Jonathan (Rose) Herda, OSB

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Jonathan (Rose) Herda, OSB
Saint Benedict’s Monastery
St. Joseph, Minn.
February 21, 1923 – July 28, 2025

The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, August 4, 2025, at the Sacred Heart Chapel, Saint Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph, Minn., for Sister Jonathan Herda, who died on July 28, 2025, at Saint Scholastica Convent, St. Cloud, Minn. Burial of the cremated remains will be in the monastery cemetery. Friends may call at Saint Scholastica Convent on Sunday, August 3, at 3 p.m. for a Prayer Service followed by visitation until 4:15 p.m., or for a Vigil Prayer Service at 7 p.m. at Saint Benedict’s Monastery.

Rose Herda was born February 21, 1923, to John W. and Anne (Trnka) Herda in Lonsdale, Minn., the fifth of 13 children. She attended Immaculate Conception Grade School and High School in Lonsdale. She entered Saint Benedict’s Monastery on September 12, 1941, was received into the novitiate on June 22, 1943, made first profession on July 11, 1944, and perpetual monastic profession on July 11, 1947. She celebrated her Golden Jubilee in 1994, her 60th anniversary in 2004 and her 75th anniversary in 2019.

In 1946, S. Jonathan graduated from the St. Cloud Hospital School of Radiologic Technology in St. Cloud and was certified as a radiologic technologist. She served in the radiology department at the St. Cloud Hospital for 20 years (1946–1966), including eight years as supervisor, and at Saint Benedict’s Hospital in Ogden, Utah (1966–1975). While working, she took night classes at St. Cloud State College in St. Cloud and Weber College in Ogden and did graduate work at Saint John’s University, Collegeville, Minn. In 1978, S. Jonathan received a bachelor’s degree in theology from the College of Saint Benedict, St. Joseph.

S. Jonathan also ministered in clinical pastoral education (CPE). Her CPE journey took her to St. Joseph’s Hospital in St. Paul, Minn., Methodist Hospital and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., the Institute of Religion and Human Development at Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas, and St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, Wash., where she was certified as a full CPE supervisor by the National Association of Catholic Chaplains (NACC) and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. From Tacoma, she was invited to initiate and conduct a CPE program toward accreditation at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, Wash., which she did from 1984–1989. From 1991–1994, S. Jonathan directed the pastoral care department at St. Alexius Medical Center, Bismarck, N.D. She also served on state and national committees for NACC and the American Association of Radiologic Technologists.

From 1995–2006, S. Jonathan served as volunteer chaplain at St. Benedict’s Senior Community in St. Cloud. In 2002, her pastoral care included Saint Scholastica Convent, as well. S. Jonathan also did book reviews for the journal Sisters Today.

S. Jonathan is survived by her Benedictine community, her three sisters, Marcella (+Ray) Catalano, Elizabeth (James) Suel and Theresa (George) Gucker, and two sisters-in-law, Winifred Herda and Jeanne Herda, as well as nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, five brothers, Joseph (+Anne), John (+Marcella), Wenceslaus “Jim” (+Lea), George and Robert, and four sisters, Sister Debora (Anne), OSB, Helen (+John) Bruzek, Marie (+Glen) Kajer, and Ludmilla (+Arthur) Jacobs.

Please direct memorial gifts to the Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict Outreach Ministries.