We welcome you to join us for Advent Vigils November 29 (reflections from Sister Janet Goetz), December 6 (reflections from Sister Val Luckey), December 13 (reflections from Oblate Mary Hembrow Snyder), December 20 (reflections from Sister Jean Wolbert) in the monastery chapel, 7:00 p.m.
The "O Antiphons," one of the oldest liturgical rituals in the church, are prayed around the world during the final days of Advent. For the seven days before Christmas, we recall in these prayers a quality of Christ that must be realized before the presence of Christ can consume the world. Join us in prayer. Listen to the Benedictine Sisters sing the antiphons that were composed by the late Erie Benedictine Sister Mary David Callahan.
O Adonai: December 18
When we build a vision of life it is necessary to realize that Jesus must be the center of it—not our institutions, good as they may be; not our plans or personal talents, necessary as they are. — Joan D. Chittister, OSB
Prayer: O Adonai, leader of the ancient Israel, giving Moses, while in the burning bush, the law on Sinai. Come with outstretched arms and teach us.
Click below to listen to the Benedictine Sisters sing the O Antiphon prayer.
Monastic Life Is...
Oboist Sister Anne Wambach and pianist Sister Charlotte Anne Zalot were guest performers at the two Christmas concerts presented by the North East Choral Club at Parkside Methodist Church in North East. They played three holiday pieces on the oboe and keyboard, including “Mary Did You Know” and “Go Tell It In On the Mountain.” The North East Choral Club is a women's community choir. The choir offers their concerts free of charge and collects donations to benefit local charities.
Join Benedictines for Peace in a Silent Peace Walk Tuesday, December 16, 7:00 p.m. in Perry Square. The special focus is peace in Gaza, Ukraine, and Suday.
In her most recent post, Katie Gordon, who lives at Pax Priory and ministers at Monasteries of the Heart, did some archival research on Sister Rosanne Lindal-Hynes application to the diaconate...in 1994. Read "No commission report can shake integrity. Two Benedictine sisters who applied for the diaconate and what it teaches us."
The new issue of The Mount, Winter 2025 is available in PDF format. We are happy to share it with you!
Benedictines for Peace will host a Silent Peace Walk at Perry Square on Tuesday, December 16, at 7:00 pm. As wars rage in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, and around the globe, the special focus of this walk is peace on earth.
In a special three-part podcast series, Sister Joan Chittister talks with feminist theologian Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ, about Sister Elizabeth's latest book, "Come, Have Breakfast: Meditations on God and the Earth" (Orbis, 2024). Sister Joan is pictured here with her pet bird, Lady Hildegard.
Benedictine scholar Sister Laura Swan has studied and written about the history of women's spirituality and the monastic life for many years. She will engage us in this webinar with voices from the past that call to us with their message — one we desperately need in our lives today. We see this as a nudging of the Holy Spirit, a call to listen because we are in time of reformation and impasse and in need of guidance.
Sister May Nguyen, pictured here with Erie Benedictine Sister Katherine Horan, received her white coat in a ceremony at Gannon University last month. The traditional white coat ceremony marks the transition for junior Bachelor of Science in Nursing students into the clinical phase of their program. Sister May, of the Congregation of Lovers of the Holy Cross of Hanoi, a Vietnamese congregation, is living at the monastery while she pursues her nursing studies. Sister Thi Hoa Nguyen is also living at the monastery and studying early childhood education.
