Sacred Stones, Sacred Stories

Arizona Public Media recently visited our Tucson monastery and left with a lovely story to tell!

They profiled our new solar panel array, as well as explored the beautiful monastery’s architectural history.

You can listen to this story by clicking on the link here.

Today we honor seven jubilarians.  Sisters Maryellen Riley, Bede Luetkemeyer, Mary Jane Romero, Laurentia Doyle, Benita Luetkemeyer and Anita Valdez all celebrate their diamond or 60th Monastic Profession. Sister Cheryl Morehead celebrates her silver jubilee.

Since we are all in Clyde for our assembly, we will celebrate as one in our Adoration Chapel.  Following the banquet at the Lord’s table, we will share common table for a brunch and a day of great rejoicing.

Sisters Maryellen and Benita reside in our healthcare facility, Our Lady of Rickenbach, and work as they are able.  Sisters Bede, Mary Jane and Anita are sisters from our Tucson monastery where they serve the community in prayer, liturgy and sewing vestments.  Sisters Laurentia and Cheryl live in Clyde and serve in the altar bread department and in leadership and grounds maintenance, respectively.

Let us give thanks for these faithful women who have given their lives to God, and they have been a blessing to us, the church and the world for it.  We thank God for them and their fruitfulness!

It is with great joy we welcomed the confirmation class from St. Edmund’s to our San Benito (Wyo.) monastery in March!

They spent a day in retreat with Sister Hope Rodenborn who served as their director. They ended the retreat with time in adoration.

As always, we love spending time with our young friends, sharing faith and fellowship with them.

“Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:1-8).

St. Mark, an evangelist, is thought to have written the first gospel around 60A.D. even though his is the second in the canon, following St. Matthew’s.  He is believed to have been the cousin of St. Barnabus and was a companion to both St. Peter and St. Paul.  His mother was an early convert and their home was a place where Christians gathered early on.  Some hold that Mark established the church in Alexandria.

Tradition also holds that St. Mark’s gospel is based upon Mark’s writing down of Jesus’ story according to St. Peter.  He is usually depicted holding a pen in one hand and the Bible in another with a lion close by which is the traditional symbol of Mark the Evangelist.

Today we honor his contributions to the Catholic faith and his life’s example of following and helping where needed.  May we all be eager to write the gospel with our lives and be at peace with little recognition, knowing that Christ himself is the light to which we attest.  May we “prepare the way of the Lord.” (Mk 1:3c)

Previous General Assemblies allow our Congregation an opportunity to discern, discuss and gather in fellowship.

It is a common occurrence throughout the world of institutions, communities and governing bodies or groups trying to maintain a vision and a mission to meet and talk, share ideas and concerns, to evaluate, update and execute new plans of action. We are not any different.

For over a year now, we have been doing some information gathering and sharing and group processing, looking at who we have been, who we are and who we believe God is calling us to be in the future, all the while keeping in mind our prophetic witness of God’s love in the church and the world.

All of us Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration will gather at our Clyde, Mo, monastery the end of this week for several days of discussion and decision-making in this ongoing process.

We have fervently prayed for openness to God’s will and the guidance of the Spirit. We have spent time each Sunday in communal adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. Now we will see the signs and know the fruitfulness of our preparations and prayers.

We humbly ask for prayers as we enter more deeply into this discernment time. Help support our perseverance and courage to take the steps necessary to fulfill God’s mission for us, the church and the world. As always, we desire to know and do the will of God, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else.

With joyful hearts we thank you.

Furry friend stops by the pond at our Clyde monastery

Every day is Earth Day for Benedictines. Taking care of God’s earth, doing our part to preserve its beauty and its resources for future generations, is very important to us.

Over the years, we have been fortunate to engage in many earth-friendly practices at our monasteries, such as….

Restoring several hundreds of acres of prairie grass

Installing solar panels

Using a water tank to collect rainfall

Hosting a wind turbine

In addition, we drive hybrid cars and installed a geothermal heating/cooling system in our Clyde monastery. Our Dayton Sisters endeavor to maintain the beauty of the natural landscape at San Benito, a retreat space with the foothills of the Big Horn Mountains as a peaceful backdrop.

It is our responsibility to take care of all that God gives us, to help others realize the impact they make and how they can work WITH our planet rather than against it.

We pray that all understand their place as good stewards of the earth. Just by starting small – recycling or composting – can make a big difference. So let today be the start of something great for all of us!

Our foundress, Mother Mary Anselma

Today is the Feast Day of St. Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury who died in 1109. He is credited as the father of scholastic theology and established the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

It was our own founder, Mother Mary Anselma Felber, who we credit with our Benedictine roots in America. She joined five Sisters from Maria Rickenback Convent in Switzerland to establish our monastery in Clyde, Mo.

She was chosen as superior at the tender age of 30. Learn more about her life and contributions to our Congregation by visiting our History page.

Three young women interested in deepening their spiritual relationships attended the annual Spring Break Monastic Experience held in March at the Clyde, Mo. monastery.

A young participant learns about soapmaking from Sister Cathleen Marie (right).

Sister Deanna (left) shows a participant her work in the altar bread department

The participants, hailing from Arizona, Texas and Oregon, spent time in prayer, immersed themselves in monastic life, ate meals and prayed with Sisters and learned about the variety of their monastic works.

The Sisters also offer a similar program in the summer. For dates and locations, please visit our vocations page.

Tucson Prioress Sister Ramona Varela, OSB (center) gratefully accepts a $1,500 donation from members of the Knights of Columbus, Msgr. Don H. Hughes Assembly.

Members raised the donation during an event on St. Patrick’s Day held at St. Thomas Parish in Tucson, Ariz.

Sister Ramona is joined by (far left) Knights of Columbus members Marty Ronstandt and T.K. Mohr. We thank our generous friends who work tirelessly on our behalf so we many continue our monastic life in prayer for the world.