A jubilarian … a Benedictine monastic for 75 years, Sister Renée Domeier continues to be a woman of the Word who models faithfulness to the Rule of Benedict and our lived tradition. God-seeds were planted in her young heart by her devoted parents, Charles and Rose, as well as by the Benedictine sisters who taught her in grade school, high school and college. Coming from a farm near the small town of Fairfax, Minn., she learned the value of hard work. Her sense of wonder grew as she observed the trees, plants and crops bursting forth in the spring as well as the formation of the moving clouds in the sky. She seemed to know that she, too, was a child of the universe no less than the budding flowers and trees. Her keen sense of beauty could not stop her young mind from wondering beneath the surface of God’s creation.

S. Renée’s love for solitude and her search for deeper meanings continued through her years at Saint Benedict’s High School and the College of Saint Benedict (CSB), both in St. Joseph, Minn., as well as at St. Catherine’s College in St. Paul, Minn., where she earned a master’s degree in Spanish studies. Further studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich., earned her a master’s degree and later a doctorate. In between those years, she taught grade and high school students whom she dearly loved. Those years were followed by 25 years of teaching Spanish at CSB. After a total of almost 35 years of teaching, she retired but did not stop there. Being the risk-taker that she is, she ventured forth and founded CASA Guadalupe which was a center of hospitality and safe place for Hispanic immigrants in the Cold Spring, Minn., area. There she served as an interpreter, translator and helping in whatever ways she could to protect the immigrants from real or apparent injustices.

After 12 years of service to the Hispanic community, S. Renée retired. She now resides at Saint Scholastica Convent in St. Cloud, our home for the retired, aging and sick sisters. There she continues to give witness by her gentle demeanor, her strong sense of wonder, her love for solitude and her involvement in the daily work and prayer of the sisters living there. It is there that she is a warm and welcoming presence, giving a multitude of hugs to the many visiting friends she amassed from all over the country and world over the past 75 years. Her calm approach to life and, in spite of severe hearing loss, her listening skills give hope to those who interact with her. She, no doubt, would agree with theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer who said that if one cannot listen to others, one cannot listen to God.

Congratulations, S. Renée, as you celebrate your 75th Jubilee. May you always be awake to the joys of the present moment, and may God fill your kind and compassionate heart with deep peace as you continue to wonder at the beauty of God’s marvelous creations be they human, animal or cosmic.

Jubilee profile written by Kathy Rademacher, OSB