The Federation Council met at St. Benedict’s Monastery in St. Joseph, MN. It is the new council elected at the Federation Chapter in July.
St. Paul’s Monastery 70th Anniversary Celebration
At St. Paul’s Monastery, we celebrated our seventieth anniversary as a community in June 2018. We are grateful for all of God’s blessings as we journey together in this way of life. 
Be ‘Open-Source’ Communities
Sister Linda Romey, a member of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, PA, addressed the delegates, prioresses, councilors, and visitors gathered at Annunciation Monastery for the 2018 General Chapter of our Federation.
Taking up the Chapter Theme of Tending the Benedictine Charism, she offered a new and creative model for creating the futures for our monasteries: the “open-source” process that grew up in the software development world. The analagy is apt, with clear and direct applications to our monastic futures.
Do you wonder what “open-source” means? Here’s how Sister Linda defines it:
“Open-source,” in the context of software development, is a specific approach to creating computer software. The idea is that making code openly available for developers will create better code, and making it freely available to end users will increase adoption, result in ongoing evaluation, more use cases and a continuous cycle of improvement, development and new releases.
Open-source is an attitude, a mindset, a pattern of action that shares, builds on what has been shared, and offers the results to the world.
Wonder what it would look like in real life? Sister Linda gave us a prime example: her presentation to our Federation was shared with the world as an article in the Global Sisters Report. Click on this link to her article and become part of the Benedictine open-source movement.
Websites mentioned
Keep Todas Familias Together
We welcomed the public and members of diverse religious and cultural communities to our grounds to pray for immigrant and suffering families Sat. July 14.
Rabbi Linda Bertenthal from Temple Emanuel, Davenport, IA prayed a Shabbat children’s blessing.
Rev. Jerome Green from Anchored in the Lord Ministries, Rock Island, IL prayed “We Live Above Nature” by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dr. Lisa Killinger, Muslim Community of the Quad Cities, prayed a Sufi prayer for peace.
Olivia Best, Alleman High School 2018 graduate, shared a story of an immigrant child’s horrific experience.
We also read a lovely Native American prayer submitted by Josie Ironshield, Sage Sisters of the Quad Cities.
The bells rang, the sun shone, and – during the Native American prayer – the Lord spoke volumes in thunder.
The rains were holy waters of God’s love at the end. If you have a Facebook account, Watch now!
President’s Report
Sister Kerry O’Reilly, President of the Federation of St. Benedict, gives her President’s report on the first full day of the General Chapter meeting. The theme of the meeting is “Tending the Charism.”
We look forward to your arrival!
We await the arrival of the prioresses, delegates, and guests for the 26th General Chapter of the Federation of Saint Benedict. May the bell banner of Annunciation Monastery guide you to our front door!
Posting from iPhone
Wouldn’t it be great if monasteries had an easy way to share news? Something as simple as posting a photo and text from a phone? We do!
Sister Edith will demo how to post to this blog from an iPhone or from a computer. She will help delegates register, and several tech-savvy Sisters will help you get started.
This post was done entirely on a phone and took only 10 minutes.
New Prioress for St. Martin Monastery
Sister Marva Coakley was installed as the fifth Prioress of St. Martin Monastery, Nassau, The Bahamas on May 18, 2018. Sister Kerry O’Reilly, President of the Federation, presided over the installation at which all members of the community were present as well as family, friends of the community and coworkers of Sister Marva.
Sister Annie Thompson transfers authority to Sister Marva during the Installation when she gives her the Rule of Benedict and the Mission Statement of the monastery.
The Sisters’ discernment process culminated in three days of discernment/reflection facilitated by Sister Aileen Bankemper.
Sister Marva has been active in education for many years and will complete the school year as she begins her term of four years. The prioresses and delegates will have the pleasure of meeting her when she arrives for the Federation Chapter in July of this year.
Annunciation Monastery praying for the Federation
The prayer intention for Annunciation Monastery’s monthly Day of Contemplation this month is the Federation of Saint Benedict and its future planning. We remember all the members of the Federation and ask the Lord to bless us as we discern what the future holds for each of our communities and the Federation. I
Bismarck Sisters getting ready to host Federation gathering! ビスマルク姉妹は連邦議会の開催準備をしています！ ¡Las hermanas Bismarck se preparan para acoger la reunión de la Federación! 俾斯麦姐妹会准备主办联邦聚会
We Sisters here at Annunciation Monastery in Bismarck, ND, are getting ready to host Sister delegates and others from all of our member monasteries at our triennial Federation Chapter meeting this July! Sister Nancy Gunderson (Bismarck) created this beautiful image for us to reflect on as we discuss and think about our theme: Walking into the Future: Tending the Benedictine Charism. We can’t wait to see everyone!
ノースカロライナ州ビスマルクの慰霊碑修道院にある私たちの姉妹たちは、今年7月に開催される3年連盟のチャプター会議で、姉妹の代議員やその他のメンバー全員をホストする準備が整いました！ ナンシー・ガンダーソン姉妹（ビスマルク）は、この未来への歩み：ベネディクト派のカリスマ主義をテーマにして、私たちが議論して考えるように、この美しいイメージを作り上げました。 みんなを見るのが待てない！
¡Las Hermanas aquí en el Monasterio de la Anunciación en Bismarck, Dakota del Norte, nos estamos preparando para recibir a las Hermanas Delegadas y otras personas de todos nuestros monasterios miembros en nuestra reunión trienal del Capítulo de la Federación en julio! La hermana Nancy Gunderson (Bismarck) creó esta bella imagen para que reflexionemos mientras discutimos y pensamos en nuestro tema: Caminando hacia el futuro: cuidando el carisma benedictino. No podemos esperar para ver a todos!
我们在ND俾斯麦的报喜修道院的姐妹们正准备在今年七月的三年一度的联合会章会议上主持姐妹代表和其他所有会员寺庙的代表！ 姐妹南茜冈德森（俾斯麦）创造了这个美丽的形象供我们思考，因为我们讨论和思考我们的主题：走进未来：趋向本笃会的魅力。 我们迫不及待地想见到每个人！
