Sister Michaela Hedican has described herself as “Benedictine to the bone marrow.” She could hardly have escaped this fate. Born and baptized “Michelle” in the northern Minnesota town of Virginia, she encountered Benedictine sisters from nearby Duluth, Minn., at an early age. She recalls the day her grandmother treated the sisters and six-year-old Michelle to ice cream: The girl was smitten with the sisters’ excitement over such a simple treat and decided then and there that she wanted to be like them.
When Robert and Marjorie Hedican moved their family to Eau Claire, Wis., Michelle attended Regis High School where she was taught and inspired by more Benedictines—the sisters of the local Saint Bede Monastery. True to her childhood impulse, Michelle entered Saint Bede’s as a postulant on August 28, 1962, just before her 17th birthday, and made her first profession as Sister Michaela on July 11, 1964.
S. Michaela identifies the day she entered and her first monastic profession as the two most significant events in her 60 years of Benedictine life. She also cherishes the day in 2010 when she and the rest of the Saint Bede sisters transferred to Saint Benedict’s Monastery, from which Saint Bede’s was founded and which they had affectionately called “Grandma’s House.”
While S. Michaela served as a teacher in the early years of her religious life, she has spent most of her years in administration and leadership. At Saint Bede Monastery, she served as vocation and formation director, director of St. Bede Center, subprioress, and as the monastery’s final prioress. From 2003–2010, she was president of the Federation of St. Benedict, now called the Monastic Congregation of St. Benedict.
Since coming to Saint Benedict’s Monastery, S. Michaela has served as prioress and director of oblates, currently serving as director of mission advancement. In addition, she has inspired thousands of Benedictines and others as a retreat director, spiritual director, speaker, member of college and hospital boards, and as a faithful friend. She has received honorary doctorates from three Benedictine colleges in Minnesota: the College of St. Scholastica, Duluth; the College of Saint Benedict, St. Joseph; and Saint John’s University, Collegeville. In 2016, S. Michaela and Bishop Donald Kettler, then-bishop of the Diocese of Saint Cloud, were named by Our Sunday Visitor among the 10 Catholics of the Year for promoting understanding between Christians and Somali immigrants.
S. Michaela has lived intensely, joyfully and gratefully the Benedictine ideals of prayer, community and service. Just as bone marrow is essential to the human body, being Benedictine is essential to S. Michaela’s spirit. On the occasion of her 60th jubilee, she would like to ask Christ this one question: “What shall I return to you, O Lord, for all your goodness to me?”
Profile written by Nancy Bauer, OSB