Sacred Stones, Sacred Stories

Sue McCrary (center) was honored by the Clyde community for her recent retirement after 26 years of cooking in the monastery kitchen. Pictured are (from left) BSPA employee Brenda Holtman, Sue, Sister Lynn Marie D’Souza and Sister Judy Neisen.

When Sue McCrary showed up in a short-handed kitchen at the Clyde, Mo., monastery, she had planned to help for just a couple of days.

Those two days turned into 26 years.

The Benedictine Sisters honored Sue with a dinner to recognize her recent retirement, thanking her for all her years of delicious meals and dedicated service.

“On the day of the shootings at (nearby) Conception Abbey we invited the monks to join us for dinner and Vespers,” Sister Lynn Marie D’Souza said. “We had been in the midst of a General Assembly, so there were already more than 100 Sisters at meals. Then we added another 40 monks, so we knew we needed to get started on dinner. However, when we showed up at the kitchen, Sue was already there. She had heard the devastating news on the radio and drove to the monastery to help. That simple act of charity shows the depth of her love and devotion to us.”

The Sisters will miss her wonderful cooking, but it will be Sue’s kindness, sense of humor and care of her Sisters that will “be in our hearts forever,” Sister Lynn Marie said.

Fortunately, Sue lives near the monastery and will remain a neighbor and friend after retirement.

“We wish her and her family all good wishes as she begins this new phase of her life,” Sister Lynn Marie said.

Benedictine Sister Lynn Marie D’Souza, OSB addresses members of the Region XIII Formation Conference during its annual meeting held over the weekend at our Clyde, Mo., monastery.

We were excited to host the annual regional gathering of women in formation over the weekend at our Clyde, Mo., monastery.

Seventeen women gathered for the weekend to discuss the topic “Saints: Past, Present and Future.” Sister Colleen Maura McGrane, OSB, Sister Lynn Marie D’Souza, OSB and Sister Dawn Annette Mills, OSB provided vital insight on the liturgy of saints, virtue and holiness.

“Our formation guests also had the opportunity to take a look at the recent renovations made to our main house, which included new guest spaces,” said guest coordinator Sister Sophia Becker, OSB. “We were grateful to have the space and opportunity to give hospitality to these women. Let us all remember to hold these women in prayer and to continue to pray for more vocations, especially during this Year of Faith.”

Region XIII includes women in formation from monasteries in Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri.

Prepping apples are (from left) Sister Lynn Marie, Sister Sarah, Sister Jane and Sister Dawn Annette.

Our Clyde Sisters recently received several big boxes of apples from a Sisters’s relative.

One night we gathered after supper to help process the apples for apple sauce, crisps and pies. We have this task down pat.

“Peel, core and cut in four” are the directions that most of us know. Set up and washing of the fruit are part of the process as well as collecting the pared fruit for cooking and the cores and peelings that go to the compost bin.

Many hands make light work indeed! Our mouths are already watering for the homemade warm apple sauce and chewy, gooey apple crisp.

When a woman enters the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, she’s gifted with a copy of the Rule of St. Benedict.

But rarely do they get quite the instruction as Sister Lynn Marie D’Souza, OSB and Sister Nancy Rose Gucwa, OSB experienced during an intense, month-long study in June.

The two attended an exegesis, a critical interpretation, of the founding father’s Rule, which also offered practical applications to religious life. Led by world renown scholar Sister Aquinata Böckmann, OSB, and hosted by the Missionary Benedictine Sisters in Norfolk, Neb., the course was attended by women religious from around the world.

Photo courtesy of Sister Nancy Bauer, OSB

“I had classes on the Rule as a novice, but they were not as intensive as this course was,” Sister Lynn Marie said. “I am very grateful to Sister Pat (Nyquist), our prioress general, who felt it would be helpful for me as a formation director to foster a good grounding in the Rule so that I could teach it to our novices in the future.”

The daily schedule for participants included three hours of lecture, afternoons filled with personal study and small breakout groups. Among the studies was a unique and insightful way of looking at something they’ve already spent years reading – with the aid of a few colored pencils.

“Sister Aquinata instructed us to underline the intensive language of the Rule, words like ‘always’ and ‘never,’ in one color, any reference to the monks in another, the abbot in another shade, their actions in yet another, and so forth,” Sister Lynn Marie said. “When you colored in the pages, you got an instant, overall sense of the chapter just by looking at the predominant colors on the page.”

Color-coded Rule

Sister Aquinata’s scholarship on the Rule is widespread among the Benedictine community, and Sister Lynn Marie is grateful to have spent this time with her.

Sister Aquinata

“This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I loved Sister Aquinata’s insights that she has gleaned from her decades of living and studying the Rule,” Sister Lynn Marie said. “I feel that she not only taught us the Rule but gave us the tools and methodology to enable us to continue to study on our own.”

NADI 2012

It’s an exciting two weeks for Sister Lynn Marie and Novice Erma as they attend the Novice and Director Institute sponsored by the American Benedictine Formation Conference.

The annual event is hosted this year by Mount St. Scholastica in Atchison, Kan., so they didn’t have to travel very far. In fact, a large group of participants will visit our Clyde, Mo., monastery tomorrow, and we’re so excited to share our home and time with them for a few hours.

The Novice and Director Institute gives novices the opportunity to learn about the similarities and differences among various Benedictine communities, allows them to explore essential elements of the Rule of St. Benedict and receive support from fellow novices and feedback on monastic formation.

For directors, like Sister Lynn Marie, it allows them to share programs, resources, ideas and concerns and support their novices in the NADI experience.

This year’s theme is “Exploring Monastic Treasures,” so we look forward to hearing about all they’ve learned!

The Magdalen by Bernardino Luini (courtesy of Haverford College)

Today is the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene (also spelled Magdalen or Magdalena).

She is honored as The Penitent one and is the patron saint of our Sister Lynn Marie who shares her thoughts on this beautiful and iconic woman from the time of Christ:

There has been much debate throughout the life of the Church as to who exactly she was. Was she the woman caught in adultery, was she the repentant sinner that bathed Jesus’ feet with her tears, could she be the sister of Mary and Lazarus of Bethany, was she – as Dan Brown would have us believe – Jesus’ mistress???

Well, that last piece we know is NOT true, but for the others we don’t really know.  Scripture and tradition leave us without definite answers to these questions.  We do know from Scripture that Mary Magdalene had seven demons cast out from her.  She was a woman of some means for she, along with several other women, helped provide for the needs of Jesus and the disciples (Luke 8:1-3).  Aside from that brief mention in Luke, the reason for Mary Magdalene’s prominence in the hearts and minds of believers, what has caused her to be the subject of countless works of art, has been her presence at the crucifixion of Christ and the fact that all four Gospels list her  as one of the first witnesses to the Resurrection.  She is sent by Christ to tell the Apostles of His resurrection, thereby earning her the title of “the Apostle to the Apostles.”

I love St. Mary Magdalene, so much so that I chose her as my patron saint when I professed my vows nine years ago.  Here are the top three things I love about Mary Magdalene

• I love her fidelity.  From her steadfast support of Jesus and his ministry, to her abiding presence during the Passion at the foot of the Cross, she didn’t shirk away from the painful part of love.
• I love her passion.  She doesn’t hold anything back after Jesus’ death.   She goes to the tomb the first chance she gets and is ready to carry off Jesus’ body if they would just tell her where it is.
• I love how she loves Jesus – boldly, deeply and with her whole being.  When Christ calls her name and she recognizes him, she unhesitatingly throws herself upon him, her joy is unbounded!  And with that same joy and love she races to tell the Apostles “I HAVE SEEN THE LORD!”

As we celebrate the feast of St Mary Magdalene, I pray that we may love Jesus fearlessly, faithfully, and fully as did this beloved disciple.  St. Mary Magdalene, pray for us!