Sister Mary Susan Hallstein, a Pittsburgh, PA native, was exposed to a number of different religious communities at a young age. She was taught by Mercy Sisters and Franciscan Sisters and volunteered with The Little Sisters of the Poor at their home for the elderly. She even had a relative who was a Sister of Charity. But, as she says, somehow God called her to be a Benedictine. Sister Mary Susan worked for several years after high school before entering the Benedictine Sisters of Benet Lake, WI, where she made her perpetual monastic profession. In 1986 she came to Erie when her community of origin began a merger process with the Benedictine Sisters of Erie. With the 1991 completion of the merger, Sister Mary Susan transferred her vows and fully incorporated as an Erie Benedictine. While in Benet Lake, Sister Mary Susan served as Procurator and Formation Director. Since coming to Erie, Sister Mary Susan has worked as the community’s Health Insurance Coordinator, a ministry she began in 1990 and in which she still serves. What is most important to Sister Mary Susan is that first and foremost she is a lover of Christ. It is that presence that she extends to community and through ministry with gentleness and generosity.