Please join us on Thursday, July 30, at 5:15 pm to pray at the site where Tobias Ya'Shan Lee Huff, Da'Liyla Lelona Huff, and Amirah al-Mansouri died in a house fire on March 29, 2026, 535 E 26th Street*. Take Back the Site Vigils reclaim the place where violence has occurred. We pray for all people who are harmed by violence: victims, perpetrators, bystanders, friends, families. We believe that a nonviolent way of life is possible. The 15-minute vigils are ponsored by: the Benedictine Sisters of Erie and Oblates, the Sisters of St. Joseph, Agrégées, and Associates, and the Sisters of Mercy and Associates. Join event on the Benedictines for Peace Facebook page.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the 2026 Annual Draw! We drew the winning names at our 170th Anniversary Open House on July 11, the Feast of St. Benedict. Four of this year's winners are St. Benedict Academy grads and one was an SBA faculty member. The final of our anniversary events honors members of the SBA Alumnae Association--an open house at the former St. Benedict Academy building on East 10th Street on Sunday, June 26. All alum and their guests are welcome to walk the halls of SBA, view displays, and share stories.

Monasteries of the Heart, the Erie Benedictine's online monastery that launched in 2011, has a new website that maintains the spirit of our online community while modernizing the look and streamlining the user interface.

Erie Benedictines Sisters Jen Frazer, Jacqueline Sanchez-Small, and Val Luckey were participants in the Benedictine 55 and Under gathering that took place at the Benedictine Monastery of Duluth, Minnesota, in early July. Sister Anne McCarthy, far right, presented at the conference where forty-five Benedictines under the age of fifty-five gathered for weekend of prayer, input, reflection, and socializing.

Hundreds of community members gathered to say goodbye to Erie Benedictine Sister Marian Wehler and Sister Tina Geiger, RSM, of Catholic Rural Ministry. Sister Marian has spent nearly thirty years in this ministry.

The Congregation of St Scholastica, to which the Benedictine Sisters of Erie belong, recently held their Congregation Chapter meeting. Sisters Diane Rabe, Charlotte Anne Zalot, and Anne McCarthy represented the Erie Benedictines. Sister Anne Wambach, member of the Congregation Council, and Sister Susan Doubet, Chapter secretary, also attended.

The Erie Benedictines were among the 3,000 persons at the 2026 Pride on the Bay event at Liberty Park the end of June. With a poster on their display table quoting the Rule of St. Benedict, "we believe the divine presence is everywhere," and stickers to give away, Communications intern Sophie, Sister Linda Romey, and Miriam, newly in the Benedictine Peacemakers Program, greeted attendees throughout the afternoon. "This event is a great place to have good conversations and connect with friends and meet new people," said Sister Linda. "We were especially happy to be able to invite everyone to the monastery on Saturday, July 11, for an open house to celebrate 170 years since we arrived in Erie."

We celebrate with our 2026 70-year jubilarians: Sisters Norma Jean Kingsley, Rosanne Lindal-Hynes, Claire Marie Surmik, and Joachim Frey.