The Winter 2024 issue of The Mount is available in PDF format.
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.)
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.
Artist of the Monastery, Sister Margaret Ann Pilewski, recently joined other local artists in support of making music available for underprivileged children. The Instruments of Hope fundraiser will auction off 18 painted/decorated violins by Erie’s finest artists and all proceeds raised will provide underserved children with stringed instruments and free music lessons. Read more here. The fundraiser is July 26 at City Gallery in Erie.
Sister Jacqueline Sanchez-Small (left) is the 2024 American Benedictine Academy (ABA) Essay contest winner. Sister Jeana Visel, OSB, president, presents Sister Jacqueline with her award. Read her essay, “As Soon As A Poor Person Cries Out”: A Benedictine Response to Poverty
A team of oblates celebrated the Feast of St. Benedict on July 11 by serving guests at Emmaus Soup kitchen. “We are so grateful to this team of oblates who regularly bring their monastic presence to our guests,” observed Sister Val Luckey, Director of Emmaus Ministries.
Interreligious Dialogue is the theme of the new US Secretariat of the Alliance for International Monasticism newsletter. Read it now.
Winners of the 2024 Benedictine Sisters Annual Draw were chosen Sunday, July 7. Antoinette B, Erie, was the $2000 winner. Sharon T, Shoreham, Vermont, won $1000 and Jennifer O of Wadsworth, Ohio won $500. The three $100 winners were Virginia V, Erie, Michael G, Fairview, and Helen D, Erie. Congratulations to our winners! Thank you to everyone who participated in this success fundraiser--your contributions amounted to $45,000 that will be used to support the work of the community, help care for the monastery, and provide for the sisters. Pictured are Sister Linda Romey, coordinator of communications and development, Sister Stephanie Schmidt, prioress, and Heather Cloutier, database administrator.
Congratulations to Sister Val, one of the Erie Reader's 40 under 40 Class of 2024. We join the Reader in celebrating 40 inspiring creative thinkers and leaders in Erie including Sister Val, Director of Emmaus Ministries.
The St. Benedict Academy Class of 1979 celebrated their 45th reunion in Erie on June 30. Twenty-one classmates gathered to celebrate each other as they reminisced about their years at SBA and caught up on each other's lives. Classmates came from Tennessee, Virginia, Florida, and Cleveland to join those who are local.
Anne McCarthy, OSB will present a webinar through John Dear’s The Beatitudes Center for Christian Nonviolence, on the teachings of Mary Lou Kownacki, OSB, the poet, activist, and founder of Benedictines for Peace who died in 2023. For a registration fee of $30, learn about her spirituality of nonviolence, which was not overly pious, but seriously practical. Her Benedictine monasticism flavored her approach to nonviolence so that her pursuit of nonviolence led to new projects, programs, movements and visions that brought beauty and hope to the lives of children and to deserted places.
The Benedictine Sisters were among the vendors who attended Erie Pride on the Bay (formerly Erie PrideFest) at Liberty Park on June 29. Rainy weather made for a late opening and a tornado warning early in the afternoon forced everyone to evacuate. The Benedictines were there as a supportive, spiritual presence to attendees. Because of the weather, Michelle Scully, Program and Events Coordinator for the community (shown here checking the path of the rain) and Sister Linda Romey scaled down initial plans and only offered buttons and stickers to those who managed to visit the table during the short time the event was opened. The crowds were large in spite of the continual and at times heavy rain.
Sister Linda Romey, back left, joined other members of the Erie Spiritual Coalition (ESC), (clockwise) Kristen Weeks, Stephanie Ciner, and Susannah Faulkner, for door-to-door canvasing on Erie’s east side. The canvassing work of the ESC is intended to raise awareness of tenant rights and gather signatures on a petition to create a Tenant Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights is comprised almost entirely of existing rights but it gathers them in one document so that renters and landlords can know their rights and the city can then make sure those rights are honored and enforced. The document will be presented to City Council with a request that it pass the Bill of Rights.
Where Hope Is: Stories of Benedictine Influence, a new interview-based theater production by playwright Jenn Bokoch Gillett, debuted on Sunday at the Hirt Auditorium, Blasco Memorial Library in Erie. The play reflects a snapshot-in-time—1960s to the 1980s—of the influence of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie. Jenn created the work from a dozen conversations selected from more than 60 interviews she conducted with Saint Benedict Academy (SBA) alumnae, Benedictine sisters, and a handful of others whose lives were shaped and are still being shaped by the sisters.
New podcast from Sister Carolyn. Listen now.
This month our conversation between Eucharist and Laudato Sí considers the importance of sacrament, the principle of sacramentality. (See last month's post.) We understand sacrament as a tangible, experience-able symbol of something sacred and hidden—even of the Divine. As we renew our appreciation of Eucharist this year we remember that it is in the most basic gifts of creation that we encounter God: oil, water, incense, bread, wine. Oil, source of healing. Water poured, sign of new life. Incense, offering a taste of “heaven on earth.” Bread and wine, “fruit of the earth and work of human hands.”
The newly formed Oblate Leadership Committee (OLT) held its first meeting at the monastery this week. Oblate Co-Directors Sister Annette Marshall and Oblate Joanne Cahill saw the need to broaden leadership perspectives by engaging members of the oblate community who would share their wisdom and help shape the program. The OLT will work with the co-directors to determine priorities and to provide direction for programs that support the oblate community’s continued growth and development. “We are pleased that six talented individuals responded generously to this call to leadership within the community,” said Joanne.
After the Silent Peace Walk in Perry Square, stay for a special screening of the documentary, "Farming While Black." Before the film meet local growers, participate in educational activities, savor tasting plates of local soul food, and hear about all the new farmers' markets in our city. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to learn, connect, and experience the richness of our community! Event is 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. in Perry Square. Benedictines for Peace is a co-sponsor of this event.
This Wednesday, June 19, 6:30 pm in Perry Square (west side of State Street). The focus is Juneteenth Celebration and message.
With Fr. Jim Piszker as presenter, sisters and oblates gathered for the 2024 Community Retreat, "Looking Inward and Outward" earlier in June. Fr. Jim, who had been a regular Sunday celebrant at the monastery until being named pastor at Holy Rosary Parish, offered reflections that challenged participants on multiple levels and at the same time inviting them to growth both personal and communal. During the retreat silence was observed in the monastery except at the evening meal. The week concluded with a desert day which offered additional time to integrate new reflections.
Joan Chittister was interviewed earlier this month as part of a forthcoming documentary film that is being produced by the former president of PBS-NY, Dr. Bill Baker. The film is titled Wisdom Keepers and will feature Sister Joan along with other religious leaders and wisdom figures, and may be released next year. Sister Joan was recorded in the chapel at Mount Saint Benedict Monastery.
Mother Klara and Sister Maria, two Benedictine sisters from Zhytomyr Abbey, Ukraine, visited Erie and the offices of the Alliance for International Monasticism, U.S. Secretariat (AIM USA) specifically to give thanks to generous donors. They also visited Mount Saint Benedict Monastery to share with the sisters the current reality of living in war-torn Ukraine. AIM USA and the Zhytomyr sisters have been connected since the war began, with AIM USA helping to collect funds from its network of monasteries to send directly to the sisters in Ukraine for their efforts of supporting refugees and ministering to the suffering there. The sisters were in the U.S. with their translator, Abbot Marion, to visit some of the communities that around the country that have been supporting them. It was the end of May when they arrived in Erie
In a new op-ed, Sister Val Luckey describes Sister Mary Miller's 'Way' after a city street was named Sister Mary Miller Way in her honor.
Rabbi William G. Hamilton, pictured with Sue and Bernie Pucker, delivered the fourth annual Art and Spirituality lecture at the monastery on May 22. He spoke on, "Doing The Impossible: The Art of bringing Spiritual Goods to Life." View the video of his presentation here.
A Eucharistic Revival is underway in the United States Catholic Church, with congresses, processions, pilgrimages, holy hours, and more. This is “a movement to restore understanding of and devotion to” Jesus in the Eucharist, according to the National Eucharistic Revival website. These are fine actions taking place around the country. Our Laudato Sí Platform Committee has a suggestion to offer: A conversation between Eucharist and Laudato Sí.
Sister Jacqueline Sanchez-Small's essay, "A Faithful and Fruitful Obedience: Mary Lou Kownacki, OSB" appears in the 2024 Spring/Summer issue of Benedictines magazine. Below are a few paragraphs from the piece that captures Sister Mary Lou's spirit. Contact Jennifer Halling, OSB, to subscribe to Benedictines: jennifer@mountosb.org.
An interview with playwright Jenn Bokoch Gillett and director Ashley Thaxton-Stevenson
The new interview-based play Where Hope Is: Stories of Benedictine Influence will debut in Erie on June 30. It reflects a snapshot-in-time – 1960s to 1980s – of the influence of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie and is created from a dozen conversations selected from more than 60 interviews Jenn conducted with St. Benedict Academy (SBA) alumnae, Benedictine sisters, and others. The story is one of spirituality, community, and steadfastness in facing questions of meaning, faith, and gospel accountability. It’s a story of prophetic voices and compassionate commitment to those denied a place at any table. It’s a poignant—and sometimes humorous—women’s story of ongoing potential for new generations seeking connection and meaning today. Sister Linda Romey’s interview with New York-based artists Jenn and Ashley follows.
Please join us in prayer for homicide victim Deonte Tate, Sr., on Tuesday, May 28, 5:15 p.m., 700 block of West 4th Street, between Poplar and Liberty Streets, Erie, the site where he was murdered on May 7.
God's Tender Mercy Zoom Retreat on June 27 at Monasteries of the Heart. We invite you to join other members of Monasteries of the Heart in a retreat experience to explore together the idea of tender mercy and our call to mirror God’s tender mercy in the way of light and love that might lift this world.
Larisa Melodinskaia, a former professional ballroom dancer and dance instructor at the Inner-city Neighborhood Art House since 1998, is sharing moves she teaches children in Art House classes with sisters at the monastery. She is leading a weekly movement and exercise class in May and June.
Sister Valerie Luckey, Director of Emmaus Ministries, received the Distinguished Alumni Award from her alma mater, Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, on May 15. "It’s an honor to receive the Distinguished Alumni Award from Saint Joseph’s University.
In honor of her years of dedication serving the Erie Community, the SONS of Lake Erie sponsored a resolution, passed by Erie City Council, dedicating East 11th Street between German and Holland Streets in Erie, Sister Mary Miller Way. A dedication ceremony was held on Monday, May 13, on the corner of East 11th and Holland.
Rabbi William G. Hamilton will deliver the fourth annual Art and Spirituality lecture at the monastery on Wednesday, May 22, at 7:30 p.m. Rabbi Hamilton will speak on, "Doing The Impossible: The Art of bringing Spiritual Goods to Life." The 2024 lecture by Rabbi Hamilton is free and open to the public.
Everyday Sacred, Everywhere Beauty: Readings From An Old Monks Journal, a new collection of Sister Mary Lou Kownacki's blog posts will be released in September. In hundreds of personal blog posts at Monasteries of the Heart she chronicled current events, reflections on her decades as a nun, stories of friends, poetry recommendations and profound insights on life’s purpose and mortality, including her own journey to her death from cancer on January 6, 2023.
When Erie Benedictine Sister Marian Wehler and Mercy Sister Tina Geiger, who minister together in Catholic Rural Ministry, presented a Tanzanian village’s need for “Life-Saving Water” to students in Lucinda, Clarion, and Oil City Catholic Schools during Lent last year, the students were eager to help. In a few weeks they collected over $1,250 for the villagers and this was matched by adults donations. Soon more donations poured in until more than $7,000 was raised for the “Life-Saving Water” by October 2023 when the project was to begin. Sister Marian lived and taught at a Catholic high school in Tanzania for seven years and has visited different countries in Africa on multiple occasions and so knows first-had of the need.
Sarah Joy Gaines, the first 2024 Joan Chittister Writer-in-Residence, spent the month of April living at the monastery and working on a proposal for a book about reclaiming the sacredness of the body. The proposal is also the culmination of her work on a Master's in Women, Gender, Spirituality, and Social Justice. “The book is the product of my graduate studies, inspired by my decade of experience in the wellness industry and my journey of healing my relationship with my body. We live in a world that teaches us to focus on how our bodies look — that our physical appearance is what gives us value. Along the way, we lose sight of the power and wisdom of our bodies. We forget that the body is divine itself. The book intends to guide people to reconnect with that sacred essence, innate within us all,” she said.
Monastic Formation Director Sister Ann Muczynski attended the North American Benedictine Vocation Formation Conference (NABVFC) Symposium in Schuyler, Nebraska, in April. She was one of twenty-seven Benedictine sisters in attendance. Sister Ann (far right) was elected Vice Chair of the Core Team 2024-2028. She will work with the other five sisters on the core team planning the future of NABVFC programs including the Novice and Director Institute and the Benedictine Sisters Workshop and Retreat. There are fewer sisters in initial monastic formation and therefore these kinds of programs directed toward new members will require creative revising.
Gannon Day of Caring Students, all members of the Gannon Women’s Soccer Team, offered their services for several initiatives of the Care for the Earth Committee in April.
The community blessed Sharon McSweeney as she completed 14 months in the Benedicta Riepp Monastic Experience Program and prepared to return home taking with her the love of her Benedictine sisters and a Benedictine perspective on life. "Being surrounded by like-minded women has been the most treasured part of my being here," she said.
Consumerism is so prevalent in our lives that sometimes we do not realize how this is shaping our actions and world. By focusing on three areas of enormous consumption we may become more mindful and re-evaluate our daily purchases namely, the use of single use plastics, fashion/clothing, and home décor.
Single use plastic bombards our everyday purchases, groceries, food packaging, and water bottles to name a few. Water bottles are rarely recycled and some scientists question if recycling can even happen, or even work. Plastic is not biodegradable, and it does not decompose. Since World War II, 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic has been produced. Currently we have 150 million metric tons of plastic in our oceans; it is predicted that by 2050, we will have more plastic than fish in the oceans.
Read Sister Joan Chittister's new NCRonline column, a tribute to Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, pictured here in Erie at the 1983 Good Friday Peace Pilgrimage.
Benedictines for Peace and the Care for the Earth Committee sponsored an Earth Day Observance at the monastery titled Healing Our Throwaway Culture: Focus on Plastics. The program was borrowed from Catholic Climate Covenant and the resources shared are available here.
Please join us at the monastery for a celebration of Earth Day on Sunday, April 21, from 10:45 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. (after Liturgy). We will gather in the Garden Room. The celebration is sponsored by Benedictines for Peace and the community's Care for the Earth committee. Everyone is welcome.
Sister Pat Lupo, long-time, award-winning advocate for the environment was honored as a Freshwater Hero in a virtual ceremony on April 10. Freshwater Voices recognized ten Heroes this year who "have dedicated their lives to making a difference and are paving the way for meaningful, lasting change in our Great Lakes region. Their commitment to protecting our communities and water resources is nothing short of inspiring, with many of this year’s heroes spending years, if not decades, tackling the complex issues that impact our region.
Communications staff Linda, Heather, Michelle, and Michelle take a break from solar eclipse event preparations to model eclipse glasses in front of the Benedictine Blackout photo booth background at Glinodo. Complete information on Benedictine events is available here. Tickets for the post-eclipse celebration are available until 4 p.m. Friday April 5. The Monday morning retreat is sold out. Parking at Glinodo is on a first come beginning at 9:00 a.m. on Monday April 8. Activities for children begin at 11:00 a.m. Enjoy our beautiful grounds while you wait for the eclipse.
Marisa Thomas, Erie News Now, speaks with Sister Linda Romey and Michelle Scully about events planned by the Benedictine Sisters that will welcome guests into their monastery and onto their grounds on April 8 for the solar eclipse.
You may have heard us say at some point in our relationship with you that as Benedictine monastics, our primary ministry is prayer and community. St. Benedict didn’t name a singular good work that would define his monastic communities. Rather, he built those communities around a Rule that is a simple guide for living a balanced and healthy life with each other, with oneself, and with God.
Over the course of our first 50 years, staff and volunteers at Emmaus Ministries have told anyone who asked about our name that it comes from a story found in the Gospel of Luke, a story called "The Road to Emmaus." The story takes place on the first Easter Sunday, and highlights two of Christ's disciples, who are walking sadly away from Jerusalem just as reports about an empty tomb are beginning to circulate.
Easter tells us that suffering and death are never the last word for our God is a God of surprises and nothing is impossible with God. Resurrection is not a one-time event in the past, but rather an ongoing process. We are called to rise and live more fully for Christ is within us. The power of Resurrection bursts forth in our lives in ordinary ways through the quality of our daily living and loving. May we reflect the joy and radiance of the Risen Jesus and give daily witness that he is ALIVE within us. Let us rejoice and be glad! Happy Easter! —Sister Stephanie Schmidt, Prioress
Sister Anne McCarthy received a 2024 Mercy Center for Women Women Making History award at the Mercyhurst University Performing Arts Center on Monday, March 25. Sister Anne's five sisters and one of her nieces, pictured here with her, along with many of her Benedictine sisters, joined her for the program and celebration.
In 1955 economist Victor Lebow wrote, “Our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfactions, our ego satisfactions, in consumption.”
Join Benedictines for Peace on Friday, March 29 at 11 a.m. for the 44th annual Good Friday Pilgrimage for Peace, praying the Stations of the Cross as we process through the streets of downtown Erie.
Peacemaker, author, and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Father John Dear will be at the monastery on April 5 to talk about and sign copies of his new book, The Gospel of Peace: A Commentary on Matthew, Mark, and Luke from the Perspective of Nonviolence. It is the first commentary on the Synoptic Gospels from the perspective of active nonviolence in the tradition of Gandhi and Dr. King. In this original work, John walks us through the three synoptic Gospels highlighting Jesus' practice and teachings on nonviolence, peace, and universal love. Join us on Friday April 5, 7:00 p.m. at Mount Saint Benedict Monastery
Podcaster Sister Carolyn Gorny-Kopkowski often does interpretive scripture readings for liturgical celebrations at the monastery. Recently she did a creative reading of Matthew Chapter 8, Jesus heals a man with leprosy. Hearers were so moved by the reflection that Sister Carolyn recorded to share it more widely.
Four members of Erie's Horton family shared song and history with sisters and guests in the monastery chapel last month. The Benedictine sisters were privileged to host Cheryl Horton-Jong as Sojourner Truth, her sister Denise Horton, a member of the political action committee for NAACP, and sister Valerie Horton Brown, a singer who recently returned to the Erie area, and their brother Gary Horton.
Adam Baker talks with Sister Linda Romey and Michelle Scully about eclipse events at the monastery and Glinodo Center.
