Lent is a call to weep for what we could have been and are not. Lent is the grace to grieve for what we should have done and did not. Lent is the opportunity to change what we ought to change but have not. Lent is not about penance. Lent is about becoming, doing and changing whatever it is that is blocking the fullness of life in us right now. Lent is a summons to live anew. —Sister Joan Chittister
Make keeping the season of Lent a communal effort by joining our weekly vigil and praying with others who, like you, see Lent as time set aside to become more fully human, more holy. Lenten vigils take place each Saturday during Lent at 7:00 p.m. in the monastery chapel. The vigil includes short reflections from a different person each week: March 8, Sister Therese Glass; March 15, Sister Linda Romey; March 22, Sister Janet Goetz; March 29, Sister Val Luckey; April 5, Sister Ann Hoffman; April 12, Oblate Carol Vaccariello.
If you're new to the monastery, consider joining us on March 29 for a tour of the monastery and dinner with the community prior to the 7:00 p.m. vigil. Reservations are needed for tour and dinner because space is limited in the dining room. Click here to register.
Monastic Life Is...
The sixth interview from the Where Hope Is: Stories of Benedictine Influence oral stories project is available.
Please join us in prayer for homicide victim Canyon Andrew McGarvey, on Monday, March 10, 5:15 p.m., in the 1800 block of Fairmont Parkway, the site where Canyon was murdered on January 19, 2025. Take Back the Site Vigils reclaim the place where violence has occurred. We pray for all people who are harmed by violence: victims, perpetrators, bystanders, friends, families. We believe that a nonviolent way of life is possible. The 15-minute vigils are ponsored by: the Benedictine Sisters of Erie and Oblates, the Sisters of St. Joseph, Agrégées, and Associates, and the Sisters of Mercy and Associates.
Read the newest issue of The Companion, the newsletter of Emmaus Ministries.
March 21 is the Solemnity of Saint Benedict when we celebrate the “passing” of Benedict. This month of Benedict provides a timely opportunity to consider Laudato Sí through a “Benedictine eye.” Many values and themes associated with the Rule of Benedict are at the heart of Laudato Sí so March is a fitting time to consider a few.
Oblate Janice Etchison and Sister Pat Lupo, standing, presented outcomes of small group discussion at a recent public meeting held by the Erie Port Authority to collect citizen input regarding the future use of the former site of the Erie Coke Plant on the Lake Erie waterfront. The plant, which had been polluting land, air, and water on Erie's east side for nearly 100 years, closed in December 2019 after a massive public campaign led by Hold Erie Coke Accountable (HECA) under the leadership of Sister Pat and Dr. Mike Campbell.
In this powerful first episode of a three-part podcast series, Fr. John Dear unpacks the Beatitudes with Sister Joan Chittister—not as prayers, but as bold, countercultural ways of living that challenge systems of power. "The eight Beatitudes of life are actually the eight attitudes for life," Sister Joan says.
Sister Anne McCarthy appears in Erie Times-News reporter Kevin Flowers's story about the February 17 rally in East Perry Square, attended by roughly 100 people. Similar rallies were held across the nation Monday.
Oblate Kelly Adamson is featured in "Five Catholic women who dream of ordination as deacons," a Religion News Service article highlighting women in the church who are called to be deacons--even though women are currently prohibited from the diaconate in Catholicism. She is a member of Discerning Deacons, a network aimed at informing Catholics about women deacons.
