Newly installed Prioress Jeanne Ann Weber receives the Rule of St. Benedict from Congregation President Sister Nancy Bauer.
On August 9, 2025, Sister Jeanne Ann Weber was installed as the 15th Prioress of St. Scholastica Monastery. During the simple yet meaningful Installation Ritual, Congregation President Nancy Bauer formally transferred the authority of the office of Prioress. A festive celebratory meal followed, attended by the Monastic Community, friends, and family.
Newly installed Prioress Jeanne Ann Weber bows to the assembly in gratitude for their prayerful support.President Nancy Bauer questions Prioress-elect Weber.President Nancy Bauer thanks Sister Beverly Raway, outgoing Prioress, for her 10 years of dedicated, faithful service to the Monastic Community.
Sister Nicole Kunze, Prioress, and Sister Marena Hoogland
On July 11, 2025, Sister Marena’s Hoogland made her perpetual monastic profession as a member of Annunciation Monastery. Sister Marena’s family and friends from Wisconsin attended. Sister Marena has been a part of Annunciation Monastery since 2017. She teaches seventh grade math at St. Mary’s Academy in Bismarck. Over 50 of her former students and colleagues were in attendance.
Sister Marena Hoogland reading her profession document.
St. Scholastica Monastery celebrated the perpetual monastic profession of Sister Jayne Erickson on July 11, 2024.
Sister Jayne entered St. Scholastica Monastery in Duluth as a postulant in 2019 and made her first profession in 2021. At her perpetual profession, Sister Jayne sang a hymn she composed, “I am yours, Lord.”
Before entering monastic life, Sister Jayne was a youth and children’s minister and elementary school teacher in Minnesota and Iowa. She recently completed studies to be a Life Coach.
The Benedictine Sisters of Annunciation Monastery joyfully congratulate Sister Kathleen Atkinson, founder of Ministry on the Margins, and all of her team members and volunteers, for being awarded the Bush Prize: North Dakota.
Ministry on the Margins is a sponsored ministry of the Benedictine Sisters of Annunciation Monastery.
The following excerpts are from Strengthen ND and the Bush Foundation:
Ministry on the Margins is committed to supporting those who fall through the cracks during times of transition through inclusive hospitality and a space of welcoming, direct service and case management, and resourceful community-based partnerships.
• Ministry on the Margins was selected for its track record of innovation with small and large interventions, service pipeline development, and behavioral health adaptations.
• Small innovations include: health/wellness partnerships, providing vision services, haircuts, manicures/pedicures/foot care, and acupuncture.
• Large innovations include: working with municipal, county, and law enforcement leaders to establish the Coffee House. The Coffee House is open from 10:00 pm to 6:00 am as a space where homeless individuals can stay overnight.
• Ministry on the Margin’s work is driven and influenced by the needs of homeless individuals, the law enforcement community, elected leadership, service providers (including public health), and the faith community.
Clockwise: Bubbles with children, chapel at Ministry on the Margins, and feeding the hungry
Celebrating 10 Years of Ministry
On October 25, 2023, Ministry on the Margins celebrated its 10th anniversary. Thank you to all who meet the critical needs of people who may otherwise fall through the cracks in society. Through your loving service, hospitality, mentoring, prayers, and outreach, you make a tremendous impact.
Gratitude and blessings to all who are a part of this amazing ministry. Thank you for “walking the walk,” each day!
Sister Kathleen Atkinson from Annunciation Monastery, Bismarck, ND
Sister Nancy Bauer, president of the Monastic Congregation of St. Benedict, celebrated the first week of Easter with the sisters of St. Placid Priory in Lacey, WA, a member monastery of the congregation. The April 11-15 visit marked Sister Nancy’s first trip to this far west Benedictine community which was founded in 1952 by sisters from St. Benedict’s Monastery in central Minnesota.
St. Placid Priory has twelve sisters, two novices who will soon make their first profession, and a cat. The priory building is surrounded by towering Douglas fir trees which can stretch more than 300 feet into the air. The Pacific Ocean and Mount Ranier are not too far away. In other words, the priory sits in a sea of natural beauty.
St. Placid’s is a community that balances contemplation with action. The sisters provide spiritual ministries through The Priory Spirituality Center. Sister Monika Ellis creates colorful designs in her art studio. Sister Laura Swan writes books on monastic topics. The priory is home to a gift shop that provides religious books and articles that can be ordered online.
Sister Nancy was treated to a photo expedition to Quinault Rain Forest which is about two hours from the priory. At the end of her visit, the congregation president was puzzled about just one thing. When she asked about the cat’s name, she got four or five different answers. It seems the sisters who hang out with kitty each have their own name for her.
From the top left, clockwise: The Sisters of Saint Benedict’s Monastery bless Sister Karen Rose after her election as prioress. Sister Nicole Kunze pins a corsage on Sister Karen Rose at the rite of acceptance of election. Sister Karen Rose with the facilitators of the discernment process: Sister Kimberly Porter, left and Sister Lynn McKenzie right.
Sister Karen Rose will serve as the eighteenth prioress of Saint Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph, MN. Sister Karen was elected for a six-year term on Saturday, February 25, following a discernment process. The rite of installation will take place on Sunday, June 4. Sister Karen will succeed Sister Susan Rudolph.
Sister Karen was born in Nantwich, England, She studied philosophy and theology at Oxford University and earned a doctorate in nursing at Manchester University. She entered Saint Benedict’s Monastery as a postulant in 2007, made her first profession in 2009, and perpetual profession in 2012. She is currently the director of the monastery’s Office of Mission Advancement.
The discernment process was facilitated by Sister Kimberly Porter, a member of St. Walburg Monastery, Covington, KY, and Sister Lynn McKenzie, a member of Sacred Heart Monastery, Cullman, AL, and president of the Monastic Congregation of St. Scholastica. Sister Nicole Kunze, vice-president of the Monastic Congregation of St. Benedict presided at the canonical election.
Saint Benedict’s Monastery was founded in 1857 and currently has 157 members.
President and Prioresses of the Monastic Congregation of Saint Benedict attending the Conference of Benedictine Prioresses meeting
The president and the prioresses of seven member monasteries of the Monastic Congregation of St. Benedict (MCSB) attended the gathering of the Conference of Benedictine Prioresses (CBP) at Sacred Heart Monastery, Cullman, AL, February 1-8. They joined prioresses and presidents of the Monastic Congregation of St. Scholastica and the Federation of St. Gertrude as well as the prioress general of the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration and prioresses of several women’s monasteries that are not affiliated with a federation or congregation.
Along with Sister Nancy Bauer, president of MCSB, the following prioresses attended: Sister Susan Rudolph, Saint Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph, MN; Sister Beverly Raway, St. Scholastica Monastery, Duluth, MN; Sister Catherine Nehotte, St. Paul’s Monastery, St. Paul, MN; Sister Angela Hoffman, St. Placid Priory, Lacey, WA; Sister Nicole Kunze, Annunciation Monastery, Bismarck, ND; Sister Susan Hutchens, St. Mary Monastery, Rock Island, IL; and Sister Marva Coakley, St. Martin Monastery, Nassau, Bahamas.
During the meeting Sister Nicole Kunze was elected chair of CBP for a three-year term and Sister Susan Rudolph completed her term as a member of the Core Planning Committee.
Along with business items, participants met in small groups to talk about matters of interest in Benedictine monasticism today, such as autonomy of monasteries, collaboration among monasteries, and the current phenomenon of monasteries coming to completion.
The CBP session included two days of a joint meeting with abbots of the men’s Benedictine monasteries and presidents of their congregations. Presentations at the joint meeting focused on care of the sick within our monasteries. Brother John Mark Falkenhain, OSB, a monk of St. Meinrad Archabbey, addressed mental health concerns and a team of caregivers from Mount St. Scholastica Monastery in Atchison, KS, talked about the various forms of dementia and care of the dying. The team included Sister Esther Fangman, prioress, Renee Porter and Stacey Davis.
Sister Nancy jotted down comments made by prioresses during the CBP meeting. Following are some samples.
“We have just moved into our new monastery.”
“We moved into our new monastery four years ago. We have replaced our dishwasher four times.”
“We need a bookkeeper.”
“We need a secretary.”
“The youngest in our community is 75.”
“We decided we will give temporary housing to Ukrainian refugees.”
“Oblates give us energy.”
“In 2020, we made the decision that we didn’t know what our future is, but whatever it is, we’re going to do it together.”
Sister Marva Coakley, prioress of St. Martin Monastery, Nassau, Bahamas, Sister Susan Hutchens, prioress of St. Mary Monastery, Rock Island, IL, and Sister Beverly Raway, prioress of St. Scholastica Monastery, Duluth, MN, participate in conversation at a session of the CBP.
Sister Susan Rudolph, prioress of Saint Benedict’s Monastery in St. Joseph, MN, and Sister Rosann Ocken, prioress of Norfolk Priory of the Missionary Benedictine Sisters in Nebraska, exchange candlelight for the celebration of the Feast of the Presentation.
Sister Catherine Nehotte, prioress of St. Paul’s Monastery in Minnesota, provided back and neck massages during the CBP meeting. Here she provides a massage to Sister Joanna Burley, prioress of the Benedictine Sisters of Virginia, Bristow, VA.
Sister Angela Hoffman (left), prioress of St. Placid Priory, Lacey, Washington, and Sister Marva Coakley (back right), prioress of St. Martin Monastery, Nassau, Bahamas, with prioresses from other congregations.
Presidents of the men’s and women’s Benedictine congregations at St. Bernard Abbey, Cullman, Alabama
A presidential selfie at Larkwood Falls in Cullman, Alabama. Presidents of the Benedictine women’s congregations, from left to right: Sister Jeanne Weber, president of the Federation of St. Gertrude; Sister Dawn Annette Mills, prioress general of the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, Clyde, MO; Sister Nancy Bauer, president of the Monastic Congregation of St. Benedict; and Sister Lynn McKenzie, president of the Monastic Congregation of St. Scholastica.
The prioresses and presidents of the women’s Benedictine congregations met with the Benedictine abbots and presidents of the men’s congregations at St. Bernard Abbey in Cullman, Alabama. Pictured with Sister Nancy Bauer, president of the Monastic Congregation of St. Benedict, is Abbot President Jonathan Licari of the American Cassinese Congregation. Sister Nancy and the abbot president are members of neighboring monasteries in central Minnesota – Sister Nancy is a member of Saint Benedict’s Monastery in St. Joseph, MN, and Abbot President Licari is a member of St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, MN.
Sister Laura Suhr (left) and Sister Bridgette Powers (right) with Sister Susan Rudolph, prioress of Saint Benedict’s Monastery.
Sisters Bridgette Powers and Laura Suhr made perpetual profession as members of Saint Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph, MN, on July 11, 2022. Both sisters grew up in Minnesota and both graduated from the College of St. Benedict. As of December 2022, both have completed master’s degrees in theology at St. John’s University School of Theology, Collegeville, MN.
Sister Bridgette works in the monastery’s Spirituality Center and directs Benedictine Friends, a program which establishes relationships between students of the College of St. Benedict and sisters of the monastery. Sister Laura directs the monastery’s Girls, God and Good Times summer camp.
Sister Bridgette Powers signs her perpetual profession document on the altar of Sacred Heart Chapel at Saint Benedict’s Monastery.
Sister Laura Suhr professes perpetual vows at Saint Benedict’s Monastery.
Monastic Congregation of St. Benedict 