up three miles from Saint Benedict’s Monastery led her to a high school job with the Sisters in the monastery kitchen. She became aware of the Sisters’ happiness and sought entrance into the community.

  S. Julie loves to be at home or near home. She has spent her entire monastic life ministering in her home diocese of St. Cloud, including six years teaching at the St. Joseph Lab School, her home parish. At other times, she needed to “be on the road” and has made that her home as she worked for the St. Francis Christian Development Center, the St. Cloud Diocesan Office and as the Spirituality Center director at St. Benedict’s Monastery. Now, each day she leaves home in St. Augusta for a twenty-five minute trip to her office at Immaculate Conception Parish in Becker, where she is faith formation director for total community catechesis.

  Written by Jeanne Marie Lust, OSB

• Kathleen (Magdalene) Rademacher, OSB
  

  Five first cousins who were Benedictines inspired Sister Kathleen (Kathy) to become a Sister. Also, she says, “Having gone to Saint Benedict’s High School and dearly loving the Sisters who taught me helped prompt me to enter our community.”

  She served as a classroom teacher for 22 years before switching to religious education and parish ministry. Prepared with a master’s degree in religious education, S. Kathleen has spent 37 years as a faith formation director, 32 of them in St. Paul parishes. She is currently in her ninth year at Presentation BVM in Maplewood and, “health permitting,” hopes to continue fulfilling the Benedictine motto: Ora et Labora (prayer and work).

  S. Kathleen felt called to minister to those in poverty, both spiritual and physical. “Serving them has been a very strong call my entire religious life,” she says. One of our Oblates and a distant relative, Beth, affirms that “S. Kathy is a champion of those who have missed out. She has taken Jesus’ command to feed the hungry and clothe the naked as the normative way to live her life, and she takes every opportunity to invite the children, parents, parishioners and friends to do the same.” She added, “She may be small in stature and a quiet presence in your community, but she has grown into a mighty tall and outspoken woman of the Gospel among those she serves.”

  Vatican II was a “highlight” in S. Kathleen’s formation. She notes that Vatican II “seemed to direct the Church to move forward in the spirit of the Gospel, especially with its emphasis on inclusion, ecumenism and justice.” 
   

  Written by Carol Berg, OSB

• Kerry O'Reilly, OSB
  

  When did you join Saint Benedict’s Monastery? Why did you join?

  I came to the College of Saint Benedict as a student in 1964. My parents believed in education and made sure all of us went to college. Much to their surprise—and mine—I joined the monastery in 1966. I had little experience with religious women growing up, just enough to find them rather weird and awesome at the same time. However, coming to the College I met Sisters who were my professors, prefects and just friendly Sisters who were very welcoming.

  There still was a good deal of mystery, but I was drawn to them. First, to the sense of community that was part of our college experience in which the Sisters seem to be really welcoming, and then the same sense of community when I saw the Sisters either teaching or praying or walking together. A big draw for me was the prayer that marked everyday morning and evening. You could always count on the Sisters being there, and just sit and listen and be a part of it.

  What do you appreciate most about being a member of the monastery?

  My experience has been to be "on mission," where I have lived in small groups with a number of Sisters and served in the ministry that brought me to the area. I have come to know women well whom I can call Sister, who are dedicated and gifted. I appreciate this opportunity to know some of the Sisters. At the same time, I am happy to have our monastery where I can meet, greet and heat up talk with many more Sisters. I am very aware of what an exceptional group of women we are, and I am delighted to be part of it. Whether we are praying or working or making decisions about our life together, we count on each other and our experience to lead us to wisdom. And we have a healthy trust in the Spirit of Jesus.

  What has kept you here? What has sustained your monastic life?

  Continuing in the monastery, like any life commitment, has its moments of challenge and even painful growth. So what has sustained me? Well, lots of things.

  • Prayer

  • Trust in my Sisters

  • A willingness to keep working at it

  • Spiritual Direction

  • A sense of humor

  • Realizing I won't save the world

  • Directed Retreats

  • Ministries in which I believed

  • A willingness to be molded

  • Trust in Jesus the Christ

     

     

  What type of work have you been doing as a Sister?

  I have been most fortunate and continue to be. I am in my third "career" since joining the monastery. The first I call my "obedience career." When asked what I wanted to do, I said anything but teach—so, well, I began teaching for the next eight years followed by four years of high school administration. Not my first choice, but I received lots of experience, which has been a blessing since, plus an education that has added to my wisdom.

  My next career was my first choice when I entered, proving that with patience the first can be next! I wanted to be a missionary, and when we began a new mission in Recife, Brazil, I volunteered and was chosen to go. It was a life-altering experience of 15 years walking with the poor and learning from them, offering my faith and wisdom to that point in my life.

  That experience led to my third career, which I am engaged in now: working with Catholic parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, developing leadership for justice. After my experience in Brazil and now being connected to Catholic Charities who serve the poorest of the poor, our office strives to move the Catholic community into action in favor of justice for all—our Gospel call.

  I have a thought about a fourth career some years down the road, but will not disclose it until I see how the world develops!

• Lisa Rose, OSB
  

  July 11^th is the Feast of St. Benedict, when the Sisters annually renew their monastic profession. It is also S. Lisa’s birthday! So it is that she celebrates two major occasions on that day. Her favorite feast is October 24, the anniversary of the dedication of Sacred Heart Chapel, the sacred place where all the Sisters made their monastic profession. The chapel was a special place for her during her junior and senior years at the College of Saint Benedict. Attending Mass almost every day with the Sisters and getting to know them, especially Sister Nicolin, her Benedictine Friend, awakened her sense of vocation. After a weekend led by Sister Eunice Antony, vocation director, she knew she wanted to pursue monastic life. During a four-month internship, she lived with the Sisters at Red Lake, confirming her desire to enter the formation process.

  For the past 25 years, Sister Lisa has lived her monastic profession to the fullest. She loves the balance of work and prayer and the daily opportunity for individual prayer. She is always eager to learn new things and gives of her time and talent to build community. She loves to cook delicious and creative meals and work in the garden.

  Her ministry has focused on ministry to the elders at St. Raphael’s, Saint Scholastica, St. Benedict Senior Community and now at Assumption Nursing Home in Cold Spring. “I enjoy the balance of giving massages in the morning and ministry at Assumption Home in the afternoon. It helps me develop listening skills and compassion. Those who receive my massages are so grateful.” We are grateful for your faithful presence at the monastery, Sister Lisa!

  Written by Marlene Meierhofer, OSB

• Maria (Frances) Fix, OSB
  

  A story Sister Maria tells significantly speaks of her skill and delight as a teacher. A second grade boy who struggled in class told her he couldn’t read. S. Maria helped him with his reading skills, encouraging him to say to her several times a day, “I am a good reader.” S. Maria always responded, “I know you are.” At the close of the year that boy presented her with a colorbook picture of a boy pulling his red wagon full of books. Below it, he printed the caption, “I love to read.”

  Just as she loved teaching, S. Maria has found joy and personal satisfaction in other ministries. She feels blessed by the wisdom she gained from the older sisters while working at Saint Scholastica, particularly Sister Margretta Nathe. More recently, she hesitantly accepted the challenges of the database in the Volunteer Office, only to find it a successful, engaging challenge. S. Maria’s creative energies resulted in many lovely themed invitations, favors and decorations for volunteer recognition events. At the same time learning to juggle the multiple tasks of the mail room was eased by Sister Dorothy Noll’s gentle coaching. Diverse creative interests have led to a variety of craft activities, gardening and enjoying dance performances at the BAC.

  Before entering community, helping children learn to pray and prepare for First Communion was a spiritual landmark for Maria. The Oratory, built when S. Maria entered community, remains a special sacred space for her. Throughout these 25 years, S. Maria has found it life-giving to be a member of Schola, librarian at Saint Scholastica, and to enjoy special rituals and celebration days in living groups.

  Written by Patrice Reed, OSB

• Marie Brang, OSB
  

  How did you get to know the Benedictines?

  Actually, one might say I grew up with the Benedictine Sisters beginning at age 14 months. Yes, months! As they stood by my mother's bedside in her battle with the deadly influenza of 1919, they also hovered over me. My mother recovered; she lived to be 79, though she was never quite the same. My four-year-old brother Joseph, however, was taken from us in this epidemic. The presence of the Sisters at so early an age in my life may have been an initial influence but their joy and happiness I observed in elementary school and their orderly, holy life in our parish community inspired me. It all led me to enroll at Saint Benedict’s High School in August 1933, to begin my novitiate in June 1937 and on to perpetual monastic profession on July 11, 1941.

  Mine has been the privilege of teaching for many, many years, beginning with elementary school, in high school and college, and in adult education. Being a tutor for 18 years in the National Laubach Literacy Program stands out in my life as a ministry of joy. Above all, in this specialized teaching, I learned to accept, to respect deeply the person who came to me. As I cast a glance over my 68 years in this monastic community, one idea seems to have sustained me. Fundamentally, vocation is a call to relationship: with God, living according to the Rule of St. Benedict; with others, in our ministry of prayer, work and community living as we listen and respond to the needs of the Church and the world. I appreciate this becoming who I am, who I have always longed to be as something beyond my power alone, but with God and others.

• Mary David Olheiser, OSB
  

  I am Sister Mary David Olheiser. I joined Saint Benedict’s Monastery, after graduating from Saint Benedict’s Academy; Saint Joseph, Minnesota, in 1934. Having had outstanding Benedictine Sisters as teaching in grade school at Saint Joseph Parochial School, Dickinson, N.D., as well as in the Academy, I knew that I wanted to be a Sister teacher and living the Benedictine way of life. I enjoyed school and loved learning!

  After the years of Postulancy and novitiate, I made first profession in 1936. It was then that I was assigned to the ministry of teaching at Holy Rosary School in Tacoma, Wash. While serving in the Diocese of Seattle for 14 years, I had very satisfying experiences teaching several different grades as well as catechizing children in mining and mountain towns and at Cushman Indian Hospital. A major earthquake and the way years added heightened experiences and responsibilities for all teacher in Tacoma which deepened my appreciation of the support of my Sisters in the monastic community. I professed life vows in 1939.

  In 1950, I was recalled from Tacoma, Wash. To Saint Benedict’s Monastery to establish the elementary teacher education program, as well as to upgrade the secondary, at the College of Saint Benedict. This was a challenging venture which renewed my dreams and hopes for the profession of teaching as a ministry. I loved teaching and learning! After 24 years of college teaching and administration, a sabbatical semester at The Catholic University of America in Washington D.C., introduced me to a second career and ministry, that of canonical studies which, after the second Vatican Council, was open to lay men and women. In 1977 I earned my Church law degrees and have worked in the tribunal of the Diocese of Saint Cloud as Defender of the Bond, Judge of the First Instance Court and Judge of the Second Instance Court.

  Presently I am a juridical consultant and director of eremitic life in the Diocese of Saint Cloud. Love of God, the daily Eucharist and Liturgy of the Hours, together with the joyful witness of my Benedictine Sister companions sustains me in the monastic life

• Owen Lindblad, OSB
  

  Why did you become a Sister?

  In the late 1940s, I was “struck” by God’s power and presence as I spent my early teen years walking and reflecting along the beaches and forests of Puget Sound at Redondo Beach, Wash., where we lived. If God created such beauty, I reasoned, then I must get to know and love this God since this seemed to me, the purpose of existence. Over the next couple of years, we lived in Tacoma and my heart continued its quest: I pursued God but I know now that God was pursuing me!

  I came to Saint Benedict’s in 1950 and my parents moved back to Wisconsin at the same time. I became a novice in 1952 and a first professed Sister the next year. I taught grade school at various parishes for the next 30 years. During 18 of these years, I also served as organist and choir director.

  But my journey was only beginning. I still “rested in God” amid the beauty and wonder of nature. I wrote poetry and enjoyed companionship and adventure with many good Sister-friends on small missions. Eventually, I turned to writing—mostly of an historical nature such as newspaper and magazine articles, parish histories and family genealogies.

  This is still my “work” but my heart remains restless as I long for the fulfillment of all my desires in the overwhelming love of that “Hound of Heaven.” We catch many glimpses of each other. It is true that nature still “feeds” my restless soul but the silence and solitude of contemplative prayer now embraces me in moments of deep union and peace.

  My journey as a Benedictine Sister allows me the yin and the yang of activity and contemplation, a balance with which my heart is “at home.” These days, I am tipping a little more toward the yang which is “right on” as far as the journey is concerned. I am immensely grateful to God for the call, the journey and the destination.

• Patricia (Marilyn) Wallis, OSB
  

  The Benedictine Sisters who taught Sister Patricia Wallis at St. Ann’s in North Minneapolis were very good and capable teachers, but more than that, Sister Pat loved those nuns and they drew her to the monastery right here in St. Joseph, Minnesota. Sister Patricia said, "When I made my First Communion, I asked the Lord to make me a nun." Her prayers and the prayers of the community were answered. 

  Sister Patricia's favorite time in the monastery was when she was working with the Native American Indians. She loved the people, was young and energetic, and loved teaching and playing with the children. Red Lake, she muses, was and still is a wonderful place. She also enjoyed the summer she spent in the Bahamas teaching Elementary Language Arts to college students.

  Sister Patricia is known mostly for her many years in school administration. So when she was asked to work for the diocese, she was surprised. She enjoyed playing the organ for Mass at St. Benedict Center and at the Minnesota Correctional Facility. She also had a class at the men’s reformatory on Wednesday afternoons for those who wanted to learn more about the Gospels. She worked at Incarnation Parish in Minneapolis as a principal, religious education coordinator and in pastoral ministry.
  
  What she liked best was the gifting of herself to others. She grew up spiritually on what she calls "Lived Love." She has done this all of her life, no matter what job she did. She believes that each person has been given a unique gift that will help her or him carry out their God-given ministry. 
   

  Written by Marina Schlangen, OSB

• Phyllis (Dunstan) Plantenberg, OSB
  

  “I am sure glad I did not die as a baby!” This is a phrase that Sister Phyllis often quotes as she savors a meal. This attentiveness and delight is not only sparked by delectable foods, but also by stars, plants, bugs, birds, bees and all of creation. Discovery and delight have permeated her life, especially her 60 years of monastic profession. She often explains how the Benedictine vow of stability, along with humility, makes one concerned for the humus we stand on.

  Teaching biology for 13 years at St. Boniface High School, Cold Spring, Minn., followed by 34 years teaching biology at CSB/SJU, honed this interest in the “nature of things” and passion for sharing it. My first recollection of S. Phyllis was at a Community meeting. She spoke passionately— even fanatically— about saving the local environment long before “going green” was popular.

  A six-week sabbatical at Genesis Farm in Blairstown, N.J., in the early 1990s was significant in her transition into retirement from teaching. The Native American hands-on approach to being in tune with the earth led S. Phyllis to start Common Ground Garden here at Saint Benedict’s Monastery. This CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) garden has grown and matured under her leadership. S. Phyllis is also a cofounder of the St. Joseph Farmers’ Market.  For her 80^th birthday she started raising bees. One may be surprised that this “city girl” from St. Cloud developed such a rich regard for gardens, bees and growing things!

  True to her Benedictine roots of stability and simplicity, S. Phyllis still can be found gleaning the gardens after the harvest and working circles around many who are much younger. That passion and love of the earth gives her life. S. Phyllis, we are all glad you did not die as a baby!

  Written by Pat Ruether, OSB

• Roberta (Carol) Werner, OSB
  

  Sister Roberta was born in New Ulm, Minnesota, to Adeline (Manderfeld) and Lloyd C. Werner, inheriting a love for life, family, God and others. She attended Catholic schools in New Ulm; then the College of Saint Benedict, graduating in 1956 with a bachelor’s degree in music and minors in philosophy, education, sociology and English.

  Teaching in a public school after college graduation, she felt the need to explore the strong call to religious life before considering marriage. Sister Roberta entered Saint Benedict’s Monastery in September 1958. Her love for God and the desire to serve God’s people has kept her here.

  Sister Roberta taught music for 25 years, including 14 at the College of Saint Benedict as a member of the Music, Education and Integrative Studies Departments. She received her Master of Music degree from DePaul University, Chicago, and her PhD from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Her academic achievements earned her invitations to four National Honor Societies.

  While writing her doctoral dissertation, Sister Roberta became caregiver for her sick parents in New Ulm. After their deaths she chose to spend 10 years as assistant development director at New Ulm Area Catholic Schools, then returned to Saint Benedict’s Monastery as assistant Oblate director, where she enjoys making the spiritual journey with Oblates.

  Sister Roberta’s interests include playing the piano, singing, writing prose and poetry, reading, travel, museums and enjoying nature. Those who know her best have described her as deeply spiritual, multi-talented, loving, creative and witty. She treasures her family and friendships and her love of life continues.

   

• Rose Mary Kuklok, OSB
  

  She is a loyal, faithful Benedictine living in California; she presently works in the chancery tribunal department of the Diocese of Santa Rosa; she loves God, her community and family tenderly and warmly; she is imaginative, poetic, adaptive, joyful, thoughtful . . .and she is one of our Jubilarians. She is our Sister Rose Mary Kuklok.

  Over these 50 years, Rose Mary has participated in multiple ministries. Starting at St. Benedict’s she held administrative positions in the Monastery as well as at the College of St. Benedict. Eagerly she met the challenges before her, always attempting to balance ministry and the nurturing of her soul through our Benedictine life of Scripture, Song and Psalm.

  In 1981, Rose Mary completed graduate courses in Applied Theology at Berkeley and was employed as an Advocate in Canon Law in the Diocese of Santa Rosa, California, where she ministers to this day. There she assists those seeking a declaration of nullity of marriage so as to return to sacramental life within the Church. Likewise, Rose Mary’s pastoral skills extend to the implementation of parish sacramental policies, visiting the sick, giving workshops, and serving as secretarial and clergy administrative assistant in the diocese. This Golden Jubilarian ministers 24/7; she knows the meaning of multi-tasking.

  Rose Mary loves poetry and expresses herself poetically. A single glance at her book shelves and file folders make obvious her enjoyment of collecting and reading poems. These, she will remind you, speak poetically to her of the grandeur of God’s world. Congratulations, S. Rose Mary!

  Written by Renee Domeier, OSB

• Stephana Ae Ja Choong, OSB
  

  Sister Stephana Choong, the eighth of nine children, was born and raised in Seoul, Korea. She was baptized into the Catholic faith at age 11 through the influence of her sister-in-law, Marie.
  S. Stephana came to the College of Saint Benedict and returned to Korea after graduation. She was so inspired by the Sisters that she decided to join the monastic community two years later.

  Her early ministries were teaching science at St. Cloud School of Nursing, Saint Benedict’s and Cathedral High School in St. Cloud. While doing doctoral work at the University of Minnesota, she saw many Koreans in need of support. She was keenly aware of their struggles of adjusting to American life, and she became their advocate. With fellow graduate students and Korean Catholic faculty at the University, she became one of the nine founding members of St. Andrew Kim Korean Catholic Church in St. Paul in 1973, the only Korean Catholic church in Minnesota. Ever since, she has worked tirelessly to help Koreans get settled in the Twin Cities.

  Alongside more than 20 years of research work at the University of Minnesota Medical School, her priority has been to assist Koreans: counseling, visiting the sick, making funeral arrangements and even going to courtrooms to defend them. S. Stephana says that through her early religious formation and spiritual support from the monastic community, she has been able to carry out this sometimes difficult ministry. She thanks God for giving her the grace to be who she is.

  Written by Cynthia Schmit, OSB

   

• Sylvia (Nedra) Flicker, OSB
  

  Sister Sylvia was born in Pierz, where she attended St. Joseph Elementary and Pierz Memorial High School. Her father died when she was a junior in high school, leaving her mother and five daughters. They all learned the value of work and prayer. S. Sylvia enjoyed being taught by Benedictine Sisters. She often helped clean after school hours and washed windows during the summer. Her mother once said, “Why don’t you just stay in school overnight?”

  S. Sylvia shares how she often told Father Voight, “You drove me to the convent.” Father Voight replied, “I know what you mean, but I only brought you to the convent!” He did indeed drive the car, and accompanied her with her mother and S. Adelaide Caspers when she joined the monastery.S. Sylvia has always pitched in. Whether it was working in the cardmaking shop, as a nurse’s assistant at St. Raphael’s, St. Joseph’s Home or monastery infirmary, food service and bakery, S. Sylvia was always ready for new experiences and, as she says, “I tried my best.” S. Sylvia is now in her 21^st year in housekeeping and enjoys the work. Carrying out the Benedictine motto of Ora et Labora in a cheerful manner has been S. Sylvia’s desire. In her various minsitries, she has enjoyed working with people. She has also enjoyed all the fun times in community, especially picnics and parties.S. Sylvia is grateful for her 50 years of service in our monastic community and thankful that this community of women can strive to live together peacefully in serving God and others.

  Written by Marcella Weber, OSB