Matt Fedak, Sister Therese Glass, and Mike Sadler: The Wabtec Foundation awarded the Benedictine Sisters a $5,000 grant at their May board of directors meeting. The check was delivered to the monastery by Community Labor Coalition Fund members Matt Fedak and Mike Sadler, representing the Local UE 506 Union whose members work at Wabtec's Erie plant. Benedictine sisters and oblates supported the union’s workers during their June 2023 strike. As to why the Benedictine Sisters were selected to receive the funds, Mike told Michelle Basista from the Benedictine Sisters Development Office, “You supported us during the strike and with your peace walks. That’s what made us think of you all. You do great work for our community.” The funds will support the sisters good works, including the new Benedictine Peaceamakers live-in program for young women, learn more here: Benedictine Peacemakers
Volunteers and sisters braved a wet Saturday to tackle some of the invasive species in the landscaping around the monastery. "We have been working to eliminate invasive species here at the Mount," said Sister Annette Marshall, chair of the Care for the Earth committee. She explained that invasive species are types of plants and animals that have been introduced into an area that do not belong there naturally and are prone to take over an area and not allow the native plants or animals to live there. The main invasive species that we have been working to eliminate has been multifloral rose - which the goats we have hired for the past three summers have been helping us do. Another invasive that is often used in landscaping and was introduced onto monastery property in that way is English ivy. It has been growing since 1970 and has gotten out of hand and has been growing on the trees. It needs to be manually removed and replaced with a native ground cover.
“Laudato Sí, mi Signore” – “Praise be to you, My Lord.” In the words of this beautiful canticle, Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us. “…. who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with coloured flowers and herbs.” #1
Prioress Sister Stephanie Schmidt was honored as the 2025 Religious of the Year by the Serra Club at a special liturgy and dinner on May 27. Sister Stephanie was nominated for the award by by Judge Stephanie Domitrovich. In her brief remarks, Sister Stephanie noted that we must cultivate “holy families,” the place where all our vocations begin. The Serra Club will make a $200 donation to a Benedictine ministry in her name. Serrans promote vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Pictured are Mike Elia, outgoing Serra Club president, and awardees Deacon Dennis Deiner, Layperson Charlie Rutkowski, Sister Stephanie, and Father Michael Kesicki.
"I am beyond grateful to the Erie County Gaming Authority (ECGRA) for focusing on the community, especially the most vulnerable and youngest in our community," said Carrisa Kepple, Director of Saint Benedict Child Development Center, when she learned that the Center was to be awarded a $52,749 grant to help recruit and retain qualified educators. "The teachers at Saint Benedict's devote their lives to making sure the children we serve obtain the best education possible during their time with us. The work they do does not stop when they clock out at the end of the day. Many of them are furthering their own education either by taking Child Development Associate courses, obtaining their Pennsylvania teaching certificates, or completing their master's in education. Their work never goes unnoticed, but grants such as this, which let them know that 'We see you and ee thank you for your hard work and efforts,' make a world of difference in a field that often gets overlooked."
The rain stopped and the sun broke through the clouds just in time for the May 17 “Mother Earth Day” poetry reading at the Poetry Park on East 22nd Street in Erie. “About forty people, including neighborhood kids, joined us to read and listen to poetry that deepened our love of Mother Earth as our home,” said Katie Gordon, one of the event planners. The reading featured two local poets, Niecey Nicole and Matt Borczon. Matt is a cousin of Sister Mary Lou Kownacki, who with Sister Mary Miller, created the Poetry Park for the children in their neighborhood. Although the sisters have both died their memory lives on in the park that is artfully designed with the words of poets on sculptures and boulders.
Sisters Anne Wambach (left) and Linda Romey wove through downtown Erie streets on Saturday, May 10, in the Inner-City Neighborhood Art House Art & Sole 5-K. A record number of runners and walkers—well over 200—joined in the annual fundraiser for the Art House, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. Dozens of volunteers hosted activities for kids in the Art House parking lot while local sports and business mascots meandered through the crowd and danced to the music that was only interrupted to announce the start of each event, including a 1-K kids run. Many donors and sponsors made the event possible, and City of Erie police officers stationed along the route, which went all the way to the lakefront before heading east and then returning to the Art House, kept runners and walkers safe in the streets.
In commemoration of Earth Day 2025 residents and staff of Benetwood Apartments planted a blooming cherry tree in honor of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie. "We gathered to plant the tree in gratitude for the sisters, we love being next to the monastery and sharing our grounds. We are working together to keep this land healthy and beautiful," said Wendy Wallace, Manager at Benetwood Apartments. Planting took place in the same patch of front lawn in which a forty-four-year-old oak tree needed to be removed last fall due to disease. There was a brief presentation with the reading of Joyce Kilmer's poem, "Trees," and then all present help plant and bless the tree. Now that the snow is gone and the sun is shining, Benetwood residents are again using the path through the woods to enjoy walks on the adjacent monastery grounds. Benetwood, which opened in 1981, is a 75-unit government-subsided non-profit senior apartment building administered by the Benedictine Sisters.
In the presence of her Benedictine sisters and many friends, colleagues, and family members, Sister Jacqueline Sanchez-Small made her final monastic profession at the Vigil of Sunday on Saturday, May 3, in the monastery chapel.
The Alliance for International Monasticism, US Secretariat, located in Erie, offers their newest newsletter. Download it now.
We are sad that Pope Francis has died, and we remember him with gratitude...
It’s been ten years since Pope Francis offered Laudato Sí, On Care for Our Common Home to the world. On the Solemnity of Pentecost, 2015, Pope Francis issued to all of us an Encyclical Letter, Laudato Sí. People throughout the world, of all ages, have recognized this letter as a beautiful yet brutally honest description of the relationship we are to have with other humans and with our environment, yet it shows how we have fallen short of that.
Erie Benedictine Sister Marian Wehler and her coworker at Catholic Rural Ministries, Sister Tina Gieger, RSM, were among those honored as Outstanding Individuals at the Venango County Human Services awards dinner on April 16 at the Cross Creek Resort in Titusville, Pennsylvania. “We were nominated by Rev. Randy Powell, a Baptist minister, and Eva Palmer of Mustard Seed Ministries. It is an honor for us to collaborate with them as we work to serve families in need in Venango County,” said Sister Marian. The two sisters collaborate with many social service agencies in their Catholic Rural Ministries work. Pictured are, front row, Marian Wehler, OSB, Tina Geiger, RSM, Kathy Stephens, Mary Ellen Hynes and back row, Nancy Fischer, SSJ, Rev. Randy Powell, and Eva Palmer.
Listen to Sisters Kath Horan, Jacqueline Sanchez-Small, Val Luckey, Pat Lupo (behind candles), Rosanne Lindal-Hynes, Pat Witulski, Veronica Mirage (seated), Dianne Sabol (in ray of sunlight) offer a contemporary lamentation scripted and directed by Sister Margaret Ann Pilewski. Sister Peggy blends lines from the poem "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus that appear on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty and lines from Scripture in this interpretive reading that breaks open the suffering of the immigrant and our call as Christians and as U.S. citizens to respond to this suffering. Listen here.
The office of Erie Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister released this statement on the death of Pope Francis:
When Pope Francis first appeared on the papal balcony wearing a simple white cassock, his own brown shoes, eschewing the red cape with white fur trimming, I was surprised. Then when he asked the crowd for their blessing before he gave them his own, I knew we were on the brink of something radically different from the papal visuals of the past.
Sister Anne McCarthy and Oblate Cindy Liotta speak about the Good Friday Peace Pilgrimage in this Erie News Now story.
Join Benedictines for Peace on Friday, April 18 at 11 a.m. for the 45th annual Good Friday Pilgrimage for Peace, praying the Stations of the Cross as we process through the streets of downtown Erie. This year's theme is "The Way of the Cross: The Way of the Migrant." Following the 9:00 a.m. Tenebrae service, a bus will leave Mount Saint Benedict Monastery at 10:30 a.m. and the first station will be prayed at 11 a.m. at St. Peter Cathedral, 10th and Sassafras Streets in Erie. A bus will be available for those who need to ride all or part of the walk and it will return to 10th and Sassafras at the end of the pilgrimage for those parked at the Cathedral. It will then go to Mount Saint Benedict for the 3:00 p.m. Good Friday service. A simple soup lunch will be served at the monastery for those who return to the monastery after the pilgrimage.
Listen to an interview with Betsy Roeback Monsalve, St. Benedict Academy Class of 1966. Betsy's mom was Class of 1936. Betsy shares stories and insights of the sisters who shaped her life.
Pope Francis has declared 2025 a Jubilee Year with the theme, “Pilgrims of Hope.” For Benedict, our entire life is a pilgrimage of hope, one where we are to “run while we have the light of life” towards our heavenly home. Benedict and Pope Francis are there to guide us on our way and we’re grateful, that you are with us on this pilgrimage.
Many Benedictine sisters and oblates were among the hundreds of people who gathered on Saturday, April 5, to participate in the national Hands Off! Rally. Benedictines for Peace was a sponsor and coordinator Sister Anne McCarthy addressed the rally goers and led them in singing the mantra Peace, Salaam, Shalom. Read more in the Erie Times News report. Sign up to receive communications from Benedictines for Peace.
Join friends and neighbors for Mother Earth Day at the Poetry Park, 636 East 22nd Street in Erie. Saturday, May 17, 2-3 p.m. celebrate poetry that cultivates our love of Mother Earth as home. Featuring local poets Niecey Nicole and Matt Borazon, plus open mic--bring your original work. Kids welcome! The Poetry Park was a vision of Erie Benedictine Sister Mary Lou Kownacki who lived across the street until she died in January 2023. She and Sister Mary Miller made it a reality. Sister Mary died in May 2023.
The 2025 Lent Monastery Tour brought more than fifty guests to the monastery on March 29. In four different places in the monastery--the chapel, the front parlor, the library, and the community room--different sisters shared aspects of their monastic life. Personal experience, community tradition, and the Rule of Benedict informed their sharing. After questions were answered, guests joined the sisters for dinner in the dining room. The tour concluded with guests joining the sisters for the Vigil of Lent in the darkened monastery chapel.
More than 250 SBA Alumnae attended the annual Christmas luncheon on March 30--postponed because of Erie's snow winter. Graduates from the 1950s through the 1980s enjoyed reconnecting and buying chances on nearly 70 gift baskets that lined the walls of the banquet room at the Ambassador Banquet Center in Erie. "It is amazing that so many women continue to gather and to remember and celebrate their years at St. Benedict Academy," said Sister Rosanne Loneck, a graduate herself and also a popular teacher at the school.
“Earth Day 1970 made it clear that we could summon the public support, the energy, and commitment to save our environment.” —Gaylord Nelson
Will the same be said about Earth Day 2025? Let’s review a little history.
Join Benedictines for Peace and others on Saturday, April 5, at noon in Perry Square for Erie's HandsOff Rally, part of a national, non-violent effort to send a message to the world that we do not consent to the destruction of our government and our economy for the benefit of Trump and his billionaire allies. Learn more here. Fairness and equity are key principles of the Rule of Benedict and the gospel; we join the call to practice government with equity and fairness.
Erie News Now featured Erie's Catholic Sisters on their 5:30 newscast every day through Catholic Sisters Week, March 8-14. View Eva Mastromatteo's interview from Wednesday with Sister Mary Ellen Plumb and Oblate Jo Clarke. On Friday, she interviewed Sister Stephanie Schmidt and Sister of St. Joseph Mary Drexler. Eva, Sister Mary Ellen, and Jo are pictured.
Last Saturday at a gathering of about 300 persons demanding that Rep. Mike Kelly be present at a town hall to hear the concerns of people in Erie, GoErie.com interviewed Sister Jacqueline Sanchez-Small. Sister Jacqueline's comment was posted by Rachel Maddow on BluSky. Rep. Kelly has not held a town hall in Erie County since 2015. The protest, which was organized by a group of citizens, as well as French Creek Indivisible and Erie Benedictines for Peace, was held in Perry Square in downtown Erie. Listen to the interview and read news story here.
Everyday Sacred, Everywhere Beauty: Readings from an Old Monk's Journal, a collection of Sister Mary Lou Kownacki's writings published by Orbis books after her death from cancer in January, 2023, is a 2025 Illumination Award bronze medal winner in spirituality. The Illumination Awards recognize and honor the best books in Christian literature each year. "…if we’re wise we find a book like this one …with every hope we ever dreamed, and every word we remember of its insights, and all the joy and possibility it ever brought to all our wishes and all the promises we promised before these times to celebrate the rest of life." —from the Afterword by Joan Chittister, OSB
Erie Benedictine oblates celebrated their Benedictine sisters on Sunday in honor of Catholic Sisters week. With the collaboration of Michelle Basista, Development Associate, and oblate Cynthia Legin-Bucell and the technical assistance of Jim Wertz, the oblates created a twenty-minute video of personal thank you messages. "It was a very touching tribute, and some of us were moved to tears," said Sister Linda Romey.
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.
More on St. Scholastica and loving locally from Katie Gordon on Following the Monastic Impulse. Read it here.
Susan Quaintance, OSB, our Benedictine sister from the Benedictine Sisters of Chicago, offers a reflection on St. Scholastica and the women who follow her. Read it on Global Sisters Report. Happy Feast Day!
“Whatsoever you did to the least of my brothers and sisters, you did unto me.” —Gospel of Matthew, 25:40
With these words, Jesus Christ gave his followers a most challenging teaching. He instructs them to treat those who are poor, those who are strangers, with love, compassion, and reverence.
Listen to Sister Carolyn's newest podcast and reflect on when you've been given fresh, new starts.
In the spirit of the Gospel and the inspiration of St. Benedict we, as members of the Conference of Benedictine Prioresses (CBP), representing more than 1,100 sisters, commit ourselves to Christ-like hospitality. Therefore, we call upon our leaders, especially governors, state legislators, members of the United States Congress, and our president to reconsider proposed immigration policies and to work towards solutions that uphold the dignity and rights of all people. We urge them to create pathways to citizenship for immigrants, provide humane treatment for those in detention, and ensure that immigrant families are not torn apart. In addition, we commit ourselves to work with other organizations who are advocating and caring for migrant peoples.
Florists, candy-makers, card shops, and restaurants would have us believe Valentine’s Day is a happy time of romance and love celebrated by people of all ages. Many people disagree. They experience it as a time of loneliness and melancholy. A time when one is reminded of what was but no longer is. A time of regret. Is there another way to think of Valentine’s Day? Laudato Sí may invite us – even challenge us – to expand our understanding of this significant day.
Sister Val Luckey's new Erie Times News OpEd deals with snow and gratefulness...
Are you in need of some hope? What can it look like? Once again we turn to Pope Francis and Laudato Sí. “Hope would have us recognize that there is always a way out, that we can always redirect our steps, that we can always do something to solve our problems.” #61
Sister Placida Anheuser, OSB, 107, died on December 25, 2024, at Mount St. Benedict Monastery in Erie.
Sister Joan Chittister and Sister Linda Romey are among the contributors to Wisdom from the Global Sisterhood, a new book of contemporary reflections by Catholic sisters compiled from ten years' of Global Sisters Report (GSR) writings.
New in the Brick by Brick substack: When first thinking about Catholic religious life as my next step, I wondered how one even goes about that these days and how one chooses among the different orders. Then the podcast I was listening to said Benedictine right as I drove past a Church of St. Benedict, so the matter was settled.
I like wordplay and books, so I keep my eye out for clever names, including titles of cozy mysteries (Buried in the Stacks, by Allison Brook) and book/gift shops (the Bayfront Bookshelf run by Friends of the Library at Blasco, for example). But I didn't know why the gift shop at Mount St. Benedict (6101 East Lake Road) is called Chapter 57 until Sister Valerie Luckey, OSB, director of Emmaus Ministries, explained its origin. (I am also a freelance writer for Emmaus.)
If you haven't checked our Substacks, Blogs, and Podcasts page in the last few days, there is new content in all of them. These are the most recent titles: Spaces and Liberation; “Symbolic Monks” and the world's ways; OMG!; We need culture; The Earliest Struggles; Nature At Its Best.
This week is a confluence of meaning. We celebrated the Solemnity of Christ the Annointed One (Christ the King) last Sunday, November 24. We celebrate Thanksgiving Thursday, November 28, and next Sunday, December 1, Advent begins. On Sunday, Oblate Priscilla Richter offered insightful reflections that illuminated the meaning of all these events in light of the gospel reading from John 18:33b-37 and our current reality.
Pierogis. Shawarma. Bratwurst. Sushi. Collard greens. Empanadas. Can’t you imagine the delicious tastes offered by each of these foods? Need a bit of sweet? We could add: Biscotti. Kolache. Chocolates. Baklava. The list of our food preferences has expanded and internationalized quite naturally. We see what others are enjoying. We try it. We like it.
December 1 - 25 Monasteries of the Heart is offering Into the Light: Daily Advent Journey. Register now.
The Benedictine Sisters are offering a reflective and interactive Advent retreat on Saturday morning, December 14. This Advent lectio retreat will explore our call to love. It begins at 9:30 a.m. at the monastery and concludes at 11:00 a.m. Registration are required, and donations are welcome. To register, for more information, email retreats@eriebenedictines.org or phone (814) 899-0614, ext 2403.
Laurie Smith, right, from Havre de Grace, Maryland, recently began a six-month commitment in the Benedicta Riepp live-in monastic experience program. Prioress Sister Stephanie Schmidt, pictured, and the community welcomed her with a blessing and acceptance ritual followed by a shared meal in the community dining room. “I felt such a welcome,” Laurie said. “I feel like I belong here.”
The Winter 2024 issue of The Mount is available in PDF format.
The Serra Club of Erie presented a congratulatory cake to the ten 2024 Erie Benedictine Jubilarians in honor of their years of service to the Diocese of Erie. Serra Club member Dave Wayman, picture here with jubliarians Sisters Lucia Marie Surmik, Carolyn Gorny-Kopkowski, and Diane Rabe (L-R), delivered the cake which the community enjoyed. The Serra Club promotes vocations to the religious life and priesthood. They gifted each of the communities of women religious in Erie with a cake.
Friday, November 15, at 7:00 p.m. we will host a celebration of Sister Mary Lou Kownacki's new book, Everyday Sacred, Everywhere Beauty: Readings from an Old Monk's Journal, published this fall by Orbis. The celebration will take place at Mount St. Benedict Monastery, 6101 East Lake Road, Erie.
Sister Jen Frazer will preach for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 10. Listen to her preaching. "I have enough experience in and among poor and otherwise marginal communities to know there is dignity and value to allowing even the humblest of us to make real and even sacrificial contributions," writes Jen. Catholic Women Preach is an innovative project designed to address some of the most pressing challenges facing the Church today by responding to Pope Francis’ call for broader and more active engagement of the baptized in the preaching mission of the Church. This project is a deeply faithful, hopeful and joyful initiative intended to build up the Church.
If you've never been to Erie's only monastery, or never attended an Advent vigil, we invite you to join us on Saturday, December 7. In between, join the sisters for dinner in the monastery dining room. The tour begins and 4:00 p.m. and will be followed by dinner with the sisters. The monastery gift shop, Chapter 57, will also be open. It features original works by a number of artists as well as books and gifts. At 7:00 p.m. the Advent Vigil begins in the quiet and dark of the monastery chapel. You are invited to attend the Advent Vigil each week, beginning Saturday November 30, and Saturdays December 7, 14, and 21. The tour and dinner will only take place on December 7.
The full conversation between Joan Chittister and Liz Cheney can be viewed now.
Freelance writer Trill Dreistadt visited the monastery nearly a year ago as part of her research on a piece she was writing for Pennsylvania Magazine on sanctuary spaces. Although Trill lives in Erie, she wasn't a frequent visitor to the monastery. She assures us that will change now that she has experienced monastic hospitality. Her work, Sanctuary Serenity: Restore, reconnect and refresh at these Pennsylvania retreats, is in the September/October issue of the magazine. Read the article here. Learn more about guest accommodations at the monastery here.
An ABC news crew travelled from Washington, DC, to Erie last weekend to cover the voter fraud accusation story at the Monastery. It was the beginning of Community Weekend which meant many oblates were already gathered in Erie and happened to be at prayer when the story was taped.
Benedictines for Peace sponsored a free, nonpartisan election peacemaking training one week before the November 6 presidential election. Participants were presented with ways to de-escalate and defuse verbal or physical violence that they may encounter in any event or place—including polling sites in the city of Erie.
Pope Francis’ encyclical letter Laudato Sí, On Care for our Common Home, is a call to us to take responsibility to care for all God’s creation. We are to move beyond indifference – to embrace the challenge.
More than 10,000 people have viewed the press release posted by the Benedictine Sisters after they were accused of voter fraud. A canvasser reported that 53 voters were registered at the monastery's address and "no one lives there." The report was posted on X along with a list of the sisters, violating their privacy.
Erie Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister and former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney appeared in conversation at the Erie Convention Center last week.
The Benedictine Sisters of Erie alerted to false and misleading information about their membership posted on X by PA CHASE’s Cliff Maloney
Benedictines for Peace is offering the opportunity to learn to de-escalate and defuse verbal or physical violence that you may encounter at any event or place, including polling places. Practice active bystander intervention and de-escalation in election scenarios.
With the presidential campaign in the United States in full swing, it's important to know the issues, to ask questions, to vote, and to pray for good and healthy leaders to emerge. Joan Chittister's Prayer for Leadership is available as a free digital download. Sister Joan's prayer asks God to give us insight in choosing leaders who can distinguish between strength and power, growth and greed.
Sister Placida Anheuser turned 107 on October 15--an accomplishment she didn't earn for herself and that she finds hard to believe--although she feels like someone who is 107. "It's hard to be this old," she said in a conversation a few days before her birthday. "I don't have much energy." In spite of decreased energy, Sister Placida still motors around the monastery on her scooter. She spends much of her time in prayer. Her lifelong love and study of Scripture gives her a lot on which to reflect. And, she says, "I look forward to meeting everyone in heaven some day!"
A new ecourse at Monasteries of the Heart is based on a recently released book of Sister Mary Lou Kownacki's writings, Everyday Sacred; Everywhere Beauty: Readings from an Old Monk's Journal. The book is a compilation of the best of her blog posts which the Monasteries of the Heart community treasured for over a decade. Until her death in January 2023, Old Monk's posts always sparked conversation, laughter, and thoughtful disagreement. The new course, “Reading With Old Monk” is an opportunity to experience Sister Mary Lou's words again, or for the first time.
Earlier this year Sister Anne McCarthy presented a webinar, "Mary Lou Kownacki's Spirituality of Nonviolence." Sister Anne drew from her years-long deep friendship with Sister Mary Lou and used Sister Mary Lou's 1990 chapbook, "The Sacred in the Simple: Monastic Mantras for Daily Living" as the framework for the webinar. "Sister Mary Lou's spirituality was not an intellectual exercise...she started with the gospel and her monastic life and grew into a deep spirituality of nonviolence from that place," said Sister Anne in her introduction. The presentation is now available at John Dear's Beatitudes Center for the Nonviolent Jesus YouTube page here.
Katie Gordon, member of the Pax Priory community of the Benedictine Sisters, was a responder at the 2024 Leadership Conference of Women Religious Assembly in Orlando, Florida this past August. She was asked, as a lay woman, to respond to the question, Who Do We Need You to Be for the World? In her comments Katie shared with the 750 participants that she is "drawn to a form of religious life that does not yet exist...we do not know how to name what it is I am trying to live into." Her future depends on the trust and openness of women religious to listen and believe that the charisms are big enough to hold all, to risk the questions that will lead to new forms of living a way of life rooted in spirituality and community.
Erie Benedictines, including Emmaus Ministries director Sister Val Luckey, were among the thirty cyclists who took part the Emmaus Ministries Urban Bike Tour on September 13. The 18-mile ride was planned as a special forward-looking part of Emmaus' 50th year providing "bread for the body, food for the soul."
We gathered to pray for stabbing victim Michelle Sue Hanson and all those affected by her violent death.
What is the current situation of workers and their families? What are their needs? How can they best be addressed?
These questions are being raised throughout the political campaign. They are important questions, but they are not only political questions. The issues of work and workers are basic human issues. Of spiritual concern. With ecological ramifications.
Prioress Sister Stephanie Schmidt, (left) presented Dr. Alice Edwards, (right) chair of the department of Anthropology and World Languages and Professor of Spanish at Mercyhurst University, with the Benedictine Sisters' 2024 Prophet of Peace Award on Sunday, September 21 during a special evening prayer. Oblate Mary Hembrow Snyder, longtime friend and colleague of Alice, nominated her for the award writing, that "Alice is the epitome of someone who listens deeply with the ear of her heart, a practice foundational to Benedictine spirituality. To whom does she listen? Anyone in need of her compassion, her honesty, her wisdom. That includes family, friends, colleagues, students, refugees, abused women, those grieving the loss of a loved one, and many more. She is a beloved inspiration to all who know her."
Erie Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister and Liz Cheney will open the Jefferson Educational Society's Global Summit XVI on October 17. Liz Cheney, former U.S. representative for Wyoming and chair of the House Republican Conference, served as the Vice Chair of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. Her integrity in standing by the constitution and confronting then-President Donald Trump for his role in attempting to block the confirmation of the 2020 election and inciting the January 6 insurrection cost her her leadership positions. Her memoir, Oath and Honor, was published in 2023.
Listen to Sister Carolyn's newest podcast.
This interview-based play was scripted by Jenn Bokoch Gillett from the vantage point of women who came of age during the 1960s to 1980s at St. Benedict Academy, Erie, Pennsylvania. Find your story in these women's stories of community, spirituality, justice, and meaning-making that challenged their thinking and validated their worth and power. It was produced by the Benedictine Sisters of Erie and originally performed in Erie on June 30, 2024, at the Hirt Auditorium, Blasco Memorial Library. Jenn, daughter of an SBA alumna, conducted more than 50 interviews for this project. The individual interviews will gradually be shared in an online archive. Download the Where Hope Is program booklet for a more complete description of the project and the people who brought it to life.
The Marcellus Shale Coalition, the most powerful fossil fuel lobby in the region, is holding its Shale Insight conference at Erie's Bayfront Convention Center, September 24-26. Their goal is to increase fracking and the use of fossil fuels, worsening the climate crisis. Benedictines for Peace is helping organize two main opportunities to join with others who are opposed to the aims of this conference.
The Benedictine Sisters of Erie announce the launch of the Benedictine Peacemakers Monastic Immersion program. The application process is now open and will continue through February 2025, with the program scheduled to begin in June. A reflection of the evolution and widening of monastic life, the Benedictine Peacemaker immersion experience is a model for approaching personal formation, spiritual community, and good work in the Benedictine spiritual and monastic tradition.
The Benedictine Sisters and the Inner-City Neighborhood Art House are two of 106 signers on a letter that states their opposition to a $182 million conditional loan guarantee to develop International Recycling Group's facility in Erie.
For the second year, Goat Fest at Glinodo brought together--parents, children, adults, friends and neighbors--for outdoor fun and education on a unique way to care for our environment. This was the third year the Benedictine Sisters contracted with Let's Goat Buffalo to bring goats to the Glinodo property so that they can help clear the woods of invasive species. In the interim, volunteers from local universities Mercyhurst and Gannon, as well as others, helped pull roots (much easier after the goats have cleared leaves and thorns) and reline and wood chip the trails. This year, Goat Fest visitors saw the progress as they enjoyed the trails.
Over the last two weeks of August, there was a visible impact to the Benedictine Sisters’ Glinodo property as the goat herd from Let’s Goat Buffalo cleared out the invasive species along the Creekside trail. (Read more on this years’ long collaboration here). This is the third summer that the goats have visited Glinodo, eating everything green so native plants have equal opportunity to flourish against such species as Japanese knotweed and multi flora rose. Years into this process, the impact of this work is notable, and the influence the goats’ presence has on the land goes far deeper than what meets the eye.
The Benedictine Sisters of Erie 2024 Prophet of Peace award will honor Dr. Alice Edwards, "a healing presence and prophetic witness for peace and justice," a woman of compassion, depth, integrity, and bold vision.
“Many things have to change course, but it is we human beings above all who need to change.” LS202
Pope Francis repeatedly expresses the need for us to not only change the way we live but to also change who we are. Transformation.
Thank you to everyone who helped make our 2024 golf tournament fundraiser a success! A full slate of golfers enjoyed a beautiful day of golf and camaraderie with sisters and volunteers. After expenses, the event raised over $58,000, which will support the sisters' life of prayer and good work in the community. We proud to announce the winning teams from this year's tournament:
Each year from September 1 to October 4, the Christian family unites for this worldwide celebration of prayer and action to protect our common home. It is a special season where we celebrate God as Creator and acknowledge Creation as the divine continuing act that summons us as collaborators to love and care for the gift of all that is created. As followers of Christ from around the globe, we share a common call to care for Creation.
A coalition of 106 environmental organizations, including the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, are urging Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to withdraw a conditional
loan guarantee issued last month to a controversial plastics recycling project in a low-income Erie, Pennsylvania,
neighborhood.
Joan Chittister Writer-in-Residence Regina Walton offered sisters a guests a sneak peek at the some of the plot lines and characters in the novel she worked on while living at the monastery for a month this summer. "I loved Masterpiece Theater when I was young and, after I discovered the Rule of Benedict, my interest in monasticism grew. Then I learned about the Beguines, medieval laywomen who lived in community and did good works from the 13th to the 17th centuries. They were not nuns and not approved of by the Catholic Church. And, I love historical fiction so I put it all together and came up with the idea for a murder mystery novel with a Beguine sleuth."
Registration is open for the fall book discussion on The Monastery of the Heart by Joan Chittister. Begins September 6.
Sister Jacqueline Sanchez-Small sat for an interview with Erie News Now reporters Amanda Post and Kara Coleman about the what and why of Goat Fest at Glinodo Center this Saturday--watch the interview here. Erie Times-News reporter Dana Massing published a story this week at GoErie.com that also details the work of the goats and the reasons the Benedictine Sisters have brought them to Glinodo for the past three years. Read the story.
Lydia Wylie-Kellerman, author of This Sweet Earth: Walking with Our Children in the Age of Climate Collapse, will converse with us about her new book on Monday, August 19, at the Inner-city Neighborhood Art House from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. The Art House is located at 201 East 10th Street in Erie.
Join over 700 sisters gathered this week for the Leadership Conference of Women Religious annual assembly, including our sisters Stephanie Schmidt and Diane Rabe, in a prayer experience Friday afternoon, August 16. "Who Shall We Be: A Contemplative Prayer for the World," will take place Friday from 2:00 – 3:00 PM ET during the LCWR assembly in Orlando, Florida. This contemplative experience will bring us into awareness of the fragility of the world while reflecting on our call to respond in solidarity as followers of the Gospel. Click here.
The Benedictine Sisters celebrated the jubilees of ten sisters at their annual August meetings. Three of them are pictured here at the special dinner and program that followed their renewal of vows during evening praise. Sister Marian Wehler, left, celebrates 60 years of monastic life; Sister Charlotte Anne Zalot, 50 years, and Sister Joan Chittister, 70 years. The other jubilarians are 70 years, Sister Lucia Marie Surmik and Sister Placida Anheuser; 60 years, Sister Helen Heher, Sister Christine Kosin, and Sister Carolyn Gorny-Kopkowski; 50 years, Sister Diane Rabe and Sister Diane Cook. Click here to read about each jubilarian.
In this post we consider the importance of “Integral Ecology” with the addition of a “Eucharistic Ecology.” (See June 2024 post.) A crucial contribution Pope Francis makes to our understanding of God’s creation is his presentation of Integral Ecology.
Sister Miriam Mashank, OSB, 93, died on July 28, 2024, at Mount St. Benedict Monastery in Erie.
In a new op-ed, Sister Jacqueline Sanchez-Small, writer for Emmaus Ministries, answers, "Why do I volunteer at Emmaus?"
Benedictines for Peace invites you to walk 25 miles—the length of Gaza—while praying for the peoples of this region and for an immediate ceasefire. Walk where you are and as you can. Walk with others or alone, outdoors or indoors, before Labor Day.
