The Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict are pleased to announce that Trish Dick, OSB, made her perpetual monastic profession to Benedictine monastic life on Saturday, July 11, 2009. The ceremony took place during the Eucharist at Sacred Heart Chapel at Saint Benedict’s Monastery, and was followed by a public reception.

Sister Trish was born in Storm Lake, Iowa, the fifth of Mary C. Norris and the late Linus Dick’s nine children. She grew up in the Catholic faith and later found fulfillment in the evangelical church. In her professional life, Trish was an evangelical minister for 15 years. During her ministry, she felt the urge to return to the Catholic Church and officially did so in 2004. Trish learned of the Benedictine monastic community from her sister and brother who attended the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University. She entered the community in 2004 and made her first monastic profession in 2006.

Currently, S. Trish is the assistant director of CORAD, the vocations program at Saint John’s University supported by a Lilly Foundation grant. She also does retreat work with students, including dog sledding retreats in Ely, Minn., the past three years. She said, “A large part of my ministry is exposing students to the rhythm of monastic work and prayer and infusing their lives with the Benedictine values. In my work, I give them access to monasticism they wouldn’t otherwise get through their college experience.” In June, S. Trish was part of the team that led a Benedictine pilgrimage to Italy with faculty and staff from Saint John’s University.

S. Trish finds living in community the most rewarding part of her Benedictine life, especially praying the Liturgy of the Hours daily. “The care and support of the community has been nourishing,” she said, and “the charity and hospitality of the Sisters is amazing. The community is at its best in celebrations [like the profession], when the presence of God and their love of God is so evident.” She also said she’s benefited greatly from the wisdom of the community. “It’s inspiring to follow in the path of women who have done so much. They have so much wisdom, are truly a treasure—and they don’t know it.”

During the liturgy of perpetual monastic profession, following the Rule of Benedict, “the candidate … comes before the whole community . . . and promises stability, fidelity to the monastic way of life and obedience. She states her promise in a document” which she has handwritten herself, reads aloud and signs with the prioress at the altar. She is given a ring as a sign of her permanent commitment, and “from this very day she is counted as one of the community” (Rule of Benedict, ch. 58).

To view video from this profession, click here and scroll to the bottom of the page.