Catholic Sisters Week • March 8-14, 2026
Catholic Sisters Week takes place annually March 8-14 and shines a light on the spirituality, mission and community building of women religious. To celebrate, we are joining other communities of women religious from around the country for the #LikeaCatholicSister campaign. A continuation of last year’s campaign, this year’s theme is Stories of Hope and Heart.
To celebrate, we’ve asked longtime friends and supporters of the monastery to share reflections about how the sisters have impacted their lives. We’ll be sharing them on our website and social media pages throughout Catholic Sisters Week. Stay connected!
“I have been blessed through my affiliation with the Sisters of St. Benedict since I was a student at the College of Saint Benedict in the mid-1970s. We students admired the sisters as strong women role models — strong in more ways than one. Some sisters advocated for women in the priesthood. Some modeled healthy bodies as well as healthy minds, and if you were up early enough, you might spot them running on campus trails. All lived out their values in exemplary fashion.
Sister Brian Spain (left) was my advisor when I was a student, and she continued to be my mentor and friend later in life. I remained in contact with S. Brian, exchanging cards and letters, and visiting her periodically at the monastery and later at Saint Scholastica Convent until her death. My husband and I were privileged to sit with her in prayer just days before her passing.
Additionally, I was a frequent visitor at the Spirituality Center•Studium for a number of years, enjoying the hospitality extended to me and the availability of quiet space for prayer and meditation. I was even gifted with flowers from the grounds, which still bloom in my own gardens (Iris and Siberian Squill) — a beautiful springtime reminder of my loving relationship with the sisters.
The Benedictine values that I learned while at St. Ben’s continue to guide my life, most especially extending hospitality, working for social justice and peace, respecting others, being a good steward of resources, and living in moderation. My gratitude overflows.”
— Lisa Wersal
“Sister Lois Wedl was the one who told me that I was in love with the woman who would become my wife and the love of my life, always. As our maid of honor and lifelong friend, S. Lois has always been full of hope and heart.
I remember a time that I was visiting her. I was feeling especially sad and discouraged with my life. We did not speak of it. In the morning, S. Lois was cooking breakfast. Then she turned to me, looked me deeply into my eyes and said, “Tom, you are a good man!” I said, “What?” in disbelief! Without moving, she looked even more deeply into my eyes and again said, “Tom, you are a good man!” In that moment, I heard not S. Lois but God’s voice in my heart. I still feels chills now as I reflect on that moment.
Today I am approaching 90 years. The love of my life and even a grandson have passed on. So, I ask myself daily, what more is there that I can do for others? My life has been blessed with S. Lois’ hope and heart, and for that I am most grateful.”
— Thomas Sweeney
“When we experience something that inspires us, it opens our hearts and gives us hope. Hope fosters the belief that progress is possible; it becomes a source of strength and resilience. My first encounter with the sisters of Saint Benedict’s Monastery occurred when I was a student at the College of Saint Benedict. Sisters were my faculty residents in the resident halls, and they were also some of my professors. To me, they were role models and a source of inspiration. They were smart women of faith who loved learning and teaching. They helped nurture and foster my own intellectual curiosity and spiritual growth.
Years later, I was honored to serve on the Board of Trustees at CSB both as a trustee and as chair of the board. I shared governance responsibilities with many different sisters during this time. While a trustee, I had the opportunity to reflect upon and see what a tremendous legacy the sisters left when they founded the college. It was because of their vision, their perseverance, their strength and their faith that a thriving college community steeped in Benedictine values exists. The reality of their legacy is that every year, hundreds of young women graduate from CSB and go forth to shine their Benedictine infused light in the world. Now that is hope and something to celebrate!”
— Lynn Newman
“The sisters of Saint Benedict are beacons of light, hope and love. One of the brightest lights is Sister Marlene Schwinghammer, who also embodies hope and love to all who know her.
We have had the privilege of knowing her both professionally and personally. She has and continues to enrich our lives. She ministered at St. Peter’s in North St. Paul, and our parish was blessed to have her for 12 years. A lasting and loving legacy is still hers, and whenever her name is mentioned, people cannot but share a time when she reached out to them with the love and compassion as Christ would. She had and continued to give hope and light to many through her embrace, after many years of absence from St. Peter’s, through cards and correspondence. All seems right when felt by her caring and nurturing as she listens with her heart and shares her wisdom and love. She has shown us that through her example as a Benedictine sister.
S. Marlene continues to enlighten our lives with her deep faith, friendship and example of Christian love. I hope to be just like her when I grow up!”
— Liz and Ed McCarthy
“I could thank so many sisters of the Saint Benedict’s community for their impacts on my development, that for a while I could not decide who to single out in this reflection. But yesterday, I happened to hear a segment of the PBS program “Unsung Heroes” in which people describe other people who saved or changed their lives. Often these beneficiaries of courage, kindness or just plain good judgment did not have an opportunity to thank their heroes and never knew their names. So it is with me and the sister of Saint Benedict’s Monastery who saved my life.
I was born in 1951 at St. Cloud Hospital with pneumonia, bone-deep sores and forceps injuries. It was a difficult birth. My mother was also gravely ill. I was given up for dead. A sister working as a nurse at the hospital was in the delivery room that morning. She disagreed with her colleagues’ assessment and took me into her care as if I was her own. I was told as a child that she saved my life.
I have no doubt that it took courage to override the opinions of others in the room and the days that followed, as it took many weeks of meticulous attention before I could be taken home. Even in today’s world, hospitals remain hierarchical places, and medical resources are scarce and costly. Imagine what it must have been like for women to work in these settings, when almost all of the doctors were men! If you read Remember, the annual compendium of remembrances of sisters who have passed, you probably marvel, as I do, at the careers, qualifications and achievements of these women, many of whom worked as health care professionals at St. Cloud, one of many hospitals that Benedictine women founded.
I will never know the name of the sister who saved my life, but I reflect every time I read these life stories that I really have to thank the entire community of sisters, working interdependently to make possible institutions and actions for the common good that would never have happened otherwise. I believe that when I thank any individual sister, I am really thanking everyone, including the sister who saved my life. And by the way, I was born very nearly 75 years ago, on the Feast of St. Benedict.”
— Thomas Murtha
“Sister Margaret Michaud went to school at St. Patrick’s and Regis High Schools in Eau Claire, Wis., with my older brother Bill Ryder. All 13 of us Ryder siblings knew S. Margaret; she taught us at St. Patrick Grade School and Regis High School. At that time, her name was Sister Gregory. Her engagement of the students was a sacred experience for all of us. She was a true mathematician and would at times write on the chalkboard with both left and right hands at the same time. She told us that this would save her time so she could dedicate more of her time teaching us. My brothers and sisters would visit S. Margaret when she was the prioress at Saint Bede Monastery. Our visits were always inspirational moments of hope for inner peace and harmony blessed with encouragement in our lives. Heaven is filled with joy the day S. Margaret was born to eternal life so she could continue her Spiritual teachings.
Sister Monica Mai was our typewriter teacher at Regis High School. I was in her class because friends told me I should take typing class that will help me in the future with schoolwork. At the time, I had no idea what I was getting into, but S. Monica inspired me with hope that I had the skills to succeed. Not only am I able to use the skills today on my computer that she taught me, but also the detailed discipline she instilled in all her students that has enabled us to truly understand we are all Sacred Children of God. A gift that encourages us to love and serve others. Later in her life, S. Monica spent time with my brother Donna Ryder as his Spiritual Advisor, and he felt extremely privileged and grateful for her presence in his life. My brother and our family are forever inspired by S. Monica for her care, concern and her Sacred smile, lighting our lives.
Sister Mary Jane Cournoyer was my fourth-grade teacher at St. Patrick’s Grade School. She was extremely dedicated to all her students especially espousing hope in our lives that we would be able learn with her special teaching of self-discipline for all of us. Hope was granted and to this day we truly understand the benefits of self-discipline. However, at the time she was teaching we were not sure, but today we are living proof that Miracles do happen. Our lives have been enhanced and blessed as we also felt her presence with our loved ones when she did her pastoral ministry and chaplain at Oakwood Villa in Altoona, Wis., later in her life. The definition of a Sacred Child of God is S. Mary Jane. Heaven will be perpetually cared for with her Spirit among all.”
— RJ Ryder
