Sister May Nguyen, pictured here with Erie Benedictine Sister Katherine Horan, received her white coat in a ceremony at Gannon University last month. The traditional white coat ceremony marks the transition for junior Bachelor of Science in Nursing students into the clinical phase of their program. Sister May, of the Congregation of Lovers of the Holy Cross of Hanoi, a Vietnamese congregation, is living at the monastery while she pursues her nursing studies. Sister Thi Hoa Nguyen is also living at the monastery and studying early childhood education.

In the monthly booklet, Give Us This Day,  produced by the Benedictine publisher Liturgical Press, each day's prayers include a short reflection by a noted author. This month an excerpt by Erie Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister from her book, The Liturgical Year, the spiraling adventure of the spiritual life, will appear on November 29, the vigil of the First Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the Church's liturgical year. 

Benedictine scholar Sister Laura Swan has studied and written about the history of women's spirituality and the monastic life for many years. There is no fee for this webinar on November 18 at 7:00 p.m. ET where Sister Laura will engage us with voices from the past that call to us with their message — one we desperately need in our lives today. We see this as a nudging of the Holy Spirit, a call to listen because we are in time of reformation and impasse and in need of guidance. With Sister Laura we will explore what the message of the Beguines might be for us today.

Sister Jacqueline Sanchez-Small is interviewed in this YourErie.com news clip reporting on the living rosary, organized in response to Pope Leo's has urging to be “united and forceful” in our protection of migrants’ rights in the US.

Sister Marcia Sigler, a former member of the Fairfield Hose Company Volunteer Fire Department, once again delivered on offering a heartfelt community thank you to members of the Company and their families at the annual dinner in the monastery dining room. She designed table decorations and gathered treats with firefighting themes and prepared creative prizes that include hand-crafted items. The dinner menu is a favorite, spaghetti and meatballs with a sundae bar for dessert.

Join us in this national prayer for immigrants on Wednesday, Oct 22, 4:30 p.m. across from the Erie County Prison.

Listen to Sister Lucia Surmik's reflection on volunteers at Emmaus. She cooked at the soup kitchen for many years. Video by Z3 Concepts, Inc., Erie PA

An opportunity to lament—to cry out to God in prayer from our places of confusion, pain, anger, and frustration—drew more than 120 persons to the monastery chapel on a Friday evening in early October for “Lament: An Opening to Hope.”

“A prayer of lament is different than the Liturgy of the Hours that we are most accustomed to,” explained Sister Dorothy Stoner. “The prayer of lament cries out forcefully, expressing confusion, pain, anger, and frustration—the feeling of abandonment of the one who is praying. It expresses our deep sorrow in suffering and injustice. The language is not polite; it is direct and raw. Nor does the prayer end with answers or assurances that ‘all will be well.’ It does, however, offer just a glimpse of hope as it acknowledges the presence of God.”