Sacred Stones, Sacred Stories

Not to fear! Renovations continue on the Clyde monastery…even though we haven’t posted new photos for a few days.

Much of the work continues indoors while crews wait for the Spring weather to arrive so we can get moving again on outdoor projects.

Things have been popping up each day, showing us that we are indeed on the downhill slope and hurtling toward completion this summer.

One of the new baths is being installed.

Lots of wires...glad someone knows what he/she is doing.

Sister Wilmarie proudly shows the awards she received for community blood donations

Sister Wilmarie has been honored by the Community Blood Center of Greater Kansas City for her devotion to donating the gift of life. She surpassed the 20 gallon-mark and was inducted into the Century Society for those who have made more than 100 blood donations.

In addition to Sister Wilmarie’s accomplishments, several other local area groups were also honored. They included West Nodaway High School FFA (Achievement Award), Maryville, Mo., community (Outstanding Community) and Northwest Missouri State University (Largest Blood Drive).

“As a member of a contemplative, monastic community, many social and civic opportunities are not available to me,” Sister Wilmarie said. “However, donating blood is an activity that expands my prayer into a do-able action for my fellow citizens, shows awareness of the wider local community, helps assure a safe blood supply for patients in need, takes very little time and for me is a civic responsibility. I thank all of my past and present prioresses who gave the permission to donate regularly. I also thank God for the health and ability to continue.”

Sister Wilmarie is delighted that so many in the Maryville and Nodaway County communities are also committed to this life-saving gesture, including fellow Benedictine Sisters, students and residents.

“I would encourage any of us who are in good health to consider and re-consider donating blood,” she said.

For more information about being a donor, please visit the CBC site here.

X marks the kaput pile

Don’t you just love the way this word gets spit out of your mouth when you say it?

It’s like saying, “good riddance!”  Here in community, you can imagine how many things become kaput over the months and years.

They usually ended up piled here, on a table placed under this chalkboard, until there is time to dispose of them properly.  I wonder where the “kaput pile” will be when we move back in?…

Sister Sarah's new blog offers reflections on Scripture

We’re happy to announce that Sister Sarah Schwartzberg, OSB has a new blog!

Sister Sarah (center) lives at our San Benito Monastery in Dayton

Sister Sarah hosts Bible study classes at our San Benito Monastery in Dayton, Wyoming. Since she also loves to write, she decided to combine the two.

Weekly, she’ll focus on biblical events or figures she’s presented in class and during presentations.

“I have a lot of material, much on women in the Bible, but other assorted topics as well,” Sister Sarah said. “The next blog will be on Abigail, another of David’s many wives.”

In addition to the weekly class, Sister Sarah has taught classes on the Psalms and on “The Women of the Pentateuch.” She earned a bachelor’s degree from New York University and a master’s degree in Jewish Studies from Spertus Institute in Chicago. She is currently a doctoral candidate at the Spertus Institute.

New part waiting to be installed for the geothermal system

We have two of these heavy duty parts awaiting installation.  Not knowing what they were for, I went right to the source – our prioress.

She in turn checked with the project superintendent.  What did we learn? This is one of the new geothermal pumps that will be part of the heating and cooling system.   The company is also working in the southeast yard near where they sunk the loops. Each day we get a little bit closer to completing the project!

Pictured are (from left) Sister Maria Victoria, Sister Cheryl, Sister Dawn Annette, Sister Nancy Rose and Sister Pat

Several of our Sisters attended a regional meeting March 11-13 at Saint Joseph Monastery in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The event featured Sister Janelle Maes, OSB on the topic of Intimacy, Celibacy and Sticks and Stones.

“It was an enjoyable weekend,” Sister Maria Victoria Cutaia, OSB said. “While gathering with other women within our region, Sister Janelle provided great input on intimacy, celibacy and an overview on how our feelings take an important role.”

St. Benedict, founder of The Rule we follow

Today is the Feast of St. Benedict, honoring the man who founded the Benedictine order 1,500 years ago.

While St. Benedict’s legacy began so long ago, with humble origins, his zest for the Lord and a monastic life is still pursued today by those called to the same life. One of prayer, one of dedication and one of obedience.

He tells us to ‘Listen with the ear of your heart.’ Because only in silence, in contemplation, can we hear what the Lord is telling us. It is in those moments of quiet solitude that he speaks the loudest.

The Rule of St. Benedict, Prologue:

Listen carefully, my child, to your master’s precepts, and incline the ear of your heart (Prov. 4:20).

Receive willingly and carry out effectively your loving father’s advice, that by the labor of obedience you may return to Him from whom you had departed by the sloth of disobedience.

To you, therefore, my words are now addressed, whoever you may be, who are renouncing your own will to do battle under the Lord Christ, the true King,  and are taking up the strong, bright weapons of obedience.

And first of all, whatever good work you begin to do, beg of Him with most earnest prayer to perfect it, that He who has now deigned to count us among His children may not at any time be grieved by our evil deeds. For we must always so serve Him with the good things He has given us, that He will never as an angry Father disinherit His children, nor ever as a dread Lord, provoked by our evil actions, deliver us to everlasting punishment as wicked servants who would not follow Him to glory.

To learn more about incorporating St. Benedict’s rule into your own life, please visit our Oblate site. Oblates are lay men and women affiliated with a Benedictine monastery who have embraced many of St. Benedict’s lessons and folded them into their own lives.

Benedictine Sister Mary Paula

During this Lenten season, Benedictine Sister of Perpetual Adoration Mary Paula Thompson offers a reflection on how she came to realize the presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and how that became a calling to religious life.

When I was a child, before my First Communion, I was always impressed every Sunday after Mass when the servers would put on the altar an antependium, which was bright green and had some big gold letters written on it.

I did not know what the letters said, and I asked my mother. She told me that they said, “The Master is here and calleth for thee.” I was very impressed with that but really didn’t know what it meant, so Mom told me that it meant that Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament was here all day and all night in the tabernacle – always present. That seemed an awesome thought that Jesus would be there all the time.

As I moved along in my spiritual journey, I was fortunate to have access to daily celebrations of Mass and chapels in high school, nurses training, college and the university, so I routinely made visits. My awareness that Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and His Presence were not confined to that tabernacle grew more and more and, in fact, radiated throughout our entire world, through the cosmos and just everything.

What a gift! I learned this was a constant and persistent welcoming from Him. Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is not only My Love but My Lover. When I came to Clyde for the first time and went into our chapel and saw Jesus up there on the altar, I felt so at home that I never have thought seriously of going any place else, I said to Him, “This is it, Jesus, I won’t run away any longer.”

By Benedictine Sister Mary Paula Thompson

Sister Mary Paula made her first profession in 1953 and has been a Benedictine Sister of Perpetual Adoration for 58 years. She has a degree in nursing, along with additional bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and post-graduate studies in spiritual direction, monasticism and psychiatry. She has served as a prioress, postulant director and novice director and has worked in the correspondence department over the years. She lives at our Clyde monastery.

Our low-gluten hosts are helping so many people participate in the Eucharist

We feel that God has blessed us in so many ways, but few are as rewarding as our low-gluten altar bread ministry.

When we receive a phone call or letter or note on our Facebook or Twitter accounts from those who use our low-gluten breads, it brings nothing but pure joy to our hearts. Recently we received a beautiful letter from Gretchen in Seneca Falls, New York. In part, it reads:

“My life changed for the better nearly a year ago. Thanks to the careful planning of Marie Leo, faith formation coordinator, and the willingness of Father Jim Fennessy, my dream came true. It was my son Samuel’s First Holy Communion. Although my First Communion took place as a child, this Commnion was like receiving for the very first time.

Samuel and I have Celeac Disease, and in order for us to safely receive Communion we needed a low-gluten host made by the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration.”

She continues, “I pray that all those who suffer from Celiac Disease – or those who cannot have wheat – receive these wafers. To do so is truly life changing! Every time we receive these low-gluten Communion wafers I thank God for His Greatness, the Benedictine Sisters for creating these wafers, the Catholic Church for accepting these wafers and for Father Jim, Father Roy and Marie Leo for making it possible for my son and I to safely receive the Body of Christ.”

To Gretchen, her son, Samuel, and to the thousands of other low-gluten patrons of many faiths, we are humbled by your gratitude and are blessed to help you all sit at Christ’s table.

Thank You notes crafted by Notre Dame de Sion students

Recently, Sister Ruth Elaine visited students in grades 9-12 at Notre Dame de Sion in Kansas City, Mo. Several religious women from various communities in the area were invited to spend lunch with students and share about their lives.

“I had an absolutely wonderful time with the students,” Sister Ruth Elaine said. “Then a few days later I received a packet of thank you notes from them. It was a great day spent with bright young women who are setting out on their own paths.”

Students were so creative with their thank you's

Several students decorated crosses like this

It appears the students enjoyed the experience as much as Sister Ruth Elaine