A group of Sisters from Saint Benedict's Monastery has officially started a blog at the address:  www.stbensisters.blogspot.com

Entries will be posted every Tuesday and Thursday by a rotating group of Sisters.  The blog will be on a variety of topics and the focus is simply on life as a woman Benedictine in Central Minnesota. S. Dolores Super and S. Carol Berg will no doubt provide some insight into history, while S. Kate Casper is more likely to blog about spirituality topics. S. Helene Mercier will add pieces of interest to Oblates, and S. Mary Catherine Holicky, our vocations director, might write entries that are directed more at seekers—but not necessarily. The topic choice is up to individual bloggers. The goal is to give a portrait of our community.

Blogs are an informal means of communication on the internet that are rapidly catching on, particularly with religious orders. We’re happy to add our blog to the large number of “Sister blogs” out there. 

Check out the "St. Ben Sisters" and our first entry by S. Carol Berg marking National Native American History Month!

Do you want to give a gift this holiday season that is handcrafted, beautiful and unique? Do some holiday shopping at the annual Sisters’ Holiday Gift Sale at Saint Scholastica from 9 a.m.– 6 p.m. on Friday, November 6, 2009, and Saturday, November 7, 2009; from 9 a.m. –  3 p.m. Saint Scholastica Convent is located at 1845 20th Ave. S.E., St. Cloud, Minn. (near Saint Benedict’s Senior Community).

Get a jump start on your Christmas shopping! Find unique, handcrafted items made by the Sisters of Saint Benedict’s Monastery. Christmas at Whitby Gift Shop and Gallery, Saint Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph, opens on Saturday, November 7, with extended hours from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

An audio podcast of an interview with Sister Mara Faulkner discussing her book Going Blind with Kathy Parker, head of the libraries at the College of Saint Benedict/Saint John's University is now available.

Click here to launch the podcast.

Sister Marl (Martha) Gapinski, OSB, 82
St. Joseph, Minn.
November 1, 1926 – September 15, 2009

The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, September 18, 2009, at Sacred Heart Chapel, Saint Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph, for Sister Marl (Martha) Gapinski who died on September 15, 2009, at St. Cloud Hospital. Burial will be in the monastery cemetery. Friends may call at Saint Scholastica Convent, St. Cloud, on Thursday, September 17, from 1-6 p.m., or for a Prayer Vigil at 7 p.m. at Saint Benedict’s Monastery. Visitation continues at 9 a.m. on September 18 until the funeral at 3:30 p.m.

The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 4 p.m. on Friday, September 11, 2009, at Sacred Heart Chapel, Saint Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph, for Sister Michaela Fuchs, who died on September 8, 2009, at Saint Scholastica Convent. Burial will be in the monastery cemetery. Friends may call at Saint Scholastica Convent on Thursday, September 10, from 1-6 p.m. or for a Prayer Vigil at 7 p.m. at Saint Benedict’s Monastery. Visitation continues at 9 a.m. until the time of the funeral on Friday, September 11, at 4 p.m.

“Blindness was my father’s blind spot, and it became my family’s, the word we didn’t dare say.” So begins Going Blind, Mara Faulkner’s memoir about her father Dennis Faulkner, a hard-working Irishman struggling to raise a big family in Mandan, North Dakota, during the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s. A genetic disease gradually blinded him, but he and the family conspired to keep his blindness a secret. This book is the author’s effort to understand what blindness was like for her father and how it affected each member of the family, several of whom, including herself, have inherited the disease.

The Federation of St. Benedict, an association of 12 women's Benedictine monasteries, held its 23rd chapter meeting from July 21 through July 27, 2009, at Saint Benedict's Monastery in St. Joseph, Minn. The federation meets every three years to discuss business and issues important to members. This year, the 35 delegates in attendance chose a new federation president to replace Sister Michaela Hedican, whose six-year term expires. Although ordinarily eligible for two terms, S. Michaela has recently been elected prioress of St. Bede Monastery in Eau Claire, Wis., a position which precludes a second term according to the constitution of the federation. The new president of the federation is Sister Susan Hutchens of St. Mary Monastery in Rock Island, Ill. Two councilors, Sister Mary Jane Berger of Saint Benedict's Monastery and Sister Linda Soler of St. Paul's Monastery in St. Paul, Minn., were also elected during the meeting.

The Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict are pleased to announce that Karen Rose professed her first commitment to Benedictine monastic life on Saturday, July 11, 2009. The ceremony took place during a 5 p.m. Evening Prayer service in Sacred Heart Chapel at Saint Benedict’s Monastery in St. Joseph, Minn.  A private reception with friends and the Benedictine community followed.