Follow us on Facebook
Sister Dina Lauricella, a former motorcycle safety instruction from Lusby, MD, made her first monastic profession on the eve of Pentecost, June 3, 2017. After expressing her desire to continue to seek God with the...
Become a Benedictine
Permanent Vowed Membership
The face of permanent members of monastic communities has changed over the centuries. In our time many people seeking permanent membership are professional women who long for a life that follows the Gospel of Jesus. They come from varied backgrounds and share the common desire to seek God and change the world.
A woman interested in permanent membership comes to know the community and in the process discerns her vocation. At some point she moves into the monastery to begin living the communal life of prayer and ministry. She participates fully in the life of the community and learns the community history, its vision and values and must decide at every step of the way if she shares those values and wants to continue the formation process.
Perpetual monastic profession comes only after five to six years of fully immersing herself in community life and passing through stages of formation that move the individual deeper into her own soul and also deeper into the heart of the world.
Vocation Contact
Marilyn Schauble, OSB
Vocation Director
6101 East Lake Road
Erie, PA 16511
814-899-0614 ext. 2424
Stages of Initial Monastic Formation
Sisters in Initial Monastic Formation
Sister Karen Oprenchuk, Scholastic
Sister Karen is from Windsor, Ontario, Canada and is a former office worker of the Canadian Federal Government. On June 3, 2017, the eve of Pentecost, she professed her first vows of stability, obedience and...
Kathy McCarthy, Postulant
Kathy McCarthy began the postulancy on November 27, 2016. In her words, “Desiring to continue to deepen and live more fully and confidently in God’s love, I find myself as a plant which has grown well and flourished...
Valerie Luckey, Novice
“I ask that I may continue to seek God through sharing the monastic life with this Benedictine community,” responded Valerie Luckey during the Rite of Entrance into the Novitiate on September 10, 2016.
Sister...
Sister Patricia Witulski, Scholastic
“I ask that I may continue to seek God in this Benedictine community through first monastic profession,” requested Novice Patricia Witulski at Evening Praise on August 9, 2014. Prioress, Sister Anne Wambach, accepted...
Web Links and Reading Suggestions
• VIDEO: In the Footsteps of Benedict and Scholastica
• Benedictines-worldwide
• Monastic Interreligious Dialogue
• Trappists-worldwide
Wisdom Distilled from the Daily
Joan Chittister, OSB
Monk in the Inner City
Mary Lou Kownacki, OSB
New Seeds of Contemplation
Thomas Merton, OCSO
Engaging Benedict
Laura Swan, OSB
Monasteries of the Heart
Joan Chittister, OSB
Becoming Who You Are: Insights on the True Self from Thomas Merton and Other Saints
James Martin
The Cloister Walk
Kathleen Norris
St. Benedict’s Toolbox: The Nuts and Bolts of Everyday Benedictine Living
Jane Tomaine
The Rule of Benedict: A Spirituality for the 21st Century
Joan Chittister, OSB
The Song of the Seed: A Monastic Way of Tending the Soul
Macrina Wiederkehr, OSB
With Open Hands
Henri Nowen
12 Steps to Inner Freedom: Humility Revisited
Joan Chittister, OSB
Let Your Life Speak: Listening to the Voice of Vocation
Parker J. Palmer
The Nonviolent Moment: Spirituality for the 21st Century
Mary Lou Kownacki, OSB
Vocations Anonymous: A Handbook for Adults Discerning Priesthood and Religious Life
Kathleen Bryant, RSC
Memorable Moments
SOLITUDE is not something
you must hope for in the future.
RATHER is is a deepening of the present,
and unless you look for it in the present
you will never find it.
-Thomas Merton
Practice Lectio Divina
Latin for “divine reading,” is an ancient method of praying to promote union with God. Its outward appearances might be a gentler spirit, a passionate heart, greater compassion, love and peace-making. Use the passage below for your lectio divina.
Psalm 49
My lips will speak words of wisdom, for my heart is full of insight. I seek to understand the truth and unfold the mystery to the sound of the harp.
Living the Zeal of Benedict
A blog by Marilyn Schauble, OSB
July 24, 2017
...speak no foolish chatter, nothing just to provoke laughter ... RB 4: 53
Benedict is suggesting that there is no place for laughter that is unkind or demeaning. Humor is not always funny. Sometimes it is deadly serious and very hurtful.
Karl Rahner speaks of the kind of laughter that Benedict would encourage. It is a laughter that is the sign of inexpressible interior joy - a faith-inspired laughter.
Novice Valerie Luckey shares her journey with the Benedictine Sisters of Erie in her blog, Walking in the Holy Presence. Read it here.
Stories and Events
Marking the end of an era
After much prayer and discernment, it became clear in 2014 that St. Joseph Monastery, St. Marys, PA, the first Benedictine women’s foundation in...
Rock Out Erie: Kids Cafe
“When we walked back from Perry Square yesterday, we picked up random stones and rocks along the way,” said Ebony King, staff member at the Kids...
Our Employees are the Best
It was a perfect summer day for the Employee Picnic. Employees and their families joined the sisters for the annual appreciation event. Food,...
- 1 of 7
- next ›
Living Monastic Life
Sister Mary Miller
When I was a novice, I was attracted to this quote by Teilhard de Chardin: “Nothing is profane to those who know how to see.” Given my limited world view at the time, I had a naïve interpretation of its meaning. The...
Sister Helen Heher
The reasons I came to this community are not the reasons I stay in this community. Fifty-two years ago, just ready to turn 18, I left my home of origin in Oil City, Pennsylvania, and followed the sisters home to Erie...
Sister Christine Kosin
For me, being Benedictine is being blessed by a loving God who placed me in a faith-filled family and then in a community of faith-filled women. This has been my greatest joy. This is what I celebrate at Jubilee....