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.
“I am so grateful for the love and support of this Benedictine community. I have been surrounded by deeply caring and reflective people throughout my entire life, who have helped me follow God’s call to the monastic life. My years of initial formation with the Erie Benedictines have shaped me and helped me grow more than I could have imagined, and I am overjoyed to be committing to continuing to grow here, spending my life working with others to build the Reign of God,” said Sister Jacqueline.
In the Rite of Perpetual Monastic Profession Sister Jacqueline proclaimed her commitment to give her life to God as an Erie Benedictine. The rite was situated within the communal Liturgy of the Hours, the central prayer of Benedictine monastics.
Sister Jacqueline professed her vows of stability, conversion through the monastic way of life, and obedience. Stability is the commitment to remain in this monastery with this community in Erie, Pennsylvania. Obedience calls us to listen and respond wholeheartedly and unselfishly to the needs of those around us. And fidelity to the monastic way of life is a commitment to ongoing growth and transformation in the love of God by living our way of following of the Rule of Saint Benedict.
The rite begins when Sister Jacqueline is presented to the community and expresses her desire and intent in response to the prioress’s question, “What do you seek?” She then lights a candle from the Paschal candle and places it on the altar. The flame represents the light of Christ and recalls the candle lit by Sister Jacqueline’s godparents when she was welcomed into the Christian community at her baptism. At the altar, Sister Jacqueline reads her vows aloud in the presence of the prioress and the assembly.
According to the ritual prescribed by Saint Benedict for his monks in the sixth century, Sister Jacqueline next sings the Suscipe three times. The words, “Uphold me, O God, according to your word and I shall live, and do not fail me in my hope,” are taken from Psalm 119. Then the community bows and chants the doxology (the Glory Be) together.
As a symbol of her commitment, Sister Jacqueline received the community ring after it was blessed by the prioress. The design of the ring dates back to Nonberg Abbey, founded in the eighth century. Sisters from Nonberg established Saint Walburga Abbey in Eichstatt in 1035 and sisters from Saint Walburga established our monastery in 1856. The ring features an octagonal black and gold face with the initials IHS for the name of Jesus. Rather than casting new rings the Erie Benedictines pass rings down from those who have died to new members who can choose to wear the ring of a sister who was significant in their lives. Sister Jacqueline now wears the ring of Sister Mary Lou Kownacki, a close friend and monastic mentor who died in January 2023.
The rite concludes as the sisters and assembly bless Sister Jacqueline. The sisters then come forward and one by one embrace and welcome her before evening prayer continues. After the concluding hymn, sisters and guests processed to the community and dining rooms for a reception where we continued to celebrate Sister Jacqueline and the gift of Benedictine life.
“What really touched me,” said Sister Christine Kosin, Scholastic Director, “was the threefold singing of the Suscipe. Sister Jacqueline proclaiming her trust in God to uphold her throughout her life and trusting that the community will also stand with her is so significant in these days of uncertainty.”
A native of New Jersey, Sister Jacqueline became acquainted with the Erie Benedictines when she was the 2015 Joan Chittister Intern to meet a requirement for her master’s in divinity at Princeton Theological Seminary. After completing that program, she earned a second master’s in social work at Rutgers School of Social Work before relocating to Erie in the summer of 2017 to accept a position at Benetvision, a publishing ministry of the Benedictine Sisters that includes the ongoing development of the online monastery, Monasteries of the Heart.
In April 2019 Jacqueline became a postulant with the Benedictine Sisters, making firm her intent to enter the community. Her novitiate, the second formal step in the monastic formation process, began in October 2020. On November 13, 2021, Sister Jacqueline made her first monastic profession and returned to her ministry at Benetvision after completing the novitiate period spent at the monastery in intentional prayer, formation, and discernment. She also began working at Emmaus Ministries, the Erie Benedictines’ outreach to the poor, writing for their newsletter and serving at the soup kitchen.
In addition to her formal ministry, Sister Jacqueline is on the Care for the Earth Committee and has been instrumental in bringing goats to sustainably clear invasive species at Glinodo Center and educating on climate justice. She serves on the steering committee for Benedictines for Peace and advocates for justice for immigrants and other issues. She is pursuing a master’s in theological studies, with a concentration in monastic studies, through Saint John’s University School of Theology in Collegeville, Minnesota.
