Enjoying dinner and friendship are (from left) Sister Deanna Maria Pavone, OSB, Sister Kathleen Clare Lahl, OSB, Sister Kathleen Gorman, OSB, Sister Marietta Crahan, OSB and Sister Marie Jona Yoo, OSB.
Prioress General Sister Pat Nyquist, OSB, opened the 2012 General Assembly in early May in Clyde, Mo., by recalling the legacy of prayer shared by all the BSPA members of the past 138 years.
“The wider world, whether conscious of it or not, needs us, as Thomas Merton intuited, to continue our mission of being monks who, like the trees, purify the air by our very presence,” Sister Pat said. “It is a legacy that we can surely be proud of and be privileged to be a part of.”
(From left) Sister Rosario Martinez, OSB, Sister Regina Arnold, OSB, Sister Bernardine Weis, OSB and Novice Erma Relunia.
Throughout the week, 55 Sisters representing each of the Congregation’s communities discussed current trends and future implications in areas of governance, finances, personnel and works related to their Eucharistic lives.
As always, the level of excitement rises with an assembly and brings with it an abundance of joy and great expectations for future generations in monastic life.
Sister Hildegard Zerwas (left) and Sister Mary Dawn Vercellino, who live at the Clyde and Tucson communities respectively, catch up during a break in meetings.
“Without knowing what the future will be, our call is to embrace the unfolding mystery and together find a direction that holds sacred our monastic, Eucharistic charism even as it evolves in the midst of a world undergoing constant transformation,” Sister Pat said.
