After a year in the monastery, sisters, coworkers, and friends gathered to celebrate Emily, Erin, and Melissa, the first three women in the Peacemakers Program. Program director Michelle Scully thanked everyone for the role they played in supporting the women through their time in Erie through ministry placements and friendships and the sisters who welcomed them into the monastery.
Pentecost was celebrated in the monastery with lots of red and tongues of fire. Melissa and Emily participated in the Vigil of Pentecost on Saturday evening.
The new issue of The Mount, Summer 2026 is available in PDF format. It's our 170th Anniversary Issue!
Ninety persons who make Benedictine life both possible and visible in Erie gathered at the monastery last week for Ministry Days. The same program was offered on two different days to accommodate the work schedules of the staff at the monastery and the ministries. Volunteers and board members of the ministries were invited as was the St. Benedict Academy Alumnae Board, Benedictines for Peace, and Oblate Co-Directors. “We are grateful to each of you and very happy to share this time with you to talk about what it is that brings us together—making this Benedictine life possible here in Erie,” said Sister Diane Rabe, community administrator, in her welcome.
The women in the Benedictine Peacemakers Program, Erin, Emily, and Melissa, offered "A Recycling Refresh" for the sisters at the monastery. In their final weeks of their year-long experience at the monastery, they decided to leave one more gift. The sisters have been recycling and composting for some time but the young women saw an opportunity to offer some updated information and to make some strategic changes to facilitate their efforts. “It’s in line with the community’s corporate commitment,” they explained as they began. That commitment is “The Benedictine Sisters of Erie and Oblates commit to being a healing presence and a prophetic witness for peace and justice and to climate conscious living. We will decrease harmful patterns of consumerism and work with others to create systemic change needed to meaningfully address the climate crisis.”
