The Sisters of Saint Benedict Monastery, Taipei, Taiwan received a second novice who has taken the name Sister Gratia. She was received on December 7, 2018 joining Sister Benedicta in the novitiate
. Both women are originally from Vietnam.
S. Emmanuel Prioress, accepts Novice Gratia
The BENEDICTINES in EAST AFRICA and OCEANIA (BEAO) gathered at Saint Benedict Monastery in Taipei, Taiwan November 26-30, 2018. Representatives from monasteries of this geographical area gathered to discuss topics related to monastic life and their monasteries in this region. Abbot Primate Gregory Polan participated as well as Brother Nicholas Koss of Wimmer Priory in Taiwan, a good friend of the Sisters of Taipei.
The council meets once a year at a monastery and regularly communicate by using teleconferencing Zoom.
This year’s council has two new members.
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
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!
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 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!
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.
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.
