Entering Chapel Lane at Saint Benedict’s Monastery during the months of July and August, an immediate left glimpse will reveal a magnificent view of colorful flowers. This flower garden is the work of Sister Jeanne Marie Lust. From her early growing up years as a small-town child, S. Jeanne was implanted with the love of beauty found in God’s creation. Living in the southern Minnesota town of Matawan and then moving to New Richland at the age of 10, she loved exploring the outdoors. Her mother had a simple task for her to perform in the house, and then S. Jeanne was free to play with her friends.

After high school graduation, S. Jeanne chose a rural college and arrived at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University (CSB+SJU) in 1969 to major in biology. She graduated in May 1973 and entered Saint Benedict’s Monastery in the fall. After her formation years, S. Jeanne taught seventh and 10th graders at John XXIII/Cathedral High School in St. Cloud, Minn., devising meaningful lesson plans to keep her students engaged in the study of biology.

After eight years, S. Jeanne was invited to prepare to teach at CSB+SJU. She completed her doctorate degree in zoology from the University of Minnesota in 1990 and, for 33 years, taught courses in introductory biology, development and invertebrate zoology. During all of her teaching years, her care for each student and her teaching style earned her the reputation of a favorite teacher!

After retiring from teaching, S. Jeanne was asked to be the monastery treasurer. Her teaching skills are now evident when she shares with the monastic community our financial situation. Keenly aware of how people learn, she continues to use visuals effectively and explores the content with creativity that results in community members understanding complex issues.

S. Jeanne enjoys God’s creation in her summertime sport of golfing at Rich Spring Golf Course in Cold Spring, Minn. As a focused golfer, she has been the women’s club champion 14 times, and on a beautiful evening in June 2025 achieved her first hole in one!

A gift and love for music finds S. Jeanne singing in the monastic Schola, cantoring for Liturgy of the Hours and playing her guitar on occasion. In addition, she enjoys watching sports games, occasionally putting together a puzzle and spending precious quality time celebrating birthdays and vacations with her siblings, Gary, Katie and Lisa.

Through all of this, S. Jeanne maintains the flower garden just off Chapel Lane, delighting in the variety of flowers and allowing the weeds to have a bit of space as well. This is a great metaphor for her personality and relational skills: loving a variety of people (flowers), accepting differences (weeds) and seeing the goodness in everyone. Her kindness is apparent in all her relationships. Her 50 years of monastic living and praying are now needing celebration!

Jubilee profile written by Julie Schleper, OSB