Vocations

Q: What does the promise of stability mean to you?

A: Having lived Benedictine life for nearly 60 years now, my profession of stability has come to mean a kind of “enclosure of the heart”—a commitment that holds my community as the primary love among the other loves in my life. We are women from diverse backgrounds and experiences whose promise of stability means that we commit ourselves to be together in community until death. In essence, we say to each other: “I can do this because I share with you the desire to seek God, and to live in a way that will foster that desire above all else. Therefore, I will stand with you daily at prayer, I will sit with you at the common table, I will offer to you the spiritual and material benefits that flow from my work, so that all may receive what is needed from the goods held in common. I will discipline my heart to find its home among you, to want to be where you are more than anywhere else.”

Ephrem Hollermann, OSB

Q: What does it mean to share resources in community?

A: During my almost 50 years of teaching high school and college students, I never saw a paycheck. My monthly checks, along with those of most of my Benedictine sister colleagues, went straight to Saint Benedict’s Monastery, which has been my home for all those years. This practice comes out of chapter 33 of the Rule of St. Benedict. Quoting the Acts of the Apostles, Benedict says that all the possessions of the monastery should be held in common. This might seem like a convenient economic arrangement, but the meaning goes much deeper. It says silently that each sister in the monastery—like every person in the world—is equal in the eyes of God and that we should strive to see each other in the same way. Whether I earn a hefty salary as an administrator or a professor, work to maintain the community in a myriad of ways or volunteer as an English-language teacher makes no difference in determining my value. This practice helps us resist the temptation to assess our own or anyone else’s value in terms of how much money we make or the status of the work we do. For Benedictines, all work done well, with dedication to the common good of the community, the church and the world, is God’s work. In a Benedictine monastery, nothing—not social class, education, talents, education, earnings—should disturb the radical equality of all people before God.

Mara Faulkner, OSB

Q: How do sisters dialogue with one another in a healthy manner while disagreeing with one another?

A: Living in community means sometimes sisters will disagree with one another. Dialoguing at those times calls for careful listening. St. Benedict says, “Listen with the ear of your heart.” Being present to the sister, looking at her when speaking and asking clarifying questions will help to understand what she is saying. If it involves a decision which needs to be made and the two continue to disagree, then trying to come to consensus such that each agrees to live in peace with whatever is decided. If they still disagree, then choosing to love one another in community is important for love is a strong bond which holds us together as together we go to God.

Lucinda Mareck, OSB

Q: What is the best reason to join Saint Benedict’s Monastery?

A: Joining the community at Saint Benedict’s Monastery allows you the opportunity to attend Mass each day and to join the community three times a day for Liturgy of the Hours as they gather to praise God for God’s mighty deeds and bring all the joys, strivings and sorrows of the world into God’s loving arms. You could use your unique gifts in service to others, the church and the world. You could live with a supportive and loving community of Benedictine women.

Marlene Meierhofer, OSB

Q: Since you made a promise of obedience to the prioress, is there an opportunity for dialogue when challenging requests that are asked of you?

A: Yes, dialogue is imperative. When we commit ourselves to this Benedictine way of life, the commitment is not only to the prioress, but to God and to our community, so the dialogue happens in the form of personal prayer, asking for guidance and understanding, and with other members of community, be that your good sister-friends or your small group that you live with. There is usually a good reason the prioress asks something of you in the first place—perhaps you were recommended for a job or a committee. Then there is the asking permission for extended travel. We are to first dialogue with our small group before we submit the request. So either way, if you are asked to do something, you are given the chance to say “no”—just as if you ask to use the community’s resources, the prioress has the chance to say “no.”

Janelle Sietsema, OSB

Q: What is it like to have 180 sisters?

A: For someone who really enjoys writing letters for birthdays or sending cards of congratulations or sympathy to many of these wonderful 180 sisters, having this many is both a joy and a challenge. It’s a joy because I am blessed with so many to love and a challenge because sometimes there just aren’t enough hours in a day to do this. In answer to the question “What’s it like to have 180 sisters?”, I’d say it’s an amazing blessing. Where else would we experience the gift of a history of great spiritual and loving leaders, sisters of all ages generously sharing their gifts and talents with one another and the blessing of coming together several times daily to celebrate a God who loves us tenderly and invites us to “stand in” for all of his/her people? It’s pure gift.

Lois Wedl, OSB