Good News! We are beginning the monastery reopening process

The Benedictine Sisters are beginning a gradual reopening of the monastery. We are inviting guests to worship with us at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday mornings beginning on Sunday, June 13. Hospitality will be available in the dining room immediately following Liturgy, and the newly-renovated Chapter 57 Gift Shop will be open.

The sisters have all been vaccinated and we would encourage you to do the same. We are following the CDC guidelines so people who have not been vaccinated need to wear a mask. We are not yet accepting overnight guests at the monastery. We will let you know when overnight accommodations become available.

“It has been a long 15 months without guests sharing our space,” said Sister Stephanie Schmidt, prioress. “We look forward to welcoming our oblates, friends, and family in our home as we continue to pray that this deadly COVID virus will end soon."

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Benedictines for Peace

Take Back the Site Prayer Vigil

June 18, 2021

A Take Back the Site prayer vigil will take place at the site of the March 3 murder of Mauris Pacley and Jason Wells on Monday, June 21, 2021, at 5:15 pm at Bogey's Tavern, 2105 Buffalo Road. Please join Benedictine Sisters of Erie and Oblates, the Sisters of St. Joseph, Agrégées, and Associates, and Sisters of Mercy and Associates in prayer. This physical vigil will also be live-streamed on Facebook on the Benedictines for Peace Facebook page.
• We reclaim the place where violence has occurred.
• We pray for all people who are harmed by violence, both victims and perpetrators.
• We believe that a nonviolent way of life is possible!

Sponsor Our Golf Tournament

June 17, 2021

The 2021 Benedictine Sisters Golf Tournament will take place on Monday, August 16. There are still $1,000, $500, and $250 sponsorships available if you would like to support this fundraiser.

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Sister Stephanie Schmidt and Fr. Jim Piszker anoint Sister Placida Anheuser

Women of the Word

June 12, 2021

Sister Barbara Reid, OP, president of Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, led the Benedictine Sisters' annual community retreat June 7-12 via Zoom. One of the leading scholars in feminist interpretation of the Scriptures, Sister Barbara built her retreat reflections on "Women of the Word." Sisters and oblates reflected on stories of Biblical women like Elizabeth, Anna, Mary, the mother of Jesus, the woman from Samaria, Martha and Mary, and Mary Magdalene. During retreat the community celebrated the Anointing of the Sick. Here, prioress Sister Stephanie Schmidt and Fr. Jim Piszker anoint Sister Placida Anheuser.

Peace Walk outside Neighborhood Art House

Benedictines for Peace will host a Silent Peace Walk Tuesday, June 15

June 8, 2021

Benedictines for Peace (BFP) will host a Silent Peace Walk on Tuesday, June 15 from 7:00 pm to 7:30 pm at Perry Square (West of State Street at South Park Row). For over a year, BFP has encouraged Silent Peace Walks by individuals wherever they could at a coordinated time each month. With the new COVID guidelines, we are able to advertise and hold an outdoor event.

This simple public prayer, step-by-step, is a powerful nonviolent tool to bring peace, beginning with one’s own heart, to our families, our communities, our nation, our world, and to all of creation.

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Virtual Take Back the Site Vigil

Virtual Take Back the Site Vigil

June 3, 2021

The Sisters of St. Joseph, Sisters of Mercy and Benedictine Sisters of Erie held a virtual Take Back the Site Vigil for victims of homicides in Erie during the last months of 2020. The 20-minute prayer service video remembers the four victims who died in Erie during the last months of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic: Dayquan Holloway, September 27; Jeremy Jones, October 13; Frederick Perry, October 21; Kasir Gambill, December 5. In 2020, there were 11 victims of homicides remembered in Take Back the Site Vigils in Erie, compared to nine for 2019. Over 140 people in Erie and Millcreek have been remembered in prayer since the Take Back the Site prayer vigils began in November 1999.
PRAY WITH THE VIDEO>>>

Being Benedictine in the 21st Century

Being Benedictine in the 21st Century

June 2, 2021

A total of 20 Erie Benedictine sisters, oblates and friends joined 200 other Benedictine seekers connected to more than 50 monasteries around the country for the Being Benedictine in the 21st Century Conference and Conversation last weekend, May 28-30. Erie Benedictine Linda Romey, whose dream to have such a conversation came to fruition with the event, explained, “Sometimes it’s simply a matter of following one’s heart. I was fortunate that the other people I asked to help pull this off shared my dream.” Sister Joan Chittister presented the keynote address for those gathered on Zoom.

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Alliance for International Monasticism

Alliance for International Monasticism

June 1, 2021

A new issue of the US Secretariat of the Alliance for International Monasticism (AIM USA) newsletter is available in PDF format. Erie Benedictine Sister Ann Hoffman is AIM USA's executive director. She writes, "the encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, reflected through the lens of the Rule of St. Benedict, challenges us." This issue features reflections on "A Benedictine Reponse to Fratelli Tutti" from monastic men and women around the globe.

DOWNLOAD HERE >>>

New Thursday Workshops at Art House

New Workshops at Art House

June 1, 2021

Each September the Inner-city Neighborhood Art House hosts one of its major fundraisers, Taste of the Arts. "Because of the pandemic and the children's limited access to classes, we don't have the quantity of small art items to offer our Taste of the Arts patrons," said Sister Annette Marshall, executive director. "Some of our teachers have come up with an innovative way to increase the amount of student artwork available and, at the same time, to offer new art experiences for the children.” Sarah Everett, Program Assistant, reports that, “these children are excited about these extra opportunities and glad to be able to ‘give back’ in this way.” Taste of the Arts is important not only because it shares the Art House mission of putting beauty in the lives of inner-city children with the larger Erie community, it also helps us keep our programming free for inner-city children.
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Planting 270 trees as part of ReLeaf

Planting 270 trees as part of ReLeaf

May 25, 2021

The Benedictine Sisters have joined the effort to plant one tree for every Erie County resident—275,000. On May 4, sisters, oblates, and volunteers planted 100 trees along Glinodo’s expanse of Sevenmile Creek in order to slow erosion. On May 21 they planted 170 trees on the hill at Glinodo, across East Lake Road from the monastery. “The trees on the hill will be a tree nursery; when the trees are big enough—but not too big—they’ll be transplanted to their permanent homes,” explained Sister Annette Marshall, Care of the Earth Committee.

READ MORE/VIEW VIDEO>>>

Benedictine Values, Modern Monasticism

Under the leadership of Siobhan O’Neill Meluso, Communications Coordinator for the Benedictine Sisters of Chicago, a group of communicators from Benedictine women’s monasteries have produced a video, “Benedictine Values, Modern Monasticism,” that illustrates 10 Benedictine values with photographs provided by 21 monasteries. Judith Sutera, OSB, a Benedictine scholar and historian from Mt. St. Scholastica in Atchison, KS, was instrumental in preparing the script. The technical expertise of Amanda Hackett, Communications Coordinator, Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict (St. Joseph, MN), and Susan Damon, Development Associate, Benedictine Sisters of Boerne, TX, created the video including an instrumental track of the handbell choir of the Sisters of St. Benedict, St. Joseph, MN, arranged by Christine Manderfeld, OSB © 1997. Other committee members were Jan Gull, Sisters of St. Benedict at St. Mary Monastery, Rock Island, IL, and Linda Romey, OSB, Benedictine Sisters of Erie, PA.

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