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Benedictine Peacemakers

Program Overview

An Evolution of Monastic Life
For 1,500 years, monasteries have attracted seekers of a deep spiritual life. They created monastic communities that became the backbone of social services and the voice of social change wherever they were located. Today, young people who want to develop a deep spiritual life still seek spiritually grounded communities.

As an evolution and widening of monastic life, the Benedictine Peacemaker program is a model for approaching personal formation, spiritual community, and good work in the Benedictine spiritual and monastic tradition, with a particular focus on the practice of peacemaking. The program is cohort-based to foster the formation of deeper relationships and create lasting community by building a network of alumni. As a participant, you will become a Benedictine Peacemaker for life in your local community and wherever you make your home after completing the program.

Join the Benedictine Peacemakers for a year to be immersed in the monastic experience, develop within community, commit yourself to good work, ask questions, and dedicate time to becoming your most whole self.

Not ready to apply yet? Let us know below that you are interested, and we'll keep you in the loop on the application timeline and upcoming events! Please note, Benedictine Peacmakers is currently accepting women around ages 22-30. If you fall outside of this age range, but are interested in a monastic immersion, see our Benedicta Riepp Residency.

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Your Year with the Benedictine Sisters of Erie

What does monastic life look like for you?

Your Peacemaker Cohort
Your Peacemaker cohort will be an intentional community within the broader Erie Benedictine community. As you move through this experience, your cohort will meet weekly for communal conversation and reflection. Following your year, you will become a piece of the Peacemakers Alumni network, a means of finding continuing support for your life journey. 

Life at the Monastery
Peacemakers will participate in the communal life of Mount St. Benedict Monastery through prayer, meals, liturgy, household tasks, and socialization. Participants will be encouraged to engage in monastic life through activities that are relevant to the purpose of the year and to community life, including Benedictines for Peace and Care for the Earth activities.

Your Spiritual Exploration
One day each week will be a planned study and formation day, guided by a monastic and peacebuilding curriculum. Once a month each peacemaker will partake in an individual retreat day for personal self-reflection. Three times a year, the cohort will participate in a full retreat weekend together. Each member of the cohort will also meet with a formation mentor who will help guide them in unpacking their spiritual experience.

Your Communal Formation
Your human formation- growing into the fullest version of yourself- is an integral part of your year as a Peacemaker. Through communal relationships, experiences, reflection, and study, this program will encourage you to become the most true and whole version of yourself.

Your cohort will have dedicated time throughout the year for classes, book discussions, immersion experiences, and community conversations. The formation curriculum is grounded in Benedictine spirituality, and the Benedictine Sisters of Erie corporate commitment “to be a healing presence and prophetic witness for peace and justice by actively addressing the climate crisis and the rights of women and children.” Topics and themes given attention through the lens of Benedictine values include: monastic spirituality, nonviolence and peace building, environmental theology and the climate crisis, humility, racial justice, monastic economy, justice for women. 

The Five Pillars of Monastic Life

Integrated into your efforts to be peace, speak peace, and create peace are:

Prayer: individual and communal prayer will challenge you to deepen your inner spiritual life and grow in outward expressions of spirituality, ritual, and community.

Lectio: meditative time with meaningful reading, art, music, and nature, both shared and experienced individually, will create space for the expansion of soul.

Study: the rich monastic tradition will provide the background for discovering new questions and seeing different perspectives. Nonviolence training is part of this curriculum. 

Community: commitment to intergenerational living through sharing meals, inclusive action and language, common prayer and work, accountability, and responsibility.

Good Work: working in a ministry of the monastic community or within the wider Erie community will give you the chance to put your monastic learnings into practice.

Change Yourself, Change the World

Your Ministry Work
Each week will include three or four days of work at a Benedictine Ministry. Ministry options this year include:

  • Inner-City Neighborhood Art House: The Art House mission is to empower youth through creative experiences, engage in positive self-expression and develop into confident and caring members of the community.
  • Emmaus Ministries: Through the soup kitchen, food pantry, Emmaus Grove garden, and Sister Gus’ Kids Cafe, Emmaus Ministries is dedicated to bringing food, compassion, and companionship to the hungry of Erie.
  • Monasteries of the Heart: An online movement that shares Benedictine spirituality with more than 25,000 contemporary seekers worldwide, founded out of the inspiration of Sister Joan Chittister.

Peacemakers are not necessarily limited to these ministries. We welcome creativity in the good work that you do, and are open to conversations of other ways to contribute to the Erie community during your time with us.

During your year in the Peacemakers, you will be immersed in...

  • Spiritual growth and development
  • Meaningful ministry experience
  • Engagement with local communities
  • A balanced rhythm of life, centered in monastic tradition
  • A strong network of co-creators in the world
  • Experience and formation in peace building practices
  • Thought-provoking conversation and intellectual exploration

How will you carry this experience into the world?

Who should consider this program?

We are seeking those with passions for peace and justice, feminist theology, and social change; openness to enter into the monastic way of life in prayer and community; skills, energy, and vision to contribute to good work throughout the Erie community; a longing for spiritual and personal growth; an intellectual curiosity, questions, and desire to engage with our world.

The Benedictine Peacemaker cohort is open to women ages 22-30 who are able to live at Mount St. Benedict Monastery in Erie, PA. Housing, food, local transportation, and a monthly stipend are provided. Health insurance is also available as needed. 

Applications are due by February 28, 2025. The interview and selection process will continue through the spring, with the program beginning in June 2025. Full timeline, instructions, and application form are found here. Let's create a more peaceful, creative, and just world together!