Vocations
If you are visiting our website, I trust that you are seeking to know how to respond to a call from God. I believe that the Holy Spirit is present to you as you explore where and what God is calling you to do with your life. I invite you to discern God’s call with me. God’s grace will accompany us throughout this discernment time. My role is to listen to how God is working in your life.
On Monday, May 8, 2023, I responded to a call that I didn’t expect: to become our vocation director. I am Benedictine Sister Marilyn Mark. With courage, I trust that my “Yes” to God and our Benedictine community will enable me and guide me in this new ministry. Calls come at various times in our lives and God’s grace accompanies us.
What are some signs that you might have a call to religious life?
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- You have the desire to look for something deeper in your life.
- You have a deep hunger to serve God.
- You are active in your youth group and other parish gatherings.
- You actively participate in parish ministries.
- You are researching a variety of religious orders.
- You sense there is something missing in your life.
- You have feelings of exploring religious life that linger with you no matter how hard you try to ignore them.
Beginning to Discern
We will engage in discussion with women who want to begin mutual discernment. We will engage in conversation and explore the signs listed above together in an open manner. When the time feels right, we will consider possible membership into our community. The following criteria are necessary for a woman interested in beginning the dialogue:
- You are a baptized Roman Catholic who has celebrated the sacraments of reconciliation, Eucharist, and confirmation or you are a convert to Catholicism and have been worshiping regularly with a Roman Catholic community during the past two years.
- You are Catholic and currently worship regularly with a Roman Catholic community.
- You are single, widowed, or divorced with an annulment.
- You have post-secondary education and/or work experience beyond high school.
- You are not being treated for any health concerns, mental health, or physical conditions that would prevent you from fully participating in the life required of being a member of a monastic community. If you are uncertain, please connect with the director of vocation ministry.
These are the basic prerequisites to begin the dialogue for a religious vocation in our Benedictine monastic community. For more information, please contact:
Marilyn Mark, OSB
Director of Vocation Ministry
osbvocations@csbsju.edu
(320) 363-7180
What are some prayer forms of Benedictine spirituality?
- Liturgy of the Hours
- Lectio divina (prayerful reading of Scripture)
- Eucharist
What does Benedictine spirituality include?
- Seeking God
- Using the Gospel and the Rule of Benedict as a guide
- Listening to one another
- Attending to God within
- Communal participation in Mass and Liturgy of the Hours
What are the signs of a Benedictine monastic vocation?
- Desire to live in community
- Love of prayer
- Willingness to accept obedience to one another and to the prioress
- Recognizing the importance of ongoing discernment:
- With yourself
- With the director of vocation ministry
- With the community
- With the prioress
What is monasticism?
Monasticism is a life where the priority is prayer. Prayer, work and community living are the key components of a monastic lifestyle.
What is a monastery?
The monastery is the place where Benedictine women live together in community.
How does monasticism differ from apostolic life?
The apostolic life focuses on active ministry.
What promises do you make as Benedictine sisters?
We make three promises of commitment:
- Stability
- Conversatio morum (continued fidelity to the monastic way of life)
- Obedience
Celibate chastity and monastic poverty are also indispensable to the common life.
What do the sisters do for work?
Our primary work is prayer through Liturgy of the Hours. Our ministries of service reflect the current needs of the Church and world.
How do I know if God is calling me to Benedictine monastic life?
Reflect on the following questions: Is God calling you…
- To a deeper faith life?
- To a deeper relationship with God?
- To be part of a community committed to other women who are also seeking God?
- To a life of structured prayer, service and community living?
- To become your best self through a vocation in religious life?
- To religious life itself?
- To live under the obedience of a prioress?
- To follow the Rule of Benedict?
How do I apply for a visit to Saint Benedict’s Monastery?
Fill out an online application to schedule a visit. The director of vocation ministry will contact you and have a phone interview to see if an on-site visit is the next step for you.
What can I expect when I visit?
If you spend the night, you will be a guest of the welcoming community. The sisters who live in the welcoming community will help you feel at home and accompany you to prayers, Eucharist and meals. You will have a private room prepared for you with bedding, towels and reading materials about our community.
Please keep in mind the communal activities of prayer in the Oratory, Eucharist in the chapel, and meals in our dining room. We ask that you wear clothing that speaks of simplicity, such as pants or a knee-length skirt and a modest blouse or sweater top. You will want clothes to work in, walk in, and hang out in when with the welcoming house community.
Based on your needs, a schedule will be set up with Sister Marilyn Mark. She will talk about the opportunities available to you during your visit. There will be time for you to spend in quiet reflection, go for walks, and exercise if you so choose.
Catholic Sisters Week 2025
Catholic Sisters Week
is celebrated annually March 8–14 and “shines a light on the spirituality, mission, and community building of women religious.”
This year, we are joining other congregations of women religious for the #LikeaCatholicSister campaign. This campaign brings together congregations from across the country “in a unified effort to challenge outdated stereotypes and shift perceptions of religious life by showcasing the diverse, dynamic and impactful ways sisters serve today.”
Saturday, March 8, 2025
#LikeaCatholicSister: Growing Together
Life as a Catholic Sister is unique in many ways, one of which is living daily life with nearly 140 other women. Our sisters come from different backgrounds, have engaged in varying ministries, and span in age from 37 to 102 years old. However, one thing we have in common is this: We have each committed to seek God in this monastic community, together, for a lifetime.
Living together brings us together in big and small ways. In the day-to-day, we praise God together daily through Liturgy of the Hours and Eucharist; we work together; we eat meals together; we enjoy quality time together; and we show up and support one another.
As a community, we grow together in big ways also. When we have to make future-oriented decisions, such as electing a new prioress or building a smaller monastery, we discern and decide together. Even with varying viewpoints, we respect one another as a sister we have committed to living with for a lifetime.
#LikeaCatholicSister, we live, discern and grow together, aiming to glorify God in all that we do. That in all things, God may be glorified.
Sunday, March 9, 2025
#LikeaCatholicSister: Embracing Change
The only constant in life is change, and women religious are no strangers to change.
In 1965, Vatican II brought about major changes in the Catholic Church.
In 2010, sisters from St. Bede Monastery in Eau Claire, Wis., experienced change when their community merged with Saint Benedict’s Monastery in St. Joseph, Minn., and those sisters said goodbye to their homes, ministries and friends. In 2012, the sisters from Mount Benedict Monastery in Ogden, Utah, did the same.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic brought changes in how we minister and interact with those beyond our monastery walls when we had no choice but to stay inside.
A reality that congregations of women religious face today all over the world is the trending decline in the number of women discerning religious vocations. Once the largest community of Benedictine women in the world, this affects how we adapt our ministries and make decisions pertaining to the future of our community.
One of the major changes within Saint Benedict’s Monastery is that we are currently in the planning stages of building a new, smaller monastery. After years of discussion and discernment, the community decided this was a vital way to focus our energies on carrying out our ministries and stewarding our physical resources. Make no mistake: Our future is bright!
Throughout times of change, Catholic sisters remain rooted in tradition. As Benedictine women, we continue to pray Liturgy of the Hours three times per day, celebrate Eucharist, practice the values, and engage in the traditions that our community was founded on.
#LikeaCatholicSister, we embrace change while celebrating tradition.
Monday, March 10, 2025
#LikeaCatholicSister: Pioneering Courage
Mother Benedicta (Sybilla) Riepp was the foundress of Benedictine sisters in North America, including the Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict in St. Joseph, Minn. She was born in Waal, Bavaria, on June 28, 1825, and entered St. Walburg Convent in Eichstätt, Bavaria, in 1844.
When the call came for sisters to teach the children of German immigrants in Pennsylvania, Benedicta answered that call. She and her companions arrived in St. Marys, Pa., in 1852 and established St. Joseph Monastery, the first convent of Benedictine sisters in North America. As superior in St. Marys, M. Benedicta sent a group of seven sisters to St. Cloud, Minn., to begin a new convent in 1857. In 1863, this community moved to St. Joseph, Minn., where we are still located today.
M. Benedicta’s time as superior as St. Marys was difficult, especially in her relationship with Abbot Boniface Wimmer of St. Vincent Abbey in Latrobe, Pa. She resisted his interference in their community’s internal matters, and he challenged her authority as the convent’s superior.
In 1857, M. Benedicta travelled to Europe, seeking help from superiors in Eichstätt and Rome to resolve the conflict. Unfortunately, she was denied the opportunity to present her case before the Pope. She returned to the United States in 1858, no longer welcome in the convents she had founded in the East.
At the invitation of Mother Willibalda Scherbauer, the first prioress of our community, M. Benedicta moved to St. Cloud in 1858. She died of tuberculosis on March 15, 1862, and in 1884, her remains were transferred from St. Cloud to the monastic cemetery in St. Joseph, where they remain today. A lovely flowerbed is planted and maintained atop her grave each year by Sister Ephrem Hollermann.
Despite the various obstacles throughout her life, M. Benedicta’s courage and leadership helped establish three new foundations in Erie, Pa. (1856), Newark, N.J. (1857), and St. Cloud (1857). Her legacy remains steadfast among Benedictine life today.
#LikeaCatholicSister, M. Benedicta pioneered courage and remained faithful in times of conflict, adversity and challenges.
We invite you to watch a short video about M. Benedicta Riepp:
Tuesday, March 11, 2025
#LikeaCatholicSister: Nurturing the Earth
All through the years, our Benedictine community has valued environmental stewardship and care of the earth. Some of our ministries in the past that promoted stewardship and respect for all creation included tending bees, orchards and large vegetable and flower gardens. Presently, our community has a vegetable garden, a vineyard, and a raspberry patch for growing some of our food. We also have multiple flower gardens, some of which are purposely dedicated as pollinator gardens for bees and butterflies.
In the past, we encouraged people in our area to eat locally grown food by establishing the Common Ground Garden, a community supported agriculture garden, or CSA. It operated for 25 years and enabled the local community to come together and share in the labor, and fruits of that labor, through planting, nurturing and enjoying the delicious produce.
In 2018, our garden ministry shifted models and became the Sunset Drive Garden where individuals could, for minimal cost, rent plots of land to grow their own vegetables and flowers. The garden’s mission was to welcome and encourage people of different cultures, ages and economic status to work side by side, sharing hospitality and promoting sustainable practices for growing food.
In addition to our agricultural endeavors, our community is promoting environmental stewardship that will extend long into the future. We have acres of woodlands and prairie lands on our monastery property that we are protecting from development, and one of our sisters has planted over four hundred trees and has set up and is monitoring many birdhouses to encourage a flourishing of the bluebird population.
Years ago, some of our monastery property in the St. Cloud area was permanently set aside and donated for the Sand Prairie Wildlife and Environmental Education Area. This area is important as an ongoing breeding locale for a host of waterfowl including the endangered sand hill crane, which is now making a comeback.
Currently we are making exciting plans to downsize our home by building a new smaller monastery. Our new home will have a smaller carbon footprint as we are planning to use green technologies in its construction and operation, including both solar and geothermal.
#LikeaCatholicSister, we will continue to steward our resources and care for our Common Home.
Wednesday, March 12, 2025
#LikeaCatholicSister: Revealing God’s Love
There is a directive in the Rule of Saint Benedict that means a lot to our community: “Never … turn away when someone needs your love.”
Over the course of our nearly 170-year history, we have endeavored to follow Jesus’ model of sharing God’s love with our sisters and brothers who are most in need of acceptance and support.
- We’re proud that in 1938, long before the civil rights movement, Sister Claire Lynch, dean of the College of Saint Benedict, which we founded, accepted for admission the first two women of color who applied to the school. S. Claire remained firm in her commitment for the college to adhere to Christian principles and condemn racial discrimination amidst some outside pressure for her not to do so.
- We’re also proud that in the 1960s some of our sisters chose to travel south during the Civil Rights movement to work at Saint Francis Center in Greenwood, Miss., a relief organization established to help those in financial need. The sisters helped supply the underserved African American population of the area with clothing, medicine, books and classes to improve literacy.
- Similarly, in 1967, when sisters learned that there were hundreds of migrant workers laboring in the beet fields of Kent, Minn., who were financially struggling and in great need, our sisters stepped up to help. Besides supplying assistance for their basic necessities, they also offered classes for their children.
- In the 1980s, we decided to assist more of our sisters and brothers who were in need of love and safety when we voted to endorse and participate in the Sanctuary Movement to help refugees from Central America who needed protection after they had fled danger and persecution in their homelands. We offered shelter and supplies and wrote letters of appeal to government officials, seeking government aid on the refugees’ behalf.
- In 2018, 2019 and 2021, several of our sisters volunteered with other religious women on the United States/Mexico border in McAllen, El Paso, and Laredo, Texas, helping migrants who were seeking asylum and a better life. After migrants had been processed by border patrol, our sisters helped through Catholic Charities and other organizations, offering food, water and clothing to the exhausted and scared families.
- Closer to home, to show love and support to our LGBTQI+ brothers and sisters and their families, friends and allies, one of our sisters regularly co-hosts Rainbow Support Evenings at our Spirituality Center, another important outreach ministry that honors the dignity of all God’s children.
- We have also—for years, now—been volunteering and donating to Habitat for Humanity. We are happy that more people have an opportunity to own their own home thanks in small part to the financial help and work hours that we have put in during the building and cleaning phases of the projects.
- Every Sunday at our Eucharistic celebration, we take up a collection for a specific organization or certain population in need of financial assistance. Thanks to our generous and conscientious attendees, we have been able to give generous donations and make a real difference in people’s lives.
Because we recognized that there is great need in our area at this time and that partnering with others to do our work makes a bigger impact, a few years ago, we hired a lay director of social justice ministries to lead and expand our community’s outreach efforts. Through her leadership, knowledge and connections we have been able to reach and support many more people. For example:
- We have partnered with a local nonprofit organization called Faith Feeds and helped supply prepared food for a special Easter meal for those in need.
- We’ve held multiple events where people seeking food and clothing assistance can come and choose from donated items we’ve collected. So far, hundreds of clothing items and hundreds of pounds of food have been shared.
- To serve our sisters and brothers who are currently unhoused, our own food services department prepares hot meals for the Homeless Helping Homeless Lincoln Center in St. Cloud, Minn. Thanks to the help of volunteers from our Sunday liturgies, our director of social justice ministries, and sister drivers, this food is delivered every Monday and Thursday.
Might you feel called to join us in sharing God’s love? Reach out and let us know!
#LikeaCatholicSister, the Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict continue to serve and advocate for the most vulnerable, just as we have done throughout our history.
We invite you to learn more about our social justice ministries:
Thursday, March 13, 2025
#LikeaCatholicSister: Breaking Stereotypes
At 102 years old, Sister Jonathan Herda continues to show up faithfully each day to pray Liturgy of the Hours three times a day.
At 94 years old, Sister Lois Wedl spends time each day answering the hundreds of prayer requests that are submitted on our website.
At 69 years old, Sister Karen Rose leads Saint Benedict’s Monastery as prioress, guiding us into the future as we remain rooted in tradition.
While most of the sisters in our community are age 80 and above, we lead vibrant lives and remain active in many facets of life, including in our ministry efforts.
Historically, we ministered largely in health care and education. We founded two of Central Minnesota’s major legacies: the Saint Cloud Hospital and the College of Saint Benedict. In addition, we founded and served in many elementary and high schools, hospitals, and nursing homes in Central Minnesota and beyond. Other historical ministries span a rich variety of works, from diversified farming to spiritual ministry, to liturgy, among many others.
As our community ages, sisters have retired from their secular careers, and many jobs have turned into internal ones. Presently, many of our sisters lead and serve in departments throughout the monastery that support operations and ministry, including in mission advancement, nursing, spiritual direction and retreats, and hospitality, to name a few.
Our sisters at Saint Scholastica Convent, our retirement facility, also minister well beyond their retirement from a secular job. While their main ministry is prayer, many sisters also serve in various ways throughout the convent community, including through operational leadership, nursing, liturgy, and as companions for our sisters with medical needs.
Age is just a number. #LikeaCatholicSister, our sisters continue to break stereotypes and defy the odds, leading vibrant, energetic lives well beyond retirement age.
Friday, March 14, 2025
#LikeaCatholicSister: Nourishing Spirituality
At Saint Benedict’s Monastery, we seek God in our everyday lives. This includes spiritually nourishing ourselves. We do this through traditional prayer of Liturgy of the Hours (a prayer for the world) three times a day, regular Eucharist, annual retreats, and periods of rest, silence and contemplation.
Guests are invited to nourish their own spirituality by joining us in prayer and worship. All are welcome to join us in praying Liturgy of the Hours, celebrating Eucharist, and participating in special community celebrations, such as the Feast of St. Benedict. Many sisters and volunteers also share their love of liturgy through singing in the monastic schola (the monastery choir), serving as Eucharistic ministers and lectors, and ringing bells and chimes in the handbell choir.
Another way we invite others to nourish their own spirituality is through various programs, retreats and opportunities at our Spirituality Center•Studium. This sacred space responds to the human longing for God and invites others to join the monastic community in deepening relationships with God, self, others, and all creation. Women and men of all faith traditions and cultures are welcome here!
The Spirituality Center•Studium offers a variety of experiences to nourish your faith, refresh your soul, and feed your spiritual hunger:
- Attend a program or retreat, which include spiritual R & R days, writing workshops, intensive prayer retreats, education on social justice issues, book studies, and retreats to immerse yourself in the monastery’s most sacred celebrations.
- Make your own retreat and enjoy solitude and reflection in one of our hermitages for a couple of days or a week.
- Center yourself by walking the labyrinth.
- Engage in spiritual direction with a certified spiritual director trained to accompany you on your spiritual journey.
- Commit yourself to a project in Studium, the monastery’s program for scholars. Studium provides time and space to work on your project while engaging with the monastic community.
#LikeaCatholicSister, we commit ourselves to nourishing our spirituality and inviting others to walk the journey with us.
Once a woman has requested application to the community and visited with the prioress, she begins a more formal process of discernment with this specific Benedictine monastic community. The stages of formation are outlined below.
Affiliation
This is a time of becoming more familiar with the community through frequent visits while living and working independently of the community.
Postulancy
This stage is generally nine months long. The woman lives within the community learning the life of prayer, work and community living. You will learn about Benedictine spirituality and prayer through participation in daily Liturgy of the Hours, lectio and scheduled classes.
Novitiate
This stage is a canonical year of intense prayer and reflection on the Benedictine monastic way of life in this community. It is a time for the novice and the community to continue to get to know one another. This year is one of discernment as the novice and her formation director ask the question, “Is this the best community for her to seek God?”
First Monastic Profession
This stage is a period of four to six years. The woman lives as a professed member of the community, continuing to learn the balance of prayer, work and community. She is discerning if this is the best place for her to seek God and make a lifelong commitment to the community.
Perpetual Monastic Profession
If a woman decides to become a permanent member of Saint Benedict’s Monastery and the community agrees, she will make a lifelong commitment to seeking God according to the Gospel and the Rule of Benedict. This decision comes after several stages of formation and discernment.
